McIlheran Watch: Waiting for denunciation

by folkbum

I would also accept it from Dad29 or Rick Esenberg, or any one of the dozens of other Right Cheddarsphereans who had their undies bunched about two bloggers hired by the John Edwards for President Campaign. What will they say about a campaign chairman?

In 1997, shortly after I finished grad school, I started working at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. My very first project, literally in my first week, dealt with a Republican member of South Carolina’s Board of Education, who wanted to impose Christianity on public school students. When one of his colleagues on the board alluded to concerns about religious minorities in the state, this board member said, on tape, “Screw the Buddhists and kill the Muslims. And put that in the minutes.”

The guy’s name was Henry Jordan. I got to work trying to force his resignation, but to no avail. I helped drum up some media interest, but the GOP establishment in South Carolina stood by Jordan, the response from local voters was tepid, and he kept his job looking out for the educational needs of children.

This week, my old friend Jordan got a new political gig.

Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter on Thursday named … former state Rep. Tom Marchant and Dr. Henry Jordan campaign co-chairmen.

I suppose you could say that John Edwards has about a billion percent better chance of winning the Democratic nomination than Duncan Hunter does of winning the Republican nomination, and therefore Hunter doesn't merit the same close examination of his staff. I suppose you could also say that McIlheran, Esenberg, and 29 are Catholic and, therefore, don't pay attention to people who hate other religions. I suppose you could also say that the double standard remains firmly in place, so I shouldn't hold my breath.

In any case, I feel I should at least get the Duncan Hunter "screw the Budhists and kill the Muslims" story out there for you--an elected official speaking in his capacity as an elected official (as opposed, you know, to a couple of bloggers on their personal blogs) now chairing a campaign for president who suffers from far worse religious intolerance than any campaign employee we have seen yet in this election season. Let the denunciations begin.