Keith Ellison to swear oath of office on Thomas Jefferson’s Koran
posted at 12:19 pm on January 3, 2007 by Allahpundit
I’m no fan of Ellison, but I know a brilliant political stroke when I see one.
We’ve learned that the new congressman — in a savvy bit of political symbolism — will hold the personal copy once owned by Thomas Jefferson.
“He wanted to use a Koran that was special,” said Mark Dimunation, chief of the rare book and special collections division at the Library of Congress, who was contacted by the Minnesota Dem early in December. Dimunation, who grew up in Ellison’s 5th District, was happy to help.
Jefferson’s copy is an English translation by George Sale published in the 1750s; it survived the 1851 fire that destroyed most of Jefferson’s collection and has his customary initialing on the pages.
How brilliant?
One person unlikely to be swayed by the book’s illustrious history is [Rep. Virgil] Goode, who released a letter two weeks ago objecting to Ellison’s use of the Koran…
Goode, who represents Jefferson’s birthplace of Albemarle County, had no comment yesterday.
Maybe there’s a compromise at work here. As I understand it, the Koran isn’t really the Koran unless it’s in Arabic. To wit: “The Prophet Muhammad inwardly heard the Arabic verses of the Koran. He did not simply encounter the Divine Meaning and compose his own words to express it. Therefore, no translation of the Arabic Koran into any language can be the Holy Koran, but is simply a human interpretation, which may be inspired but does not exist on the sublime level of revelation.” So, technically, he’s not swearing on the Koran. Happy now, Dennis Prager?
No, huh?
Somewhere between Dan Riehl and Rick Moran lies the truth.
Update: Reader “Verbal Abuse” reminds us that Jefferson’s gloss on the Koran might not be the same as Ellison’s. Not only did he send the U.S. Navy to confront the Barbary pirates, but, as Bill Bennett quotes him, he once had a memorable encounter with an Arab ambassador:
When he served as America’s minister to France in the mid-1780s, Jefferson had once confronted an Arab diplomat, demanding to know by what right his country attacked Americans in the Mediterranean:
The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the Laws of the Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have answered their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners.
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Deserving people should be rewarded. It is nice to see this happen.
burt on February 15, 2013 at 5:41 PM
America ALWAYS getshe government it deserves so excuse me for NOT being shocked that the CLUELESS democrats in Minnesota discovered they just sat on a barbwired enema tube.
Actions have consequences just as does lethargy.
DannoJyd on February 15, 2013 at 5:46 PM
To quote a now decades old movie “Welcome to the party, pal!”
Fynxbell on February 15, 2013 at 5:51 PM
Bend Forward!
DavidM on February 15, 2013 at 6:25 PM
Wisconsin definitely doesn’t want these business people moving in, especially that Taft guy. They would just bring their big government mindset with them. They still haven’t really learned the lesson that stupid people like them should have learned, they just think that it’s not fair that their businesses were affected.
AZfederalist on February 15, 2013 at 8:02 PM
Ah…of course. It’s Daddy’s business and this hippy dipstick inherited it and is in the process of running it into the ground. That’s pretty much the sissy/liberal model — born with money, happy to call for higher taxes…until.
Jaibones on February 15, 2013 at 8:25 PM
I’d tell him he can’t move. You wanted Dayton, now you got him. Live with it.
TulsAmerican on February 15, 2013 at 9:15 PM
You reap what you sow.
COgirl on February 15, 2013 at 11:03 PM
Better to move to the Dakotas. They have oil and gas and lower taxes. Also, if there is the “divorce”, they will be on the right side.
Mirimichi on February 16, 2013 at 1:22 AM
Higher taxes!
Oh wait, I thought that meant higher taxes for everyone else?
It’s very simple to understand. When you are frivolously spending, you very quickly run out of other people’s money.
Democrats can simply not deliver the utopia they’ve promised. It’s collapsing the economy and that destruction will continue until people realize it’s the big lie.
Look no further than states like Wisconsin and Texas for models that work.
Demonizing people doesn’t work when folks can look across the border and see how much better their neighbor is doing.
Marcus Traianus on February 16, 2013 at 6:41 AM
http://hotair.com/archives/2012/09/02/video-axelrod-dodges-the-better-off-four-years-ago-question/comment-page-1/#comments
rogerb on February 16, 2013 at 6:45 AM
I support Obama!–No wait!!!
You screwed yourselves and the rest of us along with you.
I don’t like you very much.
Sherman1864 on February 16, 2013 at 9:44 AM
Don’t worry libfree Governor Moonshine and the DFL plan on expanding our Sales tax as well. When corporations pay more in taxes they pass that expense on to their customers. Eventually the end user pays all of those expenses + profit or the business goes under. Voting DFL always means trickle down taxation.
jpmn on February 16, 2013 at 10:24 AM
Ah Minnesota Schadenfreude, brewed in the state, kept in secret dark liberal think tanks, only served at the start of a term in office and denied that they wanted it. Best served ice cold with a hint of hypocrisy to give that burst of irony. You wanted it Minnesota, now drink rhe Witches brew you voted for, as we laugh at the ” elections have consequences” reactions. Sweet for me but not for thee. BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
stormridercx4 on February 16, 2013 at 12:31 PM
Great comment thread but I have to say this: I live in a 3rd ring suburb of the Mpls/St.Paul geography. I’ve watched the Dems leave Mpls and St. Paul b/c of crime and taxes. But they move out and continue to vote Democrat.
Either they’re too stupid to figure out it’s the Democrat policies that cause the problems or ?????? can’t think of anything else. But the worst is, those of us who “get it” get stuck with them and their fantasy world of a better city through OPP (other people’s money) in their new city.
Lefties will never get it – they won’t listen. During gun hearings this past week, the Dems left when challenged by people who understood what’s at stake with taking away our guns.
Then there’s our questionable elections but not for today.
MN J on February 16, 2013 at 10:35 PM
If things are that bad, MOVE! I did when I discovered there was no way I could have an actual life in Illinois, and my family thinks it was the best idea I’ve ever had, while my friends still in ChiTcago think I was nuts to do so.
Today they remain cowering in their overpriced shacks scared that today will be THE DAY they are attacked by the criminal element there. The mere thought of a firearm scars them as well.
DannoJyd on February 17, 2013 at 1:09 AM
‘Ones Demise is always one’s own making’
Hello Voters… You’re screwed! Guess who’s to blame!?
I’ll give you a hint: there’s a bullet sized hole in your shoe and there’s a smoking gun in your hand.
Chaz706 on February 17, 2013 at 1:31 AM
It is great to see another Blue State going down the same crapper as my own native state of California. Just keep voting Democrat, people. That will equal high taxes, a terrible business climate, and a bankrupt state. That must be the “attributes” that this hippie whack-job wants.
Rogervzv on February 17, 2013 at 12:56 PM
Yet, after the 2008 campaign of Hope and Change, and four years of destroying the republic, topped with 2012 campaign of Forward, ole JugEars earns fore more years to complete his destruction of the US.
Way to go, Libs.
socalcon on February 17, 2013 at 9:45 PM
The Captain Louis Renault award is off base.
Captain Louis Renault was handed his winnings at the end. The productive people of Minnesota are being handed the bill.
krome on February 19, 2013 at 10:54 AM
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