Amy Goodman interview with Keith Ellison, next Minneapolis congressperson

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/14/1351249

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AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about your response to your Democratic primary victory?

KEITH ELLISON: Well, it's obviously overwhelming. The best part about it is that we really did knit together God's whole family. We had people of all faiths. We had people of all religious orientations, colors, cultures, you know, just the whole family was in the room when we celebrated our victory. And it was just tremendously gratifying.

AMY GOODMAN: If you are elected to Congress, you will be the first African American elected to federal office, in addition to being the first Muslim member of Congress.

KEITH ELLISON: Yeah, well, you know, that's, I think, an interesting thing, but the point that I’ve been making all along in this race is that what we share is more important than the differences between us, that we all need peace. We all need an Iraq policy that makes sense, as opposed to this crazy quagmire war. We all need universal healthcare coverage, and we all need to stop the middle class squeeze, which has left our wages and our pay declining in Bush’s America. Now, that's something that doesn't hinge on religion or color. It's something we all have to focus on, and that’s what I’m going to focus on.

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AMY GOODMAN: We're talking to Keith Ellison. He won the Democratic primary in Minneapolis, slated to be the first Muslim congress member in the United States. What did Ned Lamont's victory mean to you, the upset in Connecticut, where he won the Democratic primary against Joseph Lieberman?

KEITH ELLISON: That it's about peace. People the nation over know that Americans are a peaceful people. They want peace. Everyone recognizes the quagmire in Iraq. We all know the Bush administration intended to go there before 9/11. And so, you know, we sometimes debate why are we still in Iraq. We're not there because the Bush administration does not know how to get out. It’s not even about whether we need a -- it's not an issue of a plan. It's a question of the will to go. And it's very, very discouraging when you see the Bush administration building military bases and not holding Halliburton accountable, things like that. But Connecticut has shown that Americans want peace. Americans want to get out of Iraq. Americans want a new policy. Americans want to see peace be the guiding principle of our nation.

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/14/1351249

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1. On Bringing the Troops Home Now . . .

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/14/1351249

AMY GOODMAN: Keith Ellison, are you for immediate withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Iraq?

KEITH ELLISON: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: How would you make that happen if you become a congress member?

KEITH ELLISON: Well, what I would do is I’d be a voice for it, and as I have been throughout the entire campaign, you know, I would be one to work with all other congress people who share that belief. I know there is a Bring the Troops Home Now caucus. And I’ve talked to members of congress who are part of that. And I’m in favor of having community town hall forums to really introduce this idea, because what the Bush administration has somewhat successfully done is argue the idea that, yeah, it was a mistake to go in there, but now that we're there, we have to stay. And that is a false idea. We don't have to stay, just because we're there. In fact, we have to stop the bleed. We have to stop the hemorrhage now. And my father used to always say, when you dig yourself a hole, the best thing to do is to stop digging.

And that's what we need to do in Iraq. We need to say that we need to pull, but we need to be part of a multilateral group that would bring the sectarian fighters together so that everyone would have a piece of Iraq and a future in Iraq, and so that not one faction would exalt or be dominant over the others. We’ve got to make sure that the entire -- all the groups in Iraq have a stake and a future in Iraq, and that is going to call for diplomacy, which is something the Bush administration has not shown any talent for.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/14/1351249

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