Words are buzzing about Mitt Romney's statement to a Muslim businessman that he "cannot see that a Cabinet position would be justified" for a Muslim, based on the percentage of Muslims in the U.S. Romney quickly disputed businessman Mansoor Ijaz's account of their exchange, but Ijaz stands by his telling. To make matters worse for Romney, TPM Election Central just dropped another bomb: apparently two NV GOPers had asked Romney a similar question several months ago and received a similar answer, which one of them even described as "racist." Will this hurt Romney's reputation among Iowa GOPers, who are not exactly sympathetic to Muslims? And will the topic be raised during tonight's CNN/YouTube debate? We have previously taken a position on this growing phenomenon.

A simple check of the Bush administration would show a hugely disproportionate Jewish representation in the President's cabinet and in Congress. Are we to expect that Mitt Romany's presidency will be an affirmative action administration and a government based on pure demographics - not on talent and expertise?

Mitt Romney has failed the Republican test of meritocracy, when he said that "based on number of Muslims...." Since when have there been quotas in the US cabinet? The last time I checked, the Republicans were against all quotas, but would apparently never discriminate against people on silly grounds like faith, gender, disability, etc ... right? Ijaz, too, has asked a silly question - why does he want a Muslim in the US cabinet for tokenistic reasons?

I recall former president Reagan's EPA Secretary James Watt being criticized for saying he had a woman, a black, a Jew and a cripple (his words) so some committee he had formed was well-represented - but is that the kind of tokenistic representation Ijaz is after? He should take up the cause of a good Muslim politician kept out of a position of power because of his or her faith, and fight for that. By Romney's logic, there won't be room for Bobby Jindal in his cabinet, because by their numbers, a position for an American of Indian origin is not justified, right? And this idea that only a Muslim can understand Islam or Muslim issues and deal with the threat militant Islam poses is preposterous in itself.

The US didn't have a German in the cabinet to deal with Hitler's Germany, nor a Russian to deal with Soviet Russia. That's like saying tha Darfur can only be sorted by African Union troops. That's not sensitivity; that's the ghettoization of politics.

Admittedly, Muslims are underrepresented in most public and governmental fields. I find, however, no law that prevents us from seeking these prized posts. Hatemongering and the plethora of anti-Muslim hysteria notwithstanding, only our own inner fears are what stand in the way.

Aref Assaf Mitt's Muslim Mess

Aref Assaf
Mitt's Muslim Mess