Representative Keith Ellison returned from a trip to Iraq organized by SecDef Robert Gates, heres a smattering of the coverage.

Still A War Foe, Ellison Sees Some Progress In Trip To Iraq

“Rep. Keith Ellison headed home from a weekend trip to Iraq on Monday describing cooperation among Iraqi police, local communities, U.S. soldiers and Muslim imams, and a “general sense of calm.”

Ellison said his position against the war has not changed but he returned from Iraq with both praise and criticism for a complicated situation.”

Ellison is part of Iraq trip arranged by Defense Chief

Ellison, a first-term Minneapolis Democrat and a longtime critic of the war, is part of an all-freshman bipartisan congressional delegation traveling to the region at Gates’ invitation. Ellison plans to stop in Germany this morning and hopes to meet with wounded soldiers there….

Since Ellison’s election, his religion has been at the forefront of his political image in Washington. Ellison met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice several times about bolstering America’s image in the Muslim world. Rice recently requested another meeting, but she canceled because she was called to the White House.

Ellison returns from trip to Iraq

Ellison, D-Minn., said he met in Ramadi in Anbar province with the two sheiks, who oversee several hundred thousand congregants.

“They were very upset and concerned that al-Qaeda is misrepresenting Islam,” Ellison told reporters on a conference call Monday from Germany, on his way back to the U.S. “And they were talking to me about what I can possibly do to work with them to give a clearer, more accurate picture of what Islam is all about.”

Ellison said he would assist in any way he can. He is already helping a State Department outreach effort aimed at improving the image of the U.S. in the Muslim world.

And not related to his trip to Iraq– but none the less, showing the support Representative Ellison has given our Government, an article from the VOA about Keith meeting with female Muslim leaders from around the world.

“Ellison won his seat in Congress last year. And as a former community activist, he sought to inspire the women with a message. “That civic engagement is very important, that the voices from the communities are indispensable to democracy, that their voices are important, that they should help inspire and make a way for other people to get out there and say what they think should be the policy of the state. And that there is a lot to be offered in peace, justice, environmental policy, health care and certainly women’s issues are very important for all of us to be concerned about.”"

So, the well tread joke (it’s not particularly funny) is that there are more miles of biking trails in the 8th Congressional district than roads and it’s because Jim Oberstar wants a bike trail in exchange for every appropriation that goes through his committee.

A light rail line for you, a bike trail for me. A highway expansion for you, a bike trail for me.

That is clearly not how it works, it just seems that way sometimes.

The Strib picked up on his two-wheeled shenanigans.

Oberstar can rattle off details about northern Minnesota’s cycling trails with uncanny ease, describing scenic overlooks from Baxter to Bemidji. He has his schedule timed perfectly so that when he lands in the Twin Cities on weekend trips home, a connecting flight will get him to Chisholm in time for an hour-and-a-half ride on the Mesabi Trail before the sun goes down…. Oberstar estimated that he has helped win funding and approval for at least 60 trails nationwide

Representative Keith Ellison was asked to go to Iraq this week by SecDef Robert Gates and we’ll have more on that as it gets reported, but Keith also wrote a great piece in the Washington Post about religious freedom.

The line “Whole days – even weeks – have gone by without me being asked to speak on behalf of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world.” was delivered without a hint of irony (’cause I would have had field day with that “No one is asking Amy Klobuchar what it’s like be a Slovenian American– but yet whole days, and even weeks have gone by without me being asked to speak on behalf of 1.3 billion Muslims!”)  and his unmitigated pride in and love for America is obvious throughout.

American Muslims are an asset to the country, not a threat. Unfair suspicion and profiling does not serve the national interest or honor our hard earned reputation as the beacon for civil and human rights around the world.

I can’t speak for every Muslim, but I remain confident and hopeful about the prospects for America’s Muslims because, in the end, America is about religious tolerance, inclusion, and fairness.

The whole piece can be found here.