Friday, June 19, 2009
Commonality
What does Ron Paul (R-TX) have in common with Keith Ellison (D-MN)?
Neither voted for the resolution passed by the House on Friday in support of the Iranian dissidents. Ron Paul was the lone nay vote in the 405-1 tally, and Ellison voted "present."
Paul is an isolationist, explaining his vote, and Ellison is the House's sole Muslim, but it isn't clear to me why he would vote "present."
11 Comments:
By 
, at
Fri Jun 19, 10:13:00 PM:
... and Ellison is the House's sole Muslim, but it isn't clear to me why he would vote "present."
I hope you weren't injured falling off that apple cart ...
By , at
Fri Jun 19, 10:31:00 PM:
You missed David Loebsack who represents the district which includes the University of Iowa.
By 
Escort81, at
Fri Jun 19, 10:36:00 PM:
It was actually a turnip truck, Anon 10:13. Heh.
I didn't necessarily want to go there, but I thought that Ellison was a Sunni, and most Sunnis are fearful of Mullah-led Shia expansionism and enhanced Iranian power in general, so he ought to have sufficient religious reasons to support the resolution; obviously, the primary reason to support it is that the dissidents have a chance to bring some form of representative government to Iran.
By Escort81, at
Fri Jun 19, 10:42:00 PM:
Right, Anon 10:31, I did forget to include him in the text of the post, though I saw his name in the link. What is Loebsack's deal? He represents a university town and yet can't vote for this resolution? Hasn't he been checking Huffpo and Facebook, and it's all good? This is a case where casting a yes vote has zero political or financial cost, and not casting a yes vote has the potential to upset constituents in a university town.
By , at
Fri Jun 19, 10:44:00 PM:
Just recall Reagan's 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not speak badly of another Republican. Extending that to Ellison's reasoning: do not criticize anything in the ummah.
By jaed, at
Fri Jun 19, 10:45:00 PM:
Why would the House's only Muslim member vote for this resolution, just because Muslims are being killed in the streets?
Sigh. I'm not sure which is worse, the fact that he felt compelled to abstain from voting or the fact that that doesn't come as a surprise to anyone.
By , at
Fri Jun 19, 11:15:00 PM:
"It was actually a turnip truck, Anon 10:13. Heh."
Touche!
"I didn't necessarily want to go there, but I thought that Ellison was a Sunni, and most Sunnis are fearful of Mullah-led Shia expansionism and enhanced Iranian power in general, so he ought to have sufficient religious reasons to support the resolution;"
Your Sunni vs. Shia conjecture is bang on in the Middle East, but think about where Ellison is based. In the U.S., opposing Iran is opposing Islam, quite simply, and not something that a guy like Ellison would do.
Anon 10:13
By D.E. Cloutier, at
Sat Jun 20, 12:06:00 AM:
E81: "a turnip truck."
One of my old acquaintances, advertising genius Hal Riney (1932-2008), came up with the sentence "I didn't just fall off a turnip truck," Escort81. He wrote it for a Yamaha commercial in 1973.
Hal also wrote the famous Bartles and Jaymes TV commercials and Ronald Reagan's "Morning in America" commercial.
You'll enjoy the video (300k) of Hal's career highlights at the Web site of the Advertising Hall of Fame.
http://www.advertisinghalloffame.org/members/member_bio.php?memid=780
By Dawnfire82, at
Sat Jun 20, 01:51:00 PM:
"I didn't necessarily want to go there, but I thought that Ellison was a Sunni"
Are you implying that Congressmen vote with their consciences? You lunatic.
He's just playing it safe. *shrug*
By Diogenes, at
Sat Jun 20, 03:30:00 PM:
Like Obama, why let the public know what you really think?
Obama, as state senator, voted "present" some 80 times if memory serves.
First, get elected, then do what you want, not what you promised.
By , at
Sat Jun 20, 04:45:00 PM:
Don't understand all the hoo-ha about the election in Iran being stolen. Where was all this concern when the unions, Acorn and media stole our election and put Chimpy the Kenyan in the White House?
