With only a few scant weeks left in 2011, Tennessee State Representative Rick Womick has made a late break in the running for "Absolute Dumbest Thing a Republican Has Said About Islam This Year." Let's check in, shall we?

Womick was interviewed by Think Progress' Lee Fang at the "Preserving Freedom Conference" in that hotbed of Shariah law, Murfreesboro, Tenn. "Personally, I don't trust one Muslim in our military," he told Fang. "[I]f they truly are a devout Muslim, and follow the Quran and the Sunnah, then I feel threatened because they're commanded to kill me." But, oh, it got even better when Murfreesboro's Daily News Journal followed up:

"Who are we at war with?" Womick said. "We are at war with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, who are Muslims. It's a Catch-22. They are not allowed to kill their fellow Muslims, we're at war with Muslims. The only solution I see is that they not be allowed in the military."

Oh, Rick! Your ignorance is a precious, beautiful thing: in five sentences you have managed to misunderstand Islam, the U.S. constitution, and Joseph Heller's classic Catch-22. Best of luck going up against your fellow Republicans for the title this December!

[Think Progress, DNJ]