We are all Grover Norquist now
You may have heard that Grover Norquist made some thoughtful comments about the political folly of the Republican jihad against the Burlington Coat community center. You may have wondered why a great patriot like Norquist would be so objectively pro-terrorist. Well, wonder no more:
Grover Norquist’s ties to Islamic supremacists and jihadists have been known for years. He and his Palestinian wife, Samah Alrayyes—who was director of communications for his Islamic Free Market Institute until they married in 2005—are very active in “Muslim outreach.” Just six weeks after 9/11, The New Republic ran an exposé explaining how Norquist arranged for George W. Bush to meet with fifteen Islamic supremacists at the White House on September 26, 2001—to show how Muslims rejected terrorism.
Pam Geller has some even more chilling news about American elites:
If not for useful tools like Norquist, Islamic supremacists could never gain such a foothold, an absolute intellectual dominance at the senior levels of our most critical government agencies; nor would elections be won by stealth jihadists as they infiltrate our government.
Although I think Norquist is right and Geller is wrong on this issue, I’d like to engage in a little Broderism, if you’ll kindly indulge me: on most issues, Geller and Norquist are both wrong.
August 18, 2010 3:15 pm
Posted in: Hoot-Smalley, We Are All Mayans Now
95 Comments
95 Responses
Bulworth - August 18, 2010 | 3:16 pm · Link
Oh no. What’s a wingnut to do when even Grover “drown government in a bathtub” has sold out?
Spaghetti Lee - August 18, 2010 | 3:17 pm · Link
We are all Grover Norquist now
But I don’t wanna have a mustache!
pharniel - August 18, 2010 | 3:18 pm · Link
Is this the begining of the Wingopolipse where Supply Side Jesus comes down to Reveal All to those who have stayed true?
Suffern ACE - August 18, 2010 | 3:19 pm · Link
I’m not much for laughing at this very serious issue, but if Pam Geller manages to run Grover Norquist out of the Republican party for being soft on Islam, I am going to have quite a chuckle.
Elia - August 18, 2010 | 3:20 pm · Link
As I was perusing Conor Friedersdorf’s latest missive of intellectual inquiry and thoughtful pondering, this chilling query occurred to me in my “noodle”:
Have Alrayyes and Norquist procreated?
If so, was the child born on American soil? And if so if so, has Rep. Gohmert determined whether or not said children have infiltrated Our Great Nation’s gaping hole? Could Norquist perhaps be protecting an anchor-terror baby?
dmsilev - August 18, 2010 | 3:21 pm · Link
Wow. That’s some real weapons-grade Wingnut there. Of course, the logical inference from that paragraph and some of Geller’s previous blatherings is that she thinks Norquist supported Obama’s Presidential run (“He helped make a secret Muslim become President!”).
dms
DougJ - August 18, 2010 | 3:22 pm · Link
@Elia:
Conor has been even worse than usual this week. Talk about getting ahead on your looks.
pharniel - August 18, 2010 | 3:24 pm · Link
Also WND has removed Mann Coltier from thier little party because she talks to Teh Gehy
Breezeblock - August 18, 2010 | 3:24 pm · Link
Ted Olson has now supported the President and the Burlington Coat Factory Mosque & Community Center.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
Jody - August 18, 2010 | 3:24 pm · Link
Your final sentence warms my little rat heart.
Violet - August 18, 2010 | 3:26 pm · Link
This would be funny if it weren’t so sad and also terrifying.
KG - August 18, 2010 | 3:26 pm · Link
This is why I am solidly convinced that the GOP is not going to do as well as people think in November. Those who haven’t left the party/movement (yet) are in full fledged “purge” mode. This is the Purity Spiral that often happens when a party/movement is rightly sent off the the political wilderness. As this stuff seeps out into general circulation, the people who are culturally Republicans (those who are registered Republican but don’t really know why, or only care come every other November and maybe in time for the primary) will be turned off and either not show up or vote for the Democrats or some third party that their cousin’s nephew told them about at Christmas.
The old fusionism coalition has broken down and the power vacuum at the top means that it’s going to continue breaking down.
Jim, Foolish Literalist - August 18, 2010 | 3:27 pm · Link
@Suffern ACE: You saw that Ann Coulter has been declared too liberal for the Movement, right?
It’s oddly comforting to know that even when Norquist seems to be right, he’s wrong. As for Pamela Gellar, it would be amusing to see her use the word ‘intellectual’—if CNN, the ‘real news network, I believe they call themselves—weren’t giving her a platform.
dj spellchecka - August 18, 2010 | 3:28 pm · Link
i’m pretty sure i follow the news and i had no idea islamic supremacists have “an absolute intellectual dominance at the senior levels of our most critical government agencies.”
epa? fda? fema? doj? dod?
when the hell did that happen? does anyone know what kind of counter tops they have?
LarsThorwald - August 18, 2010 | 3:28 pm · Link
I have to abnadon this site as one of my handful of daily start clicks because the word wrap problem is incessant and makes reading this page a headache. Please, get this fixed. No other web page I click on has this issue.
soonergrunt - August 18, 2010 | 3:31 pm · Link
I just want to confirm that other people are seeing the crazy-on-crazy action, too.
I mean that I know Geller had gone Full-Metal-Batshit Insane a long time ago, I just want to confirm that others are seeing the crazy the same way I am, and it’s not the drugs.
DougJ - August 18, 2010 | 3:31 pm · Link
@LarsThorwald:
Where? I’ll try to fix it in this post and comments, if I can.
catclub - August 18, 2010 | 3:31 pm · Link
“an absolute intellectual dominance at the senior levels of our most critical government agencies.”
Who knew ( except for Pam Gellar) that Douglas Feith was a stealth jihadist?
Jim, Foolish Literalist - August 18, 2010 | 3:31 pm · Link
@DougJ: I tried to read today’s post where he made the case for something I’ve always believed—the money Republicans have a deep and abiding contempt for their base (see Palin, Sarah)—but then he started trying to draw a distinction between the opportunism of The Claremont Institute and the principled integrity of their journal, and as near as I could tell, between the intellectualism of the National Review and the cheap demagoguery of NRO. “We’re not all like that, except when we are.”
MissusB - August 18, 2010 | 3:32 pm · Link
“Weapon’s-grade wingnut” needs to be a tag.
licensed to kill time - August 18, 2010 | 3:32 pm · Link
Islam is the new Communism, that’s all. Where once there were Communists infiltrating our government at every level and even HollywoodOMG! now it’s Muslims. Same old song and dance.
Alwhite - August 18, 2010 | 3:32 pm · Link
There is no way that the great Spaghetti Monster loves me so much that He would answer my prayers in such a magnificent way!
To have Grover and his band of evil run from the One True Party™ in the name of ethnic purity is soooo delicious! Soon there will not be a GOP just several tiny islands of hate.
Please let this happen, Ramen.
soonergrunt - August 18, 2010 | 3:33 pm · Link
@LarsThorwald: what’s your web browser?
Is anyone else besides the IE 8 people having problems with that?
This is the only site I read in Firefox. It’s the only site with which IE 8 has problems.
Morbo - August 18, 2010 | 3:35 pm · Link
And heeeere come the Muslim dating ads!
soonergrunt - August 18, 2010 | 3:35 pm · Link
@catclub: It’s not Feith’s presence or absence that has Pammycakes all bothered.
It’s the lack of John Bolton that has her upset. He gets her all hot twixt the nethers, you see. Or you would if you ever suffered through reading her site for any length of time.
I mean seriously, the way she goes on and on and on about him is like something out of “Bye Bye Birdy.”
And by that, I mean a creepy local theatre society production of Bye Bye Birdy with a bunch of middle aged yenta from long island cast as the teenagers.
Belafon (formerly anonevent) - August 18, 2010 | 3:36 pm · Link
Someone actually polled NYers about whether they wanted the “mosque” and whether they had the right to build it. They opposed it, and yet believed that the builders had the right to build it there.
MikeJ - August 18, 2010 | 3:36 pm · Link
@LarsThorwald: Turn off javascript, put balloon-juice.com in the high security zone or better yet, get a better browser.
Any of those three things will fix it.
demo woman - August 18, 2010 | 3:36 pm · Link
@Breezeblock: That can’t be because all 9/11 families are against it. It’s a stab in their heart.
licensed to kill time - August 18, 2010 | 3:37 pm · Link
@LarsThorwald:
If you are using IE, try this:
Suffern ACE - August 18, 2010 | 3:37 pm · Link
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Goodness. Well, I will definitely have to chuckle at the irony of that one. She made her dough and fame destroying our discourse. I hope this means she’ll soon be an improperly sourced footnote to history.
Ana Gama - August 18, 2010 | 3:38 pm · Link
Snark of the Day Award really needs to go to Jeffrey Goldberg:
There is a very depressing story today in The Washington Post about the lunatic racist Pamela Geller, who has been leading the crusade against the so-called Ground Zero mosque. This is a woman who once called me a “Jewicidal Jihadi” for advocating for peace and compromise in the Middle East. It’s a clever phrase, true, but, moi? In other dank corners of the Interwebs, I’m thought of as a blood-and-soil Jewish nationalist. I didn’t really address her charges at the time, because it was my impression that Geller was a marginal nutbag, but it seems as if she’s setting the national agenda now on matters related to Islam and religious freedom. To which I say, Jesus H. Christ.
Mark S. - August 18, 2010 | 3:38 pm · Link
You mean Pam Certified Lunatic Gellar has been appearing on TV about this issue and we’re the ones losing by thirty points? I’m ready to wake up now from this horrible nightmare.
MikeJ - August 18, 2010 | 3:39 pm · Link
Republicans can be sane on subject where it personally affects them. Dick Cheney is ok on gay rights, Norquist on (at least one) religious minority.
Sadly, they totally lack empathy in cases where they are not the person being discriminated against.
Sentient Puddle - August 18, 2010 | 3:41 pm · Link
One thing I didn’t know that TPM pointed out today is that Bush in 2000 got almost 80% of the Muslim vote. So Norquist putting his comments in the context of the minority vote actually seems to make a lot of sense: he sees that Republicans are just pissing away what could have been their base.
ItAintEazy - August 18, 2010 | 3:42 pm · Link
@soonergrunt: Well, for me IE8 has been a major fail so far. It’s not just this site, but a bunch of other sites that don’t display correctly. I’m using Firefox to view this site too, and I think I may have to switch browsers :^
AnotherBruce - August 18, 2010 | 3:42 pm · Link
Palestinian wife eh? It’s amazing that conservatives can find their tiny empathy bone when their own family is involved.
quaint irene - August 18, 2010 | 3:42 pm · Link
So, are they going to start boycotting Burberrys, London Fog, camel hair and trench coats? Show their patriotism this winter by freezing their asses off.
Svensker - August 18, 2010 | 3:44 pm · Link
God, can you imagine how much money we’d be giving to Israel if that weren’t true? The mind reels.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice - August 18, 2010 | 3:45 pm · Link
@soonergrunt:
Firefox + Safari = good. IE8 = bad. And yes, this is the only site that has this problem in IE8 (which my benighted office forces upon me). That’s been consistent for me and it sounds like for most (all?) others here, too. I know John posted a couple of days ago that it will be addressed in the next site upgrade, but my eyeballs may fall out and roll off the right side of the desk before then.
Church Lady - August 18, 2010 | 3:46 pm · Link
@DougJ: Doug, that’s probably something you don’t have to worry about. But we all admire your intellect.
KG - August 18, 2010 | 3:47 pm · Link
@Sentient Puddle: this should come as no surprise, they are doing/have done the same thing to Hispanic voters. They went batshit crazy when Bush raised the idea of immigration reform because it meant that it could mean a pathway to citizenship for those dirty brown people. Even though those dirty brown people tended to be socially conservative and, because of their life experiences in third world nations, have a very strong distrust of government.
eric k - August 18, 2010 | 3:50 pm · Link
MikeJ,
I think Nordquist is consistent and all the culture war stuff, he really only cares about one thing
blahblahgurgleblegblah - August 18, 2010 | 3:51 pm · Link
So, has Norquist really been out to destroy the American Way Of Life by declining tax receipts? Did he want to drown our government in the bathwater so religious warriors from abroad might take their battles to our shores and rip apart that Grand ‘Ol City Atop the Hill?
And I thought Norquist was a Fox News Patriot. Who’d uv guessed?
Nick - August 18, 2010 | 3:51 pm · Link
Slightly OT, The cover of today’s NY Daily News is “9/11 Slam on Bam” talking about how 9/11 workers are slamming the President for speaking out on the mosque and not the 9/11 victims health bill, that they forget to mention REPUBLICANS voted against.
They are slamming him for not doing something he already did a few weeks ago because he hasn’t done it in the last few days, when Congress isn’t in session. And the media is like “Oh this is juicy, Is Obama putting Muslims before 9/11 victims?”
How is he supposed to win here? How is he supposed to beat the media? Huh? Someone please enlighten me. They’re being intellectually dishonest.
The Other Chuck - August 18, 2010 | 3:52 pm · Link
@Elia:
He has two daughters. One is adopted, the other is by his wife.
SteveinSC - August 18, 2010 | 3:53 pm · Link
In other news today It was announced that what is left of the Republican Party has become a wholly owned subsidiary of AIPAC. The Southern Branch of the GOP at first objected, but the Reverend John Hagee (Grand Kludd emeritus) declared all Jews to be “honorary Aryans” and the objection was withdrawn.
Ripley - August 18, 2010 | 3:56 pm · Link
I think Pam Geller’s sanity is now officially small enough for Norquist to drown it in a shot glass.
KG - August 18, 2010 | 3:57 pm · Link
@Nick: Not to be a complete smart ass (just partly, I swear), I think the way Obama “beats the media” here is by calling a press conference and then giving a law school lecture on constitutional law, in particular separate of powers.
stuckinred - August 18, 2010 | 3:57 pm · Link
@Nick: No, you must be kidding!
Elia - August 18, 2010 | 3:58 pm · Link
@The Other Chuck:
Oh, sweet Jesus, no.
AnotherBruce - August 18, 2010 | 3:59 pm · Link
@Nick:
Dude, it’s the NY Daily News. Basically it’s such a lower quality paper than single ply industrial toilet paper.
freelancer - August 18, 2010 | 4:03 pm · Link
@soonergrunt:
I’m having margin issues in IE8, and only on IE8 (browser on company workstation, can’t install new applications, not an admin).
They are fixed if I go into [Tools >> Internet Options >> Security Settings] and change the site’s security to HIGH, but then I lose mah easy html buttons and my ability to click “Reply”. So it’s a trade-off.
Suffern ACE - August 18, 2010 | 4:03 pm · Link
@Nick: I saw that headline today, too in the grocery store. Good Lord, he gave a speech to Muslims to mark Ramadan and spoke to an issue that was probably of great concern to that audience. It would have been odd if he would have started slamming Republican opposition to first responders health care during that speech, just as it would have been odd if he had started talking about education or the need for China to float the Yuan or to announce that he had a new job for Shirley Sherrod. It would have been very odd for him to ignore the issue that he spoke about.
DougJ - August 18, 2010 | 4:03 pm · Link
@Church Lady:
What is the purpose of a comment like that?
Kryptik - August 18, 2010 | 4:05 pm · Link
The fact that Pam Gellar not only has been given national prominence for this, but that her ‘side’ seems to be WINNING, at least in the arena of public opinion, seriously is just about the last straw for me.
This country is just plain fucked.
Jay S - August 18, 2010 | 4:06 pm · Link
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:
Using the high security setting for Balloon Juice in IE8 is probably the least impactive work around for the display problem. It limits the damage to this site. Turning off active scripting impacts too many other sites, it works, but turning it off and on is a nuisance.
kay - August 18, 2010 | 4:08 pm · Link
@Violet:
I think it’s great. A little clarity never hurt.
This is the WaPo:
That’s all I really wanted. Someone to admit what actually happened here. I could not stand everyone pretending this was something other than a particular campaign launched by specific people.
neil - August 18, 2010 | 4:08 pm · Link
Pam Geller calling anyone a “useful tool” is hilarious.
Alwhite - August 18, 2010 | 4:08 pm · Link
@MikeJ:
Look up the term “sociopath” I believe you will not be surprised to learn that it is a perfect match with your perfect description of the modern GOP
guy44 - August 18, 2010 | 4:08 pm · Link
I think what this episode really highlights is yet another example in a looooooooooong line of right-wingers who only (and always) develop liberal positions on topics affecting them personally. (EDIT: In this case, it’s Grover’s wife being Muslim.) Think Rush and drugs, gay republicans on gay marriage, etc. Obviously this isn’t true of all conservatives, but I think one of the underlying laws of conservative nature (call it the First Law of Conservative Motion) is that every object in a state of conservative motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless a force is personally applied to it.
Linda Featheringill - August 18, 2010 | 4:10 pm · Link
Wonderful! Shall I make more popcorn?
I’ve been taking sneaks at the outside world all day while working and have been hugely entertained.
Great drama. Don’t know where it will end. Acting is a little heavy handed and the story line isn’t very smooth at times. Still, great entertainment.
:-)
Emma - August 18, 2010 | 4:11 pm · Link
If that certified lunatic manages to “cleanse” the Republican party of every person who can give it intellectual cover, I, for one, will throw a party. And if it is true that Norquist has been smeared by Republicans as a “closet jihadist” for years, and still aided and abetted their viciousness, he deserves what he gets.
Yes, my mama raised a mean child.
Svensker - August 18, 2010 | 4:14 pm · Link
@Kryptik:
Yes. Pam Geller. Unflippingbelievable.
Kryptik - August 18, 2010 | 4:16 pm · Link
@Emma:
The only way I’ll be happy there is if that happens, and Republicans actually suffer for it, electorally. Because if not…then god help us, this next DECADE or so will be a painful descent.
Pangloss - August 18, 2010 | 4:17 pm · Link
Stealth jihadists? Is she referring to terror babies in the monster mosque?
You’ve got to work damn hard to keep up with the right wing nomenclature.
Nick - August 18, 2010 | 4:17 pm · Link
@AnotherBruce:
It’s still better than the New York Post, and the Daily News did endorse Obama
Pangloss - August 18, 2010 | 4:18 pm · Link
The “Reagan Revolution” looks like it’s going the same way as the French Revolution.
Comrade Dread - August 18, 2010 | 4:22 pm · Link
Okay, so looks like the current struggle for the soul of the party is going to be between the Randians and the xenophobes.
This should be entertaining.
I’m putting money on the Randians myself, who will soon tire of the shrieking xenophobes and then spend all of their time expressing hurt feelings and threatening to go Galt until the xenophobes die of boredom or suicide to end the whining chattering.
Omnes Omnibus - August 18, 2010 | 4:24 pm · Link
@Pangloss: Win.
waynski - August 18, 2010 | 4:28 pm · Link
Just returned from the “mosque” where I had a few drinks at the Dakota Roadhouse next door, in which they were showing pornography of a sort on the big screen Teevee. There was an old couple sitting next to me enjoying the booty show. This is, of course, where Wahabbi-ists terrorists want to put their death to America community center—next to NYC’s version of a honky tonk. There were a couple of twenty-somethings with placards supporting religious freedom outside the “mosque” and I thanked them for what they were doing. Everything I’ve read about the Imam tells me he’s a man of peace.
There was also one douche bag sitting outside the Dakota Roadhouse yelling at people occasionally, “no mosque!” A burly construction worker who was interviewed by the press – assembled outside the bar – walked by him and the no mosque guy tried to get the construction (or as we say here in NYC, “struction”) worker to join him. The burly construction worker passed. I don’t know what he thought about the “mosque” but he obviously wasn’t interested in the hootenanny.
Earlier, some asshole walked by and screamed, “How many people did you fucking lose, assholes!” but that was about the extent of the acrimony. Other people if they didn’t just pass disinterestedly, stopped to thank the two young Americans standing up for our Constitution. There were maybe 10 or 15 people hanging around at any one time this afternoon. Usually half of them media.
In the annals of NYC protests from the draft riots to the outrage over the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and subsequent labor actions to the 77 blackout, this rates about 0.00001 percent on the social Richter scale, yet the media has got the volume on 25. Can’t they all just leave us alone? I sincerely wish they would.
dmsilev - August 18, 2010 | 4:28 pm · Link
@Pangloss: Who’s going to get stabbed while taking a bath?
dms
Michael - August 18, 2010 | 4:29 pm · Link
That had to make you feel filthy.
AnotherBruce - August 18, 2010 | 4:34 pm · Link
@Nick:
Oh crap, I got the Daily News and the Post mixed up.
(Skulks off into a corner, hangs head in shame.)
jwb - August 18, 2010 | 4:35 pm · Link
@Nick: You’re the media expert. You tell us.
scav - August 18, 2010 | 4:51 pm · Link
@dmsilev: well, wouldn’t Norquist be an obvious vote at this point? Or maybe we’ll just drag the entire GOP off to the bathtub and stab it.
Emma - August 18, 2010 | 4:56 pm · Link
Kryptik: It’s going to be unbearable in either direction, so I’m going to indulge my schadenfreude every chance I get.
Cris - August 18, 2010 | 5:07 pm · Link
@DougJ: If it hasn’t been tried yet, would you try this?
#content span, #content p {white-space:normal;}
Cris - August 18, 2010 | 5:07 pm · Link
Help, the lexicon isn’t explaining to me where this “Burlington Coat Factory” line came from.
Fax Paladin - August 18, 2010 | 5:08 pm · Link
So when can we expect to see Michele Bachmann on the floor of the House holding up a list of known Muslims?
Nick - August 18, 2010 | 5:12 pm · Link
@jwb:
A torch wielding mob standing in front of News Corp. demanding media not owned by corporations would help a lot
Kryptik - August 18, 2010 | 5:12 pm · Link
@Cris:
Huh? What do you mean?
Nick - August 18, 2010 | 5:15 pm · Link
@Cris: the “mosque” used to be a Burlington Coat Factory.
Nick - August 18, 2010 | 5:19 pm · Link
@AnotherBruce:
This isn’t that difficult to do.
Mike in NC - August 18, 2010 | 5:20 pm · Link
@Emma:
So what began as an anti-Muslim “Kristallnacht” is turning into a modern wingnut version of the “Night of the Long Knives”.
Dave L - August 18, 2010 | 5:21 pm · Link
“The New Republic ran an exposé...”
Oh, wow. And it revealed – surprise! – that Grover Norquist has a more level-headed view of Islam than Marty Peretz.
So now I’m going to have to think better of Grover; thanks a lot.
tomvox1 - August 18, 2010 | 5:27 pm · Link
Blind squirrel theory:
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/47801/
For Grover, drowning the welfare state in the bathtub apparently does not include signing off on anti-Muslim persecutions, at home or abroad. Goes to show what an unreasonable c*nt Pam Geller is, though.
liberal - August 18, 2010 | 5:37 pm · Link
@Alwhite:
Nah. Not even the FSM can overcome their bonding via joint hatred of taxes on the rich.
Emma - August 18, 2010 | 5:39 pm · Link
Mike in NC: There was no way it wasn’t going to. When people start screaming about “purity” in any sociopolitical context, the fallout is always toxic. And “my way or the highway” usually ends up sending some people on the road, willing or unwilling.
Byfuglien (pronounced Bufflin) - August 18, 2010 | 5:43 pm · Link
Fixed.
Peter J - August 18, 2010 | 5:47 pm · Link
The Shrieking Harpy has just blown the lid on a secret terrorist plot sponsored by Norquist. As I understand it, right now below the SuperMegaMosque, jihadists are building a giant bathtub that they are going to transport to Washington DC and then drown the entire government in it.
HyperIon - August 18, 2010 | 7:30 pm · Link
“islamic supremacists”
wtf?
HyperIon - August 18, 2010 | 7:37 pm · Link
@DougJ wrote:
I’m thinking snark, Mr. SnarkMeister.
Weapons-grade wingnut | The Woodwork - August 18, 2010 | 8:01 pm · Link
[...] comments on Balloon Juice can get quite witty. I love the imagery and alliteration in the following: Wow. That’s some real weapons-grade Wingnut [...]
robertdsc-PowerBook & 27 titles - August 18, 2010 | 8:24 pm · Link
IF we’re all Grover now, does that mean we get to be close to cute Jane Hamsher?
mclaren - August 18, 2010 | 10:06 pm · Link
People might think it irresponsible to speculate that Grover Noquist is a secret jihadist who must be waterboarded savagely and repeatedly while undergoing genital electroshock torture.
But it would be irresponsible not to speculate.