Can a Farrakhan supporter do teshuvah?

The Wingnut Powerline blog has posted an attack on Keith Ellison, democratic congressional candidate in Minnesota and former Nation of Islam supporter. They cite a letter he wrote to the JCRC and claim he misrepresents his past activities. I read what they posted and yes in that letter he is down-playing his past associations as any candidate trying to enter the mainstream would.

To me it is clear that Keith says he has repented sincerely of his past transgressions.

That is one major difference between liberals and conservatives. The conservatives assume that nobody can be sincere no matter what they say. Politics to them is just one big power game of gotcha - hence the name of the blog discussed here is "Powerline". Liberals on the other hand have ideas and ideals.

Here's the start of the anti-Ellison Powerline post.

Keith Ellison for dummies

After he unexpectedly won the endorsement of the DFL nominating convention for Minnesota's Fifth District congressional seat on May 6, Keith Ellison faced a serious problem. The problem was how to deal with his well-known involvement with the Nation of Islam. Had Ellison not managed to dispose of the problem, his candidacy would likely have been irreparably weakened in the competitive DFL primary field.

Ellison chose to deal with the problem by writing an audacious letter to the Jewish Community Relations Council on May 28. In the letter, Ellison staked his campaign on three assertions: That his involvement with the Nation of Islam was limited to a period of 18 months around the time of the Million Man March in 1995, that he was unaware of the Nation of Islam's anti-Semitism and that he terminated his involvement with the Nation of Islam when he became aware of it. ...

Powerline is obsessed with Ellison - publishing more than 50 articles against him to this date. The simplistic theory behind these posts is - once you have stepped in doo-doo you can never clean it off your shoe.

On this eve of Yom Kippur we reaffirm that teshuvah, repentance and atonement are at the core of human life.

We must accept sincerity and restore it to our political processes.