I’ve seen some more updates on Rep. Virgil Goode’s attempts to “denounce” Rep. Ellison’s existence as a Muslim Congressman. Along with the associated silliness, I’m bothered by one other glaringly obvious issue. It’s clear, when you read Goode’s statements, beyond the fact that he’s a racist and bigot, that he’s afraid of people with dark skin, and that he’s stupid, he exemplifies why the U.S. policies in the Middle East will never succeed with Bush in the White House. How?

Because he believes that we’re at war with Muslims, and sets up the argument that we need to keep those dirty Muslims out of our country. Only in a country where George Bush can be President can a guy like Rep. Goode get on Fox News to talk about this stuff. Compare this approach to the plans outlined by smarter people and you see why Bush has to wait until after the holidays to come up with a new plan. It’s only taken him 3+ years to figure out the old plan wasn’t working, after all…

It doesn’t stop with Bush, of course, and in 2008 you should remember that. Urge your Republican candidates to break from the hard right rhetoric, and, if they won’t, vote for someone else. Of course, I would vote Democratic right now for a host of other issues, but if you’re really concerned about terrorism, about foreign policy, or about Iraq, there really isn’t another choice.