Over at MSNBC: "This "Weak" in Conspiracy":
[...] There is one snub that might seem logical to those who want CPAC to avoid unappealing headlines: anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller. Geller has hosted unofficial events at CPAC, where she warns attendees of the potential dangers of Sharia law and jihad infiltration right here in the United States. Geller told conservative radio host Janet Mefferd, “This year I could not get an event, I was banned.”Of course, Chris Matthews pulls two sentences out of my radio interview -- no mention of CPAC's Grover Norquist, Suhail Khan and their close ties to America's largest financial Al Qaeda courier, Abdurrahman Alamoudi. These checks were made out to Grover Norquist's organization, The Islamic Institute, from Alamoudi:Ah, but why was she banned, you may ask. Turns out, she thinks Islamic extremists have struck at CPAC. According to Geller, she was excluded by “the influence of what can only be described as Muslim Brotherhood facilitators or operatives.”
(If CPAC is looking for a lively debate, Geller could face off with Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Is the Muslim Brotherhood infiltrating the Obama administration, as Bachmann has alleged, or the Conservative Political Action conference? Or both!)
Geller has a name in mind for who is leading the Muslim Brotherhood charge within CPAC. Hint: in his speech at CPAC last year, the individual had this advice for GOP voters: “Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States.” (Translation: don’t worry if you don’t agree with everything Mitt Romney says. As long as he’ll cut taxes, we’re good.) That’s right, it’s anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist (whose wife is a Muslim).
Take a look at the Hardball Sideshow for the full dose of right vs. right.
According to the Investigative Project on Terrorism:
Grover Norquist hoped to…harness votes from the country’s growing Muslim population by creating the Islamic Free Market Institute in 1998. He did so with significant financial help from Abdurahman Alamoudi, then one of America’s most influential Muslim activists and head of the American Muslim Council. Today, Alamoudi is serving a 23-year prison sentence after admitting to illegal transactions with Libya and being part of a plot to assassinate the then-Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Alamoudi was also found to be a long time secret financial courier for Al Qaeda while at the same time being routinely invited to the Clinton White House for receptions and meetings.
Grover is feverishly working to get Alamoudi a reduced sentence. Above checks are monies Alamoudi gave to Grover Norquist. Back in 2009, Insight magazine wrote:
Tingles heh.Norquist, who previously has denied any suggestion that his work facilitated any wrongdoing, not only introduced Alamoudi to Washington GOP power circles but also Sammy Al Arian, whom prosecutors arrested earlier this year for alleged terrorist activities. Federal law-enforcement sources say they are focusing on some of Norquist’s associates and financial ties to terrorist groups.
Alamoudi ran, directed, founded or funded at least 15 Muslim political-action and charitable groups that have taken over the public voice of Islamic Americans. Through a mix of civil-rights complaints, Old Left-style political coalitions and sheer persistence, Alamoudi helped inch the image of U.S.-based Islamists toward the political mainstream and induced politicians to embrace his organizations. He sought to secure the support first of the Clinton administration in seeking to repeal certain antiterrorist laws, but when Bill Clinton failed to deliver, Alamoudi defected to Bush, then governor of Texas. Alamoudi and other Muslim leaders met with Bush in Austin in July [2000], offering to support his bid for the White House in exchange for Bush’s commitment to repeal certain antiterrorist laws.[...]
Canceled checks obtained by Insight show Alamoudi provided seed money to start a GOP-oriented Muslim group called the Islamic Institute, which Norquist originally chaired and now is led by former Alamoudi aide and former AMC staffer Khaled Saffuri. A White House memo obtained by Insight prepared for coordinating Muslim and Arab-American “public-liaison” events with the White House shows that the Islamic Institute was instrumental in establishing the connection. The memo, from early 2001, provides lists of invitees and the name, date of birth and Social Security number of each. Norquist, as the first chairman of the Islamic Institute, tops the list.
Alamoudi and others, including Norquist, tried to keep critics at bay by branding them as “racists” and “bigots.”
