Ellison is the latest in a long list of politicians to get themselves in trouble on Twitter.

Keith Ellison finds himself in hot water with conservatives after retweeting an offensive message from his official Twitter account.

Wednesday, Ellison took to Twitter to ask his followers who uttered the following quote: "... even if you have a child two years of age, you need to go to work." The answer to the trivia question? None other than presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

In response to the question, a Texan named Tammy Talpas offered up the following answer: "A heartless douchebag who doesn't like animals or small children. At least that's what I've heard."

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Though he no longer serves in the state legislature, Ellison is apparently following the proposed voter ID amendment closely.

​Yesterday, the state Senate Local Government and Elections Committee approved a proposed voter ID constitutional amendment in a party-line 8-6 vote.

The amendment now goes before another committee before coming before the whole Senate. A companion bill in the House has not yet been scheduled for committee hearing.

Though polls show a vast majority of Minnesotans favor requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison was so outraged to see the amendment win its first legislative victory that he issued a harshly worded statement following yesterday's committee vote. Here's what he said, in part:

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Asad Zaman "attacked" the KSTP news crew

This week's feature chronicles the troubled history of TiZA, the controversial charter school blasted by conservative critics as the "Minnesota madrassa."

TiZA began humbly, serving poor Somali immigrants in Inver Grove Heights. It grew into a media darling, and Congressman Keith Ellison enrolled his youngest child at the school, as we detail in our story. But after Katherine Kersten wrote a column in March 2008 accusing TiZA of being an "Islamic school," a wave of legal problems descended upon the academy.

Its officials reacted aggressively to criticism, hiring a PR firm and lobbying the media. Its monitor, Wayne Jennings, wrote a letter to the Star Tribune defending TiZA. Executive Director Asad Zaman traveled to the Strib's offices to demand Kersten be fired, according to a former parent at the school. But that paled in comparison to the school's reaction when KSTP reporter Chris O'Connell made an unwelcome visit in May 2008.

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Rep. Keith Ellison is not in favor of SOPA

Congressman Keith Ellison has come out against SOPA.

Rep. Ellison joins Wikipedia, Google, and millions of Americans across the country who are against SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act introduced by Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R-Texas). A number of websites around the world have created an Internet "blackout" to protest the bill. Google has censored its logo for American users on the homepage of its search engine and Wikipedia has removed some of its content. The controversy has been so great one Republican told the Washington Post that the bill has become "a dirty word."

In his statement, Rep. Ellison said he opposes the bill because "it would harm internet innovation and jobs."

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Keith Ellison: Relieved, but not "happy" about Qaddafi's death.

​Muammar Qaddafi is finally, mercifully, dead. After a 40-year reign of terror inflicted upon his own people, other Africans, Europeans, and Americans, the Libyan dictator has been killed by his own people. According to graphic images posted by Al-Jazeera, Qaddafi's body is now being dragged through the street.

But not everyone is ready to jump in the conga line and dance on Muammar's grave.

Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison had an early message for his Twitter followers, which expressed relief for Libyans, and hope for the future of people there and in other Arab countries.

But, Ellison cautioned, no one should celebrate the end of a human life.
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Keith Ellison wants Khaled Mashal to set Galid Shalit free.

​Keith Ellison and a group of prominent American Muslims have sent a letter to Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, asking that he release an Israeli soldier from prison.

In the letter, Ellison and others plead that Galid Shalit be set free on religious grounds. The letter asks that Hamas reconsider Shalit's case in light of Ramadan, the month-long Muslim holiday that ended yesterday. Ellison has been on the case since he met with Shalit's parents in Washington, D.C. several years ago.

Reached by phone, Ellison, who's in town for an event earlier today with Tim Walz and Nancy Pelosi, told City Pages that Hamas letting Shalit out is the kind of gesture that could lead to substantive talks in the world's most intractable foreign policy struggle.

"The Israeli-Palestinian conflict seems so stuck," Ellison said. "It just feels like if [Shalit] would be released, that might open some space for real dialogue and progress."
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Keith Ellison is not waiting for a "Thank you" note.

​It looks like Muammar Qaddafi's torturous, four-decade reign in Libya is coming to an explosive end. With the tide turning against Qaddafi and the rebel fighters now entering Tripoli, Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison wishes Barack Obama's lay-low, smoke-'em-out policy would get a little credit.

But he's not going to hold his breath. Last night on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," Ellison thought he knew why Republicans won't give a nod to Obama's strategy, which let NATO bombers do the heavy  lifting against Qaddafi's mercenaries while the rebels gained ground.

Olbermann asked how Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham could give credit to NATO, and not the United States.

"Because of absolute unmitigated gall," Ellison said, laughing. "And the assumption that all of us have amnesia."
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Ellison thinks Cain might be "a sick individual."

​Herman Cain is intolerant of Muslims, and Keith Ellison is intolerant of Herman Cain.

In an interview with Salon.com, Ellison said Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza now running for the Republican presidential nomination, is "trying to distinguish himself as the religious bigot of the presidential race."

Ellison was responding to a long list of outrageously anti-Muslim statements from Cain, including Cain's comment that he wouldn't select any Muslims to cabinet positions if he is elected president, which he won't be.

Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, took Cain to task for "his incredibly offensive" statements, which Ellison thinks are a deliberate appeal to get attention.

"I don't know if Herman Cain is just a sick individual, or if he is using bigotry to strategically move his campaign forward," Ellison said.
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Torgerson's back for more.

Lynn Torgerson dumped all over Rep. Keith Ellison during the 2010 congressional campaign, trashing his Muslim faith as little more than a breeding ground for criminals, and not deserving of free speech protection under the Constitution.

Voters in the 5th congressional district rewarded her with a total of 8,548 votes, compared to Ellison's 154,833.

But despite such utter and complete rejection, she's back for another shot in 2012.

The plea for attention started on Facebook in early June.

Then, on the Tea Party Nation website, she posted this:

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Herman Cain wants loyalty oaths for Muslims.

Herman Cain tried to put a moderating gloss on his anti-Muslim paranoia the other night during the Republican presidential debate, but he's pretty up front about his bigotry. Any Muslim wanting to serve in a Cain administration would have to take a separate loyalty oath to the Constitution, he says.

Never mind that Article 6 says, "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

Cain is also asserts that Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim, isn't sufficiently patriotic because he didn't take his oath of office on a Bible, and Ellison's getting tired of Muslims serving as Cain's campaign fodder.

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