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Keith Ellison Muslim Parade Grand Marshal in photo image only

By Judi McLeod

Friday, August 31, 2007

Canada Free Press (CFP) is reluctant to cut the balloon strings of Congressman Keith Ellison left bobbing over New York City in a Faux by Bean front-page cartoon. The cartoon was used to illustrate CFP's August 27 cover story, heralding the rep's role as Grand Marshal for the 22nd Annual Muslim Day Parade in New York City.

According to his hometown news blog, Ellison will be a no-show at the parade.

"Contrary to reports circulating widely in conservative publications and blogs in recent days, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison will not be the grand marshal of the Muslim parade in New York next month, according to his office," Abdi Aynte wrote in the Monitor yesterday. "Paul Schmelzer co-wrote this story," the Monitor announces at the top of the story.

"The freshman Democrat from Minneapolis was never scheduled to be there, said Brian Elliott, district director for Ellison.

Perhaps Ellison should take it up with www.americanmuslimdayparade.com here, who ran Ellison's picture announcing him as this year's parade grand marshal, apparently later replacing the congressman with a picture of a mosque.

Keith Ellison, Parade Marshall "Elliot said the congressman "was equally surprised" when he learned the buzz that he would be the grand marshal for the 22nd Annual Muslim Day Parade in New York City, which is scheduled for Sept. 9. Ellison "declined the offer to be the grand marshal a long time ago because he has other obligations in the district," said Elliot.

"The Muslim Foundation of America, or MFA, which has been organizing the parade for 22 years, also confirmed that Ellison won't be the grand marshal. The group acknowledged seeking the first Muslim in Congress to lead the parade, according (to) MFA director Ainul Haq.

But that evidence didn't keep the Minnesota Monitor from slamming freelance writer Joe Kaufman, who broke the story about Ellison's alleged role in the Muslim parade: "In her "Rogue's Gallery of Radical Islam" column, Canada Free Press' Judi McLeod wrote that Ellison's alleged role in the parade would've been "totally ignored were it not for the courage of a single freelance journalist." Yet that journalist, FrontPage magazine writer Joe Kaufman, seems to have ignored a basic tenet of reporting: fact-checking."

"Reached by email, Kaufman didn't reply when asked if he verified the congressman's involvement with either Ellison's office or the parade organizers. Instead he forwarded an event flyer he says was posted on MFA's website (it doesn't appear there now) which featured Ellison.

"Apparently they just replaced the flier with an image of a mosque, he said of the organization's home page.

"Haq denied creating a flyer advertising Ellison as grand marshal." (Emphasis CFP's).

"I don't know what he (Schmelzer) means about not getting back to him. I sent the flyer with Ellison's picture right away," Kaufman told CFP by telephone this morning.

"The Muslim Day Parade is a 22-year-old tradition in New York City," Schmelzer writes. "Representatives from (the) New York governor's office, the mayors (sic) office, and officers from the New York police and fire departments, along with their bands, will be participating in the parade, according to Haq and other sources."

"The parade usually takes place on the last Sunday of September, but was rescheduled because of Ramadan, the monthlong fast for Muslims, which starts the second week of September. Haq said "many Muslims don't like long walks when they are fasting."

"In his FrontPage story, Kaufman, who runs the websites CAIR Watch and Americans Against Hate, characterized the parade as "a pre-9/11 celebration of sorts taking place in New York City."

The Minnesota Monitor could have added: Take that, you conspiracy theorists.

Meanwhile, CFP thinks Ellison makes a better balloon than a mosque.

Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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