This Keith Ellison Story Might Take Off

Keith Ellison, Minnesota Congressional representative since January of this year, earned fame of a sort by being the first Muslim voted into Congressional office. He earned fame of another sort by comparing 9/11 to the Reichstag fire in 1930s Germany.

Representative Keith Ellison really did say "On comparing Sept. 11 to the burning of the Reichstag building in Nazi Germany: '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." (Atheists applaud Ellison's views on Cheney, Libby, 9/11, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, July 8, 2007)

Representative Keith Ellison didn't say that President Bush is Hitler's grandson.

But, between people who hate President Bush, people trying to discredit Representative Ellison, and people who don't pay attention to what they read, I'm afraid that this will become a "news item" that the "vast right-wing conspiracy" has suppressed.

It's all a joke. "Bush is Hitler grandson say Minnesota Dem Keith Ellison" is the headline of an article with a format similar to that of a news story, with a stock photograph of the U.S. President.

Very convincing.

An astute observer might notice that the article's byline was "queen mudder," and that the hosting site was The Spoof!.

The Spoof! is, well, a spoof website. I can't do better, describing it, than to quote the Hitler's Grandson article's disclaimer, "All items on this website are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental or is intended purely as a satire, parody or spoof."

With so many people willing to believe either the fictitious claim, or that Congressman Ellison followed up his Reichstag remarks with a weird claim like this, I'm afraid that we may have the birth of a conspiracy theory here.

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.