Jeff Yang at SFGate reflects on the importance of California’s recently established Fred Korematsu Day (30 January) against the backdrop of the surge in Islamophobia nationwide.
Given the headlines we’ve seen in recent months, and the way that vilification of Arab and Muslim Americans has gone mainstream, it’s understandable that some in that community are wondering much the same thing: Could it ever happen again? Could it happen, perhaps, to us?
Stop the “Islam’s….Women aren’t allowed to sing and dogs are killed“: Islamophobia and a proposed California mosque.
One candidate who lost last night was Chuck DeVore – and his campaign guy Josh (a close friend of mine) pointed out a certain (quite deliberate) reference in his concession speech that I wager the audience here will recognize and appreciate:
Winston Churchill said it best when he said:
“The only guide to a man is his conscience; the only shield to his memory is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions. It is very imprudent to walk through life without this shield, because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes and the upsetting of our calculations; but with this shield, however the fates may play, we march always in the ranks of honour.”
My friends … my fellow Californians … my fellow Americans — If you support me, my campaign is over. But if you support our Constitution and our country — that fight goes on. And I promise you this: I will march with you in that fight, “in the ranks of honour,” to the very end.
I’m not talking about the Churchill quote, mind you…
in a nutshell, this is why the speechwriter used it:
http://www.redstate.com/aarongardner/2010/06/10/we-lost/
the point is that the struggle wasnt about the man, it was about the message. Be it divine Islam or mere politics, there’s more at stake than a personality.
Not being an American, this is the first I’ve heard about Chuck DeVore – and I’ve only read so far are some of your friend Josh’s and Chuck’s tweets, which were er, …interesting. He’s obviously not a secret Muslim like Barack bin Hussain al Obama.
So I’m doubly confused about his motivations in using that reference…? Is it meant to be tongue in cheek?
That’s it, DeVore’s political future is over. He’ll now be accused of being a stealth Muslim…
Not if you guys keep it under wraps.
The spiritual leader of Stockton’s largest mosque and his brother, the former spiritual leader, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple tax fraud charges in what apparently began as an anti-terrorism investigation.
Saeed Ur Rahman, 44, faces three counts of tax evasion for allegedly understating his income by a quarter-million dollars during the tax years 2004-2006. Rahman is the imam of the Islamic Center of Stockton.
In a separate indictment, Rahman’s brother Obed Ur Rahman, 57, is charged with tax fraud in what prosecutors described as an elaborate scheme to avoid paying capital gains tax on a Stockton duplex he sold in 2004. Two other men are charged in connection with the duplex transaction, including Obed Ur Rahman’s investment partner.
Obed Ur Rahman faces an additional charge of accepting more than $60,000 in disability payments from the Social Security Administration when, in fact, he was working.
….“My client tells me he’s known they’ve been under investigation for two years,” said Bruce Locke, who represents Mohammad Nasir Khan. “Evidently all the FBI could find was a possible tax problem.”
Obed Ur Rahman faces up to 28 years in federal prison if convicted. Saeed Ur Rahman faces up to five years.
Mohammad Nasir Khan faces eight years in prison and Shaker Ahmed faces a sentence of up to five years for their alleged role in the duplex transaction.
The FBI has a long history dating back to Al Capone of using tax laws to send people it doesn’t like to prison, but who it can’t arrest for actual crimes.
The FBI has a long history dating back to Al Capone of using tax laws to send people it doesn’t like to prison, but who it can’t arrest for actual crimes.
I agree. But is tax fraud not an “actual crime?”
Poor word choice on my part. What’s a better way to say “the crime or another reason that the FBI doesn’t like a targeted person”?
If you took any cross-section of the American population and put their tax records under the microscope, you would be able to win many more convictions for tax evasion from that group of people than from any other group that wasn’t under a tax investigation microscope. It’s a disproportionate application of the tax laws to Muslims that no other segment of the American population is subjected to, and therefore a kind of discriminatory practice.
what’s disproportionate are the number of terrorists and people actively seeking the destruction of the West incl the US, who happen to be Muslim… that is no coincidence…
do you have figures from the IRS to back up your disproportionate claim? considering 70%+ of the US is considered Christian, I would gladly wager large sums of money that your statement is incorrect and unsubstantiated by facts
They (FBI) are looking for ANY REASON POSSIBLE… to arrest MOSLEMS.
DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TAX THE GOV. STEALS FROM THE POOR PEOPLE of THE UNITED STATES.
Failed state watch: California.
The state is essentially going to step back into the 19th century and watch while millions fall into destitution, while illnesses go untreated, while school services are decimated and while addicts who want help are turned away.
Here’s a great way to help California go back into the 19th century in a good way: end the War on Drugs.
The money that goes into warehousing nonviolent people convicted of non-dealing drug offenses is obscene.
Do you pust as johnpi and pi.info. Why?
I originally posted here as a commenter, then for some reason when I was invited to front page, admin changed my ID – but left the old one still active for commenting. Any day now I’m sure admin is going to ‘integrate’ my identity and clear this up.
actually no changes were made – you just need to set your own display name in your profile.
the last time an american state default on its debts was in the 19th century. so yeah. but remember, the voters tied the hands of the politicians. reap what you sow.
It is a good thing. As a Californian, we lead in everything, now poverty. When gas prices went to $5.00/gallon, hybrid car sales were waitlisted up to six months. Now that gas came down, dealers are again selling humvees and SUVs. As a great Sufi recently said, “We learn much much more from pain than from prosperity.”
Our political system and our governments are fat, bloated, inefficient systems clogged by greed and malevolence.
The only only only way to purify the system is to starve it until the nonessential stuff dies off.
This is a good thing,
BK
Oakland, CA
“Now that gas came down, dealers are again selling humvees and SUVs.”
Not really true. If that was the case, then GM wouldn’t go bankrupt nor would they be struggling to offload the Hummer brand.
The trend, which was mentioned on a past This Week with George Stephanopoulos, is difficult for me to specifically look up.
The point I was trying to make, which can be verified by checking google news or common sense, was that people purchase very conservatively when money is tight and less so when times are good. When gas was double the price it is now, demand for hybrids was much higher. Demand for all cars has fallen off. Waitlists for Hybrids are not as common as the last year of the Bush Administration.
I am hardly saying that GM lives or dies on Humvee sales (a false assumption on its own). Nothing really to do with my point. Even if dealers are selling SUVs or Humvees that they could not sell last year, total sales of cars are way down due to a current economic trend you may have noticed.
Buzz K, that’s just speaking about Shreveport alone. I don’t think you can base your views of increased Hummer sales based on one dealership’s luck. Since you live in the Bay Area, I’m sure you have heard of FitzPatrick Chevrolet-Hummer closing its doors.
However, I do agree with the rest of your point though. On another note though, there’s a lot of interest in the Honda Insight as of late.
The Bay Area is one of the epicenters of the green movement. Every other car is a prius or a honda. I personally have a Honda Civic Hybrid and use biodiesel in my pickup. It is a status symbol, here.
But I don’t think you can judge the status of the “Drill Baby Drill” Red States by San Francisco Liberals.
Look, I never set out to prove Hummer sales were way up. I had heard from a panelist on news TV that SUV sales were picking up now that gas was down. People were being enticed and thinking very short term.
This was only meant as an example that you can really on count on the spoiled American masses to do the right thing as the absolute last resort. Examples: $5/Gal gasoline or Bankrupt California.
actually Madison WI can probably match your Bay Area folks for per-capita Prius ownership. Its insane how many there are here.
The clean diesel hybrid will be the next monster. VW TDi does 58 miles per gallon now. With a electric motor….maybe 60-75.
Government officials are moving into emergency response mode in North America as a new mutant swine flu bug spreads by human-to-human contact in California, Texas and Mexico. 16 confirmed dead, 943 suspected of having been sickened. 6.1 million children in Mexico City stayed home today due to an emergency school closure meant to reduce the spread.
aziz, 
Solomon, 
Malik, 
johnpi, and 1 other are discussing. 
BuzzK, 
Dan, and 4 others are discussing.
I take it you’re referring to the allusion to Abu Bakr’s speech after the Prophet’s (pbuh) death. Why use that reference?