The ultimate Trojan Horse

Leftists and Left-Libertarians who support the construction of the Grand Mosque at Ground Zero argue "tolerance." Yet, history has shown over and over that Muslims use these Mosques as staging areas for conquering un-suspecting and tolerant local populations.

Prevention of Crime, Public Safety and a simple case of Common Courtesy

From Eric Dondero:

A Kettering Member of Parliament, Conservative Philip Hollobone, is refusing to hold constituent meetings with Muslim women dressed in a Hijab or Burqa. Though, he will continue to meet their concerns through the mail. The MP says he does not feel comfortable holding face-to-face meetings with a woman whose face is entirely covered. He believes it is a great hinderance to communications. He is also sponsoring a bill to ban face-covering clothing on the grounds that it presents a threat to public safety and for just plain-old common courtesy. Said Hollobone:

I just take what I regard as a common sense view. If you want to engage in normal, daily, interactive dialogue with your fellow human beings, you can only really do this properly by seeing each other’s face.
Seventy-five per cent of the usual communication between two human beings is done with personal experience. God gave us faces to be expressive. It is not just the words we utter but whether we are smiling, sad, angry or frustrated. You don’t get any of that if your face is covered.

Meanwhile, a fellow Tory is opposing Hollobone. From the BBC:

Immigration minister Damian Green has said banning the full Islamic veil in public would be "at odds with the UK's tolerant society".

The Libertarian case for Burqa Ban

Some prominent UK Libertarians are coming to Hollobone's defense.

Claire Khaw, an Ayn Randian and self-described "libertarian secularist" (source: benwoodhams.wordpress.com) of Voice of Reason blog blasts Damian Green:

Damian Green is a cowardly piece of shit, but then he is a Tory MP and we can expect no better from the likes of him... I am a Libertarian and want a ban on the grounds that it brings Islam into hatred, ridicule and contempt...

It is for the prevention of crime and the protection of the reputation of Islam that feminine neurosis should not be indulged in this way.

Respect the Host Country's Culture - "When in Rome..."

And this from Roger Helmer of (the UK) CentreRight July 29, "Why France and Philip Hollobrone are right on the Burqa ban":

As an instinctive libertarian, I must admit that my first thought was to oppose any ban on the burka. We want the government off our backs, not telling us what to wear.

But the libertarian argument works both ways. There certainly are Muslim women who choose voluntarily to wear the burka, perhaps as an expression of identity, or of faith, or perhaps out of a misplaced sense of modesty. On the other hand there is good evidence that many Muslim women wear the burka involuntarily, because of cultural, or religious, or peer pressure, or indeed because they are forced to do so by their husbands or other male relatives. So a burka ban would be an imposition on the first group, but would liberate the second.

Hollobone is not a hater of Islam. In fact, he supports Muslim modesty, but he also recognizes that immigrants should respect the values of a host country. From the FreeThinker:

When in Rome, do as the Romans do … They say that when women come to this country, they ought to adapt to our way of life. The Muslim population is growing across western Europe, as is Islamic fundamentalism. It is important to stress I am a respecter of Islam as one of the world’s great religions. I also respect the right of Muslim women to protect their modesty.

From Eric Dondero:

The Left is constantly accusing the Tea Parties of having a "racist" bent. Some real live racist frauds have even shown up to a couple Tea Party rallies, holding racist signs. They were quickly denounced and ejected by the real Tea Party members. Some suspected that they were Democrat plants.

Now, fake Tea Partying is coming from a different direction. At least one Moderate Republican has been caught associating himself with the movement.

A certified Republican In Name Only (RINO), in Missouri used Tea Party symbolism in campaign literature. The guy has never shown up once to a Tea Party event, or has had anything to do with any state or local chapter.

State State Scott Rupp is being challenged for reelection in the GOP primary by Christian bookstore owner and State Rep. Cynthia Davis for State Senate (St. Charles County west of St. Louis). Davis is a hard-line religious conservative and home school advocate. Though, she has an economic libertarian streak. Last year she won national media attention for opposing school lunch programs. From HHPOA.org:

Last year Davis was scolded by liberal television commentator Keith Olbermann and others when she said “hunger can be a positivemotivator” in opposing taxpayer-funded food programs for poorchildren.

The well-known Missouri blog Bob McCarty Writes has picked these two plums from his voting record:

In May 2009, Rupp supported a House-Senate conference committee measure (H.B. 11) that critics say would have added 35,000 able-bodied people to the Show-Me State’s Medicaid rolls had it not been defeated.

In October 2009, Rupp went so far as to scold a state education official for not acting quickly enough to secure millions in strings-attached federal funding for the state via President Barack Obama’s “Race to the Top” education initiative.

According to McNarty, a local Tea Party leader Chuck McNab had this to say (via BigGovernment.com):

As we see it, his flyer attempts to create an illusion. For instance, we have never seen him show up to meet people or to help out at a Saturday rally of K & N Patriots, the largest and primary “tea party” group that has met every Saturday for over a year in his District. Cynthia Davis, his opponent, has shown up to help out, hold a sign and converse with participants at the corner of K & N almost every Saturday, sometimes for the entire duration of the rally.

Refuses to "go along with tax increases and expansion of power"

From Eric Dondero:

Bob Ziegelbauer, a State Representative from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, has decided to leave the Democrat Party and run for reelection as an Independent.

From the Wisconsin political blog Maritime Sentry:

Bob Ziegelbauer will be running as an independent this fall for state assembly, leaving the Democrat Party. I think anyone who follows politics in Wisconsin saw this coming the moment the Democrats in their arrogance stripped him of his chairmanship in 2009...

This virtually assures that the assembly will be back in Republican hands after November.

Republican on ballot against Ziegelbauer put up by Democrats?

Ziegelbauer has had a more conservative record. He was quoted by htrnews:

“I have always been a staunchly independent voice, working hard to do the right thing to represent the people of this community, but now the party machinery has made it clear that they want another ‘yes man,’ someone who will blindly go along with every tax increase or expansion of their power without the backbone to stand up for the people. That won’t work for me”

Ironically, despite his switch, Ziegelbauer still faces a Republican challenger in the Fall. However, there is some controversy. The local Republican Party is accusing Ziegelbauer's opponent Andrew Wisniewski of being a Democrat plant, and does not support his candidacy. (Source: Fox11)

(H/t Ballot Access News & IPR)