Some thoughts and questions about Keith Ellison
June 19, 2006
Powerlineblog.com has continued it's "Who is Keith Ellison" series. If interested I strongly recommend that you read these postings if you are interested in this. I will try not duplicate the points made there but instead concentrate of the Soliah/Olson association.
First off, the fundraiser "Ungagged 1"was primarily attended by middle class white people. From the reports I recieved and from and from TV news reports it seemed a mix of Highland park neighbors, people from Minnehaha Methodist Church and a few "leftover left" activists, somewhat like the type seem at the Wednesday afternoon Lake Street Bridge protests.
My guess that the reference to the Nation of Islam (NOI) did not even register with most of the relatively small number of attendees. The reference to NIO did not seem a wise way to "play to the crowd". The "leftover left and the NOI are in many ways polar opposites. "Ungagged 1" was pre 9-11 and there was NO marked animosity towards Muslims in the Twin Cites. As a matter of fact, the Twin Cities probably had the highest concentration of refugee Muslim immigrants from Ethiopia of any place in the US. The NOI is headquartered in Chicago but does not seem to have much of a permanent presence in the Twin Cites.
Ellison, in his speech mentioned seeing the movie "Patty Hearst". This movie had a scene where where some Black Muslims who wanted to meet Hearst but this was before the Los Angeles shootout. Soliah/Olson only started actively helping the SLA after the Los Angeles shootout. Also, the Back Muslin scene in the movie "Patty Hearst" ended with a young black Muslin girl telling the (pre-shootout) SLA "Go kill some pigs!". After the Los Angeles shootout, when Soliah/Olson began her active involvement there is no evidence of knowing involvement by Black Muslims in aid the surviving SLA members.
The lastest archive.org scan of Saraolsondefense.com was July 26, 2002. Keith Ellison is listed as an endorser . This was after 9-11 and the Soliah/Olson Los Angeles guilty plea "flip flop". It is also after Soliah/Olson was indicted in the murder of Myrna Opsahl, mother of four killed while helping deposit the church collections in the Crocker National Bank.
If Ellison had up at all on the SLA, even checking the old "Patty Hearst online" at claykeck.com or courttv.com he should have been aware that that the SLA assassinated Marcus Foster.
In a Minneapolis Star Tribune Story Ellison said he became interest in the Nation of Islam and becoming a Black Muslin after reading "The Autobiography of Malcom X". Malcom X became disenchanted with the NOI. The assination of Malcom X is widely believed to have been associated with the NOI.
For coincidence author Alex Hailey wrote the forward to Marcus Foster's book http:// MakingSchoolsWork.com
Nothing illegal in what Keith Ellison did but it might be telling about Ellison's temperament, character and moral bearing. The voter of the Minnesota fifth congressional district and the potential campaign donors have a right to know about Ellison's public statement and public actions.
Last updated June 21, 2006 (NO)