Gee I wonder if George W. Bush and Karen Hughes think these comments from Ohio’s Rep. Jean Schmidt are going to help or hurt their efforts to win “hearts and minds” in the Islamic world? Or votes from American Muslims, Islamic-born and converts, here at home?

You know, you all are not getting the big picture. The big picture is that these Islamic insurgents want to destroy us. They don’t like us. They don’t like us because we’re black, we’re white, we’re Christian, we’re Jew, we’re educated, we’re free, we’re not Islamic. We can never be Islamic because we were not born Islamic.

Rep. Schmidt Head made these comments during a press conference held yesterday so that Republican Reps could respond to Dem Rep. Murtha’s speech calling for U.S. troops to leave Iraq. Without a doubt Al-Jazeera is beaming Schmidt’s comments into homes all over the Islamic world.