RabzonKhan
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Trump’s Republican party 
Some Republicans want to oust a Muslim doctor from his GOP leadership role – because he’s Muslim
Shahid Shafi, right, with Gov. Greg Abbott (R) at the Tarrant County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner. (Courtesy of Shahid Shafi) ((Courtesy of Shahid Shafi)
By Meagan Flynn | The Washington Post
The first time Shahid Shafi ran for a seat on the city council in Southlake, Texas, in 2011, advisers assured him a Muslim in post-9/11 America who spoke with an accent and immigrated from Pakistan would never win an election in Texas.
It’s a story that Shafi, a Republican trauma surgeon, likes to tell because he didn’t believe them. He won the Southlake City Council seat on his second try, in 2014, has since served as a delegate to multiple Texas GOP conventions and, in July, was appointed vice chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party, located in Fort Worth.
But that’s when his religion somehow became a problem again – in the eyes of some Republican colleagues.
Shafi hadn’t held the position in the North Texas county for more than a couple days before a precinct chairwoman urged Darl Easton, chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party, to “reconsider” appointing Shafi to a leadership role, a request that was soon echoed by several other precinct chairs.
“The only reason she had was because he was a Muslim,” Easton told The Washington Post. “That was the only reason she gave.”
Since then, that precinct chairwoman, Dorrie O’Brien, and a small group of her supporters have put forth a formal motion to remove Shafi as vice chairman because of his religion, a motion that is slated for a vote on Jan. 10. To Easton, who opposes the measure, the move is an embarrassment to the Republican Party. And to Shafi, it amounts to exactly what he believed didn’t exist in the United States when he arrived here 28 years ago: a religious test.
Over the past week, the movement to oust Shafi has drawn loud condemnation from Texas GOP leaders, including Land Commissioner George P. Bush and House Speaker Joe Straus. On Saturday, the Texas GOP Executive Committee passed a formal resolution reaffirming the GOP’s commitment to religious freedom and seeking to distance the party from xenophobia they fear the motion against Shafi may embolden. In Texas, it would not be the first time Republicans have tried to block Muslims from participating in GOP leadership roles. A Houston City Council staffer attempted, unsuccessfully, to block a Republican Harris County precinct chair in 2016.
“Let’s show everybody, this is the Republican Party of Texas. We are not the party of bigots,” said J.T. Edwards, a member of the State Republican Executive Committee, on Saturday while urging support for the resolution, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
O’Brien, who declined to speak with The Post, has publicly asserted that Shafi promotes Sharia law and is affiliated with terrorist groups while offering no evidence other than that he is a mosque-attending Muslim. In lengthy tirades on Facebook reviewed by The Post, she has accused Shafi of being a “fake Republican” who perhaps became one at the urging of the Muslim Brotherhood so that he could infiltrate the party – again, without any evidence.
“This is, unfortunately, not the first time that people or my political opponents have tried to use my religion against me to distract the voters,” Shafi, who has fiercely denied O’Brien’s assertions, told The Post, “and unfortunately, I don’t think it will be the last either.” Read more
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Stephen Colbert poked fun at President Donald Trump’s approval rating boasts on Thursday’s broadcast of “The Late Show.”
Colbert noted that Trump earlier in the day touted a “dubious” Rasmussen Reports poll that put his approval rating at 50 percent.
“50 percent? That’s like saying, I have two children, one of them still talks to me. ‘Father of the Year,’ please!” Colbert joked.
The comedian explained Trump followed up with a tweet claiming his rating would be at 75 percent if not for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible Trump campaign collusion.
“He’s not even trying that hard anymore,” said Colbert, who then imitated Trump to say: “Look, you would all like me a lot more if I were not me.”
Some Republicans want to oust a Muslim doctor from his GOP leadership role – because he’s Muslim
Shahid Shafi, right, with Gov. Greg Abbott (R) at the Tarrant County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner. (Courtesy of Shahid Shafi) ((Courtesy of Shahid Shafi)
By Meagan Flynn | The Washington Post
The first time Shahid Shafi ran for a seat on the city council in Southlake, Texas, in 2011, advisers assured him a Muslim in post-9/11 America who spoke with an accent and immigrated from Pakistan would never win an election in Texas.
It’s a story that Shafi, a Republican trauma surgeon, likes to tell because he didn’t believe them. He won the Southlake City Council seat on his second try, in 2014, has since served as a delegate to multiple Texas GOP conventions and, in July, was appointed vice chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party, located in Fort Worth.
But that’s when his religion somehow became a problem again – in the eyes of some Republican colleagues.
Shafi hadn’t held the position in the North Texas county for more than a couple days before a precinct chairwoman urged Darl Easton, chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party, to “reconsider” appointing Shafi to a leadership role, a request that was soon echoed by several other precinct chairs.
“The only reason she had was because he was a Muslim,” Easton told The Washington Post. “That was the only reason she gave.”
Since then, that precinct chairwoman, Dorrie O’Brien, and a small group of her supporters have put forth a formal motion to remove Shafi as vice chairman because of his religion, a motion that is slated for a vote on Jan. 10. To Easton, who opposes the measure, the move is an embarrassment to the Republican Party. And to Shafi, it amounts to exactly what he believed didn’t exist in the United States when he arrived here 28 years ago: a religious test.
Over the past week, the movement to oust Shafi has drawn loud condemnation from Texas GOP leaders, including Land Commissioner George P. Bush and House Speaker Joe Straus. On Saturday, the Texas GOP Executive Committee passed a formal resolution reaffirming the GOP’s commitment to religious freedom and seeking to distance the party from xenophobia they fear the motion against Shafi may embolden. In Texas, it would not be the first time Republicans have tried to block Muslims from participating in GOP leadership roles. A Houston City Council staffer attempted, unsuccessfully, to block a Republican Harris County precinct chair in 2016.
“Let’s show everybody, this is the Republican Party of Texas. We are not the party of bigots,” said J.T. Edwards, a member of the State Republican Executive Committee, on Saturday while urging support for the resolution, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
O’Brien, who declined to speak with The Post, has publicly asserted that Shafi promotes Sharia law and is affiliated with terrorist groups while offering no evidence other than that he is a mosque-attending Muslim. In lengthy tirades on Facebook reviewed by The Post, she has accused Shafi of being a “fake Republican” who perhaps became one at the urging of the Muslim Brotherhood so that he could infiltrate the party – again, without any evidence.
“This is, unfortunately, not the first time that people or my political opponents have tried to use my religion against me to distract the voters,” Shafi, who has fiercely denied O’Brien’s assertions, told The Post, “and unfortunately, I don’t think it will be the last either.” Read more
============================================
Stephen Colbert poked fun at President Donald Trump’s approval rating boasts on Thursday’s broadcast of “The Late Show.”
Colbert noted that Trump earlier in the day touted a “dubious” Rasmussen Reports poll that put his approval rating at 50 percent.
“50 percent? That’s like saying, I have two children, one of them still talks to me. ‘Father of the Year,’ please!” Colbert joked.
The comedian explained Trump followed up with a tweet claiming his rating would be at 75 percent if not for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible Trump campaign collusion.
“He’s not even trying that hard anymore,” said Colbert, who then imitated Trump to say: “Look, you would all like me a lot more if I were not me.”
....simply because its clear Mueller has squat on an actual crime by Trump.
