Much Ado About Nothing, Or, Elena Kagan Is a Secret Islamo-Facist Manchurian Supreme Court Nominee …

… It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, scene v.

Now that ex-Gov. Sarah Palin, the Patron Saint of Cashing In, imagines herself to be a regular Shakespeare with the English language, maybe she can take a moment to pen a verse “refudiating” the Washington Times latest example of religious intolerance and race-bating. Via ThinkProgress:

Less than a month ago, the Washington Times ran a bizarre op-ed by Frank Gaffney, claiming that Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is caught up in a conspiracy with the Muslim Brotherhood and the TARP program to impose oppressive tenants of Islamic Shariah law on America. The highlight of that op-ed was a doctored photo of Kagan in a turban.

The Washington Times’ editors must think that their readers have a very short attention span, because yesterday’s Washington Times also featured an op-ed by Frank Gaffney which touts the same tired conspiracy theory…and features yet another graphic of General Kagan in a turban.

Um, what?

Yeah, that’s right, Elena Kagan – who, for what it’s worth, happens to be Jewish – is part of a secret Islamist cabal hell-bent on transforming the American financial sector into a Caliphate on the Hudson. Or maybe the Charles. Or something.

Anyway, take it away, Frank:

That is where Elena Kagan’s enabling of the penetration of Shariah into our capital markets through the Harvard Law School’s Islamic Finance Project comes in. The purpose of that project is, according to an excellent essay by Mr. McCarthy, “Elena Kagan’s ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ Shariah Policy,” published last week in National Review Online “to promote Shariah compliance in the U.S. financial sector.”

This is accomplished via legal support to an industry known as Shariah-compliant finance (SCF). It was invented in the mid-20th century by Brotherhood operatives as a means of facilitating and underwriting the penetration of Shariah into Western societies by mainlining it into their capitalist bloodstreams. . . .

As a new ad by the Center for Security Policy asks, “If Kagan tolerates promoting the injustice of Shariah law on the campus of Harvard, what kind of injustice will she tolerate in America during a lifetime on the Supreme Court?”

(Emphasis in original ThinkProgress post.)

What kind of injustices, indeed?! Get me my smelling salts.

Of course, as ThinkProgress explains, neither Kagan nor Harvard’s Islamic Finance Project made any effort to promote an “Islamist” agenda here or elsewhere – only to work with Islamic countries and financial institutions to modernize the their financial sector while still respecting the Islamic tradition that forbids charging interest on loans. No burqas, no beheadings, no stonings. Just some creative finance in the Middle East. But, hey, who cares about the facts when you can tie a liberal Jewish Supreme Court nominee to every right-winger’s favorite monster-in-the-closet: Shariah law!

So, ex-Gov. Palin, what do you think? You’re all about the religious freedom and the worship-y thing and the gettin’ down on yer knees and thankin’ the Good Lord the Framers read their Bibles and loved Baby Jesus and Israel and such. So, do you think it’s okay to insinuate – without, as those pesky lawyers say, a shred of evidence – that Elena Kagan is some sort of covert agent who, despite her Jewish faith, is secretly working to convert America to Islam? Or would you refudiate that sort of dog-whistle smear campaign?

Just askin’! Also.

UPDATE: I wonder if the ex-Gov. can answer this question: Why do you suppose the Washington Times chose to picture Elena Kaga in a turban? After all, if she’s a Shariah-lovin’ woman, shouldn’t she be wearing a burqa? I mean, a turban’s what a man would wear, right? Waitaminute! You don’t think the Washington Times is trying to say something about Kagan’s sexuality, do you? C’mon, Sarah. You’ve got a lot of refudiatin’ to do.