As I write this, Governor
Rod Blagojevich has made a real mess of things at the Illinois Statehouse.
Through his inept handling
of a silly little matter, he has managed to pit black legislators against
Jewish legislators and Jews against each other. Tensions are higher than I've
seen in a long while.
This all started back in
August when Blagojevich appointed members to his Commission on Discrimination
and Hate Crimes. The commission was first formed by Gov. George Ryan, but Gov.
Blagojevich never appointed any members until last year, when re-election
season began to ramp up.
One of those appointees
was Sister Claudette Marie Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan's Director of Protocol at
the Nation of Islam.
The appointment became an
issue after Muhammad invited members of the commission to Farrakhan's annual
"Savior's Day" address in Chicago.
Farrakhan is not exactly
an anti-hate type, and his Savior's Day speech was no exception. "DonŐt be
afraid to love and donŐt be afraid to hate," he said.
"ItŐs the wicked
Jews, the false Jews that are promoting lesbianism, homosexuality. ItŐs wicked
Jews, false Jews that make it a crime for you to preach the word of God, then
they call you homophobic!"
If Muhammad was simply a
member of Farrakhan's congregation, there might be some questions, but few
would likely make a major deal out of this.
But Muhammad is a high
official with the Nation of Islam and is one of Farrakhan's close advisers. So
questions were raised. Instead of addressing those questions, the governor
stood by his appointment, claiming that Muhammad was in sync with the
commission's mission.
Except that a few days later
the governor claimed he didn't know that Muhammad was a Farrakhan person, and
it took his office several days to pry from her a weak, generic statement claiming
support for the commission's goals.
Understandably, tempers
began to flare at the Statehouse, and some Jewish legislators decided to act.
Despite lots of pressure from the governor's office, they held a press
conference calling on Muhammad to fully explain her positions. Some
African-American legislators then took to the podium afterwards to lash out at
Muhammad's critics, more than just implying racial motives.
Then things really got
bad.
The day after the press
conference, Lonnie Nasatir of the Anti-Defamation League resigned from the commission
in protest. A few minutes later, Gov. Blagojevich appointed Rep. Lou Lang to
take Nasatir's place. The appointment was obviously designed to show that the
Jewish community was divided over the governor's decision and to quell any
media uproar.
One out, one in, no big
deal, no big story.
But then later that night
another prominent Jewish leader announced his resignation. When Richard
Hirschhaut, the director of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center,
resigned the governor was caught flat-footed. Blagojevich's office had spent
the day reaching out to other prominent Jewish leaders, but they didn't have
anyone ready to go when Hirschaut's announcement came.
Two out, one in, a very
big deal - and a national story.
And then the very next
day, Rep. Lang resigned, along with another prominent Jewish leader, Howard
Kaplan.
Four out, none in - a
complete disaster.
Nobody would have uttered
a peep of protest if Governor Blagojevich had refused to appoint a Nation of
Islam official to his hate crimes commission last August.
Few would have said a word
when the story first broke if the governor had removed Muhammad, because
opinions had yet to harden and the issue was not well-known.
But that's not what
happened. The governor blindly appointed someone from a list, then refused to
change his mind, even though we now know that the governor didn't know whether
Muhammad was as hateful to Jews and gays as her boss.
Then he stuck by his
position even though it took days to extract from her a generic statement of
support for the commission's goals (which should have set off major alarm
bells).
And finally, he played a
cynical game of divide and conquer with the Jewish community.
The result of all of this
is inflamed tension between black and Jewish legislators, who are usually
natural legislative allies, and deeply hurt feelings within the Jewish
delegation itself, which is now divided between ideological foes of Farrakhan
and ultra-partisan supporters of the governor.
All of this over a
backwater commission which was so unimportant that the governor didn't even
bother to activate it for almost three years, and which nobody ever heard of
until last month, and whose only purpose is to write a report that nobody will
ever read.
Thanks, governor. Great
job.
Not.
-30-
Rich Miller also publishes
Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter. He can be reached at
thecapitolfaxblog.com