Think Progress

Majority of Americans are worried Fort Hood shooting will ‘prompt a backlash’ against Muslims in the military.

The Plum Line’s Greg Sargent points to a new Rasmussen poll showing that 57 percent of the American public is “concerned” that “the shooting at Fort Hood will prompt a backlash against Muslims serving in the military.” From the poll:

How concerned are you that the shooting at Fort Hood will prompt a backlash against Muslims serving in the military- very concerned, somewhat concerned, not very concerned, not at all concerned?

23% Very concerned
34% Somewhat concerned
29% Not very concerned
11% Not at all concerned
2% Not sure

On Sunday, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey also said he was concerned that the actions of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan may “cause a backlash” against Muslim soldiers, and Homeland Security Janet Napolitano warned against an “anti-Muslim sentiment.” Nevertheless, last night on Fox News, Bill O’Reilly said that it was good to try to win the hearts and minds of Muslims — but only because the U.S. can’t kill them all. “Barack Obama wants to win hearts and minds in the Middle East and in the Muslim world, which is a good thing,” said O’Reilly. “And you know that, as a soldier, we can’t kill all the Muslims. So we want to win as many hearts and minds of good, moderate Muslims as we can.”

Louisiana justice who refused marriage license to interracial couple resigns.

Last month, Louisiana justice of the peace Keith Bardwell stirred controversy when he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple because he believes that such marriages don’t usually last very long. “I don’t do interracial marriages because I don’t want to put children in a situation they didn’t bring on themselves,” Bardwell said. Now, the Louisiana secretary of state’s office says that Bardwell has resigned:

A Louisiana justice of the peace who drew criticism for refusing to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple has resigned, the secretary of state’s office said Tuesday.

Keith Bardwell, a justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish’s 8th Ward, was widely criticized after he refused to grant a marriage license to Beth McKay and Terence McKay, an interracial couple who ultimately got a marriage license from another justice of the peace in the same parish.

The McKays hired an attorney and protested the justice’s actions.

Despite a national uproar and a call by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal for him to lose his license, Bardwell, 56, said in October that he had no regrets. “It’s kind of hard to apologize for something that you really and truly feel down in your heart you haven’t done wrong,” he told CNN affiliate WAFB.

Civil rights organizations had called for Bardwell to resign while Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) had called for him to be dismissed. Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), on the other hand, would only go so far as to say that Bardwell “should follow the law as written.”

During D.C. hearing on same-sex marriage, witness interrupts by proposing to his partner.

The D.C. City Council held a hearing yesterday on a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry in the nation’s capital. However, the hearing was briefly interrupted when witness Andy Hertzberg stopped to propose to his partner. “I would like to take a huge step in my own life,” Hertzberg said. “Andy [Rollman], I’d like to ask you: Will you marry me?” One marriage equality opponent was outraged that they would show their love for one another, saying that for “something like this” to happen in the Council’s chambers, it showed a lack of “respect.” According to the local ABC report, however, most council members were supportive of the proposal. Watch it:

CNN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell goes after discriminatory hotel owner: Would you make me change my name too? »

New Mexico hotel owner Larry Whitten is currently facing national criticism for demanding that his Hispanic employees change their names and stop speaking Spanish in his presence. Today on CNN, HLN host Jane Velez-Mitchell sharply went after Whitten, introducing herself as “Jane Velez-Mitchell. I hope you don’t mind if I keep using the word ‘Velez’ in my name.” She then went after him for asking his “Spanish” employees to anglicize their names:

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did you, or did you not, tell someone who’s name is Martin (Mar-TEEN) to say that his name was “Martin,” or similar changes? [...]

WHITTEN: Yes, I asked Martin (Mar-TEEN) to change it to “Martin” to better understand it over the telephone.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You can’t understand Mar-TEEN? Do you know that the vast majority of people in the community where you have your hotel are Latino? So your customers, to a large extent, are going to be Latino. Now how do you treat the customers when they come in? Do you them also to change their names? Like if I came in, would Jane Velez-Mitchell — so you could better understand my name — would you ask me to change it?

WHITTEN: No, ma’am — [...]

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So the idea that you’re presupposing that people cannot understand Mar-TEEN, but they can understand Martin, really says a lot more about you, sir, than it does about your customers or anybody else.

Throughout the interview, as Velez-Mitchell pointed out, Whitten insisted on calling the employee by the anglicized pronunciation of “Martin.” Watch it:

Transcript: More »« Less

Hotel owner tells ‘Spanish’ employees to change their names and ‘speak only English.’

The AP reports that in Taos, NM, hotel owner Larry Whitten is under fire for his treatment of his Hispanic employees:

After he arrived, Whitten met with the employees. He says he immediately noticed that they were hostile to his management style and worried they might start talking about him in Spanish.

“Because of that, I asked the people in my presence to speak only English because I do not understand Spanish,” Whitten says. “I’ve been working 24 years in Texas and we have a lot of Spanish people there. I’ve never had to ask anyone to speak only English in front of me because I’ve never had a reason to.” [...]

Then Whitten told some employees he was changing their Spanish first names. Whitten says it’s a routine practice at his hotels to change first names of employees who work the front desk phones or deal directly with guests if their names are difficult to understand or pronounce.

“It has nothing to do with racism. I’m not doing it for any reason other than for the satisfaction of my guests, because people calling from all over America don’t know the Spanish accents or the Spanish culture or Spanish anything,” Whitten says.

Whitten eventually fired many Hispanic several employees for being “hostile and insubordinate.” He further angered the local community when he referred to people in the town as “mountain people” and “potheads who escaped society” during interviews with the press. Watch a video of an August protest against Whitten (which includes one employee named Marcos revealing that he was fired when he refused to change his name to “Mark” or “Bill”):

Vitter dodges question about interracial marriage in Louisiana.

Although both Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) have publicly condemned Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell for refusing to issue marriage licenses to interracial couples, Sen. David Vitter (R) has stayed noticeably silent. (ThinkProgress contacted his office, but we did not receive a response.) Blogger-activist Mike Stark caught up with Vitter and asked him about his position. “Have you commented? What did you have to say about it?” asked Stark. Vitter simply smiled, stepped into the elevator, and allowed the doors to close. Watch it:

Spurned couple responds: ‘If it wasn’t for interracial couples today, we wouldn’t have our president.’

Last week, Louisiana couple Beth and Terence McKay revealed that justice of the peace Keith Bardwell had recently refused to give them a marriage license because they are an interracial couple. “I don’t do interracial marriages because I don’t want to put children in a situation they didn’t bring on themselves,” Bardwell said. “In my heart, I feel the children will later suffer.” Today on CNN, the McKays responded to Bardwell:

TERENCE McKAY: He says the only reason he doesn’t marry interracial couple is dealing with — because of the offspring of the marriages. If it wasn’t for interracial couples today, we wouldn’t have our president. So, for him to take that outlook, that’s still 1800s or something.

Watch it:

Both Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) have said that Bardwell should resign, but Sen. David Vitter (R) has refused to join their calls. Bardwell has said he has no plans to step down. (HT: Raw Story)

Louisiana justice of the peace denied marriage license to interracial couple, worried they might have children.

The AP reports that Louisiana justice of the peace Keith Bardwell has refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple because he believes that such marriages don’t usually last very long:

“I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house,” Bardwell said. “My main concern is for the children.”

Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.

“I don’t do interracial marriages because I don’t want to put children in a situation they didn’t bring on themselves,” Bardwell said. “In my heart, I feel the children will later suffer.”

If he does an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said.

“I try to treat everyone equally,” he said.

The couple said they “will consult the U.S. Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint.” (HT: Right Wing Watch)

Jon Stewart hits Fox for ignoring gay rights march after aggressively promoting 9/12 March.

During the tea party protests and the more recent 9/12 march, Fox News argued that it was justified in covering them incessantly because the network doesn’t “pick and choose these rallies and protests” — it covers them all. At the same time, it slammed other networks for not giving enough coverage to the right-wing rallies. But as Jon Stewart noted on The Daily Show last night, Fox ignored the weekend’s National Equality March, whose turnout was comparable to the 9/12 March. “You didn’t even send your own camera crew?” exclaimed Stewart. “You have a Washington bureau! Tell them to go to the window and point the camera down!” Watch it:

Stewart also pointed out that Fox was more than happy to get out the tv cameras and an on-air reporter to cover an empty sidewalk where there had apparently been a protest about students singing a pro-Obama song. (HT: Andrew Sullivan and Raw Story)

Harwood: Anonymous WH adviser says bloggers need to ‘take off the pjs, get dressed,’ and stop criticizing us.

Yesterday, CNBC’s Chief Washington Correspondent John Harwood said that the Obama White House doesn’t view dissatisfaction amongst LGBT advocates — tens of thousands of whom marched in Washington, DC yesterday — as a “serious problem” because officials feel “that if they take care of the big issues — health care, energy, the economy — he’s [Obama] going to be just fine with this group.” As evidence, Harwood cited an anonymous “adviser” who bashed bloggers and dismissed critics as part of the “Internet left fringe”:

HOLT: But in general when you look at the left as a whole, have there been conversations about some things they thought would have been done but haven’t?

HARWOOD: Sure, but if you look at the polling, Barack Obama is doing well with 90 percent or more of Democrats so the White House views this opposition as really part of the “Internet left fringe,” Lester. And for a sign of how seriously the White House does or doesn’t take this opposition, one adviser told me today those bloggers need to take off the pajamas, get dressed and realize that governing a closely divided country is complicated and difficult.

Watch it:

On Saturday at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual dinner, Obama sent a far different message. “I’m here with a simple message: I’m here with you in that fight,” said the President, candidly adding, “I also appreciate that many of you don’t believe that progress has come fast enough. I want to be honest about that. Because it’s important to be honest amongst friends.”

Rep. Louie Gohmert: Hate crimes bill will lead to Nazism, legalization of necrophilia, pedophilia, and bestiality.

Led by Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) last night, lawmakers convened for a special session of floor speeches urging a repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Rather than participate positively in the discussion, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) took to the floor to deliver a hate-filled response. Gohmert fired off a litany of attacks, calling the DADT repeal “perverse…social experimentation” and that soldiers are being “held hostage by a sociological attack.” His rant included a bizarre argument that the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill would lead to a legalization of necrophilia, pedophilia, and bestiality. Later in the speech, after reading lengthy passages from the Bible against homosexuality, Gohmert said that taking away “moral teaching in America” would create a situation similar to that of Germany in the “1920’s and 1930’s” when a “little guy with a mustache” took over:

GOHMERT: If you’re oriented toward animals, bestiality, then, you know, that’s not something that can be used, held against you or any bias be held against you for that. Which means you’d have to strike any laws against bestiality, if you’re oriented toward corpses, toward children, you know, there are all kinds of perversions, [...] pedophiles or necrophiliacs or what most would say is perverse sexual orientations but the trouble is, we made amendments to eliminate pedophiles from being included in the definition. [...] But people have always been willing to give up their liberties, their freedoms in order to gain economic stability. It happened in 1920 and 1930’s. Germany gave up their liberties to gain economic stability and they got a little guy with a mustache, who was the ultimate hate monger. And this is scary stuff we’re doing here when we take away what has traditionally been an important aspect of moral teaching in America.

Watch it:

Several times in the speech, Gohmert credited the conservative Christian “C Street” leader Chuck Colson for inspiration. Oddly, Gohmert also meandered into a self-defensive monologue about how he is not racist because he once voted for Alan Keyes, the birther leader who has said that President Obama is “a radical communist” who “is going to destroy this country, and we are either going to stop him or the United States of America is going to cease to exist.”

Georgia GOP Rep. Deal cites ‘ghetto grandmothers’ to promote his proof-of-citizenship legislation.

One of the most frequent targets in the Georgia GOP gubenatorial primary has been undocumented immigrants. Candidates have repeatedly harped on the threat of undocumented immigrants voting in Georgia’s elections, and have even used dirty tactics to unfairly disenfranchise legal voters — the overwhelmingly majority of whom were racial minorities, according to the Department of Justice — in the name of stopping the undocumented from voting. This scare-mongering climbed to new, dangerously racially-tinged heights this past Saturday when gubenatorial candidate Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) cited complaints about “ghetto grandmothers” as the reasoning behind proof-of-citizenship legislation he is supporting:

DEAL: We got all the complaints of the ghetto grandmothers who didn’t have birth certificates and all that. We wrote some very liberal language as to how you can verify it. My mother was born in 1906 and she didn’t have a birth certificate. They didn’t give birth certificates back then. But we got her one, because you can do it under the proper procedures of your state.

Watch it:

This morning, Deal released a statement in response to the uproar his comment has created: “I regret my choice of words and in no way meant to offend anyone.”

Group marches for ‘white civil rights’ after Limbaugh hyped bus beating as a hate crime against whites.

Hate radio host Rush Limbaugh recently cast a fight between three Belleville, IL schoolchildren — the two attackers were black and the victim was white — as what happens to “white kids” in “Obama’s America.” Even though police said the bus fight was not racially motivated, Limbaugh insisted, “We need segregated buses.” On Saturday, members of white supremacist groups marched in Belleville holding signs echoing Limbaugh’s rhetoric that said, “It was a hate crime“:

While a police sniper watched from the roof of the police station, 22 members of white supremacist groups, shouted obscenities and made obscene hand gestures. One man, who had a crew cut and wore a black uniform, told the crowd of onlookers, “Wake up white America!”

“We were out there to denounce the violence,” said Belleville resident Jason Bonn, who is a corporal with the National Socialist Movement, a group with a name similar to the Nazi Party of Germany during World War II. Bonn’s group is “fighting for white civil rights.”

Several spectators “booed the white supremacist rally and shouted ‘Go home.’”