Yes, Obama Supports the Right to Build the Ground Zero Mosque
Except, of course, that isn’t the issue — as Allahpundit notes. The issue is whether it’s appropriate to build it there. And since the developers are demanding that we worry about their sensibilities . . . what about ours?
How does he feel about Gutfeld’s Muslim gay bar?
UPDATE: Unsurprisingly, he is now explicitly pointing out what I noted in this post: that he ducked the real issue of the wisdom of putting a mosque there.
This is such a non-important issue.
Chris Hooten (d49740) — 8/13/2010 @ 9:28 pmThanks also to Colonel Haiku and Beldar commenting on the SC dem candidate thread.
I’m surprised that Obama came out with this.
People who think all know it has nothing to do with whether it is legal or not, as is said above, and when it is discussed as if this is not understood it stands out as treating the audience as idiots.
People who don’t think feel it is wrong, because their sensibilities have been violated.
Once again I am puzzled if Obama is so beholden to his idiology he can’t see anything else, is he really that stupid, really that arrogant, or is holding a hand of aces so that he comes out on top no matter what happens.
Or the ever popular, “All of the above.”
MD in Philly (5a98ff) — 8/13/2010 @ 9:42 pmI understand there is a Greek Orthodox Church that was destroyed and has not had much cooperation from the city or the state in its efforts to rebuild in the same style as was destroyed.
That is probably an unstated answer to your question, Sir.
{^_^}
JD (9ac83d) — 8/13/2010 @ 10:04 pmJD, I remembered about the Greek Orthodox Church, but couldn’t remember what the outcome was. According to this NYT story last year, the Port Authority and church hit an impasse,
The fate of the church, a narrow whitewashed building that was crushed in the attack on the World Trade Center, was supposed to have been settled eight months ago, with a tentative agreement in which the church would swap its land for a grander church building on a larger parcel nearby, with a $20 million subsidy from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. This would have allowed work to begin at the south end of the site. But the two sides never came to final terms.
In light of the President’s piggybacking onto Bloomberg, this was interesting – or telling,
And while the Bloomberg administration expressed regrets about the impasse, officials said it was far more important to proceed apace with building a memorial, a transit center and other projects at ground zero.
Dana (8ba2fb) — 8/13/2010 @ 10:20 pmI think we all knew he wanted this. He could care less about 9/11. Has he ever said a believable word about it? Now think. The answer is …no. In fact I think Obama would put American beliefs or lives about last on his list of priorities. Particularly white Americans that worked on Wall Street.
pat (ea80c1) — 8/13/2010 @ 10:28 pmWell, I still refuse to believe that Obama is a closet Muslim!
Kevin Murphy (5ae73e) — 8/13/2010 @ 10:29 pmI don’t know about where you live, but where I live you can’t build anything permanent, even on your own property, unless the local government okays it.
Doesn’t sound like much of a right to me.
Dave Surls (5fa02d) — 8/13/2010 @ 10:42 pmIt is shocking to see the President choosing freedom of religion and property ownership rights over Patterico’s fee-fees.
More prosaically, one wonders at the odds of Obama taking these positions public without Mayor Bloomberg already having hung his ass over the pier in precisely the same direction.
Still: weird seeing centrist politicos expressing constitutional scholarship and libertarian values better than someone who claims to bleed them.
shooter (32dc25) — 8/13/2010 @ 10:44 pmChris Hooten,
To you it may be a non-important issue, but to more than half of Americans opposing the mosque, it’s a very important issue.
That there is great indication that Abdul Rauf, founder of the mosque project, is not only pro-Sharia but entertains the notion of it being instituted in the U.S. is not exactly a non-important aspect to this important story.
That the President of the United States would be so tone-deaf (intentionally, and with complete disregard) to the prevailing view of the American public – yet again – is not a non-important issue. This has become a nasty habit of his, and it’s revealing to see him once again dishonestly re-frame an argument as he appeases and capitulate.
He counts on people like you.
Dana (8ba2fb) — 8/13/2010 @ 10:46 pmSince Obama STILL has not decided where to try KSM, maybe he should instruct Holder to try him in the Ground Zero mosque/community center as a gesture that he will get a fair trial, even though he already poisoned the well.
daleyrocks (940075) — 8/13/2010 @ 10:49 pmFrankly, I don’t care if he supports it or not as it does not matter to me. All that matters is how can he improve the lives of Americans with the current economic slump we are in. These press release just tends to ease out the tension on national issues.
Hippy Hop (56e5d8) — 8/13/2010 @ 10:55 pm“weird seeing centrist politicos expressing constitutional scholarship”
shooter – I agree that for Obama that does approach constitutional scholarship and it’s weird whereas for most Americans it is elementary and not the point of the debate, but hey, calling him a centrist is below the belt.
daleyrocks (940075) — 8/13/2010 @ 11:05 pmObama is a centrist?! LOL! One has to be an ultra-uber-super-liberal to categorize that the guy now in the White House is a centrist.
Mark (411533) — 8/13/2010 @ 11:28 pm“How does he feel about Gutfeld’s Muslim gay bar?”
He is still opposed to them getting married, but thinks they can get a drink.
NCC (996c34) — 8/14/2010 @ 4:14 amHooten swings, misses, hits himself in the nuts.
Icy Texan (cdf587) — 8/14/2010 @ 5:37 amDana
Being pro Sharia does not “necessarily” equate to being pro terrorist or pro horrific stoning, and all the shocking news items that we are bombarded with about the Arab world. These are isolated incidents that are being dealt with, too slowly but surely.
Its interesting that Mandela and the entire African continent still commit tens of thousands of genocidal atrocities daily (many use Mandela wrongly as a authoritarian figurehead from which they rationalize their power)
And make no mistake about the violence in Africa is mostly racial, ethnic (which to me is racial) and religious as well as just plain old mayhem and power grabbing – yet even though it is responible over the years in America for almost as many deaths as 9/11 since the 50’s they occur in ones and twos, here and there all over the country.
EricPWJohnson (746719) — 8/14/2010 @ 6:00 amI’m sure the Al THanis’s specially the “Black Prince” all agree on that point
ian cormac (2e065c) — 8/14/2010 @ 6:05 amEPWJ’s point?
Anybody?
Icy Texan (cdf587) — 8/14/2010 @ 6:17 am“Forget it, he’s rolling”
ian cormac (2e065c) — 8/14/2010 @ 6:19 amWell I think it’s quite clear what the implications of this whole zany mosque kerfuffle should be.
1) Muslims should be permitted their fullest possible property rights under the law, and also their full rights under the first amendment, having duly and loudly squealed for them. They should be permitted, indeed they should be downright encouraged, to build their mosque as an elegant gob of spit in the eye of America.
Then,
2) Once this question has been settled for good, the United States should forcefully re-assert its full right of sovereignty, viz. the US retains all rights to determine in all cases which, if any, foreign persons shall or shall not be granted rights of immigration, citizenship, rights of entry, visas, asylum, naturalization, and/or rights of legal residence; and that henceforth no Muslims shall for any reason whatsoever be granted any of the above, in perpetuity, ever again.
No more Muslims into the US. Ever. Period.
IMMIGRATION: Denied.
DIVERSITY LOTTERY: Denied.
ASYLUM: Denied.
FAMILY REUNIFICATION: Denied.
CHAIN MIGRATION: Denied.
REFUGEE STATUS: Denied.
H1-B VISAS: Denied.
The reason being that in building the Ground Zero mosque and having named it Cordoba House (see Tarek ibn Zayed Academy in Minnesota for a parallel — look it up), Muslims have tipped their hand, removed their mask, and showed to the American people quite clearly what Muslim intentions are towards America (viz., domination, subjection and destruction). The entire history and jurisprudence of Islam may be entered into evidence in support of this conjecture. If we had American presidents who were actual patriots rather than tools, there would be no controversy whatsoever about this.
So let them build their mosque, exactly to the letter according to their rights (“we will use your own laws to destroy you!”). And then slam the gate shut, lock it tight, and let those aleady here, diminish, dwindle, and disperse.
d. in c. (ffe6ea) — 8/14/2010 @ 6:31 amit the muslim in
ColonelHaiku (2deed7) — 8/14/2010 @ 6:35 ambig zero how he feel if
“Outfidel’s” built near?
Being pro Sharia does not “necessarily” equate to being pro terrorist or pro horrific stoning, and all the shocking news items that we are bombarded with about the Arab world. These are isolated incidents that are being dealt with, too slowly but surely.
This statement suggests you are an expert in Sharia. Please regale us with your credentials. My understanding is that these incidents are common, such as the woman in Pakistan gang raped because a male relative insulted another clan. She was then convicted of adultery and stoned.
The rare cases we hear about are the result of poor communications and apathy, not rarity of the practice. A woman in Saudi Arabia who owned a business was arrested for sitting in an outdoor cafe with a man she was doing business with when the A/C in her office malfunctioned. This is pervasive through the Muslim countries, especially those with Wahabbi tendencies.
Mike K (d6b02c) — 8/14/2010 @ 7:08 amAndy McCarthy writes:
“At Andrew Breitbart’s Big Peace site, Frank Gaffney explains.
All of it is worth reading, but I was struck by Frank’s description of three people among the invited company in which President Obama chose to make his announcement in support the Ground Zero mosque:
Ingrid Mattson, the head of a Muslim Brotherhood satellite organization, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), that was identified by the Justice Department as an unindicted coconspirator in a terrorism financing case (and was proved, in fact, to have sent money to Hamas);
Salam al-Marayati, a self-described supporter of Hezbollah (and one Steve Emerson aptly describes as an anti-anti-terrorist); and
Dalia Mogahed, an apologist for sharia’s subjugation of women who has embraced ISNA, CAIR and other Islamist groups in her role as an Obama appointee to the President’s Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
The president has long been governing against the will of the American people. It’s good to see, concretely, whose will his governance favors. Given the choice between the 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America and ISNA, Obama chooses ISNA.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/243733/president-stands-sharia-andy-mccarthy
ColonelHaiku (2deed7) — 8/14/2010 @ 7:13 amColonel’s old classmate Debra Burlingame, the co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America writes:
Barack Obama has abandoned America at the place where America’s heart was broken nine years ago, and where her true values were on display for all to see. Since that dark day, Americans have been asked to bear the burden of defending those values, again and again and again. Now this president declares that the victims of 9/11 and their families must bear another burden. We must stand silent at the last place in America where 9/11 is still remembered with reverence or risk being called religious bigots.
Muslims have worshipped in New York without incident both before and after the attacks of 9/11. This controversy is not about religious freedom. 9/11 was more than a “deeply traumatic event,” it was an act of war. Building a 15-story mosque at Ground Zero is a deliberately provocative act that will precipitate more bloodshed in the name of Allah. Those who continue to target and kill American civilians and U.S. troops will see it as a symbol of their historic progress at the site of their most bloody victory. Demolishing a building that was damaged by wreckage from one of the hijacked planes in order to build a mosque and Islamic Center will further energize those who regard it as a ratification of their violent and divinely ordered mission: the spread of shariah law and its subjugation of all free people, including secular Muslims who come to this country fleeing that medieval ideology, which destroys lives and crushes the human spirit.
We are stunned by the president’s willingness to disregard what Americans should be proud of: our enduring generosity to others on 9/11 — a day when human decency triumphed over human depravity. On that day, when 3,000 of our fellow human beings were killed in a barbaric act of raw religious intolerance unlike this country had ever seen, Americans did not turn outward with hatred or violence, we turned to each other, armed with nothing more than American flags and countless acts of kindness. In a breathtakingly inappropriate setting, the president has chosen to declare our memories of 9/11 obsolete and the sanctity of Ground Zero finished. No one who has lived this history and felt the sting of our country’s loss that day can truly believe that putting our families through more wrenching heartache can be an act of peace.
We will honor the memory of our loved ones. We will protect our children, whose lives will never be the same. We will not stand silent.
ColonelHaiku (2deed7) — 8/14/2010 @ 7:14 amA link regarding the school d. in c. mentions:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/02/director-of-tarek-ibn-zayed-academy-we-could-just-kill-you-yeah-tell-your-husband-well-do-his-job-fo.html
Thanks, Colonel, for the additional info.
The last time the American public was united on much of anything was anger at 9/11. It seems to me Obama continues to push the limits of his reigning against the will of the American people. I would say “incredible”, but it isn’t.
MD in Philly (5a98ff) — 8/14/2010 @ 7:29 amObama likes rubbing our little country’s nose in it
happyfeet (19c1da) — 8/14/2010 @ 7:36 amAgreed, hf.
MD in Philly (5a98ff) — 8/14/2010 @ 7:41 amIs the strip club down the street as sacred as the Burlington Coat Factory?
JEA (2b33f8) — 8/14/2010 @ 7:57 am“Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
ian cormac (2e065c) — 8/14/2010 @ 7:59 amIt is astonishing that Obama’s remarks did not at least recognize that building the mosque there is a very bad idea.
A non-important issue? I think not. Not with our president going out of his way to make this truncated non-Presidential response.
Amphipolis (e01538) — 8/14/2010 @ 8:04 amNor unexpected, nor unprecedented.
However, there has rarely been a better opportunity to test Obama’s hypothesis that appeasement will result peaceful understanding and coexistence. If true, we will hear the following from the ROPERs:
Thank you, Mr. President, and all Americans, for your public support of our right to practice our religious beliefs and your consideration of our sensiblilities, no matter how insulting or offensive to your own. In gratitude, and in the spirit of love and mutual respect, we now withdraw our plan to build a mosque at Ground Zero, and will proceed at an alternate location.
More likely, we will hear the sounds of heavy equipment commencing construction, followed by dancing and automatic weapons fire in the streets of Damascus and Tehran celebrating another victory over the infidels, delivered by Allah through through his prophet, Barack Hussein Obama.
Matador (680433) — 8/14/2010 @ 8:07 amWell, now that we see Obama standing with people from an organization that funds terrorism, we know whose side he is on.
SPQR (26be8b) — 8/14/2010 @ 8:08 amNo doubt we will shortly hear Obama’s new favorite phrase “let’s not demagogue the issue” which he utters when he realizes he is on the unpopular side of issue, an occurrence which happens more often than not with this administration. After that utterance he then proceeds to demagogue the issue while expecting his critics to remain silent.
daleyrocks (940075) — 8/14/2010 @ 8:12 amlet Him be clear its
ColonelHaiku (2deed7) — 8/14/2010 @ 8:41 amendeavor to bendover
like He always say
For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really ashamed of my country. And not just because Barack has done poorly, but because I think the American people were stupid enough to elect this unqualified redeemer.
ID (9284aa) — 8/14/2010 @ 9:10 amBeing pro Sharia does not “necessarily” equate to being pro terrorist or pro horrific stoning
I recall Patterico some time ago expressing a rather easygoing opinion about Islam, although perhaps not as relativistic as George W Bush’s comment of “religion of peace.” So out of curiosity I looked closer at Islam’s history. That’s when I learned about the background of its founder Mohammad. His numerous acts of bloody violence, including assassinations, made me go “oh-oh, we’ve got a problem here.”
I can’t believe the average follower of Islam is unaware of and ignorant about Mohammad. That leads me to conclude there’s something automatically amiss (to put it nicely) with people into the Islamic faith. That they’re a variation of those people who proclaimed in the 1930s and 1940s (and thereafter), “well, Hitler at least kept the trains running on time!!”
Mark (411533) — 8/14/2010 @ 9:11 amAnd since the developers are demanding that we worry about their sensibilities . . . what about ours?
What really irritates me is I’m sure that underneath the claims of “property rights” and “free speech” and “tolerance of all religions” is the idiotic sentiments of someone like Michael Bloomberg—and undoubtedly Obama too. I’m referring to Bloomberg originally suspecting the attempted Times Square bombing was initiated not by someone linked to the obvious (and, well, duh!) sources (Islamofascism), but to someone associated with the Tea Party.
Liberal sentiment often leads to ass-backwards judgments about the good and bad in people and situations. And Bloomberg and Obama are full of idiotic liberal biases.
Mark (411533) — 8/14/2010 @ 9:19 amThe straw that broke this camel’s back. Any respect I held for this man, because of his position, is gone.
I wonder what color the sky is in his world?
em (ae4747) — 8/14/2010 @ 9:21 amIt’s good to have President Obama on record on the proposed mosque at Ground Zero. To no one’s surprise, I’m sure, he supports it, and he does so in his usual style:
Recently, attention has been focused on the construction of mosques in certain communities – particularly in New York. Now, we must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of lower Manhattan. The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country. The pain and suffering experienced by those who lost loved ones is unimaginable. So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.
But let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are. The writ of our Founders must endure.
Obama’s statement begs the question posed by the mosque (or whatever it is) at Ground Zero. No one has questioned the right of Muslims to practice their religion the same as anyone else in this country. Rather, those opposed to the mosque have asked the proponents to recognize and give way to the feelings of ordinary Americans that a mosque does not belong at Ground Zero.
If it is another mosque that is wanted, as Obama suggests, ordinary Americans desire only that it be built somewhere else in New York. Obama’s invocation of the First Amendment right of the free exercise of religion is not on point.
In the good old USA, citizens have a right to do many wrongs. One such wrong would be the establishment of a Muslim shrine at Ground Zero. Obama simply does not engage the point. He does not argue that the establishment of a Muslim shrine at Ground Zero would be right.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/08/026996.php
ColonelHaiku (2deed7) — 8/14/2010 @ 9:36 amObama is an appeasing coward, and America should be ashamed.
happyfeet (19c1da) — 8/14/2010 @ 10:02 amGreetings:
Back during my all-expense-paid tour of sunny Southeast Asia, the bad guys had a trick they used to use when the good guys showed up in their junglehood. They would send out a couple of their guys to serve as lures to try to draw us into their kill zone.
The problem isn’t the mosque or its location. The problem is the Islam. Muslims have been doing things like this for 13 centuries. They are well practiced at it. While trying to resist the mosque is, in a sense, admirable, it takes the focus off Islam and Mohammed and his 9-year-old trophy wife Aisha. The muslims are getting their jollies watching the idiot infidels banging their heads against their Islamic wall. They have put the infidel, once again, into a no-win situation. If the mosque is stopped,
Americans have suspended their American values. If the mosque goes forward, the muslims have put their supremacist Islamic thumb in America’s eye. If the muslims walk away from the deal they are magnanimous benefactors to their fellow citizens.
My youth in the Bronx tells me to get in touch with the owner of the property across the street and propose putting one of those computer message boards on the outside of his building. The message board could be entitled “Islamic Thought of the Day” or some such. I would recommend for the opening day, “Mohammed married Aisha when she was six and consumated the marriage when she was nine.” Oh, yeah, and perhaps an artful “Have a Nice Day” across the bottom of the board would be appropriate.
It’s the Islam, stupid!!! It always has been and always will be. What they want most to protect is what we must attack. There is a reason why muslims are so easily aggravated by criticism of their “religion” or proselytization of its adherents by other religions. It’s their greatest vulnerability.
11B40 (e95364) — 8/14/2010 @ 10:05 amwell Mr. 11B40 that’s a lot where we are now… now that our cowardly cocksuckerly little presidential man has nationalized the issue… a for reals president would have quietly put pressure on Mrs. Bloomberg to climb down and kept the conflict as local as possible
We should get one of those next time.
happyfeet (19c1da) — 8/14/2010 @ 10:10 amA real mayor like Guiliani, would have put a stop to it, pronto
ian cormac (2e065c) — 8/14/2010 @ 10:20 amIts interesting that Mandela and the entire African continent still commit tens of thousands of genocidal atrocities daily (many use Mandela wrongly as a authoritarian figurehead from which they rationalize their power)
Some nutter with a bizarre grudge against Nelson Mandela is posting nonsense under EricPWJohnson’s name.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (a948e1) — 8/14/2010 @ 10:31 am“But let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country.”–The Messiah of the Dems
Yeah, sure…as long as Christians don’t pray in public schools, liberal Democrats are all for freedom of religion.
“Pastor Elicio Aponte hoped to more than triple the size of the Second Star of Jacob Church, to build a temple of biblical proportions. But city zoners blocked the move, saying the multimillion dollar plan was just too big for Fair Haven.”
“Aponte (at left in photo), his architect, and 49 parishioners appeared at the monthly meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) on Tuesday night. They sought final approval for a proposed expansion of the Second Star of Jacob Church on Chapel Street in Fair Haven. The plan called for a 40,000 square-foot addition to what is now a 15,000 square-foot building. The project would have cost around $4 million and come complete with a 108-foot-tall steeple. The plan has been in the works for over a year and a half.”
“The BZA voted to deny the application. Board members said the plan was too big for the neighborhood.”
http://newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/zoners_nix_4m_church_expansion/
I wonder if Obama is going to come out and say that these folks ought to be able to build their church, because we liberals value freedom of religion so much and gosh darn it, these folks have a right to build their church.
I’m betting not.
Dave Surls (679c60) — 8/14/2010 @ 10:35 amBeing pro Sharia does not “necessarily” equate to being pro terrorist or pro horrific stoning, and all the shocking news items that we are bombarded with about the Arab world. These are isolated incidents that are being dealt with, too slowly but surely.
Eh, so you would you be comfortable with you three daughters living under Sharia?
Perhaps a good place to begin is to learn and understand the precise dangers of Sharia. Dr. Chessler has a series of amazing interviews with Nonie Darwish
which is extremely insightful.
My hope is for the West to understand the threat that Islamic Sharia law poses to their democracy, their concept of equality under the law and their human rights values. The West should never allow Sharia to be practiced in Western democracies. I am also hopeful that my book will inspire Muslims to take an honest look at their oppressive religious laws and reform.
Dana (8ba2fb) — 8/14/2010 @ 10:36 ampee wee johnson is
ColonelHaiku (2deed7) — 8/14/2010 @ 10:40 amman of many moods and prone
to sharing strange thoughts
A real mayor like Guiliani, would have put a stop to it, pronto
maybe imam ralph
ColonelHaiku (2deed7) — 8/14/2010 @ 10:45 ameat Fritos® and drink soda
then all bets are off?
___________________________________
The guy currently occupying the White House included this in his speech:
Mark (411533) — 8/14/2010 @ 11:08 amThis entire issue is symbolic of liberals’ surrender of America.
This is how the liberals say:
“Yes, we’ve been a bad country and now it is time for us to be punished. And furthermore, we are no more important to the world and some third-world pisshole.”
That is what Obama is trying to get out on this.
Arizona Bob (e8af2b) — 8/14/2010 @ 11:18 amThe rare cases we hear about are the result of poor communications and apathy, not rarity of the practice.
Regarding Sharia and it’s atrocities, I would add that not only is it a result of poor communications and apathy, but clearly those who practice such barbarianism don’t want knowledge of these crimes getting out to the West. Look what’s happened now that international attention and pressure was felt in Iran regarding the young woman who was to be stoned for running away from an abusive husband. That’s been pulled back, and now although she’s scheduled to be hanged, the powers-that-be have held back on that as well. They don’t want the rest of the world to look to closely. Especially if there is any move afoot to expand Sharia globally.
Dana (8ba2fb) — 8/14/2010 @ 11:38 amDana – I think it’s unfortunate that we do not track honor killings in the name of the Prophet (pbuh) in this country, but anecdotally from news accounts, these seem to be on the rise. I wonder if EricPW shares that opinion.
daleyrocks (940075) — 8/14/2010 @ 11:51 amthe Prophet (pbaj)
ColonelHaiku (2deed7) — 8/14/2010 @ 12:00 pm“the Prophet (pbaj)”
ColonelHaiku – My apologies. Aloha Snackbar.
daleyrocks (940075) — 8/14/2010 @ 12:10 pmTwo thirds of Americans, according to a CNN poll last week, oppose the building of a mosque at ground zero. Yesterday, the President lent his support to that building project. Also, at the dinner at which his support was announced, were Islamic supporters, who, among other things, support terrorist groups through out the world. Those groups support the overthrow of the United States.
These facts strongly suggest the President has betrayed the trust of the American people by lending his support to the project at our most hallowed civilian ground and is an overt act by him to overthrow the government to which he owes his allegiance by aligning with persons that support terroism world wide against the United States to accomplish its destruction. Merriam-Webster defines this as “treason.”
It is what it is.
We no longer have POTUS, but a TOTUS — Traitor of the United States.
Mike H. (0ec213) — 8/14/2010 @ 12:27 pmThe GZM will definitely be a symbol for Muslims world wide and a triumphal one at that. They will all see that the USA is giving in just as Britain has given in. Canada is another example where hate speech laws criminalize criticism of Islam.
Here, (if it is not behind a subscription wall) is a nice discussion of what is happening to Europe. I think much the same sentiments, with less reason, are affecting the US “elites.”
Brooding over its past crimes (slavery, imperialism, fascism, communism), Europe sees its history as a series of murders and depredations that culminated in two global conflicts. The average European, male or female, is an extremely sensitive being, always ready to feel pity for the world’s sorrows and to take responsibility for them, always asking what the North can do for the South rather than asking what the South can do for itself. Those born after World War II are endowed with the certainty of belonging to the dregs of humanity, an execrable civilization that has dominated and pillaged most of the world for centuries in the name of the superiority of the white man. Since 9/11, for example, a majority of Europeans have felt, despite our sympathy for the victims, that the Americans got what they deserved. The same reasoning prevailed with respect to the terrorist attacks on Madrid in 2004 and on London in 2005, when many good souls, on both the right and the left, portrayed the attackers as unfortunate people protesting Europe’s insolent wealth, its aggression in Iraq or Afghanistan, or its way of life.
Europe has surely engendered monsters. But it has, at the same time, engendered the ideas that made it possible to slay monsters. European history is a succession of paradoxes: arbitrary feudal power gave rise to democracy; ecclesiastical oppression, to freedom of conscience; national rivalries, to the dream of a supranational community; overseas conquests, to anticolonialism; and revolutionary ideologies, to the antitotalitarian movement. Europe sent armies, missionaries, and merchants to distant lands, but also invented anthropology, which is a way of seeing through others’ eyes, of standing at some distance from oneself in order to approach the stranger. The colonial adventure died of this fundamental contradiction: the subjection of continents to the laws of a mother country that at the same time taught its subjects the idea of a nation’s right to govern itself. In demanding independence, the colonies were applying to their masters the very rules that they had learned from them.
Since the time of the conquistadors, Europe has perfected the art of joining progress and cruelty. But a civilization responsible for the worst atrocities as well as the most sublime accomplishments cannot understand itself solely in terms of guilt. The suspicion that colors our most brilliant successes always risks degenerating into self-hatred and facile defeatism. We now live on self-denunciation, as if permanently indebted to the poor, the destitute, to immigrants—as if our only duty were expiation, endless expiation, restoring without limit what we had taken from humanity from the beginning. This wave of repentance spreads through our latitudes and our governments like an epidemic. An active conscience is a fine and healthy thing, of course. But contrition must not be limited to certain parties while innocence is accorded to anyone who claims to be persecuted.
Doesn’t that sound like Obama ?
Mike K (d6b02c) — 8/14/2010 @ 12:30 pmSometimes a deed is unlawful, and yet is it right to do so. In this case, a deed is lawful, and should be left undone.
As far as those advocating the adaptation of Sharia law, as long as they are willing to have only the rights, duties, and privileges of those beneath treatment as dhimmi, … but I don’t think you’ll find any who want that. My thinking is driven by the idea that those who propose to treat others differently than they are, should be treated as harshly as they would treat the least.
Obama … appears to be showing more and more of the signs of malignant narcissism.
htom (412a17) — 8/14/2010 @ 12:38 pmhe’s also showing the signs of endorsing a victory mosque at Ground Zero where Americans died screaming
happyfeet (19c1da) — 8/14/2010 @ 12:44 pmSo in using their argument for allowing this mosque, Dr Laura is free to use the “N” word as much as she wants, and a person can fly their Confederate/rebel flags, and hang nooses where ever they want “because it’s a free country”. Even if doing any of the above is pretty much recognized as “insensitive”. But it must be OK if the community organizer says so.
Marty Farty (cb1d38) — 8/14/2010 @ 12:55 pmre: comment #59… happyfrum, that is the single most cogent thing you’ve ever written.
ColonelHaiku (2deed7) — 8/14/2010 @ 1:01 pmWhen I last checked Google, it listed over 100 locations in NYC where Mosques currently operate. Why this one must be built so close to consecrated ground has never been fully explained, at least IMHO. They can build another house of worship anytime they damn well please, but why this location? As for our esteemed POTUS, his lame – ass genuflection at the WTC site with McCain pretty much said it all regarding his sense of loss…simply put, he doesn’t feel anything at all (except contempt) for the citizens of this country or the nation in the macro sense. It’s all about him and everyone else’s “shared sacrifice,” but that doesn’t apply to his worshipfullness.
Dmac (d61c0d) — 8/14/2010 @ 1:04 pmAt first I thought they should name the Mosque after either Barack Obama or Khalid Shaikh Muhammed. But, I couldn’t decide which one is most deserving of the honor. KSM brought down the Twin Towers, but Obama has done more to bring down the country.
Then I thought of Osama bin Ladin, he shouldn’t be left out of consideration. Especially if he’s the one paying for the glittering monument to himself.
ropelight (a9d0be) — 8/14/2010 @ 1:20 pmand a person can fly their Confederate/rebel flags, and hang nooses where ever they want “because it’s a free country”
You mean all those black assistant professors who were up for review that hung nooses outside their offices to delay being fired ?
You racist !
Mike K (d6b02c) — 8/14/2010 @ 6:23 pmIs it not time for you Americans to decide who you are? Are you a Christian nation or a Muslim nation? When you say “In God we trust..” what god are you talking about? Choose ye this day whom you will serve or let the Arabs choose it for you.. This is just the beginning of a conspiracy to Islamize the United States of America…
No-bs! (42ba30) — 8/14/2010 @ 9:13 pmReally unnerving.