Rep. Ellison's Misconstrued Reichstag Remarks

Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota is in the news again, or still. He says that people "misconstrued my remarks." Misconstrued?!

Let's look at what he said last Sunday.

"It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that. After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it and it put the leader of that country [Hitler] in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted. The fact is that I'm not saying [Sept. 11] was a [U.S.] plan, or anything like that because, you know, that's how they put you in the nut-ball box -- dismiss you."

(The Reichstag fire he's referring to is the 1933 blaze in the Reichstag building in Germany. The chancellor of Germany blamed Communists, who would have been running against his party in an upcoming election. The chancellor also asked for, and got, sweeping powers and authority: which he used to establish his party's position as the sole political power in Germany.)

Again: Misconstrued?!

"Do whatever he wanted"?

Hmm. Let's see what happened after the German chancellor got his powers.

"Truckloads of stormtroopers roared through the streets all over Germany, breaking into homes, rounding up victims and carting them off to [Brownshirt] barracks, where they were tortured and beaten." (William Shirer's "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," as quoted in Kersten's column.)

Odd. If something like that had happened after 9/11, I'd have thought it would have been on the news: at least in Reuters.

Now, Representative Ellison is telling whoever will listen what he really meant. Which, apparently, is that he doesn't agree with all of President Bush's policies, and that he thinks that Osama Bin Laden was really behind the 9/11 attacks.

Amazing: what a difference it makes, realizing that you're on camera.

Keith Ellison posts:

• Keith Ellison, Iraqi Sheikhs, and Islam's Image (August 3, 2007)
• This Keith Ellison Story Might Take Off (July 27, 2007)
• Congressman Keith Ellison and Islam (July 22, 2007)
• Rep. Ellison's Misconstrued Reichstag Remarks (July 17, 2007)
• There's a New Loon in Minnesota (July 16, 2007)
• Another Islamic Voice in the Debate (July 16, 2007)

As the first Islamic member of the American Congress, Representative Ellison deserves some attention. There may be more K.E. posts, given his colorful past associations and current talent for getting in the news.