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Scarce put up New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's speech defending his nomination of Solahi Mohammed to NJ's Superior Court earlier. And as much as I find to vehemently disagree with Chris Christie--and there are volumes of disagreement-- there's something refreshing in seeing a Republican reject typical xenophobic memes and speak on an intellectually honest level.

The question on Sharia Law seemed to set Christie off, as he said exasperated: “Sharia Law has nothing to do with this at all, it’s crazy! The guy is an American citizen!” He concluded that the “Sharia Law business is just crap… and I’m tried of dealing with the crazies,” adding with disgust and frustration that “it’s just unnecessary to be accusing this guy of things just because of his religious background.”

Lawrence O'Donnell thought so too, and awarded Christie with the first ever The Last Word standing ovation for refusing to capitulate to the ugliness that is the Republican Party's unabashed islamophobia and rightfully characterize those practitioners as "crazies."

Unfortunately, there's consequences to be paid for such honesty. Certainly, getting applauded by liberals on the derided liberal station MSNBC isn't good for one's conservative cred. Next thing you know, Christie's mug will be up on Pammy Geller's website as a islamo-fascist terrorist lover.