Leave it to a Democrat to completely miss the point and embarrass himself on national television. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) drew audible laughter and eye rolls during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday when he bizarrely compared Islamic sharia law to the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 conservative policy blueprint.
The Republican-led hearing, titled "Sharia-Free America," was examining efforts by some communities to impose sharia—the Islamic moral and legal code derived from the Quran—within American jurisdictions. It's a serious issue about preserving American constitutional law and preventing parallel legal systems from taking root in our communities.
But Cohen, apparently unable to defend the indefensible, decided to deflect by attacking conservatives instead. The Tennessee Democrat suggested that Project 2025's conservative policy recommendations were somehow equivalent to imposing religious law on Americans.
False Equivalency Falls Flat
What Cohen either doesn't understand or willfully ignores is the fundamental difference between promoting traditional American values through democratic processes and imposing foreign religious law that directly conflicts with our Constitution. Project 2025 seeks to restore constitutional governance and reduce the size of the administrative state—hardly comparable to a legal system that can include severe punishments for apostasy, adultery, and other behaviors protected under American law.
"The hypocrisy is stunning. Democrats spent years screaming about 'theocracy' whenever Christians expressed their values in public, but they'll bend over backwards to defend actual religious law being imposed in American communities."
Republicans on the committee quickly shot down Cohen's ridiculous comparison, pointing out that conservative policy proposals go through normal legislative processes and constitutional review—unlike sharia courts that operate outside American legal frameworks.
Missing the Real Threat
While Cohen was busy playing political games, the hearing addressed genuine concerns about parallel legal systems undermining American sovereignty. Several witnesses testified about communities where sharia principles have been used to resolve disputes outside the constitutional framework that governs all Americans equally.
This is exactly why voters gave Republicans control of Congress—to tackle real issues instead of engaging in the kind of political theater that Cohen brought to what should have been a serious discussion about American legal supremacy.
When will Democrats realize that Americans are tired of their deflection tactics and ready for leaders who actually defend our constitutional republic?