Rank-and-file Republicans, including some in the party's suburban Nashville stronghold, have condemned Gov. Bill Haslam for policies that include the hiring of gay individuals, Democrats and a Muslim-American lawyer.
At least two western Tennessee chapters of the Tennessee Republican Party – and possibly as many as eight statewide – have passed resolutions saying Haslam has shown "a consistent lack of conservative values" and calling on state party leaders to sanction the governor.
Meanwhile, the Williamson County Republican Party has passed a more narrow resolution that criticizes the governor for hiring a Tennessee-born Muslim to a trade position. The effort highlights the continued concern about Sharia, or Islamic law, among grass-roots Republicans throughout Tennessee.
The Williamson County resolution (reproduced here) is apparently based on a model resolution promoted by this Islamophobic anti-Haslam website.
The Williamson County Republicans have links to the Tennessee Freedom Coalition, which organised Dutch anti-Muslim bigot Geert Wilders' visit to the state last year. A meet and greet with Wilders was held at the Williamson County Republican Party headquarters in Franklin.
Update: TPM has received an email from Kevin Kookogey, chairman of the Williamson County Republicans, who states:
"To date, the Haslam Administration has displayed an unfortunate ignorance to the threat of Shariah. They seem willing to accept the claims and defense of the Muslim Brotherhood at face value, refusing to even consider that, perhaps, those bent on destroying Western Civilization might just be infiltrating our institutions.... It is not like this has never happened before. The Muslim Brotherhood is following the blueprint of the Communists, who infiltrated the highest levels of government and society in the 1950's. Shariah, however, is an even greater threat, because it has cloaked itself under the auspices of a religion, thus confusing the uninformed."
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