As Michael Moore and Arianna Huffington celebrate the Democratic success in the US – at least Moore acknowledges that the Dems usually “screw it up” – perhaps the most interesting result was this:
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – Voters elected a black Democrat as the first Muslim in Congress on Tuesday after a race in which he advocated quick U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and made little mention of his faith.
Keith Ellison, a 43-year-old lawyer and state representative, defeated two rivals, television networks said, to succeed retiring Democrat Martin Sabo in a seat that has been held by Democrats since 1963.
Ellison, who converted to Islam as a 19-year-old college student in his native Detroit, won with the help of Muslims among a coalition of liberal, anti-war voters.
He advocates an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq along with strongly liberal views. While Ellison did not often speak of his faith during the campaign, awareness of his candidacy drew interest from Muslims well beyond the district centred in Minneapolis.
The coming years will see a growing number of Muslims assuming power in the Western world, including Australia. This will undoubtedly shape policy towards the Middle East and Israel especially.
It can’t come a day too soon. The years of a blindly pro-Israel US administration are coming to an end (and even Zionists are starting to get worried.) Not today, nor tomorrow, but the coming decade.