George,

When Mr. Goode raises his hand yet one more time to swear to protect and defend the Constitution, it would be comforting to know that he has, at the very least, a passing acquaintance with that document, and has read its stipulations about law-making and religion. If he has read it within recent memory, his race-baiting remarks in his widely reported letter to constituents belie that fact. Mr. Goode has been riding this particular immigration hobby-horse for over a decade, and like other full-throated defenders of his peculiar brand of Americanism, he feels that anyone who strays from the traditional definition of squinty-eyed patriotism, as defined by the klavern in Franklin County, should be banished from our borders.

Ignoring the fact that this ridiculous attack on Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison is undoubtedly based on some political calculus of Goode’s, the truth is that Ellison is no immigrant; his family has been in this country since the eighteenth century, and he is clearly as well qualified to hold his office as Goode. In other words, he is as good as Goode, if not clearly better. However, Ellison is a convert to Islam. Why this should matter to Mr. Goode or to his constituency is a mystery, but what is certain is that Goode’s intolerant rant should cause voters in the Fifth District to weigh Goode’s questionable ethics yet again.

Thomas Kester (Electronic mail, December 22, 2006)