Tennessee state Rep. Rick Womick has gone public with his view of a necessary reform of the U.S. military to make our country safer: bar all Muslims from military service. The openly bigoted proposal was accompanied by equally bigoted rhetoric and insulted not just all Muslims but dishonored the many Muslims serving honorably in our armed forces. His website proclaims that “[o]thers may regard politics as a basis for gaining power and influence, but Rick sees politics as a chance to provide conservative leadership that will uphold our state’s slogan and ensure, ‘Tennessee…America at its Best!'” You can judge if Rep. Womick represents America at its best.
Womick explained “Who are we at war with?. We are at war with al-Qaida and the Taliban, who are Muslims. It’s a Catch-22. They are not allowed to kill their fellow Muslims; we’re at war with Muslims. The only solution I see is that they not be allowed in the military. . . . “Personally, I don’t trust one Muslim in our military. . . If they truly are a devout Muslim and follow the Quran and the Sunnah, then I feel threatened because they’re commanded to kill me.” He made these comments in an interview with Eli Clifton of thinkprogress.org Friday at an anti-Shariah conference in Nashville and later refused to retract them or apologize.
The article below quotes a New York Times article in 2009 reporting that 3,557 military personnel identified themselves as Muslim among 1.4 million people in the active-duty population.
The most immediate concern is not that such people exist but that one of them is a legislator passing laws that affect Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Under the Tennessee Constitution, each legislator must take an oath pledging to act without prejudice and in adherence to the Constitution:
Each member of the Senate and House of Representatives, shall before they proceed to business take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of this State, and of the United States and also the following oath: I ………. do solemnly swear (or affirm) that as a member of this General Assembly, I will, in all appointments, vote without favor, affection, partiality, or prejudice; and that I will not propose or assent to any bill, vote or resolution, which shall appear to me injurious to the people, or consent to any act or thing, whatever, that shall have a tendency to lessen or abridge their rights and privileges, as declared by the Constitution of this State.
What Womick is advocating is raw religious discrimination in violation of the First Amendment as well as the equal protection clause. Yet there has been relatively little outcry from non-Muslim groups and more importantly other legislators, particularly fellow Republicans.
Womick is a combat veteran and an active commercial pilot:
In 1983, he entered the U.S. Air Force as an officer and served as an F-15 Fighter Pilot through the 1st Gulf War.
It was during Rick’s time in the Air Force that he met Jan, his beautiful wife of 24 years. In 1992, he left the active duty Air Force to go to work for a major airline, as a pilot, based in Nashville. Rick was flying 140 people from Dallas to Los Angeles on the morning that the events of September 11th occurred. He has since become a licensed Federal Law Enforcement Officer and qualified to carry a firearm in the cockpit while flying. Rick is still employed as a Boeing 777 international pilot. He and Jan have been blessed with four wonderful children and have been living in Murfreesboro, Tennessee since 1993.
Source: WTSP
It seems that he probably flies for American Airlines, otherwise known as the Sky Nazis. The pilots at Eagle are called the Hitler Youth, so I am not too surprised at his statements. Too bad he appears so ignorant about our Constitution and history and the fact that Muslims have been killing each other FAR more than the numbers so called Christians have killed. Indeed Christians have been killing each other far more than Muslims have managed to kill.
I think OS is probably right that he is simply pandering to the worst elements of his state.
MetroCowboy,
You’re right about that historically. I hope not in this case. Not everyone accepts it–the occupy movement is proof of that. The authorities know that people who don’t accept the destruction of our society are dangerous to their own tyranny. That’s why they are coordinating and attacking them with such force.
Jill its called the slow demise of a great nation….This same thing has happened time and again to all once great nations in the history of the world.
“If they truly are a devout Muslim and follow the Quran and the Sunnah, then I feel threatened because they’re commanded to kill me.”
With that logic no one who follows the 10 commandments should be allowed to serve ib the military because they are told not to kill. I guess christians, jews, etc would get to the shores of the enemy and sit down and just have lunch with them and pray.
There is a complete lack of understanding concerning our Constitution in this nation. What he proposes is blatantly illegal.
I do not understand what has happened to our nation. Left and right, people have broken faith with our Constitution. They have broken faith with what is best about our nation. We have become a police state where the rule of law is simply a joke to almost all of our political “leaders” and too many of our population as well.
Trashing the rule of law has become a conservative and liberal platform for politicians. In this, they show they care only for power and nothing for justice.
Conservatives and Liberals need to take back the rule of law. If the people do not break faith with the Constitution, politicians will not be able to destroy what really is best about this nation.
I get the logic here. We should always bar members of religions generally practiced by the “enemy.”
Like in World War II, we should have barred all Christians from serving in the military, because the Germans were Christians . . . or would that have excluded only Lutherans and Catholics? Maybe an army of Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians? Episcopalians — aren’t they kind of like Catholics, so maybe keep them out, too? But the English were largely Anglican. . .. Hmmm … this is complicated.
It would have been less of a problem in the Pacific war, of course, because there were very few practicing Shintoists in the United States at the time.
Swm:
The “man” himself and I get the feeling he would react the same way with the question at hand.
OS – gay is not a religion so yeah, I skipped that. I will plead to not mentioning Native Americans with their peculiar beliefs not tied to my one true Gawd. I should also have mentioned Santeria, animists, pagans, wiccans and any of a laundry list of wierdos, crakpots and hell bound losers who have not come to accept my perfect interpretation of events chronicled in a book from 4000 to 2000 years ago as explained to me by someone who has probably read most of it.
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/11/herman-cain-loses-the-muslims-he-apologized-to.php?ref=fpblg Cain is back to muslim bashing.
AY, Uh-oh. That only leaves me and thee to serve, and I am not so sure about thee.
Geeze and the American Natives….should not be allowed citizenship or any other rights that the Freedman has….If I recall that was the “Mantra” in the early 1800’s……What is interesting today….is per capita the Native Americans have the highest serving percentage in the US Armed Forces… My how times change and people don’t……
Frankly, you forgot the gays, and other folks “like that.” The military and civilian intelligence services have done a pretty good job of shooting themselves in the foot by getting rid of a couple of thousand Arabic speaking linguists who happened to be gay.
I think Bill Maher said ‘not all republicans are racist, but all racists are republicans’. More proof Bill was right.
BTW – on the subject of the religion of peace here is a quote directly from the Man Himself:
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Matthew 10:34
I’m OK with this as long as it doesn’t stop there. We have to get the Catholics out too, they have a greater allegiance to Rome than the US. And, of course, the Jews who really can’t be trusted. Mormons are out to, damn cultists! Naturally atheists and agnostics can’t be trusted so they have to go. It goes without saying that Hindus, Buddhists and Taoists are right out. I think that about covers it although I am not convinced of the reliability of Universalists Episcopalians and a couple others to be named later.
The only way we can remain strong as a nation is to make sure only the right kinds of people serve.
MSH, yes there was a big push against a mosque in Rutherford County, which is where Murphreesboro is located. One has to wonder how much of this is pandering and how much Womick really believes. The cynic in me leans toward the latter.
Wasn’t there a big controversy about building a mosque in Murfreesboro, TN? (Was that the one to which Herman Cain was refering when he argued that communities had the right to ban mosques?) How much of this might be Womick pandering to his bigotted base?
You gotta give conservatives credit for consistency. They’re NEVER at a loss for a bad idea.
http://www.rickwomick34th.com/about/ He wants Obama removed, too.
This guy is probably a great pilot…..from the wrists down. The space between his ears, however, is occupied with a massive case of stupid.