Help me articulate why this rant vs. NY Mosque is wrong

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The complainers don't get that Obama is not committing a sin of omission by not commenting on the wisdom of the location, is is actively deciding that it is not his job to comment on it. I think he is still being too subtle; he should be loudly accusing the Republicans of committing a sin of commission by fanning the flames of religious tension.
Why do Democrats let Republicans frame the issues?

Harry Reid, (D, NV) and Senate Majority Leader and in the political race of his life, just came out against building the Mosque. He will not be the only DEM to do so. Once you get in office, you have to do what you have to do to stay in office.

So desperate self-interest determines what is right and wrong in the matter? His behavior is worse than a Republican's. I expect them to be on the other side of this, but a Dem should show more character.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The complainers don't get that Obama is not committing a sin of omission by not commenting on the wisdom of the location, is is actively deciding that it is not his job to comment on it. I think he is still being too subtle; he should be loudly accusing the Republicans of committing a sin of commission by fanning the flames of religious tension.
Why do Democrats let Republicans frame the issues?

Harry Reid, (D, NV) and Senate Majority Leader and in the political race of his life, just came out against building the Mosque. He will not be the only DEM to do so. Once you get in office, you have to do what you have to do to stay in office.

So desperate self-interest determines what is right and wrong in the matter? His behavior is worse than a Republican's. I expect them to be on the other side of this, but a Dem should show more character.

Politics is not Sunday School. Do you truly believe that Democrats in tough political races are so altruistic that they will campaign in favor of Mosque? Of course, self-interest determines what a candidate is for or against. It must be nice to live in your dream world. How long have you lived in this area?

[Anonymous]

I fail to see any reason to deny these people the Mosque/ community center. Can someone explain to me on what grounds it could be denied? And the reasoning behind the outrage? I honestly don't understand. I get the whole "9/11 attackers were Muslim", but I don't undrstand why we would take that out on all the followers of a religion. Is there something I'm missing here?

If they do block the building of this community center, can't they then sue for being denied based solely on their religion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...
If they do block the building of this community center, can't they then sue for being denied based solely on their religion?

I don't think there is any serious attempt at this point to deny it legally, but public pressure can be powerful. Personally, I think two blocks away in the middle of a cross street is not "at Ground Zero", but the majority seems to think otherwise. What really bugs me is politicians drumming up religious tensions for political advantage. I think the challenge hurled at Democrats to take a stand, which Reid bowed to, is akin to the Prop 8 idea that in America we get to vote on everything, including other people's private business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...
If they do block the building of this community center, can't they then sue for being denied based solely on their religion?

I don't think there is any serious attempt at this point to deny it legally, but public pressure can be powerful. Personally, I think two blocks away in the middle of a cross street is not "at Ground Zero", but the majority seems to think otherwise. What really bugs me is politicians drumming up religious tensions for political advantage. I think the challenge hurled at Democrats to take a stand, which Reid bowed to, is akin to the Prop 8 idea that in America we get to vote on everything, including other people's private business.

No, the majority of people who live in the area do not think that. Most of the complainers will never set foot in New York City in their lifetimes.

The most likely outcome is that the city will pay a bundle to buy them property somewhere else and give it to them. And it's going to have to be pretty nice real estate to make it attractive enough for the mosque builders to give up their right to build on their own property. I'm not making this up. It's already in the papers.

So the result of this whole debate is that tax dollars will be used to build a mosque. Fabulous. Way to go, guys. I hope the muslim community takes notice that they, too, can get a mosque-building subsidy in their town if they have the common sense to buy property in some location unacceptable to nutjob conservatives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The complainers don't get that Obama is not committing a sin of omission by not commenting on the wisdom of the location, is is actively deciding that it is not his job to comment on it. I think he is still being too subtle; he should be loudly accusing the Republicans of committing a sin of commission by fanning the flames of religious tension.
Why do Democrats let Republicans frame the issues?

Harry Reid, (D, NV) and Senate Majority Leader and in the political race of his life, just came out against building the Mosque. He will not be the only DEM to do so. Once you get in office, you have to do what you have to do to stay in office.

So desperate self-interest determines what is right and wrong in the matter? His behavior is worse than a Republican's. I expect them to be on the other side of this, but a Dem should show more character.

Politics is not Sunday School. Do you truly believe that Democrats in tough political races are so altruistic that they will campaign in favor of Mosque? Of course, self-interest determines what a candidate is for or against. It must be nice to live in your dream world. How long have you lived in this area?

Exactly. Given the fucktards who make up the electorate in certain areas of the country, it's important to effectively carry out the policies of Al Queda in order to stay in office. Gotta represent your constituents.

Just to be clear, this divisive rhetorical BS against the US Muslim community is exactly the stated goal of OBL and Islamic militants everywhere. Heckuva job, forces of ignorance and intolerance.

[Anonymous]

From the WSJ: Strippers weigh in on "Hallowed Ground"

http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2010/08/19/for-strip-clubs-near-ground-zero-its-business-as-usual-amid-mosque-uproar/

[jsteele]

So there was a protest against the Islamic center today. Here is video of how the non-bigots, non-anti-Muslim, First Amendment advocates reacted when a guy who made the mistake of being black entered the crowd. The lilly-white mob immediately turned on him. As he says, "All y’all dumb motherfuckers don’t even know my opinion on shit." It looks like security escorted him out. While it turns out that he is not Muslim, you can clearly hear one of the non-bigots exercising his 1st Amendment rights by shouting "Muhammed is a pig". Also, several non-bigots hold signs saying that the "Mosque supports Hamas". I thought that the issue was simply the location. Just where is it acceptable to locate a Hamas-supporting mosque?

[Anonymous]

That's just pathetic. The fact that they would automatically assume that a black person is their opposition is just ridiculous.

[jsteele]

Here is another video of the same incident. Keep in mind that this guy is not a Muslim and did not even declare his position on the Islamic center. He simply was black and wearing an Under Armor cap:

[Anonymous]

What a slice of humanity, there. It looks like the skit that will surely be done about it.

[Anonymous]

Read in the WaPo this morning that the imam barely has any funding for this center. If the right wing hadn't gotten all riled up over this, it might have just gone away on its own.