Illinois Democrats Support Black Separatist

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Munir Muhammad works MacArthur's, a busy soul-food restaurant on the West Side, like a politician or celebrity. He enters with an entourage, including his own film crew, and shakes hands with restaurant workers and patrons.

In walks Tommy "Tiny" Lister, an actor who has appeared in more than 90 movies, and state Rep. Deborah Graham (D-Chicago), who both warmly greet Muhammad. They know him and quickly agree to tape an interview on the spot for one of Muhammad's talk shows that air on Chicago public access TV five days a week.

Afterward, Graham says Muhammad has "been a beacon of light in the community.''

Graham is not the only politician to praise Muhammad and appear regularly on his shows, despite the fact that they are far from prime time. Past guests include Gov. Blagojevich, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama and Mayor Daley, as well as businessman Jay Pritzker and Cardinal Francis George. Powerful Ald. William Beavers and former Illinois Gaming Board chairman and Daley fund-raiser Elzie Higginbottom regard him as a close friend.

But his efforts to reach out to people from all walks of life contrast with views posted on the Web site for the group he runs, the Coalition for the Remembrance of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, or CROE. The site says blacks should form a state separate from whites, shouldn't pay taxes and should be prohibited from marrying whites, among other beliefs.

The Democratic Party sure is "progressive".