The US had an opportunity to shine but for............ugly voicies

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20070102/cm_usatoday/uglyvoicestarnishdebutofcongressfirstmuslim

Ugly voices tarnish debut of Congress' first Muslim

Tue Jan 2, 6:41 AM ET

Keith Ellison's election to the House, as the chamber's first Muslim, provides the United States with a grand opportunity to showcase its credentials as a nation of opportunity, equality and diversity.
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What a great story to tell the Muslim world. Five years after 9/11, voters in America's heartland elected Ellison, an African-American who grew up in Detroit and converted to Islam in college, to one of the nation's highest offices. The 43-year-old Democrat took 56% of the vote in his Minneapolis-area district.

Ellison upped the chance to polish America's image for religious tolerance, as well, when he said he'd use Islam's holy book, the Quran, at his ceremonial swearing-in this week.

That's when the chance to shine was tarnished by a few ugly voices. The loudest belongs to Rep. Virgil Goode (news, bio, voting record), R-Va., who used the occasion to take a crude swipe not only at Ellison and the Quran, but at all Muslims.

In a letter to a constituent that later leaked out publicly and reeks with bigotry, Goode railed that "if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the" Quran. Goode expressed "fear" that in the next century "we will have many more Muslims" in the USA............