March 17, 2011

Missouri Legislator: Sharia is Like Polio

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On Wednesday, the Missouri House of Representatives held hearings on a proposed constitutional amendement to prohibit state courts from enforcing Sharia law. How did it go? Here’s Republican State Rep. Don Wells, who introduced the bill, via the Post-Dispatch:

“This is to protect the people of America,” Wells said of his bill.

He went on to compare Sharia law to a disease, like polio. Rep. Jason Kander, D-Kansas City, stopped him to confirm.

“Sharia law is like polio?” Kander asked.

“Absolutely, as far as I’m concerned in this country,” Wells responded.

It’s actually not a terrible analogy, but I’d tweak it a little bit: Sharia is a lot like polio in that it poses absolutely no threat to the United States. Fixed.

To refresh your memory, when a similar bill was introduced earlier this month, its GOP sponsors, State Rep. Paul Curtman and Speaker of the House Stephen Tilley, held a press conference in which Curtman failed to offer any real-life examples that would actually justify the law:

“I don’t have the specifics with me right now but if you go to—the web address kind of escapes my mind right now. Any Google search on international law used in the state courts in the U.S. is going to turn up some cases for you.”

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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