Source/Credit: The New York Time
By NYT Editorial | August 18, 2011
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey often goes too far, whether it’s bullying teachers or rejecting much-needed federal financing for a tunnel under the Hudson. Last month, however, the bluster was aimed at the right targets: ignorance and religious intolerance. He erupted in outrage at critics who attacked his decision to nominate Sohail Mohammed, a Muslim lawyer, to be a state judge.
The nastiest commentary came in January when Mr. Christie announced his choice. One anti-Muslim blogger wrote that it meant New Jersey had “taken its first step toward becoming the Shariah state.” Another wrote that Mr. Christie (who insists he isn’t running for president) was “off the list.”
Some of New Jersey’s state senators bought into this irrationality, grilling Mr. Mohammed during his June confirmation hearing about his views on “jihad.” Fortunately, rationality finally prevailed and the Senate approved him as a Superior Court judge in Passaic County.
Mr. Christie’s response to all this, like a lot of his pugnacious moments, is available on YouTube. “This Shariah law business is crap,” he fumed. “It’s just crazy, and I’m tired of dealing with the crazies.” He praised Mr. Mohammed for his work as an attorney after Sept. 11, 2001, helping to free Muslims unfairly caught in the F.B.I.’s sweep of arrests. And he praised him for later working with law enforcement to combat future terrorist attacks, adding, “I’m happy that he’s willing to serve after all this baloney.”
We hope those words will shame his friends on the Republican right and finally quiet all the candidates who are cynically trawling for votes claiming, absurdly, that Muslim religious law is threatening to take over the American legal system. As Mr. Christie said, it’s baloney.
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