There is just no way, im opinion, to know if a Muslim is a terrorist or not these days, especially when Muslims that are brought forth by well heeled GOP operatives turn out to be connected to Islamic terror organizations or supporters of that.
Norquist seems to be just that, the person whose name and prestige just let in the enemy.
Back in the day - the mid 90’s - I knew Grover pretty well. Went to a couple of the Wednesday meetings and to his house for a function when I was in DC. Admired the work he did and knew some of the staffers and stayed in touch with them. All committed conservatives it seemed.
I suspect what happened to Grover was that as his organization grew, he needed more and more money. Then money became what he was doing it for, instead of the cause. Had a payroll to meet, I suppose. Well, once you start doing it for money instead of for what you believe in, then it all goes to hell. You cannot sell yourself just a little bit.
This makes me very sad. Grover could have been one of the better spokesman for conservatism. Glib, intelligent, very good TV presence.
The Washington pundit industry relies on Washington power and money just as much as any welfare queen. If the power weren’t concentrated there, they would be out of a job.
The problem is that many Islamic organizations were infiltrated by terror organizations. Some were STARTED by terrorists. But they didn’t advertise themselves as such.
Most Muslims, especially politically active Muslims, were bound to have had some connection to one or more of these groups, and are therefore open to “guilt by association” charges. Are there ANY good Muslim organizations? I can’t say. But what I look for is first, a statement of conservative principles, and second, how a person responds when evidence of wrong-doing is presented against an organization.
In the case of Gill, the organization he was “associated with” was actually praised by the head of the FBI almost a year after Gill’s association ended — and his association was pre-9/11. Does the FBI get things wrong, sure!!! But it’s hard for me to fault a guy for representing a group that was on the “good list”, and was STILL on the “good list” a year later, simply because after that they were found not to be so good.
What we WANT are good, patriotic, conservative muslims to create NEW organizations that seek to integrate muslim faith into the American way of life, and to provide help and protection to holy men of the faith who are willing to teach the new way. Is it a fools errand? Maybe, but the only alternative I see is to revoke the 1st amendment, or worse to allow radical muslim faith to grow and fester and become a cancer in our country, shielded by the very freedoms they seek to destroy.
We aren’t going to launch a war on Islam. Assimilation seems our best hope, short of God intervening directly in the hearts and minds of his creations.