Virginia State Sen. Bill “Rub Me Lamp” DeSteph (R) Shared Video by Anti-Muslim Activist on His Official Facebook Page

I agree 100% with the Virginian-Pilot on this one. I’d add that it was DeSteph’s comments themselves – not the concept of building a mosque in Lower Manhattan – that were “grotesque.”

Of course, DeSteph isn’t a stranger to “grotesque” displays. For instance, who can forget this classic: “He’s Just a Genie in a Bottle…Virginia State Sen. Bill DeSteph (R) Wore Costume with ‘Rub Me’ Lamp ‘Protruding from Crotch’?” Yeah, this guy’s a real piece of work, someone who certainly shouldn’t be in the Virginia State Senate, and who badly needs to be defeated this November (by Democratic nominee Missy Cotter Smasal).

But back to DeSteph’s anti-Muslim bigotry. It turns out that DeSteph’s objections weren’t just to the Lower Manhattan mosque back in 2010, but also to a mosque in Virginia Beach back in September 2013:

A Virginia city councilman claims a mosque approved for construction in Virginia Beach is a threat to national security and has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Bill DeSteph made the charges after the Virginia Beach City Council approved the application by the Crescent Community Center, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Thursday.

DeSteph was the only council member to vote against the mosque Tuesday night.

So yeah, there’s a definite pattern here. Especially when one considers that, after DeSteph’s Islamophobic letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, DeSteph also posted a link to a YouTube video on his official Facebook page from an anti-Muslim activist named David Wood. In the video, “Of Mosques and Men,” Wood claimed that all Muslims have a “dual Muslim nature” to pretend to love America but secretly plot against Americans behind their backs. Wood also claimed that a Muslim community center in lower Manhattan would symbolize Islamic dominance over America. And, Wood argued, Muslims are supposedly “good citizens in public, not-so-good citizens in private.”

The question is, why was DeSteph sharing this bigoted trash? Also, why is this crap *still* up on his public official Facebook page? Does this mean, presumably, that DeSteph’s rabidly anti-Muslim views haven’t changed since 2010? Sure seems like it.

Again, we have a great chance this November to replace DeSteph with former Surface Warfare Officer, Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal (see intro video, below). This is a district won – albeit by slim margins – by both Tim Kaine and Ralph Northam. So it’s in my “tough-but-certainly-winnable” category. Now, it’s up to all of us to help Missy Cotter Smasal win it!