The "stealth jihad" isn't just for Muslims anymore -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has come under fire from conservatives over his appointment of Indian American Muslim lawyer Sohail Mohammed to the state bench. George Zornick is documenting the freak-out -- my favorite reaction has to be from Scott Johnson at Powerline, who notes, "The attorney's name is Mohammed, first name Sohail -- Sohail Mohammed." Mohammed? Why haven't we waterboarded him yet?
The case against Mohammed -- if you care to tumble down that rabbit hole -- is that he's represented people accused of ties to terrorism. The "stealth jihad" crew, despite ostensibly being concerned about the secular rule of law being subverted by Islamic fundamentalists, don't actually believe in the presumption of innocence, or in providing legal representation to Muslims accused of crimes. The arguments against Mohammed resemble those leveled against Justice Department lawyers who represented Gitmo detainees last year, that providing representation to suspected terrorists automatically means you are sympathetic to the goals of terrorists. With Mohammed of course, the fact that he's a Muslim adds an extra layer of certainty.
There's also the typical blurring of political views with religious beliefs--Mohammed has been critical of U.S. national security policy and has argued that the U.S. government has unfairly singled out Muslims. The "stealth jihad" crowd needs no more confirmation that Mohammed is an ally to terrorists.
Take for example the reaction at Steve Emerson's Investigative Project:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's nomination of Sohail Mohammed to be a state judge shows the governor's tin ear for radical Islam. Not only did he appoint a longtime mouthpiece for radical Islamists to be a judge, but Christie has also turned a blind eye to the activities of one of Mohammed's clients – radical imam Mohammed Qatanani, head of one of New Jersey's largest mosques.
The link explaining how Mohammed is a "longtime mouthpiece for radical Islamists" leads to an article explaining that he represented a group of Muslims detained after 9/11:
Angry at being jailed on immigration charges during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, some Arabs detained after the Sept. 11 terror attacks have started a hunger strike, their lawyers say. "They say, 'We have wanted to be with our families for the holy month, and now that's not going to happen,"' said Sohail Mohammed, an immigration lawyer who represents several men who are being held on immigration charges but have been cleared by the FBI of any role in the attacks.
By "mouthpiece for radical Islamists" you might have assumed they meant someone who developed propaganda for Hezbollah or al-Qaeda or something. What they meant was that he helped religiously observant Muslims avail themselves of the American legal system.
At this point, one starts to realize that the these people have about as much reverence for American society and the rule of law as the "stealth jihadists" that populate their conspiracy theories.
