Ted Cruz, we hardly missed ya: McCarthy tactics and conspiracy theories at his terror panel

[DonViejo]

A Cruz-run panel on Islamic terrorism features a fringe character accusing two congressmen of dark dealings

AMANDA MARCOTTE

With the Donald Trump carnival barker show going on, it’s easy to get distracted and miss the fact that congressional Republicans are devolving ever further into their Joseph McCarthy spiral these days, using congressional panels to advance conspiracy theories and put together threatening blacklists, targeting Democrats and pro-choice activists.

Now the same strategy has been used, under the leadership of Sen. Ted Cruz, to imply that two sitting congressmen are somehow involved in terrorism.

[link:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/congress-muslim-brotherhood_us_5772b615e4b0352fed3e0372?c040i2h8iu8ilik9|Sam Stein and Jessica Schulberg of the Huffington Post report:
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The charge was leveled by Chris Gaubatz, a “national security consultant” who has moonlighted as an undercover agitator of Muslim groups that he accuses of being terrorist outfits, and it was directed at Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and André Carson (D-Ind.). At the heart of his accusation is the attendance by those two members at a 2008 convention hosted by the Islamic Society of North America — a Muslim umbrella group, which Gaubatz claims is a front for the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is not a Muslim Brotherhood group. It’s one of those bland religious umbrella groups, like the National Council of Churches, the YMCA or the Jewish Federations of North America — groups that might have some political missions, but mostly exist to nurture their religious communities.

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http://www.salon.com/2016/06/29/ted_cruz_we_hardly_missed_ya_mccarthy_tactics_and_conspiracy_theories_at_his_terror_panel/