THE DAILY BLADE: US Courts: Multiculturalism Has Its Limits
US civil and criminal courts have issued a string of rulings that place limitations on Muslim religious and cultural practices that are at odds with our laws and customs. Consider these recent cases:
† In what may be the first criminal case in the
† Two Egyptian nationals living in
† In a similar case in Denver, a Saudi couple, Sarah Khonaizan, 35, and her husband Homaidan Al-Turki, 37, (which, by the way, means "The Turk" in Arabic), were accused of bringing a 24-year old Indonesian woman into the US illegally, and then using her as a virtual slave – her pay was less than $2 per day - to cook, clean and care for their five children. Al-Turki was also accused of repeatedly raping the young woman. On September 1, Al-Turki was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the sexual assaults, plus another 8 years for theft. In exchange for pleading guilty to harboring an illegal immigrant, prosecutors dropped charges of forced labor and document servitude against Khonaizan. She was sentenced five years probation and ordered confined to her home until she leaves the country.
† US civil courts have thus far been unsympathetic to Muslim women who demanded to hide behind their veils ("The Daily Blade," second item) in violation of our laws and legal customs: A Michigan judge recently threw out a small-claims court case filed by Ginnnah Muhammad, 42, when she refused to remove her niqab while testifying, and the Fifth District Court of Appeal upheld a lower-court decision last year requiring a Muslim woman to remove her veil for her driver's license photo.
However, these rulings in no way suggest that the
Just consider the verdict in the case of "the 12th hijacker," Zacarias Moussaoui. According to The
The panel could not decide unanimously that Moussaoui caused the nearly 3,000 deaths, nor could it agree that he committed his crimes "in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner." Three jurors took it upon themselves to write that Moussaoui had "limited knowledge of the 9/11 attack plans."
And though the jury had found Moussaoui "eligible for the death penalty," the panel declined to impose the ultimate penalty, citing his "difficult childhood in a dysfunctional family where he spent many of his early years in and out of orphanages" as a mitigating factor.
Reading The Tea Leaves
Columnist Charles Krauthammer argues that even if tomorrow brings a Dem blowout – say, 20 to 25 House seats, and four to six Senate seats – it will not be a landslide victory. But he says the outcome is entirely predictable, because "sixth-year presidents nearly always bring their parties down":
Since the end of World War II, the average loss for a second-term presidency in its sixth year has been 29 House seats and six Senate seats. If you go back to Franklin Roosevelt's second term, the House loss average jumps to 35. Thus a 25/6 House/Senate loss would be about (and slightly below) the historical average. …
In his sixth year, the now-sainted Ronald Reagan lost eight Senate seats that gave the chamber back to Democratic control. That election was swayed by no wars, no weekly casualty figures, no major scandals. The first inkling of the Iran-Contra scandal broke on the morning after the election. …
So when the results come in and the Democrats begin to crow, remember this: By historical standards, this is the American people's usual response to entrenched power - a bracing and chastening contempt.
MSNBC’s Howard Fineman hedges his bets by offering a "pre-nalysis" of a GOP "BTE" showing includes:
† Timing (the reality of "Speaker Pelosi" concentrated the minds of a divided and distracted GOP/conservative base);
† MSM (dismissive of "real Americans" and their concerns);
† Good news (unemployment down,
† Kerry (one word: botched).
If the GOP bucks historical trends and miraculously hangs on to both houses of Congress – even if by its fingernails – The Stiletto advises Kerry to be ready with a passel of "pre-buttals." With polls showing that Republicans have made steady gains since Kerry’s October surprise, the "pre-crimations" have already begun.
Comments