Thomas Veil
Mar 4, 2006, 08:05 AM
This just hasn't been Gov. Blagojevich's year. First he gets his head messed with on The Daily Show, and now this:
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Mar 3, 2006 (AP)— It started as a routine gubernatorial appointment to a feel-good commission so routine that the governor says he didn't even know the details.
But the naming of a Nation of Islam official to a commission that fights discrimination has exploded into an election-year furor for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, putting him in the middle of a conflict among blacks, Jews and gays.
Even if Blagojevich makes his way through the racial and religious minefield this issue presents, his claim of ignorance about the appointment could reinforce his image of a detached, uninformed governor.
"No matter what he does, he's going to tick somebody off," Rick Garcia, political director of the gay rights organization Equality Illinois, said Friday. "It's completely a no-win situation."
Four Jewish members of the Governor's Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes resigned this week rather than serve alongside an aide to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, known for his disparaging remarks about Jews, whites and gays.
The third and fourth resignations came Friday, when Howard Kaplan of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago said he could not serve on a commission "that, by implication, accepts divisive and bigoted standards."
Democratic state Rep. Lou Lang, who was appointed just a day earlier to fill one of the vacancies, also stepped down.
In dueling news conferences, Jewish and gay lawmakers called for Sister Claudette Marie Muhammad to disavow Farrakhan's comments or step down from the commission, while black lawmakers defended her right to serve.
"I think she has the intellect and also the humanity to do what this commission was put together for," said state Sen. Donne Trotter, a Chicago Democrat.
Blagojevich appointed Muhammad to the commission in August, but she drew no public attention until she invited other commissioners to a Farrakhan speech last month. Some commissioners began complaining of her presence on the panel, and the criticism increased after Farrakhan's speech Sunday included references to "Hollywood Jews" promoting homosexuality and "other filth."
The Democratic governor, in a recent interview with The Associated Press, said he did not realize he had appointed a Nation of Islam official until learning about it from news reports.
He nodded vigorously when asked whether his staff should have discussed the appointment and its implications with him, but would say little else about the incident.
But he did say Muhammad should stay on the commission so long as she supports its goals of fighting discrimination.
"I strongly disagree with the things Minister Farrakhan said. They're wrong and hateful and they're harmful," Blagojevich said. "I also oppose guilt by association. Ms. Muhammad didn't say those things." No, but she's apparently supporting somebody who does.
I think the Jewish and gay lawmakers are perfectly within their rights to ask her to declare whether her allegience is to Farrakhan's principles or the commission's. If she refuses to disavow Farrakhan -- essentially saying, "Hey, I just work there" -- then that certainly validates Blagojevich's right to boot her off the commission.
Even if she does disavow Farrakhan, her presence could still be a problem, though. She did, after all, invite other commissioners to one of Farrakhan's speeches. After doing something like that, it's hard to credibly claim that you're racially tolerant. Also, Ms. Muhammad is referred to in the story as an "official" of Nation of Islam, not just an office functionary.
Better still, I think, Blagojevich could conceivably extricate himself from this situation by disbanding the commission (since it's already so fractured) and appointing a new one, with a number of brand new members...and without Ms. Muhammad.
I do think he'd have to consult with and satisfy prominent African-American leaders so as to give them a satisfactory presence on any new commission...and perhaps he should vet his candidates a little more thoroughly this time. ;)
Link (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1685674)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Mar 3, 2006 (AP)— It started as a routine gubernatorial appointment to a feel-good commission so routine that the governor says he didn't even know the details.
But the naming of a Nation of Islam official to a commission that fights discrimination has exploded into an election-year furor for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, putting him in the middle of a conflict among blacks, Jews and gays.
Even if Blagojevich makes his way through the racial and religious minefield this issue presents, his claim of ignorance about the appointment could reinforce his image of a detached, uninformed governor.
"No matter what he does, he's going to tick somebody off," Rick Garcia, political director of the gay rights organization Equality Illinois, said Friday. "It's completely a no-win situation."
Four Jewish members of the Governor's Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes resigned this week rather than serve alongside an aide to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, known for his disparaging remarks about Jews, whites and gays.
The third and fourth resignations came Friday, when Howard Kaplan of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago said he could not serve on a commission "that, by implication, accepts divisive and bigoted standards."
Democratic state Rep. Lou Lang, who was appointed just a day earlier to fill one of the vacancies, also stepped down.
In dueling news conferences, Jewish and gay lawmakers called for Sister Claudette Marie Muhammad to disavow Farrakhan's comments or step down from the commission, while black lawmakers defended her right to serve.
"I think she has the intellect and also the humanity to do what this commission was put together for," said state Sen. Donne Trotter, a Chicago Democrat.
Blagojevich appointed Muhammad to the commission in August, but she drew no public attention until she invited other commissioners to a Farrakhan speech last month. Some commissioners began complaining of her presence on the panel, and the criticism increased after Farrakhan's speech Sunday included references to "Hollywood Jews" promoting homosexuality and "other filth."
The Democratic governor, in a recent interview with The Associated Press, said he did not realize he had appointed a Nation of Islam official until learning about it from news reports.
He nodded vigorously when asked whether his staff should have discussed the appointment and its implications with him, but would say little else about the incident.
But he did say Muhammad should stay on the commission so long as she supports its goals of fighting discrimination.
"I strongly disagree with the things Minister Farrakhan said. They're wrong and hateful and they're harmful," Blagojevich said. "I also oppose guilt by association. Ms. Muhammad didn't say those things." No, but she's apparently supporting somebody who does.
I think the Jewish and gay lawmakers are perfectly within their rights to ask her to declare whether her allegience is to Farrakhan's principles or the commission's. If she refuses to disavow Farrakhan -- essentially saying, "Hey, I just work there" -- then that certainly validates Blagojevich's right to boot her off the commission.
Even if she does disavow Farrakhan, her presence could still be a problem, though. She did, after all, invite other commissioners to one of Farrakhan's speeches. After doing something like that, it's hard to credibly claim that you're racially tolerant. Also, Ms. Muhammad is referred to in the story as an "official" of Nation of Islam, not just an office functionary.
Better still, I think, Blagojevich could conceivably extricate himself from this situation by disbanding the commission (since it's already so fractured) and appointing a new one, with a number of brand new members...and without Ms. Muhammad.
I do think he'd have to consult with and satisfy prominent African-American leaders so as to give them a satisfactory presence on any new commission...and perhaps he should vet his candidates a little more thoroughly this time. ;)
Link (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1685674)
