Islam gaffe candidate Banister quits Australia election

[Turborama]

Source: BBC

An Australian election candidate who was widely mocked after she mistook Islam for a country in a TV interview has withdrawn her candidacy.

Stephanie Banister, 27, was contesting a seat in Queensland for the anti-immigration One Nation Party. She had only been in politics for 48 hours.

Ms Banister also confused the term "haram" (forbidden) with the Koran and suggested Jews worshipped Jesus Christ.

The interview, which aired early this week, went viral on social media.

''I don't oppose Islam as a country, umm, but I do feel that their laws should not be welcome here in Australia,'' Ms Banister told Seven News reporter Erin Edwards.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23644422

---

The Young Turks' take on it...

"If you need to know the differences between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, you probably shouldn't ask Australian nationalist politician Stephanie Banister.

The 27-year-old One Nation party candidate for parliament proved herself ignorant on key facts while discussing her policy beliefs with a 7News reporter Wednesday evening. At one point, she declared "Islam" to be a country; at another, she suggested the Jewish religion follows Christ; and another, she asserted a federal disability program was working quite well despite not going into effect for three more years."*

Is Stephanie Banister the Australian Sarah Palin...or is she even more of a joke? The Australian nationalist politician is now trying to ban halal foods, based on hilariously bad religious misinformation. Cenk Uygur, Ben Mankiewicz, John Iadaorla, and Wes Clark Jr. discuss.

*Watch the video from Yahoo Australia/ News 7:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/election/a/-/article/18429781/australian-sarah-palin/

The 'Australian Sarah Palin'

[Alamuti Lotus]

1. My condolences to her opponents in the race: she sounds like the ideal candidate to run against..

[Ken Burch]

2. slight correction to the story you quoted in the OP (the mistake was the text's fault, not yours):

In the interview she was heard giving on the Australian news program, Ms. Banister did not confuse the word "Haram&quot the Arabic word for "forbidden&quot with the word "Koran&quot the name of the holy book of the Islamic faiths). She ACTUALLY confused the word "Haram&quot forbidden) with the word "Halal&quot Halal being the term both for the Islamic dietary laws and the foods Muslims are allowed to consume under those laws).

This is comparable to discussing Judaism and confusing the terms "kosher&quot foods allowed under the Jewish dietary laws)and "treyf&quot foods forbidden under the dietary laws, such as pork, shellfish, meat not butchered in the approved manner and from the approved portions of the animal, and the serving of meat and dairy in the same meal or, in some cases, with the same implements).

It's important to get that clear, because if we don't, it's comparable to the reporters who busted Dan Quayle on his misspelling of the word "potato" but who then had to check to be sure what the correct spelling of the word actually was.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Thanks for the clarification

I did not know that.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

4. The world is waking up to the fact that the Right is STOOOOPID.

[Ash_F]

5. I really hope this does not torpedo her career. /nt

[LeftishBrit]

6. What an idiot!

But perhaps it's just as well when right-wing nuts are obviously stupid as well.

[BainsBane]

7. See here, they'd never quit over a gaffe like that

They wear ignorance as a badge of pride. That is why our idiots are worse. They are beyond shame.

[ashling]

8. The Austalian Palian

Floats like a butterfly, . . . .

That's it, just floats like a frickin' air-headed butterfly


I read in another post that she is from yet another English speaking country
I resemble that comment
she clearly speaks Yan. AWE - STRAAAY - YAN


So, lets call up the country of ISlm and
put another shrimp on the
air-headed Barbee


I'll be here all week ...

[tanyev]

11. Except Palin would never quit a campaign just because she said something stupid.

She'd wait until she won the election and got bored with whatever it was she was supposed to be doing.

[ashling]

15. You may have a point there

However, she would quit the campaign if there was actual work involved.

[pampango]

9. How can we scare voters and promote an "us vs them" mindset to get elected then

enact conservative economic policies which was our real goal all along?

Will the RW base ever figure out how they are played by far-right politicians?

[MADem]

10. We beat ourselves up over idiot politicians, and cringe in shame when a Bachmann or Palin mouths off

so it's nice to know that stupidity knows no borders--every country has their "morans" it would seem.

[MisterP]

12. wait for it--she'll be Prospect magazine's #1 World Thinker for '14...

Last edited Sat Aug 10, 2013, 02:30 PM - Edit history (1)

[freshwest]

13. Comedians worldwide weep at the loss of this source of fodder. Thanks, Obama!

BTW, the price of gas just dropped half a dollar a gallon in my neighborhood.

[jasond54231]

14. What a truly ditzy woman

Reading her tripe has killed a few of my brain cells. But at least she had the decency to quit, unlike so many GOP idiots here.