Beacon Has a Nominee Too

REP. TANCREDO'S REMARKS ON BOMBING MECCA EARN HIM A NOMINATION FOR THIS YEAR'S BOYKIN AWARD.


It took until July, but Beacon is appalled to announce a nominee for this year's Boykin Award: Rep. Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado. The congressman, who represents some of Denver's suburbs, let an Orlando, Fla. radio host lead him into speculating on possible U.S. responses to nuclear terrorism:

Talk show host Pat Campbell asked the Littleton Republican how the country should respond if terrorists struck several U.S. cities with nuclear weapons.

"Well, what if you said something like -- if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites," Tancredo answered.

"You're talking about bombing Mecca," Campbell said.

"Yeah," Tancredo responded.

The congressman later said he was "just throwing out some ideas" and that an "ultimate threat" might have to be met with an "ultimate response."

Rep. Tancredo has since argued that his remarks on WFLA-AM were taken out of context, but his refusal to apologize and further assertion that he was just "throwing out ideas" increases the damage he has done to the U.S. image in the Muslim world, where reaction has been predictably severe.


Irony Watch: You read correctly—Congressman Tancredo's 6th District does indeed encompass Littleton, site of an actual incident of mass murder.