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Islam a 'diseased' faith, ex-GOP chief says

By Dan Smith -- Bee Deputy Capitol Bureau Chief
Published: April 21, 2003

In two appearances at campus pro-troop rallies, Steel took dead aim at Islam, referring to it as "a diseased religion" at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

At the University of Southern California, he was more specific.

"The Islamic community has a cancer growing inside it, which hates Jews, hates freedom and hates Western society," Steel said, as reported by the Daily Trojan, the campus newspaper. "The disease of Islam must be rectified. It's kill or be killed."

Steel also managed to bash the peace movement and Democrats: "Because of the peace movement, we had the Holocaust," Steel said, according to the Trojan. "The Democratic Party is keeping the Ku Klux Klan alive, and if we'd listened to Southern Democrats who wanted peace in the Civil War, we'd still have slavery."

The California office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations was furious and asked current GOP leaders to repudiate Steel's comments.

Party officials Friday said they were investigating Steel's claims that his words were presented out of context. "If the remarks are accurate, they'll be condemned," said GOP spokesman Rob Stutzman.

In any case, Stutzman added, "We want to make it clear that he does not speak for the party anymore."

Poised to run

She said she is giving next year's race for the 80th Assembly District "very serious consideration" and will announce her decision soon. Andreas said various Democratic leaders over the years, including Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, have asked her to run for office.

If she runs and manages to defeat Republican incumbent Bonnie Garcia of Cathedral City, Andreas would become the first American Indian to hold a seat in the California Legislature, she said.

"But that's not the reason I'm running," she said. "I'm running because I know the issues and I believe I can make a difference."

Andreas spoke to delegates at the Democratic National Convention in 2000, is chairwoman of the state Democratic Party's Native American Caucus and vice chairwoman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, and has been on the Morongo tribal council for much of the past 28 years. The tribe, which has a casino west of Palm Springs and plans a 23-story hotel, has become quite a political player in recent years, contributing more than $1.5 million to campaigns last year.

¡Sí, se puede!

But last week, while lawmakers took a weeklong holiday, Cox was hard at work in another relatively far-flung location: Costa Rica.

Cox and his wife, Maggie, traveled there to develop their Spanish-speaking skills.

Cox, 65, has been taking Spanish lessons for some time, listens to instruction tapes in his car and wants to become proficient enough "to do one interview in Spanish before he's done" with politics, said Peter DeMarco, the Fair Oaks Republican's spokesman.

He described the Costa Rica trip as "full immersion" in Spanish speaking.

"And fortunately," DeMarco added last week, "Novey is not with him on this one."

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/6493421p-7444509c.html

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