FEATURED: The Madness Of The Democratic Party- Keith Ellison As DNC?

In August of this year, the GMBDW posted an analysis titled “Democrats and Republicans On The Muslim Brotherhood- The Madness Continues.” It seems that the madness continues to grow, this time reflected in a leading Democratic candidate to become the new Democratic National Chairman (DNC). US media are reporting that top Democratic leaders are considering US Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) for the DNC post. According to a report by the Washington Post:

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is expected to be the incoming Senate minority leader, has thrown his support behind Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) to be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

The backing provides a major boost to the expected candidacy of Ellison, who has the support of several liberal lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and an array of progressive advocacy groups.

Schumer spokesman Matt House said that Schumer and Ellison spoke Thursday and that Schumer has decided to support the Minnesota lawmaker, who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

“Without a Democratic White House, Schumer’s view is that the DNC is where the grass-roots organizing in sync with legislative battles should be organized,” House said.

The choice of DNC chairman has quickly emerged as a proxy for the direction that Democrats want to see their party take in the aftermath of Hillary Clinton’s stunning loss on Tuesday to Donald Trump.

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, who previously served as DNC chairman, announced on Twitter on Thursday that he is interested in returning to the job. Dean supported Clinton in the Democratic primaries.

Ellison, who backed Sanders during his presidential run, said last night that he would make an announcement on Monday about whether he will seek the DNC chairmanship.

Read the rest here.

In what world could Keith Ellison be considered to be the right choice to lead the Democrats forward following their catastrophic losses in the recent elections? Among the many factors contributing to that defeat was the perceived closeness of Hillary Clinton and her top aide Huma Abedin, her Vice-Presidential choice Tim Kaine, and President Obama himself to what was understood by the public to be the Muslim Brotherhood. Enter Keith Ellison who has his own long-standing relationship to the organizations comprising the Muslim Brotherhood in the US. As we have documented in the past, and although it has been labeled “conspiracy thinking”, the GMBDW has catalogued the numerous examples over the years that illustrate Congressman Ellison’s close relationship to the US Muslim Brotherhood. Highlights include: 

• In October 2007, we reported that Ellison gave the keynote speech at an award dinner where the late Dr. Jamal Barzinji, then Vice-President of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and one the most important founders of the US Muslim Brotherhood,, was awarded the “Faith in Action Award” by the International Center for Religion & Diplomacy (ICRD).

• In November 2007, we reported that Ellison was one of two keynote speakers at the 13th annual banquet of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an important part of the US Muslim Brotherhood that emerged from the US Hamas support infrastructure.

• In December 2008, we reported that Ellison went on a pilgrimage to Mecca that was paid for by the Muslim American Society (MAS), a part of the US Muslim Brotherhood closet to the Egyptian organization.

• In April 2009, we reported that Ellison attended a conference that brought leaders of the US Muslim Brotherhood together with members of the US government, far-left/antiwar political figures, and foreign activists.

• In July 2011, we reported that Ellison was one of the speakers at the 48th annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a large umbrella group that emerged out of the early US. Muslim Brotherhood infrastructure.

• In September 2012, we reported that Ellison was scheduled to attend the 49th annual ISNA convention along with Global Muslim Brotherhood leaders Tariq Ramadan and Rachid Ghannouchi.

• In November 2012 we reported that Ellison had been a featured speakers at an event held by the Muslim American Citizens Coalition and Public Affairs Council (MACCPAC), another of the myriad US Muslim Brotherhood front groups.

• In February 2016, we reported that Ellison attended the inaugural conference for the “Muslim Councils in the West”, organized by a US Muslim Brotherhood coalition and that was also attended by a wide variety of European Muslim Brotherhood leaders as well as by a prominent US academic supporter of the Global Muslim Brotherhood.

In addition to these appearances, Congressman Ellison also has a history problematic statements regarding the Muslim Brotherhood. For example, in February 2011, Ellison called fears of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover in Egypt a “scarecrow” and in July 2012 dismissed concerns over Muslim Brotherhood influence in the US government as “scare-mongering.”

Worse than these statements and what appears to have been forgotten was that it was Congressman Ellison himself who expressed the most heinous of conspiracy theories when he once compared the 911 attacks against the US  to the 1933 destruction by fire of the Reichstag, the German parliament, likely burned down by the Nazis in order to justify Hitler’s later seizure of emergency powers. As we reported in July 2007, Ellison made the following remarks generally not reported in the US media but which were reported in a British newspaper and which also can heard on a video of the event where they were made:

It’s almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that,’ Mr Ellison said. ‘After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader [Hitler] of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted.’ To applause from his audience of 300 members of Atheists for Human Rights, Mr Ellison said he would not accuse the Bush administration of planning 9/11 because ‘you know, that’s how they put you in the nut-ball box – dismiss you’. …After his speech was reported, Mr Ellison said he accepted that Osama bin Laden was responsible for 9/11.

As we often have in the past, and seemingly to no avail, we implore those who make of use of this information to do so responsibly and not in service of divisive and inflammatory ideological agendas. We have absolutely no evidence that Congressman Ellison is some kind of “agent” of the Muslim Brotherhood, or that he has “infiltrated” the government, or that he is an example of some call the “stealth jihad.” In addition, the GMBDW notes that he appears to enjoy a good working relationship with the Jewish community although it is also known that working interfaith relationships with Jewish groups are not uncommon throughout the Global Muslim Brotherhood. In fairness to the Congressman, only he himself can speak to his motivations for his history extensive ties to the US Muslim Brotherhood but the issue for the Democratic Party is that those ties, as well as his problematic statements, are public record and should he become the next leader of the Democratic Party, is there any doubt that this record will feature prominently in the propaganda war going further? Do the Democratic leaders really want to provide their opponents with even more ammunition for that war by expressing apparent contempt for the legitimate concerns of millions of Americans about Islamist influence in government?

In the interests of a healthy democracy with two viable political parties, the GMBDW urges the Democratic leaders to consider the above in making their decision for their new leader. Given the unlikelihood that this plea will even reach into those circles, we also plead with the mainstream media to start covering these subjects fairly and comprehensively in contrast to the stream of incompetent, poorly researched articles of late which seem intent only on reacting to those disseminating the information as opposed to a serious effort to find out where the truth might lie. Whatever one’s political position, it surely could not be considered positive that the mainstream media in the US has utterly failed to properly cover the subject of domestic Islamist groups. This is in stark contrast to the UK, where such coverage is ubiquitous and lively. The GMBDW stand ready as what we hope is a serious and sober publication to assist any reputable US journalists in such a task although we note that it been many years since we have received a single inquiry on the subject from a US journalist.