Today on "Racist Congressmen," straight outta 1856 ...

... it's Virginia's inaccurately-appellated Virgil Goode (R-19th Century). All he did was send a letter to some (apparently many) of his constituents essentially advocating the platform of the Know-Nothing Party.

His anti-Muslim ("macaca" wasn't good enough for all Virginians, I guess) screed must be shared here in its entirety, in order to get the full flavor of just how far off the deep end this asshat has gone.

Thank you for your recent communication. When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran. We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country. I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped.

The Ten Commandments and “In God We Trust” are on the wall in my office. A Muslim student came by the office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Koran. My response was clear, “As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, The Koran is not going to be on the wall of my office.” Thank you again for your email and thoughts.

I guess for Goode, "the next century" means the Twentieth. And Jesus H. Smack-Flappity Tap Dancing Christ, what he said to the student! I'd love to ask that student what he/she thought of Rep. Goode's answer.

The article sheds further light on this letter:

[The recipient] had never communicated with Goode’s office about Muslim immigration or official uses of the Koran. According to Goode’s office, Goode had received a flood of e-mails from constituents in response to newly elected Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison’s declaration that he would use the Koran, not the Bible, when being sworn into Congress next month. This letter was Goode’s response to those e-mails; Goode’s office says [this recipient] received the letter in error.

I'll bet it was in error. "Don't send this letter to anyone who voted for my opponent ... or who has a funny name ... or who smells like patchouli."

I hope Congress, when it reconvenes in January, will take the appropriate steps to reprimand Rep. Goode for his abhorrent and beyond-inappropriate statements. There's freedom of speech, and then there's outright racial hatred. This cannot be allowed to stand uncontroverted. (And, hey, if you feel like it, go ahead and shoot Goode ... an e-mail.)

Please help me get the message out there: racism and xenophobia will not be tolerated anywhere in America ... especially in Congress.

(cap tip to Raising Kaine via The Nose Knows.)