Anyone who thinks they have all the Answers before they've even heard the Question - is Dangerously Deluded! Real Truth Requires Vigilance, Perseverance and Courage, regardless of Party and who wields Power. Left, Right, Center, Corporations, Government, Unions, Criminals or the Indifferent.
On his Fox News show tonight, Bill O'Reilly criticized NBC's David Gregory for wasting "valuable airtime" during the February 13 edition of Meet The Press by pushing Boehner on his refusal to condemn those who claim Obama is Muslim. O'Reilly said of Gregory: "We've got a country that's just about bankrupt. We may be selling furniture on Capitol Hill pretty soon. And he's back to the birth certificate Muslim stuff." According to O'Reilly, the issue is settled and stupid, and he can't figure out why NBC would be talking about it.
O'Reilly argues that this issue is "getting no traction" and doesn't affect any public policy issue - except that it came up multiple times at CPAC.
And this Fox News Focus Group who think Obama is a Muslim.
A Harris poll released on March 24 found that a majority of Republican respondents believe that President Obama "is a socialist," "wants to take away Americans' right to own guns," "is a Muslim," "wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one world government," and "has done many things that are unconstitutional." The findings follow a year of such smears and attacks on Obama by conservatives.
Mary Catherine ham accuse NBC of having a double-standard because supposedly Chris Matthews has argued that Obama could resolve this by "Showing his Birth Certificate" but that's frankly a lie since Matthews already has a copy of his certificate.
The Only Official State Certified Document is the one that Obama has already released. There is no evidence that his mother left the country while she was pregnant and then smuggled her son back into Hawaii somehow. There is no evidence that Obama is a Muslim, or a Socialist (since Socialism is than transfer of all private property into public hands).
The real issue isn't the Birthers and Islamophobes, it's the fact that people like Boehner and cantor are more than willing to Pander to them by taking the position that they somehow have a "Right" to believe complete and total nonsense.
Just like the crazy idea that tax cuts increase revenues, and spending it "out of controL" when in fact it's actually gone down slightly for this year.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf (rah-OOF') said in an interview that aired today that the controversy over the mosque site has heightened concerns among Muslims of rising Islamophobia. He says fear of Islam is possibly greater than it was immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.
He also says the project made the front page of papers when it was approved last December and was not questioned, and that it has become a debate for political reasons.
Inside Park 51 will be an inter-faith prayer area open to all, including Jews, Christians and Hindus, as well as a Memorial to 9/11. There is already a mosque inside the Pentagon, and used to be two mosques inside the World Trade Center.
Imam Rauf said this issue was publicly known since last December and that if he'd known it would turn into all THIS he wouldn't have done it, but now that it has - there's a danger into backing down and running away in that it would prove that point of the Radicals in Isalm that "America Hates Muslims".
But that's not the case, some Americans frankly HATE Americans - and Islam and Muslim are simply a tool for implementing that.
The mainsteam media is like the Dog from the Movie "Up".
Dog: "My master is so good to me, he gave me this collar so I could talk... SQUIRREL!
There's quite a bit of talk these days, coming mostly from the Rightwing, that "Not All Muslims are Terrorist, but Most Terrorists are Muslim" - however, it appears that there are some determined self-avowed Christians who want a bit a credit for their own Terrorism Too.
Justin Carl Moose, 26, is a self-described “extremist, radical” and the “Christian counterpart of Osama bin Laden,” according to an affidavit filed by FBI agents. [...]
“Whatever you may think about me, you’re probably right,” he wrote on his Facebook page, according to the affidavit.
“Extremist, Radical, Fundamentalist...? Yep! Terrorist...? Well, I prefer the term ‘freedom Fighter.’” [...]
Status updates posted beginning in January urge violence, FBI agents said in their affidavit.
“The Death Care Bill passed last night," he wrote when Obama’s health care plan was approved in March. “Keep your phone and rifle close and wait.”[...]
“If a mosque is built on ground zero, it will be removed. Oklahoma City style. Tim’s not the only man out there that knows how to do it,” the affidavit says he wrote in July, in a reference to Timothy McVeigh, who bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City.[...]
The local news report does happen to note The Gadsen Flag in the window of Moose's home, showing even more indications of "Tea Party" confluence besides is "Obamacare" and "Ground Zero Mosque" bashing, but the real bombshell is Moose's apparent open membership in the Underground Domestic Terror Group Army Of God.
The Army of God is an underground network of domestic terrorists who believe that the use of violence is appropriate and acceptable as a means to end abortion.
An excerpt from the Army of God Manual says that the Army of God "...is a real Army, and God is the General and Commander-in-Chief. The soldiers, however, do not usually communicate with one another. Very few have ever met each other. And when they do, each is usually unaware of the other's soldier status. That is why the Feds will never stop this Army. Never. And we have not yet even begun to fight."
The first public mention of the Army of God (AOG) is believed to have been when Don Benny Anderson used the AOG name in 1982 when he and Matthew and Wayne Moore kidnapped an Illinois abortion provider and his wife. The couple was later released unharmed and the trio were apprehended and convicted. Benny Anderson and the Moore brothers were also responsible for abortion clinic arsons.
They operate a bit like Terrorist Sleeper Cells, working autonomously to minimize contact, exposure and detection by the authorities. Y'know - just like al Qeada does.
Some known members of the Army of God include Paul Hill who shotgunned a OB/GYN doctor and his bodyguard to death in Florida, James Kopp who murdered Dr. Barnett Slepian, Shelley Shannon who fire bombed several clinics and shot Dr. George Tiller in both arms, and Eric Robert Rudolph the Atlanta Olympic Park Bomber, who also bombed several Women's Clinics and Gay Nightclubs before he was eventually caught.
Others who may not be actual members, but the AOG themselves find worthy of praise include Scott Reoder, who last year finished what Shelley Shannon started and killed Dr. George Tiller.
More on Army of God from Rachel Maddow.
Should we really be surprised by this after the activities of the Hutaree Militia, Knoxville Tennessee "Liberal" Shooter, Holocaust Museum Shooter, Repent Amarillo, Operation Rescue and Randal Terry who most recent appears was at Park 51 tearing up from the Qur'an and showing just how "sensitive" he is to the concerns of 9/11 being politicized...
So it might be fair to say that while Not all Right-Wing Nutjobs are Domestic Terrorists, most (nearly all) Domestic Terrorists are Right-Wing Nutjobs!
For his part Moose was apparently caught be the FBI in the process of planning a bomb attack on an Abortion Clinic and is scheduled to appear in Federal Court this week and faces 20 Years if convicted.
Oh, and by the way, the Arabic translation for "Army of God" -is- is very similar to Hezbollah.
Vyan
There was a rec'd diary on this a few days ago, but it didn't go more into the Army of God connection, or consider that it's multi-headed hydra tactics provide excellent cover and denial of responsibility for the most extreme anti-Obama, anti-Gay, anti-Muslim, anti-Black, anti-Health Care, Anti-Government, anti-Abortion wing of the GOP, aka The Tea Party.
"If you're mosque happens to get BLOWED UP - not saying that it will - WE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT - but maybe you should go talk to those guys over there, with the detcord and timers and Death To Islam T-Shirts at the far end of today's 150,000 angry white person rally..."
Guess what? Pathetic Pastor Jones isn't the only one with a almost complete lack of sense, this demonstrator in front of Park 51 actually did burn several pages of the Qur'an before being led away by NYPD.
The perpetrator doesn't say much, and what he does say doesn't make much sense.
Reports: Sir, what's your name? Why did you do it?
Perp: I have chosen to put the torch to the Qur'an.
Or some such, it's hard to make out over all the heckling he's getting.
Frankly, I don't want to know his name, his 15 seconds of fame has already been too long. But Maybe this guy who has over 5 Million youtube views can help shed some light on why someone would do such a thing.
Apparently it's not enough that almost 3,000 people had to lose their lives in a hideous act of religious mass murder, and the religion that murdered them is allowed to build a towering triumphalist mosque on the ground where they died. Is America losing it's mind? It saYS a lot about the people behind this scheme that hey had the bad taste to propose building a mosque in such a place, but to describe it as they have as a "tribute to the victims" is beyond bad taste, and shows a profound contempt for those who died. It would had to imagine a more provocative gesture short of standing on their graves and burning and American flag.
I'm not even American but it makes me sick to my stomach to think that there could be a mosque anywhere near Ground Zero.
Well, not being American I guess you fail to understand that we don't check people's religious credentials at the door in this country, because there already is a mosque just 4 blocks from Ground Zero, plus one in inside the Pentagon just yards from where the plane impacted. Imam Feisal Rauf's current mosque - which has been there for 28 years in Tribeca - is just 10 blocks from Ground zero.
Besides the fallacy of believing the Crazy 72 Virgins Crowd represent the core of Islam, it's not as if Tim McVeigh, the IRA, the KKK, Christian Identity Groups like Stormfront, The Knoxville Tennessee Shooter, The Holocaust Museum Shooter, the Hutaree Militia, Repent Amarillo, Rev Donald Spitz and his "Army of God", Scott Reoder (Killed George Tiller), Eric Rudolph (Olympic Park Bomber), Paul Hill (Shot an OB/GYN and his bodyguard) and Shelley Shannon (Firebombed Abortion Clinics, Shot George Tiller in both arms) represent the core of Christianity, because they don't. Muslims died in the Twin Towers when they collapsed. Muslims died who served on the police force, in the fire dept, and as EMT's. Muslim's fight along side us - and apparently you're countrymen - in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Muslims are our allies in Jordan, in Kuwait, in Saudi Arabia, in Indonesia, in Chechnya, in Pakistan and in Europe.
We can not afford to treat 1.5 Billion people in the world - who have had nothing to do with any attacks on us - as our enemy, that is just insane.
Whose side of this conflict are these people really on?
This is how they have responded in Afghanistan to the threat to burn Qur'ans by Pastor Jones, even though he ultimately didn't go through with it.
I don't think they're going to be happy with Mr McBurns-a-lot on the streets of New York, but perhaps seeing how the crowd reacts to him and the following people who were also there might be able to help them realize the proper way to show their opposition and displeasure. (Dueling Demonstrations from New - CBS Local News)
As opposed to these people:
Somebody seriously needs to tell these people that THIS is what the Park51 Facility will contain.
Park51 will grow into a world-class community center, planned to include the following facilities: outstanding recreation spaces and fitness facilities (swimming pool, gym, basketball court)
. a 500-seat auditorium . a restaurant and culinary school . cultural amenities including exhibitions . education programs . a library, reading room and art studios . childcare services . a prayer space, intended to be run separately from Park51 but open to and accessible to all members, visitors and our New York community . a September 11th memorial and quiet contemplation space, open to all
A basketball court and a culinary school that includes a Memorial to 9/11 and prayer space open to Christians, Jews and Hindus as well as Muslims. THIS IS WHAT THEY'RE Up in arms about.
Just imagine the Horror if they were going to include a Badminton Court?
This place is essential a YMCA, with an open prayer space for persons of all faiths to use and a 9/11 Memorial for persons of all Faiths to sit and contemplate our collective loss, and our collective hopes.
It is essentially what Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf describes at the beginning of this video - a place for the overall community to interact with those of the Muslim faith and gain both understanding and common purpose. It's an olive branch, not a "triumphant Victory Mosque"
All of this tells me this country still has a long way to go. I look at this and I see that we haven't learned from the tragic mistake of Iraq, where we attacked and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims who had nothing to do with 9/11, did not have a stockpile of WMD's or an active Nuclear program in place - and lost another 4,000 of our own in the bargin, plus thousand more wounded, traumatized and brain damaged.
9 years after 9/11 and we have not fully understood that Islam is not our enemy, that we are not engaged in a "Holy War" or a "Crusade" against them, that instead we need to build trust and marginize the extremists until they have no more friends in the words, no more places to hide, no more allies who will protect them.
To Attack Islam - instead of al Qaeda - is going the wrong direction.
In this interview it is revealed why CNN isn't worth a good God damn.
Soledad O'Brian is snide, rude, dismissive and completely uninformed about her subject, Imama Feisal Adbul Rauf, head of the Cordoba Initiative and architect of the Park 51 project- but then again, what else should you expect from the Corporate News network?
Just as a contrast look at this report from that radical network - CNN - which profiles Imam Rauf, and contrary to Soledad, seems to know something about him. Wow, look what some basic research on your subject can do!
In this piece, it is noted that Imam Rauf has indeed been working on behalf of the U.S. State Dept for the past 2 months and has been overseas in that capacity, feeling that is was inappropriate to address a situation like this from other shores.
In this piece, it is said that he is of the Sufi sect which is opposed to the radicalism and violence of Al Qeada, Hezbollah or Hamas. (Yet, Still Soledad has to ask him if he "condemns" Hamas for their actions - FACE PALM!)
In this piece it's pointed out that Park 51 is not an Islamic Mosque, but an true Inter-Faith Center which will include not only a prayer space for Muslims but also for Christians and Jews. It is pointed out that it will contain a 9-11 Memorial that will be open to persons of all faiths. (Yet still, Soledad has to ask him repeated why he won't simply move "the mosque" somewhere else - where, naturally it's 9-11 memorial would have no meaning or power - and continually harangue on him about how people who don't know half the facts, like the fact it's not a "Mosque", "feel" about it)
Simply put this is not a "Victory Mosque", but is instead an Inter-Faith Community Center Design to enable Muslims and non-Muslims to get to know each other casually in order to help build the bonds of peace. (Yet Soledad continues to ask, over and over again, "Are you still going to build it there" - ignoring the fact that opposition to the mosque has already helped Taliban Recuitement, the result of moving it in capitulation to all the whining would at the very least make it skyrocket, and hence Feisal being sensitive to that old pesky issue - National Security - is not going to run away and hide simply because of few opportunistic politicians have decided to create a false issue out of the situation and put our Troops in the crossfire as a result)
Watching this, is literally like looking at two people who are living in two parallel dimensions try to have a coherent conversation. instead of the multi-phasic quantum train wreck their experiencing.
The bit about the strip clubs, which Soledad blows off as irrelevent is especially poignant as Rauf responds to her "How can something be 'Sacred Ground' when it includes Strip Clubs?".
is this a Sacred Strip Club? Holy Strippers for the Lord? Oh geebus, don't let any of those dirty Muslims near the Strippers - who knows what might happen! (Someone might wind up with big pile of singles in their g-string)
This is a farce, from top to bottom.
Whose side are you on Soledad, America's or the Radical Christian/Muslim Extremists? Frankly the the radicals from both sides (as Feisal points out repeatedly) are only people who benefit from this situation and want to prolong it, so why are you helping them so stupidly and enthusiastically, Ms. O'Brain? (No, that wasn't a typo)
For his part Feisal does a credible job of making his case, despite Soledad's dismissive attitude and rude interruptions. It's fair to say that some hard questions needed to be asked and answered in this situation, but - gee - if Soledad had only bothered to watch her own damn network she would have already had the answer to half those questions, and wouldn't have had to repeat them 4 or 5 times after Feisal gave a perfectly logical and coherent answer.
Despite what Gen. Petreaus says about this proposed Hate Crime of burning the Qur'an - and make no mistake It Is A Hate Crime - this wackjob actually thinks he's defending America? He's defending Christianity? Just imagine if they were planning to Burn a Cross on their front lawn? (Which the SCOTUS determined was not a protected form of free speech in 2004)? Burning a Flag is a political statement, but burning someone elses religious text is an act of Hate and Terrorism. He's an embarrassment, he's a Hate-Monger and nothing more.
Attorney General Eric Holder has come down hard against this action, considering how anti-mosque protests have already emboldened the Taliban and helped their recruiting efforts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Eric Holder is calling the planned burning of the Quran at a Florida church idiotic and dangerous. The Justice Department confirms that Holder made the remarks in a meeting with religious leaders to discuss recent attacks on Muslims and mosques around the United States.
The first video is good, but it's actually during the second portion of the interview that Andersen really nails this apparent scam artist and American Talibani. Full Transcript.
COOPER: Sir, on -- on your Web site -- on television, you say one thing. On your Web site and in your preachings, you say something else.
You say there should be no Muslims allowed to immigrate to the United States and you say there no new mosques should be allowed to be built in the United States.
Do you deny saying that on your Web site and in your preaching?
JONES: No, I do not deny that.
COOPER: OK.
JONES: That is my -- that is -- that is my opinion, but my opinion does not supersede the Constitution.
My opinion, we would be better off if we paid more attention. We would be better off if we really checked the Muslims that immigrated here. We see that problem very clearly in Europe. That is my opinion. That is not the Constitution.
So, I stand to the Constitution, that they have freedom of worship and freedom to build mosques.
He doesn't just oppose building Park51 near the Ground Zero site, he opposes building Any mosque in the U.S., or even allowing any Muslim to enter the U.S. So is he a bigot?
COOPER: Do you consider yourself a bigot?
JONES: No, not at all. And we do not consider our message a message of hate.
It is -- it is a clear message of warning. We have tried to make it very, very clear that, according to the United States Constitution, Muslims are more than welcome in America. They are welcome to worship. They are welcome to build mosques.
We have made that very, very clear. I understand they're not in agreement. And they're mad and angry. They're -- they're -- they're insulted because we are burning the Koran, but they should, indeed, be with us on the fact that radical Islam is bad. It is evil. We do not want it in this country.
See, he's not a bigot - he's just against radical Islam - and every mosque in the country, and every Muslim in the country. But he's not "hateful". Nooooo.
Cooper: But I asked about the bigotry, because the definition of a bigot that I just got off Dictionary.com is a person who is intolerant of any ideas other than his or her own, especially on religion, politics or race.
You do appear to be remarkably intolerant on any ideas other than your own regarding religion.
JONES: We are -- as the Bible teaches, as Jesus teaches, we are intolerant, yes.
COOPER: So, if bigot -- so if being a bigot...
JONES: And the Koran does not...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: So, if being a bigot is being intolerant of anyone else's ideas on religion other than your own, you would -- you would say, yes, you're a bigot?
JONES: We believe there is only one way, and that is Jesus Christ. People have freedom to worship as they please. That is what I said.
People have the "Right" to worship as they please, they should just worship how I say they should. Yea, that would be the definition of Intolerant Bigotry right there.
JONES: Jesus Christ is the only way.
COOPER: You're stating a fact there. But that's not your desire. You don't want Muslims to have freedom to worship in this country. You don't want Muslims to be able to build new mosques here. You don't want more Muslims coming to the United States. Correct?
JONES: That is not correct. And it depends on who you are asking.
COOPER: On your Web site, you say: "Stop all Islamic immigration. You're only coming to this land to take over and try to enforce the Islamic laws upon us." And you say, "Stop building all mosques until churches can be built in Saudi Arabia."
So, you don't want Muslims coming here and you don't want new mosques being built. You're -- I know you're not saying that's the law. Under the Constitution, they can. But you're saying, you don't like that.
JONES: It is my opinion, yes. As I said -- as I said, as a Christian, I wish that all Muslims would get saved. I wish that they would all convert to Christianity, because Christianity is the one and only true religion.
The Koran, in our opinion, is an evil book.
Yeah, that's not bigoted at all. He's only against Radical Islam except that he's thinks the book read and worshiped by all the non-radical Muslim's is "Evil".
JONES: Do you want to know what the Bible says about the Koran?
COOPER: ... to answer the question, I understand. But -- but I'm just asking the question, have you read the Koran?
JONES: I said no. I have read parts of the Koran.
If you add to this book, let him be accursed -- that's what the Bible says about the Koran.
My wife tells me this is quote from St. John the Apostle in Revelations - but it's out of context. John was talking about his own writing - he was talking about Revelations itself which was written around 87 C.E., not the entire Bible which wasn't compiled as a comprehensive book until Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome around 331 C.E., nearly 150 years later.
The Qur'an wasn't even written until 632 C.E., another 300 years later - so how exactly did St. John comment on it 5 centuries previously?
You know who else believes that "everything would be fine if everyone would just convert to his religion"? Osama Bin Laden, that's who.
Contrast this Dangerous Nutball with the actual Imam for Cordoba House/Park 51 who has written an Op/Ed in the NYTimes. Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf is a Sufi, part of an Islamic sect which opposes the extremism of the Sunnis in Al Qaeda or the Shia in Hezbollah, and has operated a Mosque just ten blocks from Ground Zero for the last 28 years.
Our name, Cordoba, was inspired by the city in Spain where Muslims, Christians and Jews co-existed in the Middle Ages during a period of great cultural enrichment created by Muslims. Our initiative is intended to cultivate understanding among all religions and cultures.
I am very sensitive to the feelings of the families of victims of 9/11, as are my fellow leaders of many faiths. We will accordingly seek the support of those families, and the support of our vibrant neighborhood, as we consider the ultimate plans for the community center. Our objective has always been to make this a center for unification and healing.
President Obama and Mayor Michael Bloomberg both spoke out in support of our project. As I traveled overseas, I saw firsthand how their words and actions made a tremendous impact on the Muslim street and on Muslim leaders. It was striking: a Christian president and a Jewish mayor of New York supporting the rights of Muslims. Their statements sent a powerful message about what America stands for, and will be remembered as a milestone in improving American-Muslim relations.
Quite a few people, like David Gergen and even Newt Gingrich have argued that if they want to truly generate "Inter-Faith" with Park 51/Cordoba they should include an Inter-Faith area of Worship. I myself had argued that this is the only compromise they should seriously consider. Well, THEY ALREADY DO.
At Cordoba House, we envision shared space for community activities, like a swimming pool, classrooms and a play space for children. There will be separate prayer spaces for Muslims, Christians, Jews and men and women of other faiths. The center will also include a multifaith memorial dedicated to victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
So why should this be moved? It already is a inter-faith and multi-faith worship center - not a "Victory Mosque". It contains a Memorial to 9/11 open to people of all faiths. So the argument is that this memorial is TOO CLOSE to the actual 9/11, or that the fact that in includes Muslims as well as everyone else should be a reason that is "too insensitive" to the victims of 9/11 when many of those victims were Muslim too?
Talk about the opposite of Intolerance and bigotry.
It's Official: Newt Gingrich & Mark Williams have been emboldening the enemy with their anti-Islam Crusade (Yes, I said Crusade).
Taliban officials know it’s sacrilegious to hope a mosque will not be built, but that’s exactly what they’re wishing for: the success of the fiery campaign to block the proposed Islamic cultural center and prayer room near the site of the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan. “By preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor,” Taliban operative Zabihullah tells NEWSWEEK. (Like many Afghans, he uses a single name.) “It’s providing us with more recruits, donations, and popular support.”
Nice going Newt, Nice going.
Taliban officials say they’re looking forward to a new wave of terrorist trainees from the West like this year’s Times Square car bomber. “I expect we will soon be receiving more American Muslims like Faisal Shahzad who are looking for help in how to express their rage,” says a Taliban official who was a senior minister when the group ruled Afghanistan and who remains active in the insurgency.
As an indication of the anger that is growing among some Muslims in the West, this official, who requested anonymity for security reasons, mentions the arrest of three Canadian Muslims in Ontario last week on charges of plotting to build and detonate improvised explosive devices. (A fourth individual was arrested in Ottawa last Friday in connection with the case.) The Ground Zero furor will likely add to that anger. “The more mosques you stop, the more jihadis we will get,” Zabihullah predicts.
Not only has the hate-speech coming from the right begun to inspire the Taliban who we are fighting in Afghanistan, it's begun to inspire domestic terrorist including the arsonist who set fire to the Mosque in Murfeesboro Tennessee.
Local and federal authorities are investigating a fire at the construction site of an Islamic community center and mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn., this weekend, as well as reports of gunshots as community members gathered at the site.
The fire, which damaged a large piece of construction equipment, was discovered early Saturday morning. The local sheriff's office, the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau and the FBI are investigating.
A spokesman for ATF said today that although they aren't ready to say the fire was intentional, an accelerant was found.
"We're leaning toward arson," Special Agent Glenn Anderson said on MSNBC.
Church burning! We've returned to Church Burning, like what used to happen during the Civil Rights Era. Fighting Terrorism with Terrorism. Brilliant.
But we have to realize that this isn't a battle between Christians and Muslims, it's a battle between Extremists and Moderates as Imam Feisal Rauf himself has stated.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Election-year politics are interfering with the plan to build an Islamic center near the site of the September 11 attacks, the Muslim cleric leading the project said in comments published Monday.
Kuwait-born Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has been tight-lipped on the planned cultural center as he tours Gulf Arab countries to speak about religious radicalism, but said he felt the uproar was linked to the U.S. congressional elections in November.
"There is no doubt that the election season has had a major impact upon the nature of the discourse," Abdul Rauf said in an interview with Abu Dhabi's The National newspaper.
The imam said the issue was "not between Muslims and non-Muslims, but between moderates of all the faith traditions and the radicals of all the faith traditions."
Senator Chuck Grassley says the people who've criticized the Park 51 Mosque in NYC do not have any "Ill Intent"...
Said Grassley: “I doubt there was any ill intent by Muslims in wanting to place that there. I don’t have any evidence, I don’t think any of the critics have said there was any ill intent, and constitutionally you can’t question their right to do it. But I hope, on second thought — and we also sometimes have to have second thoughts about initial decisions, even well-thought-out initial decisions — that it is insensitive and unwise to do it.”
"Insensitive" he calls it?
How sensitive was this?
Anyone think harassing a 9/11 worker who isn't even Muslim to leave the area for his own safety was a great sign of "sensitivity"?
How about the California mosque that wound up with this posted to their door?
In fact, the right-wing echo chamber has done little else but smear Rauf and question his “intent” in recent days. In a campaign ad, New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio warned, “Now a terrorist-sympathizing imam wants to build a $100 million mosque near Ground Zero. Where is this money coming from? Who’s really behind it?” Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said Rauf “is no friend to America,” because his “radical” views are “very disturbing.” Fellow Fox host Glenn Beck falsely claimed Rauf is “connected to” Hamas, and that Rauf employs an antisemitic imam.
Even though both Karen Hughes and Karl Rove have attempted to deny reality, claiming that iman Rauf was never utilized by the Bush Administration to help build bridges in the Muslim world, but state Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said this.
"His work on tolerance and religious diversity is well-known and he brings a moderate perspective to foreign audiences on what it's like to be a practicing Muslim in the United States," State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley said Tuesday. He added that the department's public-diplomacy offices "have a long-term relationship with" Rauf - including during the past Bush administration, when the religious leader undertook a similar speaking tour.
In 2006 Glenn Beck spoke directly with Imam Rauf and said he was "One of the Good Muslims".
During the ABC segment, Rauf condemned the extremists who issued death threats against the Pope and political cartoonists, specifically saying that "these reactions are not at all called for by Islamic teaching. The teachings of Islam are very similar to the teachings of Christianity, of loving the one God and loving thy neighbor. These are the two common principles."
When Diane Sawyer mentioned that Imam Rauf says the radicals are just a "group of people" and "not him," Beck seemed to agree, saying "sure, sure." He added, "I believe it's a small portion of Islam that is acting in these ways."
Beck, for his part, even appeared to gesture to Imam Rauf when he invoked the idea of "good Muslims." (At about 2:45.)
Just like what they did to ACORN with bogus videos and smears, just like what they did to Shirley Sherrod, I feel that yet again the Park 51 Center and imam Rauf have been Railroaded and Smeared for political gain.
And people like Grassley are giving them even more cover, leaving it up to only the bravest of 9/11 Families to stand up for true Freedom.
As Iman Rauf said, we need to de-link the aspirations of religion from our politics - whether it be Christian or Muslim - because THAT is where the danger lies.
If Two blocks is too close to ground zero - what about 16,000 blocks away in Murfeesboro TN where community activists are trying to block the building of a mosque (ie. Community Center of DEATH) hiding out right on the middle of a busy street. The NERVE of those Jihadi's to rub our faces in it.
Interesting that the first thing all the anti-mosque people say is - "This has nothing to do with religion". Yeah, except for everything.
Meanwhile in the wake of the Anti-Muslim Knife attack, Conservatives are taking their default position of pretending to be the "Real Victims" simply because of comments - COMMENTS - left on blogs like Thinkprogress that suggest that people like Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin and their anti-mosque Rhetoric may have had something to do with it.
MALKIN: Within an hour of this thing happening, people not really knowing fully who the perpetrator was and as details did come out, you know, this is no right winger, there’s no evidence whatsoever that he’s identified with the Tea Party and yet if you look at the comments and headlines of some of these blogs, let me read some. [...]
[T]he bilge spewing commenters at ThinkProgress immediately indicted Newt Gingrich, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and yes, right here it says, “Thanks Fox.”
In response to Malkin, Steve Doocy proclaims:
He didn't do it because of the Tea Party he did it because he was drunk. He wasn't associated with a Right-wing organization, he was associated with Lefties
Way to not jump to a conclusion there Stevo. The solution to a "knee-jerk reaction" of blaming the Right, is to reflexively blame the left? Brilliant.
Think progress points out that Malkin herself posts the following disclaimer on her own blog.
I do not own your comments and I expressly disclaim any and all liability that may result from them. By commenting on my site, you agree that you retain all ownership rights in what you post here and that you will relieve me from any and all liability that may result from those postings.
So she takes no responsibility for what her commenters say, but Thinkprogress should? Anyone remember when Michelle Malkin published the contact information for a group of UC Santa Cruz anti-war activists, and when asked to remove the information said...
"I am leaving it up. If you are contacting them, I do not condone death threats or foul language. As for SAW, my message is this: You are responsible for your individual actions. Other individuals are responsible for theirs. Grow up and take responsibility."
Death Threats and Foul Language were exactly what they received, but of course Malkin took no responsibility for it even though she had directly facilitated it.
But now Malkin is arguing that noone on the right wing has anything to do with the anti-Mosque violence which is frankly on the rise. People argue that the knife attacker isn't any anti-islamicist because he had worked with an interfaith agency. Well he also kept a diary full of anti-muslim rantings.
His diary equated Muslims with "killers, ungrateful for the help they were being offered, filthy murderers without a conscience." A top Muslim American organization said the event shows the dangers of extreme anti-Islamic rhetoric.
Whether Enright's actions were inspired by the hateful rhetoric which has become common during the mosque debate, his experience in Afghanistan, his apparently drinking problem, some form of post traumatic stress from his experience as an embed, or some combination of all the above - it is clear that the idea of Get the Muslim has become far more acceptable than it had been just a year ago.
This general attitude of open disdain, disrespect and potential violence is easy to see - as a 9/11 worker is accosted and mistaken for a Muslim during an anti-mosque demonstration - and another man in Queen's walked into a mosque and urinating on their prayer mats.
In another brazen anti-Muslim incident, a man wandered into a mosque in Queens Wednesday night, shouting racial slurs and urinating all over prayer rugs.
According to police, a drunk Omar Rivera shouted "terrorists" before relieving himself in the Iman Mosque.
Meanwhile an increasing number of persons seem to believe that our current President himself is some type of Muslim, despite his own statements recognizing the resurrection of Jesus Christ (a point of view that is not supported by the beliefs of Jews or Muslims) during this years Easter Prayer Breakfast.
Not that people like Franklin Graham who claimed the President was born with a "Muslim Seed" has helped after he claimed that "Islam is a wicked and Evil Religion".
Or Mark Williams, formerly of Tea Party Express say this about Islam.
Days after writing that Muslims worship "the terrorists' monkey god," embattled Tea Party leader Mark Williams apologized for his insensitivity - to Hindus.
"In the course of the article I described the 'god' worshiped by terrorists as 'a monkey god.' I was wrong and that was offensive. I owe an apology to millions of Hindus who worship Lord Hanuman, an actual Monkey God," Williams wrote Wednesday night.
William's had also called Obama a "Indonesian Muslim and Welfare Thug-in-Chief" before he wrote his horrifically bigoted letter parodying the NAACP and caused the expulsion of the Tea Party Express.
Billy Roper is a write-in candidate for governor of Arkansas and an unapologetic white nationalist. "I don’t want non-whites in my country in any form or fashion or any status," he says.
Roper also is a tea party member who says he has been gathering support for his cause by attending tea party rallies. "We go to these tea parties all over the country," Roper said. "We’re looking for the younger, potentially more radical people."
We have Right-Wing Militia which has vowed to help a Florida Church Burn Koran's on 9/11, despite failing to receive a permit from the fire department (also, are they going to buy those Korans or Steal them - before they burn them?)
Is all of this hate and intolerance coming exclusively from the Right just a coincidence? Somehow, I think not. It may have been premature to try and connect Enright's actions to all the rhetoric above - but it's not completely unreasonable to consider it might be linked.
When it came to Dr. Laura using the "N-word" eleven times Sarah Palin says "Don't Retreat - Reload" and argues that Laura has had her "First Amendment Rights" taken away by people who actually bother to pay attention, and report, what she actually said.
But there was time, not very long ago - when Palin had a completely different position on the "N-word".... Many people may have forgotten in the face paced world of the corporate media, but not that many months ago Sarah Palin called for Rahm Emmanuel to be fired because he called some people (Democrats actually) Fucking Retarded.
In the Facebook posting entitled “Are You Capable of Decency, Rahm Emanuel?,” Palin called for his firing for comments attributed to him in a Jan. 26 Wall Street Journal article where he called plans by liberal groups to run ads against moderate Democrats "F—ing retarded."
“I would ask the president to show decency in this process by eliminating one member of that inner circle, Mr. Rahm Emanuel, and not allow Rahm’s continued indecent tactics to cloud efforts,” Palin said in the posting.
“Just as we’d be appalled if any public figure of Rahm’s stature ever used the “N-word” or other such inappropriate language, Rahm’s slur on all God’s children with cognitive and developmental disabilities – and the people who love them – is unacceptable, and it’s heartbreaking,” the post continued.
And does anyone remember when Sarah Palin came after David Letterman for a joke where he confused Sarah Palin adult daughter (who'd already had a child out of wed-lock, for her 15 year old daughter who hadn't - yet).
(CBS) On Monday's "Late Show with David Letterman," the comedian came out swinging, saying, "One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game. During the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez!"
It turned out that many people took offense at the joke, especially the Alaska governor and former GOP vice presidential candidate and her family.
In a statement, she said, "Laughter incited by sexually perverted comments made by a 62-year-old male celebrity aimed at a 14-year-old girl is .. disgusting."
Than again, maybe she was really just mad at Letterman because of this...
On Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel, she said his comments calling liberal groups "f-ing retards" was "indecent and insensitive" and cause for his dismissal.
But the former governor went to great and sometimes awkward lengths to insist that when conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh used the same exact term to describe the same exact group, it was simply in the role of political humorist.
"They are kooks, so I agree with Rush Limbaugh," she said, when read a quote of Limbaugh calling liberal groups "retards." "Rush Limbaugh was using satire ... . I didn't hear Rush Limbaugh calling a group of people whom he did not agree with 'f-ing retards,' and we did know that Rahm Emanuel, as has been reported, did say that. There is a big difference there."
Colbert: Palin is a F-cking Retard!
Limbaugh is a satirist, but David Letterman isn't? Emmanuel should have been fired, but Dr. Laura is having her "Free Speech" attacked and should "Reload"?
"It's truly a sad day when such a fine patriotic man, whose son is serving on his fourth deployment in Afghanistan to protect our freedom of speech and religion, is dis-invited from speaking at the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer service." Palin wrote on Facebook.
"In my years of knowing him, I've never found his tempered and biblically-based comments to be offensive - in fact his words have been encouraging and full of real hope."
"Are we really so hyper-politically correct that we can't abide a Christian minister who expresses his views on matters of faith?" Palin asked. "What a shame. Yes, things have changed."
Why was Graham disinvited? Because in the wake of 9/11 he said this...
Graham: Islam is a very evil and wicked religion,
Yeah, that's not appalling at all. That's not unacceptable. That's not something you should ever hear from a public figure as prominent as Billy Graham's Son. Yeah, we're just all so "politically correct" when someone says the religion of over a billion people is "wicked and evil".
Let's see now Palin was offended by Letterman, offended by Emmanuel, offended by the community center two blocks from Ground Zero which will include a Memorial to 9/11 open to all people of all faiths - but was NOT offended by Dr. Laura telling a black women she was being too oversensitive because her husband wouldn't defend or protect her as his friends and family demeaned her and used the N-word in her presence, not offended by Limbaugh calling Liberals "Kooks and Retards" and not offended by Graham calling every Muslim in the world "Wicked and Evil".
The woman is completely two-faced and her outrage is absolutely phony and purely calculated to do one thing - attack democrats and liberals, period.
Aren't you glad the she isn't our Vice President serving in John "Build the Dang Fence" McCain's Administration?
Unfortunately she is one of the scheduled speakers at this weekends Taking America Back to Hell Rally with Glenn Beck.
The Daily Show correspondents Wyatt Cenac and John Oliver debated last night whether Fox News' Fox and Friends was being evil or stupid when they didn't reveal the connection between Fox News and the funder of the Cordoba House Islamic center near Ground Zero. Or, as Jon Stewart put it, "the terror funder is Rupert Murdoch's News Corp funder. Nooooooo!"
Oliver defended Fox News as stupid: "Things are hectic on the morning show. Plus Gretchen [Carlson] wasn't there and she's the only one who knows how to use Google."
Cenac argued that they were evil, since they avoided showing pictures of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal because "he already looks like he's about to feed Timothy Dalton to his white tiger."
Oliver said he has to believe they are stupid, "because if they're not as stupid as I believe them to be, they are really f*cking evil."
Cenac replied: "And if they're not as evil as I think they are, they are stupid. We're talking potatoes with mouths."
Wherein Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm systematically destroys the fear-mongering of Tea Party Shill Dick Armey.
Granholm on the issue of the Park 51 Community Center:
Gregory: Governor, a lot people thought this was a hedge, and attempt to walk back (The President's) previous support.
Granholm: Well I think that any time someone stands up for the Constitution, which is exactly what he did, I don't think there's any disagreement. I don' think anyone would disagree with that (Ed: Yes, they would!) The question is whether it's a good decision on their part, right? What's the imam saying. So the question is what is the nature of this particular imam and sect? It's a Sufi Sect, apparently, and that sect is supposed to be one of the most peaceful -- that sect has been under attack by al Qeada.
Michigan has one of the largest Arab-America populations outside of the Middle-East, so I called one of our imams and asked about (Rauf). He said "(This imam) is one of the most bridge building - in the country." We ought to be holding imams like this close - not attacking them with a broad brush, they're being attacked by al Qaeda too.
(I still think the entire idea of the community center might go down better if they were to highlight the 9/11 Memorial Planned for the Building and point out and highlight at that this space is available for Non-Muslims to pray or worship as they see fit within the facility. They should IMO even include altars for Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Sihk and Hindu worship as well as Islamic in this space, since persons of all these faiths were lost in the 9/11 attack. How can this Community Center be an "affront" to 9/11 when it has an Inter-Faith Memorial to 9/11 in it? Moving it is completely nonsensical, it belongs right where it is - where the fences can be mended and bridges re-built.)
Anywho...
The fact is that al Qeada hunts down members of the Sufi and target's them for murder. And now they have to listen to bigoted nutbagger's like Armey, Gingrich and this total fruit-loop Bryan Fischer from the so-called "American Family Association" attacking them too?
As hilariously noted by Stephen Colbert.
Fischer: Permits should not be granted to build even one more mosque in the United States of America, let alone the monstrosity planned for Ground Zero. This is for one simple reason: each Islamic mosque is dedicated to the overthrow of the American government.
Each one is a potential jihadist recruitment and training center, and determined to implement the “Grand Jihad” of which Andy McCarthy has written.
Because of this subversive ideology, Muslims cannot claim religious freedom protections under the First Amendment. They are currently using First Amendment freedoms to make plans to destroy the First Amendment altogether. There is no such thing as freedom of religion in Islam, and it is sheer and utter folly for Americans to delude themselves into thinking otherwise.
If a mosque was willing to publicly renounce the Koran and its 109 verses that call for the death of infidels, renounce Allah and his messenger Mohammed, publicly condemn Osama bin Laden, Hamas, and Abdelbaset al Megrahi (the Lockerbie bomber), maybe then they could be allowed to build their buildings. But then they wouldn’t be Muslims at that point, now would they?
So the enemy (Sufi) of your enemy (al Qeada) isn't your friend? The idiocy and bigotry of this minds the boggle.
Despite what Rick Lazio says with his biased and distorted recounting of imam Rauf's ability to "bridge build" (which were heavily relied upon by the Bush State Dept) during the Round table their clearly are people calling for a halt to ALL Mosques in the U.S.
Granholm also destroys Armey's entire Tea Party anti-government dogma - pointing out that Government investments and partnerships in Michigan have saved thousands of jobs at GM and begin to create 60,000 Green Collar jobs in battery manufacturing plants (during which Armey laughs at here - LAUGHS at people getting JOBS! Can you say 'WhattafrackinDick Armey?")
Granholm: Just quickly, this argument - and it's a 20th Century argument, not 21st Century - When we are competing in a global economy, the government has to partner with private sector to create jobs. If you just slash spending you slash investments in the things that are going to move our economy forward. Last year the vice President came to Michigan and said we were going to get all of these battery grants - we have 16 companies in Michigan now just in the past year because we partnered with the private sector creating 62,0000 jobs.
On some of the other things that Armey discusses, the Paul Ryan Budget Plan is a fiasco that would cut Social Security, cut Medicare, cut taxes for the rich and Raise them for Everyone Else according to the CBO.
He also talks about this Christian Scientist straw-man situation where someone who wants to collect Social Security doesn't want to also have to pay for (and get) Medicare on religious grounds - but the thing is Medicare is PART of Social Security. They are linked, that's how Medicare was created as an extension of Social Security, if he's wants one he has to have the other.
Armey previous brought up this subject on The Daily Show (during section 3 of the extended interview) where Jon Stewart also managed to Take Him Apart.
Stewart: You just want us to elect Republicans - and they're going to leave office with bigger spending and a bigger deficit because they always do!!.
is vote in support and solidarity with THESE PEOPLE!
Now, everyone has a right to make their own choices, but since McCain and Co have made such a huge issue of who you are "associated with", it's only fair to ask - who is the real John McCain if these are the people he inspires.
"Bomb Obama"
"I don't wanna sound racist here, but I don't want a Black man running our counrty"
"He wasn't born in America"
"Communist"
"No Way, HUSSEIN!!"
"Child Killer!"
"If you associate with terrorists - You're a Terrorist!"
"NOBAMA"
People may have legitimate reasons to prefer McCain, he was incredibly valiant to refuse early release from a vietnamese prison unless all his fellow Americans were going to be released also - HE WAS A HERO - but if McCain he won't reject and repudiate these vicious lies, distortions, horrific and potentially violent hate speech against a fellow American - then he deserves to be tarred with the obvious implication.
Just remember, the future of our nation is at stake, can we really afford to validate what these people are spewing?
But now Malkin is arguing that noone on the right wing has anything to do with the anti-Mosque violence which is frankly on the rise. People argue that the knife attacker isn't any anti-islamicist because he had worked with an interfaith agency. Well he also kept a diary full of 
Many people may have forgotten in the face paced world of the corporate media, but not that many months ago Sarah Palin called for Rahm Emmanuel to be fired because he called some people (Democrats actually)