altmuslim - Today, Muslims can help elect a new president

Today is Election Day, and the power of the Muslim vote cannot be underestimated. The margins between John Kerry and George Bush in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida are much smaller than the estimated number of Muslim voters in each of those states. More Muslims have been registered to vote than ever before, and we've already seen the largest shift of opinion in a demographic group in US political history, with Muslims supporting John Kerry 10 to 1 over George Bush.

However, all the support in the world doesn't mean anything if it is not converted to a vote. Here's what's at stake today, and what you can do to to make a difference:

Possibly three Supreme Court justices will be selected during the next four years. If you don't mind seeing these seats go to ideological conservatives who will exploit every loophole in the PATRIOT Act that they can find in order to make American Muslims the prime targets in the "war on terror", vote for Bush, Nader, or stay at home.

If you want new Supreme Court justices to rule fairly on civil liberties, immigration, and privacy, then vote for John Kerry.

We are already seeing the same governmental moves with respect to Iran that predated the US invasion of Iraq. The same neocons that Bush brought into power have set their sights on Iran, apparently having not learned a lesson from their adventure in Iraq. Already, Bush's White House has sold 500 "bunker busting" bombs to Israel, with the presumed target being Iran's nuclear facilities, and the Pentagon has been practicing war games with Iran as a target. If you don't mind seeing Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, and Feith using the Muslim world as their personal playground, vote for Bush, Nader, or stay at home.

If you want to see an end to US saber-rattling in the Middle East, and a rekindling of multinational diplomatic efforts at nuclear non-proliferation, then vote for John Kerry.

Take a close look at anti-Muslim bigots in this country. With near certainty, they identify with the Republican Party. Here's an report from a stand-up comedy routine at this year's Republican National Convention:

"The Republicans particularly love any gag about killing Muslims and/or left-wingers. A comedian called Jeff Wayne says: "There's a huge bounty on Osama's head - it's like, $25m - so I shot 10 guys who look like him. Unfortunately, I was in a 7/11 in Minnesota." The audience cheered. "Shall I go on with the Muslim-bashing?" the comic asked. "More! More!" they cried, but he shifted the subject."

The winner of this election will bring thousands of party faithful into key positions in US government. Are these the people that Muslims want to propel into positions of authority in this country? (You'll see a lot more of the above at Republican-backing websites like freerepublic.com and frontpagemag.org.) If so, just vote for Bush, Nader, or stay at home.

If you want to see Democrats, who have infinitely more respect for Muslims (and minorities in general), in charge of American institutions, then vote for John Kerry.

And I haven't even started with Iraq - but you get my point by now.

There are genuine differences of opinion between Muslims of goodwill on Bush, Kerry, and Nader, and all of these opinions are based on a genuine intention of doing what's best for the Muslim community and America in general. But in this election, with the stakes as high as I've shown, there needs to be a sober assessment of the facts on the ground, and an honest evaluation of the chances of changing those facts for the better.

And the best chance Muslims have of making things right is to elect John Kerry to office today.