Even
at Moment of Triumph, Kirk Thinking of
Shoaib
By Dr.
Richard L. Benkin reports from Suburban
Chicago
Republican
Congressman Mark Steven Kirk was carried to another
victory by his constituents despite a general trend to
elect Democrats, especially in his state of
Illinois. Although
ecstatic at the continued support he received, Kirk
emphasized to his crowd of supporters that after a day
of thanking the voters, it will be “back to work.” One of the items
at the top of the four-term Congressman’s agenda is his
continued support for Weekly Blitz
editor and publisher Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury,
falsely accused of Sedition, Treason, and
Blasphemy.
At one
point during the celebration, Kirk working the crowd of
supporters got hold of a cell phone and spoke with
Shoaib in Bangladesh. The Weekly Blitz
editor had said that his family had been praying for
a Kirk victory.
Kirk replied that having been re-elected he plans
to continue working unrelentingly to get the charges
against Shoaib dropped—charges that several Bangladeshi
government officials have admitted are false. “We’ve got a lot
of work to do,” has been a familiar Kirk refrain with
reference to the Choudhury case. Having said
that, Kirk then held out the phone and yelled into it,
“And I want everybody in
Bangladesh to hear
that”; a reference to the Bangladeshi government’s
penchant for listening in on Choudhury’s
calls.
The
Congressman’s wife, Kimberly Vertolli-Kirk, also
remarked on her husband’s efforts for Shoaib. When told that
he had saved the Bangladeshi journalist’s life, she
responded that “Now he can continue working to save
him.”
The shift
from Republican to Democratic control of the Congress is
not expected to weaken Kirk or slow down the effort to
support Shoaib.
Several commentators have noted that Kirk emerged
from the election as “the strongest Republican in
Illinois” (the
fourth largest in the
United
States); if not
in the entire country. Moreover, Kirk
and his staff have been successful over the past several
weeks in recruiting members of Congress from both
parties to sign on to his efforts on behalf of
Shoaib.
When Kirk
saw this reporter at the election night celebration, he
clasped his had warmly and said, “Richard! I’m so glad
you’re here [tonight] and not in
Bangladesh.”
“Perhaps we can
go there together,” I
replied.
Congressman
Kirk just smiled.