Has Gerry Connolly finally gone too far?
House minority leader John Boehner is urging Democratic leaders to stop a vicious anti-Catholic smear campaign against Republican congressional candidate Keith Fimian, who is challenging Democrat Gerry Connolly for a rare open seat in Virginia’s 11th District. All 157 Catholics currently serving in the House, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, should join their 25 Catholic colleagues in the Senate to denounce this vile attempt to denigrate their fitness for office.
Postcards mailed to voters on behalf of Connolly by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) portray the Fairfax County businessman as anti-women because he sits on the board of Legatus, a group of traditional Catholic CEOs founded by Domino’s Pizza magnate Tom Monaghan and endorsed by the late Pope John Paul II. Catholic League president Bill Donohue condemned the scurrilous ads as blatant “Catholic bashing” and demanded that Connolly publicly denounce them. Instead, the Democrat repeated the smears on TV.
Judging by the DCCC ads, the main issue in Northern Virginia isn’t energy independence, the faltering economy, taxes, or the war in Iraq. It’s women’s rights. But this is a dangerous line of attack for Connolly, a former seminarian who has some explaining of his own to do.
On May 19, the Fairfax Board chairman voted to extend a $2.2 million lease to the Saudi Islamic Academy, a madrassa known by local law enforcement as “Terror High”. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reported that textbooks used in the school justify the murder of non-Muslims and “do not conform to international human rights norms.” During public hearings, Connolly repeatedly characterized any criticism of the Saudi government-run school as “slander.” This supposed champion of women even apologized to the headmaster – who later pleaded guilty to obstructing justice for failing to report suspected sexual abuse of a five-year-old girl.
Federal Election Commission records may explain Connolly’s kid-glove treatment of a school run by a government with one of the world’s worst records on women’s rights. Employees and PACs run by two American firms listed as registered agents for the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia have funneled tens of thousands of petrodollars to Connolly and the DCCC – which paid for the ads that falsely accuse Fimian of wanting to force women to be more “submissive,” ignoring their own benefactor’s appalling record of doing exactly that.
The DCCC has gone over the line this time, and Catholic politicians in both parties should demand an apology. (from here)
The first Catholic to run for the White House was a Democrat. Connolly is a Catholic. Even so, he cannot resist smearing his political foe for practicing Catholicism.
The Catholic Herald provides more details here.
It is out of control. But it shows you how little issues matter to Connolly. This should be a race between Connolly’s visison of more taxes and services versus less taxes and limited government. That is a jump ball in NOVA. But Connolly prefers smears.
Tom, Catholic smearing doesn’t seem to limit itself to one party.
Here’s some great Catholic Bashing brought to you by John Stirrup via Robert Duecaster whom Stirrup recently appointed, and supported by that self-labeled “devout Catholic” Corey stewart:
Regarding the Pope: “He’ll be pandering to them to gather members to replace those who left the Church due to the institutionalized approval of his priests’ penchant for little boys’ behinds.”
“What I find ironic is that the Pope will preach to us to accept the Illegal Invaders so that his church can replace its members who have left due to the incessant kiddie diddling of its priests.”
The moral of this story: there are few morals demonstrated by our politicians who claim to be “devout” in their religion.
Stewart and Stirrup and all who voted for Duecaster have condemned themselves and betrayed their churches.
Connolly and Fimian would do well to just stop talking about anyone’s religion (even their own) if that is what they are really doing (which I can’t determine).
Back when Connolly was merely a member of the Board of Supervisors and not the Chairman, he was not well respected by a significant portion of his constituency, including some Democrats. Nevertheless, he went on to win the seat as Board Chairman.
Now Connolly is running for the U.S. House of Representatives. Will he win? Likely. How? That remains a mystery to me, one who has been keeping an eye on Connolly for years upon years. But part of the mystery may be who donates to his campaign funds; those donors include at least one member of CAIR.
What happened at the May 19 Board hearing was surreal, particularly in light of some developments afterwards. See this, this, and this for more info on Connolly and the Islamic Saudi Academy.
BTW, I’m a native of Fairfax County, like my father before me. I’ve been “on watch” here for decades!
alwaysonwatch – Taxpayers are often pennywise. The paycheck for being the Chair of the Board of Supervisors does not amount to much. Only the wealthy can afford to run. So there is not much competition for the job.