Abdul takes the AFAIN
You know I have come under attack from a lot of people in my life, most of them were misinformed and this time is no exception. Apparently the American Family Association of Indiana has an issue with yours truly. They were in attendance at this week’s news conference where the Statehouse press corps witnessed Congressman Dan Burton (Danny) go after me and accuse me of being a devil’s advocate and remind me that he had been in office “longer than I had been alive.” He’s been in public office since 1966, when the Flinstones went off the air. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that while it’s quite remarkable he’s been in office for 40 years, most people on public aid only get two. While folks like Brian Howey offered the straight facts of the exchange. The AFAIN offered this account in an e-mail to their members…
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Yesterday, US Representatives Mike Sodrel and Dan Burton joined State Senator Mike Delph in a statehouse press conference on the issue of judicial restraint. Rep. Sodrel has authored a bill (H.R. 4776) that limits the jurisdiction of federal judges in order to prevent their intervening in the day-to-day operations of a state legislature. This is a reaction to Judge David Hamilton’s siding with the Indiana Civil Liberties Union in its desire to censor religious speech in opening prayers.
One of the things you probably won’t hear in the media about this press conference is the banter back and forth between a fairly new Indianapolis talk show host and these three legislators. The liberal talk show host, who thinks quite a bit of himself, had his ears pinned back when Congressman Burton decided he had enough of his sniping at the bill.
Burton stepped in front of Rep. Sodrel to get to the microphone and said something like, “look, I don’t know who you are, but I’ve been in the state and Federal legislative branch for nearly forty years and I have never seen the type of scenarios you are trumping up. They just don’t exist and to put them up as a devil’s advocate argument is a disservice to the many members in both political parties who oppose this awful ruling. There is a real attack on religious freedom here and this bill addresses it.”
It was classic Dan Burton at his best. Experienced reporters and political veterans know that Rep. Burton can stand up to opposition, quickly dig in and defend his principles in a heated moment as well as anyone in the US Congress.
Congressman Sodrel’s bill already has 33 co-sponsors from eighteen different states. He expects the bill to see some action in Congress.
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Although these guys at AFAIN think they know me (because I do think highly of myself), they obviously don’t know me if they think I’m a liberal. I am consistent when it comes to my belief that less government is better whether that applies to my Dad’s business or girlfriend’s uterus. I figure anything going in or out of either of those two things has something to do with me. I was surprised when they claimed I had my “ears pinned back” by the Danny. That reference seemed a little “Brokeback Mountain” if you ask me, which would seem odd coming from this particular group.
I thought I asked Danny some pointed but honest questions. And from my 16 years of media and politics when a politician starts an answer with how long has been in office, that usually means he has no clue about what he is talking about. I cannot say if that is the case with Danny because I don’t know him that well.
What I do know is that his rant has become the standing joke at the Capitol. I’ve had a number of lawmakers approach me asking me “who was I” and telling me how long they had been in office.
I don’t what Danny’s issue was that day or why the AFAIN decided to go after me. In all fairness, they did not identify me by name. But I doubt if there are many people named Abdul-Hakim Shabazz over at the AFAIN , so they probably did not want to misspell my name. I appreciate that.
What I will say though if this was “classic Burton” as they described in their mass e-mail, after 40 years of that model, maybe the voters in the 5th District and the people of Indiana might want to upgrade.
