Wow, that guy on the left....Chris Gaubatz, aka David Marshall, is it?...sure looks a lot like Nick Berg...the poor guy who was "beheaded" (on video) by Al Qaeda, really eerie.......

An advocacy group trying to get members into Congress as interns, with the hope that they might help influence legislation.

Wow, what a completely new concept that's never been done once before in the history of all time.

She's on the House Intelligence Committee?!? Good luck finding much Intelligence on that side of the house.

As a former intern coordinator on Capitol Hill I find this both hilarious and a little disturbing. Interns are not allowed to be anywhere near sensitive information in a Congressional office (such as pending legislation, reports from the respective research arms of Congress, and especially national intelligence). They do mundane tasks like answering the phone, running copies, and assisting the staff assistants and office managers in clerical work. So, to claim these interns may be "Manchurian" is humurous because even if terrorists were planted as interns they wouldn't have access to jack crap.

What is disturbing is that these members of Congress, or in the very least their staff, know this full and well and are shamelessly engaging in race-baiting. To pull in harmless college-age interns who are simply trying to learn and get some experience on the Hill - which is one of the most intense internships a college kid can have - is unconscionable. These kids are in many ways shining demonstrations of the faith young people have in democracy. They shouldn't be discouraging future interns from engaging in government to score political points, and they certainly be profiling because of one's affiliations. As punishment, these offices ought to be stripped of their right to have unpaid interns. Let them learn the hard way what it's like without having them around!

Now, if only CAIR or ACORN had actually gang-raped somebody, the Reeps and their news network wouldn't be making such a big deal out of it.

The scariest part of that memo was the bit about wanting to use Outlook.

I'm really confused as to exactly what it is anyone is claiming CAIR has done wrong. Usually I can at least understand the latest right-wing outrage du-jour, but I'm just scratching my head on this one. Is there some law against Muslims being interns on Capitol Hill I am not aware of? Was this an obscure provision of the Patriot Act?

I'm confused, too, and I'm trying to figure out why the Republican party is doing this. What does it stand to gain?

Didn't Sue Myrrick state back in 1994 that as one of Newt Gingrich's contract on America zombies, she'd only run for two terms? She did. Which means she's a liar. Why believe her insane babbling now? What's amazing is that the city of Charlotte continues to vote for this moron.

The Southern Baptist Convention has placed a number of bigoted neoconservatives in various positions in government as well. When is America going to root out these perfidious elements?!

Why target the Judicial, Intelligence, and Homeland Security Committees and not Agriculture, she asks? Well, if one of the objectives of your organization is to protect the civil liberties of the group you represent in the face of a National Security State, I should think that those three committees would have a whole lot more to do with your area of interest than the committee that handles farm policy.

501(c)(3) organizations are restricted as to the lobbying activities they may conduct, but that does not mean they are prohibited from any lobbying activity whatsoever. They may not campaign in support of or in opposition to particular political candidates, but they can engage in non-partisan voter education activities, as well as in voter registration and GOTV efforts. Similarly, they may not attempt to influence legislative bodies on particular legislation, confirmations, etc., but they may conduct educational meetings and activities on public policy issues.

You can advocate for your issue, you just have to be very careful how you do it.