In Sunday's paper, the Oklahoman profiled new House Speaker T.W. Shannon and his GOP majority caucus. The article went out of its way to let you know that all is well with the Oklahoma Republican party:
Shannon, elected speaker last month, downplays talk that a fringe element exists among House Republicans.
The first glimpse of how strong a grip House Speaker T.W. Shannon has over the largest-ever House GOP caucus should be shown Monday, the first day of the legislative session...
Shannon, elected speaker last month, downplays talk that a fringe element exists among House Republicans.
“We've worked very hard to make sure there's not a fringe, that everybody within our 70-plus member caucus has a voice at the table,” said Shannon, R-Lawton. “While certainly there are differences of opinion, I don't pretend that we're always going to agree — but my goal is that there wouldn't be a fringe element, that every voice is represented. They represent 37,000 people and they should have a seat at the table.”
In the same article, House Minority Leader Scott Inman (D-Del City) disagreed:
Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, and other House Democrats insist a contentious group exists among House Republicans, who outnumber Democrats 72-29...
Inman said the House Republican caucus “is deeply divided along an ideological fault line.”
“It sounds to me like he is anticipating more fringe-type legislation progressing in the House and if that happens that should be a concern for all of us because you don't improve the state's image nationwide,” Inman said.
Well, it looks like Inman may know the Republican caucus better than their own Speaker.
We've obtained through the Ogle Mole Network a letter sent by State Representative John Bennett (R - Sallisaw) to fellow lawmakers in hopes of forming a "Counterterrorism Caucus" in the Oklahoma legislature. The goal of the caucus would be to help educate and inform Oklahomans about the growing Muslim threat, and prevent the Muslim Brotherhood from "establishing world-wide rule" and "imposing Shariah law." The letter shows that the fringe group of wackos is alive and well in the Oklahoma Republican party, and they are continuing to push their draconian platform of hate, intolerance and general bigotry.
The full text of the letter and some commentary is after the jump. You can view the PDF here.
January 24, 2013
Dear ,
You may already know that the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is an international terrorist organization, active in virtually every country in the world, that is working toward its publicly stated goal of establishing world-wide Muslim rule (a "caliphate") and imposing Shariah law. What you may not know, however, is that that [sic] the MB has a large, well-funded organization active here in the United States and has a number of front organizations operating here in Oklahoma.
Sorry, I have to interrupt real quick. I was actually not aware that the Muslim Brotherhood had a number of "front organizations" operating in Oklahoma. Can Representative Bennett elaborate on that a little bit? Maybe offer some specific "front organizations" we should be aware of? I know his goal is to cast a general feeling of fear and suspicion upon all Muslims in Oklahoma, but details would help us determine what places to avoid.
In the past several years, there has been a growing grassroots movement here in Oklahoma that has been working to educate people both inside government and out about the growing MB threat. What we have been doing here in Oklahoma has caught the attention of some national leaders. You may recall that in the last year alone, we've had retired General William Boykin, former commanding General of Delta Force, speak here in Oklahoma City; former CIA Director James Woolsey spoke out in favor of the ALAC bill at the High Noon Club; and we had a former FBI Counterterrorism Agent as well as an Army Major who formerly briefed the Joint Chiefs of Staff who did a two-day CLEET seminar on the threat of the MB for Oklahoma law enforcement officials from across Oklahoma. Currently, we are working on getting Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann to come to Oklahoma during the upcoming legislative session.
Well, that's a "who's who" list of speakers to never take seriously. Also isn't it hysterical that this guy's excited about Michelle Bachmann possibly coming to town. If that doesn't prove he's nuts, I'm not sure what does. Perhaps the rest of the letter?
The next step we need to take is to set up a Counterterrorism (CT) Caucus in the state legislature. I have been approached to help set up the CT caucus. I believe that the first step we need to take is to put together a strong, like-minded Core Leadership group. I believe that you would be a valuable member of our Core Leadership group and I would like to ask you to consider joining us.
We have much to do. If you are interested in joining us, what we need to do is have a secure conference call with all interested members to discuss our plans and organizational structure. On the call we will also have an attorney from Washington, D.C. who travels around the country helping people get organized. I'm working out some last minute details but I'll contact you soon with the date, time and call-in info for our conference call.
Please feel free to call me if you have questions. I look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
John BennettOklahoma State RepresentativeHouse District 2
P.S. When you reply to let me know if you're interested in joining us, please also give me several times during the next week or two that would be convenient for you for the conference call. Thanks!
Geeze, what I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall for that meeting. I think it may be the first conference call in history where all the participants wear aluminum foil hats. Also, I like how they're bringing in an attorney from Washington who travels around the country helping people get organized. I thought Republicans hated unions?
Anyway, I'm not got to spend too much time writing about how stupid and embarrassing this is. We all know it's nothing but a ploy to generate hatred and fear towards everyday Muslims because they practice a different religion and culture. Instead, I'm just going to tell John Bennett and his counterterrorism caucus to listen to the guy:
