You can always count on a member of Congress to say something completely asinine. This time it’s Virgil Goode, who was my congressman when I lived in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Keith Ellison, who will become the first Muslim member of Congress next month, has said that he plans to use the Koran for his ceremonial swearing-in. In response, Congressman Goode sent a letter to some of his constituents that says the following:

When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran. We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country. I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped.

The Ten Commandments and “In God We Trust” are on the wall in my office. A Muslim student came by the office and asked why I did not have anything on my wall about the Koran. My response was clear, “As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, The Koran is not going to be on the wall of my office.”

In addition to bigotry, the letter is a big non sequitur: Keith Ellison is a natural-born U.S. citizen and has traced his family’s American roots back to 1742.

Charlottesville is an oasis of blue in a sea of red. Too bad it’s not possible to secede from a Congressional district.