South Dakota state Rep. Betty Olson says she was just trying to be funny when she ended two recent newspaper columns with jokes about Muslim terrorists, 7-11 clerks, Motel 6 managers and the president of the United States.

But her comments went viral across South Dakota and the country this week, with many online comments referring to her as a racist, an ignorant Republican unfit for public office, and an embarrassment to South Dakota.

Her columns, carried in the weekly Butte County Post and online under the header Grand River Roundup, deal with the everyday occurrences of small western South Dakota communities in and around House District 28B, which includes all or part of Butte, Harding and Perkins counties. Topics often include harvest updates, high school football, cattle roundups, rodeos, campfire coffee, parades and the ever-changing weather.

But when she concluded her Sept. 10 column with a made-up warning from ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood that claimed if the U.S. continued meddling in Middle Eastern hot spots, they would end up cutting off America’s supply of 7-11 and Motel 6 managers, cab drivers, customer service reps for Dell, AT&T and AOL, as well as U.S. presidents, it ignited a viral firestorm and generated innumerable and decidedly unfavorable comments on internet websites and social media.

“You should be ashamed, Betty Olson,” one poster wrote to Talking Points Memo, a national website that published Olson’s remarks. “Once again, the comments you find humorous are racist, degrading and beyond disgusting. Shame on you and all who support your backwoods mentality.”

“I cannot believe, in this day & age, that someone as blatantly racist as you is allowed a public forum to make your sweeping generalizations about groups of people,” an East River South Dakota resident wrote. “Your callous disregard for the office of President of the United States, and your disrespect of a people you obviously know nothing about shows the world your true colors.”

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The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said it has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate a Hot Springs, Ark., shooting range that has been declared a “Muslim-free zone” by its owner.

The owner claims the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agrees with her claimed right to bar customers based on their faith.

In a letter to Attorney General Holder, CAIR wrote in part:

“[The shooting range owner] appears to be misinterpreting the advice given to her and refusing service to all Muslims, which cannot be a correct interpretation of compliance with federal gun laws and the U.S. Constitution.

“Given the recent spike in anti-Muslim rhetoric, including Islamophobic statements by government officials, community leaders and media outlets, death threats, and other bias incidents targeting Muslims, I urge you to investigate this matter soon.

“CAIR believes that systematically banning Muslims from a place of business is a violation of federal laws prohibiting racial and religious discrimination and will inevitably result in a hostile environment for ordinary Muslims in Arkansas.”

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If it wasn’t clear already, it should be now. State Rep. John Bennett, R-Sallisaw, is not going to back down on his criticism of Muslims and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Speaking to about 25 members of the Muskogee Patriot Group at the town’s public library on Thursday, Bennett doubled down on statements he’s made that have garnered national attention in the last few weeks, covering a variety of topics but saving some especially vicious vitriol for CAIR.

Bennett told the tea party group that there’s “no difference between moderate Islam and extreme Islam” and said CAIR might have been lying to promote its pro-Muslim agenda when it denounced the actions of Alton Nolen, who is accused of beheading a woman in Moore last week.

CAIR’s and other Islamic groups’ denouncements of the beheading were acts of subversion, Bennett said. He showed attendees seven Quran verses he said he believes authorize Muslims to lie to nonbelievers if it promotes the “Muslim agenda.”

“They condemn acts against the innocent,” Bennett said. “(That’s the) key word. You’ve got to read between the lines. ‘Innocents’ are only those following Islam.”

Bennett was met with sharp criticism when his statements – calling Islam a cancer that needs to be cut out of America – were first broadcast in September. But he was also met with some support.

Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Dave Weston supported Bennett following the statements, and it was clear from his town hall meeting in Sallisaw last month as well as at Thursday’s meeting that Bennett’s message is one that resonates with some Oklahomans.

Bennett didn’t shy away from inflammatory comments Thursday. He said the “silent majority” of Muslims who have not commented on the beheading in Moore, as well as the terrorist acts of the Islamic State group, or ISIL, are “just like Germans” who joined the Nazis when the Nazis came into power. He said the “liberal media” was the No. 1 problem when it came to stopping the growth of Islam in America, and he said “limp-wristed liberal apologists” also have played a part in Islam’s rise here.

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In an act that will no doubt result in lawsuits, The Gun Cave Indoor Shooting Range in Hot Springs, Arkansas, has declared itself a “Muslim free zone” due to concerns over domestic Islamic terrorism. The ban was announced yesterday by range owner Jan Morgan in an article posted to her web site where she cites ten points justifying her position.

Among the points cited are prior attacks in the United States that the federal government refuses to classify as terrorism, including the Fort Hood attack, the Boston Marathon bombing, and the last week’s Oklahoma City beheading. Morgan has also received death threats in the past for her writing about Islam.

Another incident that weighed heavily in Morgan’s decision was an incident at her firing range several weeks ago, which she relayed to Bearing Arms this morning.

Morgan claims that two Muslim men who spoke only broken English came to her range and requested to rent semi-automatic firearms and ammunition. One of them could not produce any identification showing that he was in the country legally, and the other had a California driver’s license. Neither had any apparent firearms training. She allowed them to rent one firearm, and stood behind them the entire time they were on the range, her hand on or near her holstered Glock 19. All other patrons voluntarily vacated the firing line while they were shooting.

She brings up a very valid point that gun stores and ranges have both a legal and moral obligation to ensure the safety of their patrons. Because of this, they may refuse service to anyone they deem to be under the influence, mentally unstable, or otherwise a potential threat to themselves, or others. FFLs are afforded a great deal of latitude in this regard, as the federal government would rather err on the side of caution.

While FFls and range operators have a great deal of latitude in their business dealings, it is doubtful that a blanket ban based upon religion is remotely viable on First Amendment grounds. This is no more legally viable than a ban on Baptists or Catholics.

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