An inconvenient question about the Mount Vernon Statement

"GOP MA Sen. Scott Brown opposes civilian trials for jihadists and made it a key campaign item. The Republican leadership on Capitol Hill opposes civilian trials for jihadists. A majority of Americans oppose civilian trials for jihadists. And it’s a sure bet that the vast majority of grass-roots activists at CPAC oppose civilian trials for jihadists."

Just as many of us learned the hard way with Medina in Texas, its important to know where people stand on the issues. Sometimes it will shock you.

Alliances with Baldwin? Muslim groups?

Link is broken

The more I read about this “Mount Vernon Statement,” the more I see that the mandarins inside the GOP don’t get it. They’re as stupid as they ever were.

Link was working a minute ago. Her own link she put on twitter is down as well. Maybe a last minute edit going on?

Glad to see Michelle Malkin calling out these RINO’s, Keene (friend of Arlen, Palin hater) and Norquist (open borders!).

The biggest problem Conservatives face (at this point) is not the Liberal Democrats, but the RINO’s who continue to
masquerade as Leaders in the Conservative movement.

the more I see that the mandarins inside the GOP don’t get it.

IMO it's largely a ploy to try and jump in front of the Tea Party parade without having to jettison many of their fave Beltway RINO positions on subjects such as amnesty.

Having Norquist join this bunch was their biggest mistake.

I signed the Statement and find the question irrelevant. Signing the statement only means that one agrees with the content of the statement itself and does not signify agreement with every view expressed by its authors. There are some views of Thomas Jefferson that I may disagree with. Does that preclude me from having a great deal of appreciation for the Declaration of Independence?

She certainly picked a big day to go after them. Surprised more don’t get on Keene’s FED EX scandal http://bit.ly/xkVy6

If you have a copy of the column, please post it.

MichelleMalkin.com is not on the FR excerpt list.

I think it’s political grandstanding,and they think we’re as stupid as they are,thinking if they use Mount Vernon and people dressed in period costume as they sign this “statement”,then it will be swallowed up by those nutty right-wingers. They could NOT be more wrong.

One observation from Glenn Beck -

illegal immigrants are the new slave class.
businesses are too “hooked” on the cheap labor to give it up. They’d have to innovate.

As I posted yesterday, don’t ever forget that CPAC/ACU is run by corrupt David Keene.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25072.html
“”Exclusive: Conservative group offers support for $2M””

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2289098/posts
“”Palin-bashing CPAC/ACU Chair donated $2,000 to Arlen Specter, endorsed Romney””

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31254.html
“”Palin rebuffs CPAC, Keene””

“”An inconvenient question about the Mount Vernon Statement”
By Michelle Malkin • February 18, 2010 09:55 AM

Today is the opening of the Conservative Political Action conference (CPAC) — the storied annual gathering of the Right. As I noted the other day, it’s also the season for a bumper crop of conservative manifestos, action plans, and ideological contracts.

The Mount Vernon Statement, which lays out broad principles for “constitutional conservatism,” has garnered the most buzz. An elegant tribute to limited government and the Founding Fathers, the document carries the signatures of movement leaders, Beltway heavyweights, and veteran activists. Two of the most prominent backers: the American Conservative Union’s David Keene and Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist. Keene and Norquist are also CPAC chairman and CPAC board member, respectively, and partners in the Constitution Project.

I have an inconvenient, but necessary, question for those who sign their names:

Do you agree with Keene and Norquist’s views on national security and immigration enforcement?

Because in the name of “constitutional conservatism,” Keene and Norquist support the Obama/Democrat majority approach of civilian trials for terrorists. And in the name of “constitutional conservatism,” Norquist supports de facto open borders and dangerous pandering to Muslim grievance-mongers.

Here’s a bracing reminder of Keene and Norquist’s statement chastising Republicans for opposing the KSM/Gitmo civilian trials in NYC, Illinois, and elsewhere on American soil:

“The scaremongering about these issues should stop.

Using a state of the art but little used prison facility like the one at Thomson, Illinois – with any appropriate security upgrades our law enforcement professionals deem necessary – makes good sense for the tax payers who invested $145 million in the facility and who are seeing millions wasted every month at the costly, inefficient Guantanamo facility. It makes sense for the community which will benefit from the related employment and has absolutely no reason to fear that prisoners will escape or be released into their communities.

But most of all it makes sense for America because it is a critical link in the process of closing Guantanamo and getting this country back to using its tried and true, constitutionally sound institutions. (emphasis added)”

GOP MA Sen. Scott Brown opposes civilian trials for jihadists and made it a key campaign item. The Republican leadership on Capitol Hill opposes civilian trials for jihadists. A majority of Americans oppose civilian trials for jihadists. And it’s a sure bet that the vast majority of grass-roots activists at CPAC oppose civilian trials for jihadists.

Which makes them all “scaremongers” who oppose “constitutional conservatism,” I guess.

It’s no surprise that Norquist remains obstinately and radically out of touch with the movement conservatives he purports to represent. I outlined the GOP’s Grover Norquist problem last January when he moderated a debate among RNC chairmanship candidates and it bears repeating at length since so many activists are still unaware of the record:

“Party power player Norquist and the ATR propose to help fix the GOP’s problems.

Norquist is part of the problem.

Some of us have not forgotten how Norquist made common cause with the left-wing zealots at People for the American Way in a forum bashing the Patriot Act — and how he forged even more dangerous alliances in the name of Muslim GOP outreach. Flashback from my column in October 2003:

Alec “the Bloviator” Baldwin has a new bosom buddy: Beltway Republican strategist Grover Norquist.

The Bush-bashing actor-turned-activist and the Muslim vote-courting political organizer joined together at a Washington, D.C.-area conference last weekend to perpetuate bald lies about the Patriot Act and to oppose the “repressive” War on Terror (repressing terrorist suspects apparently being a bad thing).

Baldwin and Norquist’s panel, titled “Strange Bedfellows,” was sponsored by the ultraliberal group, People for the American Way (PFAW). When PFAW head and panel participant Ralph Neas ranted about the lack of judicial and Congressional oversight of the Justice Department’s terror investigations, the audience applauded passionately. According to National Review Online reporter Byron York, Baldwin (the “moderator”) then turned to Norquist for comment.

“Ditto,” Norquist replied. Never mind the flat-out falsity of Neas’ claim. The smarmy Baldwin looked at his panelists and proudly remarked: “Can’t you feel the love?”

…Norquist’s kissy-kissy partnership with a washed-up Hollywood Clintonite is the least of his unseemly alliances.

Consider: The conference they attended last weekend was hosted by the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom (NCPPF), which was co-founded in 1997 by Sami Al-Arian — the former University of South Florida professor charged earlier this year as a fund raiser and organizer for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group. The money Al-Arian allegedly raised went to terrorist operations overseas that killed at least two Americans. In 2001, Al-Arian’s NCPPF gave Norquist an award for his work to abolish the use of secret intelligence evidence in terrorism cases. Al-Arian was the keynote speaker. Insight investigative reporter Ken Timmerman says Norquist told the magazine he remains “proud” of the award.

Among other major participants and sponsors of the NCPPF conference was the American Muslim Council (AMC). In January, the group accused President Bush of “calling on God to kill innocent Iraqi children.” The next day, the group instructed mosque directors to block FBI counterterrorism efforts. Late last month, AMC founder Abdurahman Alamoudi was charged with illegally accepting money from Libya for his efforts to persuade the United States to lift sanctions against that nation. He also allegedly attempted to smuggle hundreds of thousands of dollars to Syria, which federal officials say was intended for delivery to Damascus-based terrorist groups.

Alamoudi’s arrest is part of a larger Justice Department investigation of terrorism funding focused on Saudi-backed Islamic foundations and businesses based in Herndon, Va. (Alamoudi is also responsible for founding the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council to “certify Muslim chaplains hired by the military,” including Capt. James “Youssef” Yee — charged last week with taking classified information home from Guantanamo Bay.) A so-called “moderate,” Alamoudi is on record praising the terrorist group Hezbollah and proclaiming: “We are all followers of Hamas.”

Norquist’s lobbying firm is registered as a lobbyist for Alamoudi. Alamoudi provided seed money for Norquist’s Islamic Institute, which shares space with Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform group. The institute is run by Alamoudi deputy and former AMC government relations director Khaled Saffuri. Saffuri and Norquist have worked closely with Bush senior adviser Karl Rove to give radical Muslim activists access to the White House. No doubt because of their efforts, Alamoudi was invited to a White House prayer service after the Sept. 11 attacks.

If any Democrat activist had such shady connections, conservatives would be on him like white on rice. Instead, Norquist has gotten away with smearing his critics — most notably, former Reagan official Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy, one of the most decent and patriotic Republicans I’ve had the honor of meeting — as hatemongers.

Alamoudi pleaded guilty in 2004 to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from Libya in violation of U.S. law and attempting to hide it from the government. “

Another reminder from Insight magazine of how Norquist tried to silence those who questioned his reckless strategic decisions by branding them as racists and bigots:

“Norquist was Alamoudi’s most influential Washington facilitator, authorities believe, noting that Norquist reminds friend and foe alike that he is close to the president’s powerful political strategist, Karl Rove.

Norquist, who previously has denied any suggestion that his work facilitated any wrongdoing, not only introduced Alamoudi to Washington GOP power circles but also Sammy Al Arian, whom prosecutors arrested earlier this year for alleged terrorist activities. Federal law-enforcement sources say they are focusing on some of Norquist’s associates and financial ties to terrorist groups.

Alamoudi ran, directed, founded or funded at least 15 Muslim political-action and charitable groups that have taken over the public voice of Islamic Americans. Through a mix of civil-rights complaints, Old Left-style political coalitions and sheer persistence, Alamoudi helped inch the image of U.S.-based Islamists toward the political mainstream and induced politicians to embrace his organizations. He sought to secure the support first of the Clinton administration in seeking to repeal certain antiterrorist laws, but when Bill Clinton failed to deliver, Alamoudi defected to Bush, then governor of Texas. Alamoudi and other Muslim leaders met with Bush in Austin in July [2000], offering to support his bid for the White House in exchange for Bush’s commitment to repeal certain antiterrorist laws.

That meeting, sources say, began a somewhat strained relationship between the self-appointed Muslim leaders and the Bush team. Some senior Bush advisers voiced caution to Rove, who is said to have disregarded such concerns, seeing instead an opportunity to bring another ethnic and religious group into the GOP big tent. A photo of the Austin event shows Bush with Alamoudi standing over his left shoulder, flanked by the former head of the Pakistani Communist Party, several open supporters of the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups and other individuals Insight is trying to identify.

Canceled checks obtained by Insight show Alamoudi provided seed money to start a GOP-oriented Muslim group called the Islamic Institute, which Norquist originally chaired and now is led by former Alamoudi aide and former AMC staffer Khaled Saffuri. A White House memo obtained by Insight prepared for coordinating Muslim and Arab-American “public-liaison” events with the White House shows that the Islamic Institute was instrumental in establishing the connection. The memo, from early 2001, provides lists of invitees and the name, date of birth and Social Security number of each. Norquist, as the first chairman of the Islamic Institute, tops the list.

Alamoudi and others, including Norquist, tried to keep critics at bay by branding them as “racists” and “bigots.”

Refresher from Frank Gaffney: “A Troubling Influence.” See also Mona Charen, Kenneth Timmerman, Insight, The American Spectator, and Cal Thomas.

Will the next RNC chairman remain silent about Norquist’s security-undermining strategic alliances? Will the next RNC chairman openly reject the same race-card-playing strategies that have corrupted a money-grubbing party establishment? Or will the field of candidates kiss the ring and hold their tongues?

The guaranteed silence on these issues today will speak volumes.”

To borrow a signature phrase of the Tea Party movement, it’s time to be silent no more. Open-borders Norquist is backing shamnesty ringleader John McCain in Arizona and pushing a new “comprehensive immigration reform”/illegal alien amnesty II initiative.

We need real alternatives to Obama politics and policy, not echoes wrapped in constitutional packaging. Which is why, as much as I respect GOP Sen. Jim Demint, I disagree with his call to vote out any politician who refuses to sign the Mount Vernon Statement.

Caveat emptor.””

And one of my favorite interviews with Keene....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP3FvTGPfao

Let’s say that Norquist and Keene are both the Devil incarnate. I have read the Mount Vernon Statement, and nowhere does it say that the signer pledges to support civilian trials for terrorists, or amnesty for illegal aliens, or any other view that Norquist or Keene may have but that is not in the document. The document says what is says, and we shouldn’t oppose what it says merely because a couple of its signers have some other ideas with which we disagree.

But I agree with Malkin that Senator DeMint should not be calling for a boycott of any candidate that refuses to sign the Mount Vernon Statement.

It seems to me that Norquist and Keene are both kinda like Ron Paul.

Like Ron Paul, Norquist and Keene have some good points, but some of their wayward ideas are pretty wayward for rank and file conservatives to accept.

Politicians are kinda like whores and that makes them so easy to love and hate at the same time.

Thanks for getting that. She’s been having some tech issues this morning.

Sometimes I think Michelle is one of the last real journalists in America. She is really good at finding pertinent facts that others miss.

I would also like to point out that the poster violated FR rules. Where are your pictures of Michelle?

too right!! It is about money and influence and this story looks like taking money from the arabs is good for the influence of Norquist AND the old guys don’t get how bad it makes the working man feel.