Just a few years ago, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security sought to deport a radical imam named Mohammed Qatanani, who operates a mosque in New Jersey's Passaic County, which has the second largest Muslim population in America.  This imam is an admitted member of terrorist organization Hamas, a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and a supporter of charities that provide funds to the families of suicide bombers.  Yet Chris Christie and other New Jersey politicians came to the imam's defense, suggesting that the imam is a "constructive force," and for their efforts, this imam remains in New Jersey tending to his likely radicalized flock.

 And more recently, as Daniel Greenfield noted in a heavily sourced piece at Sultan Knish: 

Now Christie has nominated Sohail Mohammed, Qatanani's former lawyer, to a Superior Court judgeship. Sohail Mohammed is a board member of the American Muslim Union, an organization that has interlocking leadership with groups that have fundraised for Hamas and hosted a Hamas speaker. The American Muslim Union is closely interlinked with Qatanani's Islamic Center of Passaic County.

And yet Chris Christie has the nerve to call us "crazies" for questioning his decisions when it comes to approaching Islam, as he did in a recent press conference?  Hamas is internationally accepted as a terrorist organization, and the Muslim Brotherhood has declared the ambition of "eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within."  And the American Muslim Union clearly has ties to such groups that seek to undermine, and in some cases, overthrow American judicial process in favor of Islamic law.

Who knows, maybe Sohail Mohammed is a really nice guy, but his past and suspicious relationships make his appointment worthy of criticism.  The outcry is not predicated solely on his "religious background," as Governor Christie suggests.

I can't possibly think Christie is complicit with any plot to institute Sharia, but he is clearly ignorant of the threats posed by fundamentalist Islam and its shadowy and deceptive organs.  And whether American liberties are compromised due to complicit plotting or ignorance is of little consequence: American liberties would still be compromised, and Americans have reason to be concerned.

What kills me, though, is that Christie completely recognizes the fiscal danger of public unions that, with limited state and sometimes interstate backing, work behind the curtain to economically harm his state.  But he's oblivious to the practical danger caused by an Islamic union that, with massive international backing, shadily threatens to reform American law to more closely mirror that of Islamic doctrine.  And while Christie's working to take away public union influence, he's giving Islamic unions a political shot in the arm, giving one of their bosses a massive gavel in a questionable environment.

There was a time when I considered Governor Christie a viable nominee for president, as I would be willing to accept social moderation if fiscal conservatism was intact.  Now, I'm really hoping he doesn't win the ticket.  His political correctness goes beyond simple ignorance; it's dangerous, and I'd hate to have to vote for him.           

William Sullivan blogs at: politicalpalaverblog.blogspot.com

Thanks to Robert Spencer and JihadWatch.org for this story.