by Daniel Pipes
August 5, 2011
Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor since 2010, has qualities and achievements that appeal to mainstream conservatives, from his direct style to his impressive budget cutting. As a result, he has won impressive support to run as a Republican candidate for president of the United States.
New Jersey governor Chris Christie.
But Christie has an Achilles Heel that gives one pause.
He came under criticism from fellow conservatives for nominating Sohail Mohammed, an Islamist who aspires to apply Islamic law, the Shari’a, as a state superior court judge; for an outline of these concerns, see the Investigative Project on Terrorism, “Gov. Christie’s Strange Relationship with Radical Islam.”
In response, Christie delivered a tirade on July 26, 2011, on the topic of Shari’a:
Sharia law has nothing to do with this [i.e., the appointment of Sohail Mohammed] at all. It’s crazy. It’s crazy. … So, this Sharia law business is crap. It’s just crazy. And I’m tired of dealing with the crazies. I mean, you know, it’s just unnecessary to be accusing this guy of things just because of his religious background. [Excerpt from 2:43 on the video.]
Comments: (1) These are fighting words against fellow conservatives that will not soon be forgotten: “this Sharia law business is crap. It’s just crazy. And I’m tired of dealing with the crazies.”
(2) Calling critics of Mohammed “crazies” who are “accusing this guy of things just because of his religious background” reveals Christie to be a headstrong ignoramus; the IPT report on Mohammed is not about religious background but political activities.
(3) Although still a small issue, Shari’a has grown very fast since 9/11 as a concern to Americans and should continue to do so for many years and decades to come.
(4) I predict that Christie’s Grover Norquist-like friendly attitude toward Islamists will turn conservatives against him and sink any possible candidacy of his for higher office. (August 5, 2011)
Source material can be found at this site.
