Tonight, at a White House dinner to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, Obama is defending the construction of a mosque a few blocks from Ground Zero (hit Politico.com link at bottom for full story). Since I have viewed the mosque story (much like the recent California gay marriage decision and the Arizona immigration statute) to be primarily a matter of concern for an individual state in which I do not live, I have not commented previously in this space on the Ground Zero mosque. But with the national angle of Obama himself commenting on the mosque, I think it's now very fair game and I'm going to express my opinions (which I did set forth once recently on Facebook, but not here).First, I don't think a mosque has any business being placed anywhere near Ground Zero. That location and area is a place of remembrance, not a place of worship. There shouldn't be any religious symbols or structures there. That includes mosques, synagogues, churches, temples and any other assorted worship site. The same goes for the pictured Ground Zero cross which apparently stood at one point there. To be blunt: Keep religion the hell out of Ground Zero!
Obama's stated justification for defending the mosque: "I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country." What a completely phoney and B.S. justification! I've read that there are many (I believe dozens) of mosques in New York City. No one is preventing Muslims in the Big Apple from freely practicing their religion, as guaranteed by my beloved First Amendment.
It's also clear that this mosque is being built not out of some noble motivation of providing another place of worship for local Muslims, but rather with the provocative intention of sticking it in the face of the millions and millions of Americans who view 9-11 as the most shocking and saddening event of our lifetimes and who do not blame America for 9-11 occurring.
In short, the intentions are all wrong, the location is all wrong, and construction of this mosque is all-the-way wrong. That said, I'm not going to get all emotional, lose sleep, or rant and rave endlessly about this issue as I've noticed the conservatives doing the past few weeks. Suffice it to say that I don't agree with it at all, and I'll leave it at that.
I'm personally more intrigued by politics involved here. With the November midterm elections just a few months off (and speaking now from a purely political perspective), I think tonight's statements by Obama are incredibly stupid politically. As Politico recites, a recent CNN poll found that 68% of those surveyed opposed the construction of the Ground Zero mosque.
Although obviously Obama is not up for re-election in November, taking more actions and spouting more words that go against the clear will of the majority of Americans does absolutely no favors for the dems facing House and Senate elections in a few months. And Obama even had an easy out here: Continue to remain silent on the issue or simply say it's largely a local issue in which he does not wish to stick his nose.
Even more fascinating is trying to figure out what the hell is going on behind the scenes at the White House these days. When press secretary Robert Gibbs last weekend made his statements criticizing the "professional left" (i.e. the hard left and ultra far-left "elites"), it was my very strong suspicion that those statements had been very planned and choreographed by the White House as the first step in disingenuously trying to come across as more "centrist" during the run up to the November midterms.
In short, the intentions are all wrong, the location is all wrong, and construction of this mosque is all-the-way wrong. That said, I'm not going to get all emotional, lose sleep, or rant and rave endlessly about this issue as I've noticed the conservatives doing the past few weeks. Suffice it to say that I don't agree with it at all, and I'll leave it at that.
I'm personally more intrigued by politics involved here. With the November midterm elections just a few months off (and speaking now from a purely political perspective), I think tonight's statements by Obama are incredibly stupid politically. As Politico recites, a recent CNN poll found that 68% of those surveyed opposed the construction of the Ground Zero mosque.
Although obviously Obama is not up for re-election in November, taking more actions and spouting more words that go against the clear will of the majority of Americans does absolutely no favors for the dems facing House and Senate elections in a few months. And Obama even had an easy out here: Continue to remain silent on the issue or simply say it's largely a local issue in which he does not wish to stick his nose.
Even more fascinating is trying to figure out what the hell is going on behind the scenes at the White House these days. When press secretary Robert Gibbs last weekend made his statements criticizing the "professional left" (i.e. the hard left and ultra far-left "elites"), it was my very strong suspicion that those statements had been very planned and choreographed by the White House as the first step in disingenuously trying to come across as more "centrist" during the run up to the November midterms.
And I still think that probably is, indeed, the case. But that certainly doesn't jive with Obama's statements tonight. Perhaps try as he might, Obama is simply incapable of suppressing his leftist self for any sustained period of time? Your guess is as good as mine, but one thing's for sure: The next 2.5 months are certainly going to be a lot of fun to watch regardless of your political persuasion (or lack thereof).
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41060.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41060.html
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