Hallowed Ground & Hate

That is what we keep hearing that the site of Ground Zero, or the place where the twin towers once stood in NYC is.

Hallowed Ground.

Hallowed.

hallowed [ˈhæləʊd (liturgical) ˈhæləʊɪd]
adj
1. (Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) set apart as sacred
2. (Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) consecrated or holy
hallowedness n

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hallowed


hal·lowed   [hal-ohd; in liturgical use often hal-oh-id] Show IPA
–adjective
regarded as holy; venerated; sacred: Hallowed be Thy name; the hallowed saints; our hallowed political institutions.

hal·low1    [hal-oh] Show IPA
–verb (used with object)
1.
to make holy; sanctify; consecrate.
2.
to honor as holy; consider sacred; venerate: to hallow a battlefield.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME hal ( o ) wen, OE hālgian (c. G heiligen, ON helga ), deriv. of hālig holy

—Related forms
hal·low·er, noun



http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hallowed




Holy Ground. Sacred.

Is this what we are going to call the sites where any attack took place? Not that I don't think we should show respect and offer a memorial for those who were killed. Innocent victims should receive the respect and honor they deserve, but is this really the direction we want to head as a country?


Why did we not make the entire Columbine School a memorial to those who were slaughtered? Those were innocents who were killed by terrorists as well, but the terrorists were kids from this country, so somehow that makes it a different kind of terrorist act?


When the world trade center was attacked in 1993, why was the site not labeled "Hallowed Ground" then? Was it because not enough people died and were injured? What was it that allowed things to resume as normal when today we are calling the entire area where the twin towers fell now to be labeled "Hallowed Ground"?


Amendment 1 of the Constitution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


Hate In Action:




That is just the beginning. The hate is continuing to grow.

NYPD Charges Man With Hate Crime After He Allegedly Stabbed Muslim Cab Driver

The New York Police Department has confirmed to TPM that a cab driver in Manhttan was allegedly stabbed by a passenger who asked if the cabbie was Muslim, and says the incident is being treated as a hate crime. The suspect has been charged with attempted murder and other crimes.

NYC Cabbie Stabbed for being Muslim


What we have learned about Michael Enright is that he is a film student at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and has been working with the Intersections International, an interfaith and multicultural effort which seeks to promote justice and peace. So at first glance this seems to be an out of place attack. Why would someone who is aligned with such an organization attack someone simply for being Muslim?

More information is now coming to light.

The Daily News also reports that cops found a diary on Enright that was filled with anti-Muslim rantings:

When he was arrested Tuesday in midtown, Enright had a personal diary filled with pages of "pretty strong anti-Muslim comments," a police source said.

The source said Enright's journal equated Muslims with "killers, ungrateful for the help they were being offered, filthy murderers without a conscience."

Diary Found on Man who Stabbed NYC Cabbie for being Muslim is filled with Anti-Muslim comments


So alcoholism and anti-Muslim sentiments were enough to put this guy into the frame of mind that it was acceptable to stab this cabbie? So maybe it was just an odd coincidence?



Well, we aren't finished with the updates.....

Man arrested after urinating on mosque prayer rugs

QUEENS (WABC) -- An apparently drunk man was arrested for shouting anti-Muslim slurs as he urinated on prayer rugs in a mosque in the Astoria section of Queens.

Omar Rivera was charged with criminal trespass after worishipers at the Al-Iman Mosque on Steinway Street subdued him Wednesday night.

Holding a beer bottle, Rivera burst in during evening prayers. He allegedly shouted anti-Muslim slurs, calling the worshipers "terrorists," then flashed his middle finger and urniated on the prayer rugs.

Man arrested for urinating on Mosque Prayer Rugs


Vandalism at Madera mosque called hate crime

Imam Abdullah Salem arrived at the Madera Islamic Center on Tuesday to find a pair of menacing signs, including one that read "Wake up America, the enemy is here."
It was the latest in a series of incidents that the Madera County Sheriff's Department is investigating as hate crimes. On Sunday, a brick nearly smashed a window at the center on Road 26 just outside Madera. Last week, another sign left on the property read "No temple for the god of terrorism."

Vandalism at Mosque



Gainesville Church Will Burn Qurans On 9/11

Gainesville officials denied a burn permit for a church that plans to burn copies of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

The Gainesville church, the Dove World Outreach Center, has a history of inflammatory comments and campaigns against Islam and remained defiant despite the burn permit denial.

In an e-mail sent out Wednesday, the church said, "City of Gainesville denies burn permit – BUT WE WILL STILL BURN KORANS."

The Dove World Outreach Center is promoting the event through its website and social networking sites like Facebook. The burning of the Islamic holy text is set to be carried out on the center's grounds.

Church Plans To Burn Koran's on September 11th


Okay, so this is just the start of what is sure to be more hate and anger directed toward Muslims in this country. The right wing is using fear to create a palpable hatred directed towards all Muslims in this country & abroad. This is the latest "attack ad" that is being use to gin up fear and hopefully help them in the election.:




Instead of using facts, they use fear. Instead of offering solutions, they instead simply try to make fear the tool to scare people into thinking that supporting a Community Center is a bad thing.

Ginning up hate to win a political election!

What has this country come to? Are we not beyond this type of irrational hatred and violence directed toward others who are deemed different? Religious intolerance has always been simmering below the surface, but it no longer below the surface and has now boiled over into full blow, in your face hate being shown to others.

What is going on with this country? When the right wing says they want to take our country back, are they talking about back to a time when it was acceptable to own slaves, when black people were segregated and woman were treated like accessories and nothing more?

Honestly I don't understand this backward thinking. What's worse is that I expect this hate to continue to grow thanks in large part to people like Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush & Fox as they are going out of their way to promote this hate.

When did it become acceptable to level this kind of intolerance towards others? I thought we as a nation were moving past that kind of mindset?

We see the claims of needing "constitutional conservatives", but that is laughable when those calling for it don't even know what the constitution says or understands the meaning of the claims they are making.

Sarah Palin is a great example of this.

She has consistently claimed that she is having her 1st Amendment rights violated, but the fact is that she proves has no understanding of what she is saying by making that statement.

No law has been implemented to restrict her freedom of speech. None whatsoever. What she really means is that she doesn't want people to criticize her when she says something stupid, which happens with alarming regularity. She wants to be able to say what she wants without being questioned on it. That is why she refuses to do interviews unless she can pre-screen every question ahead of time (so that someone else can write the answers down for her).

She claims she want to speak "without the filter of the media", but the reality is that she wants to be able to say whatever pops into her head, without being questioned on it. She did the exact same thing during the 2008 campaign,

In a conservative radio interview that aired in Washington, D.C. Friday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin said she fears her First Amendment rights may be threatened by "attacks" from reporters who suggest she is engaging in a negative campaign against Barack Obama.

Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks. Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

Palin Fears Media

GLENN GREENWALD From Salon.com explains her complete lack of understanding:

The First Amendment is actually not that complicated. It can be read from start to finish in about 10 seconds. It bars the Government from abridging free speech rights. It doesn't have anything to do with whether you're free to say things without being criticized, or whether you can comment on blogs without being edited, or whether people can bar you from their private planes because they don't like what you've said.

If anything, Palin has this exactly backwards, since one thing that the First Amendment does actually guarantee is a free press. Thus, when the press criticizes a political candidate and a Governor such as Palin, that is a classic example of First Amendment rights being exercised, not abridged.

This isn't only about profound ignorance regarding our basic liberties, though it is obviously that. Palin here is also giving voice to the standard right-wing grievance instinct: that it's inherently unfair when they're criticized. And now, apparently, it's even unconstitutional.

According to Palin, what the Founders intended with the First Amendment was that political candidates for the most powerful offices in the country and Governors of states would be free to say whatever they want without being criticized in the newspapers. In the Palin worldview, the First Amendment was meant to ensure that powerful political officials such as herself would not be "attacked" in the papers. Is it even possible to imagine more breathtaking ignorance from someone holding high office and running for even higher office?



UPDATE: The Constitution also guarantees freedom of association. Thus, by Palin's "reasoning," when newspapers -- or Palin herself -- criticize Obama for his associations, they're threatening his constitutional rights.

Sarah doesn't have any understanding of the Constitution

The thing that is most concerning is that these quotes are from 2008 and yet here we are in 2010, and Sarah Palin is still showing the same misunderstanding of the 1st Amendment. This just goes to show that years have gone by and she has not been able to educate herself on even the most basic of rights given to us in the constitution, yet she is consistently demanding that she knows what our founding fathers meant when they wrote the constitution, and what a constitutional conservative is today.

If she has this kind of understanding of the constitution, why should we expect her to have a basic grasp of any issue?

Her promotion of hate during the 2008 presidential campaign was obvious and she relished the attack dog role she was given. Claiming that then Senator Obama was not like "you and me" as American's. That he "palled around with terrorists", and those kinds of remarks continue today from her.

She is not the only one. Glenn Beck & Rush as well as the entire cast of characters at Fox do the same thing, and they are joyously happy in their ability to use fear and even outright lies to misinform their viewers, using hate and fear to hopefully score political points.

This claim that the spot where the twin towers stood is Hallowed Ground and therefore should hold nothing Muslim on it, forgets that Muslims died that day as well. Muslims from the area rushed to help. They denounced the acts of those who wrought this damage upon us all, and the damage was not aimed solely at white christians, but at all of America and what we stand for, and yet here we watch as these who claim that Muslims from this country, who have worked for peace and understanding should forgo their rights for those who have decided to not only allow the terrorists to win, but to encourage them to engage in more activities by giving in to the fear that they try to create in attacking us.


This country, previously a proud one, who could be pointed to as an example of the good things democracy and basic fundamental rights could accomplish is falling backwards fast.


Things have got to change. People need to stand up and say "Enough is Enough". Before it is too late to turn the tide.

False Claims By Christain'ts

Yes, you read the title correctly. I wrote Christain'ts. Why? Because I don't consider them to be real Christians.

They are, in my opinion, CINO's or Christians in Name Only. They promote their own particular agenda of what a Christian is or should be, follow the rules they pick and choose to follow, and readily condemn those that don't agree with them.

Palin fans are famous for this. One such fan who regularly proclaims herself to be a Christian is Adrienne Ross who blogs at a site called "Motivation Truth". The problem is that "Truth" is not what she writes, but propaganda designed to to mislead and misinform.

A prime example:

Adrienne Ross Twitter


Her post is about how supposedly a church that was destroyed by debris from the attack on September 11 is not being allowed to be rebuilt, but that the Cordoba House/Park 51 otherwise falsely labeled as the  Ground Zero Mosque (it is neither a mosque nor is it at Ground Zero) is being greenlighted along, and the implication she makes is that there is religious freedom for the Mosque but not for the Church.

She writes:

Let's look at the facts. If there was such love and tolerance for all people's right to worship, as seems to have sprung up with the plans for building the mosque, why hasn't there been a great outcry about St. Nicholas Church? This church was destroyed when one of the Towers collapsed, but they have not been allowed to rebuild.

Ross Paints False Picture of the Facts in her claims of Religious Freedom for some


Lets look at the actual facts shall we?  They are easy enough to find, she even links to the article in question, but conveniently omits the truth, which was provided in the same link, from her rant.

The Port Authority and the church announced a deal in July 2008 under which the Port Authority would grant land and up to $20 million to help rebuild it in a new location -- in addition, the authority was willing to pay up to $40 million to construct a bomb-proof platform underneath.

Within a year, the deal fell through and talks ended. Port Authority officials told Fox News that the deal is dead.

The archdiocese and Port Authority offer sharply conflicting accounts of where things went wrong. The Port Authority has previously claimed the church was making additional demands -- like wanting the $20 million up front and wanting to review plans for the surrounding area. They say the church can still proceed on its own if it wishes.

"The church continues to have the right to rebuild at their original site, and we will pay fair market value for the underground space beneath that building," a spokesperson with the Port Authority told Fox News.

But Karloutsos called the Port Authority's claims "propaganda" and said the church has complied with all conditions. He said the government should honor agreements that date back to 2004, under former New York Gov. George Pataki.

Fox News ~ Conflicting Stories Between Port Authority & Archdiocese


The bottom line in this story:

"The church continues to have the right to rebuild at their original site, and we will pay fair market value for the underground space beneath that building," a spokesperson with the Port Authority told Fox News.


That's right, the church is not being stopped from rebuilding.  Not in any way, shape or form.  They have the right to rebuild.  No one is stopping them.


In fact if you do a bit of research you'll find that not only is the church not being stopped, but they got greedy.

Last July, the Port Authority and the Greek Orthodox Church announced a tentative plan to rebuild the church just east of its original site, at Liberty and Greenwich Streets. The authority agreed to provide the church with land for a 24,000-square-foot house of worship, far larger than the original, and $20 million. Since the church would be built in a park over the bomb-screening center, the authority also agreed to pay up to $40 million for a blast-proof platform and foundation.

In recent negotiations, the authority cut the size of the church slightly and told church officials that its dome could not rise higher than the trade center memorial. The church, in turn, wanted the right to review plans for both the garage with the bomb-screening center and the park, something the authority was unwilling to provide. More important, authority officials said, the church wanted the $20 million up front, rather than in stages. Officials said they feared that the church, which has raised about $2 million for its new building, would come back to the authority for more.

The termination of negotiations is a major setback for the little church, a parish of 70 families that is nearly 90 years old. St. Nicholas officials had hoped to build an impressive structure, with a traditional Greek Orthodox dome, and a nondenominational center for visitors to ground zero. That will not be possible on the church’s original 1,200-square-foot lot, although church officials say they hope for reconciliation.

NYTimes

So the church was offered larger space than they originally had, and were offered money to help rebuild but that wasn't good enough.



So where pray tell is the religious intolerance in this situation?   Does the Church have protesters trying to stop this from being rebuilt?  No!  Are there people shouting that they should not rebuild or that this group should move further away from the site?   No!

There is no comparison between the two, but that isn't going to stop these Christain'ts from trying to make an issue out of it.  Why?  Because they need to try and prove that their complaints are not religious intolerance, and as we've just seen they have failed miserably.  Hardly surprising but the facts speak for themselves.

This is hardly the behavior of a real Christian, but then again, those who are real Christians don't need to proclaim it loudly or proudly, they just are what they are and prove it in their daily lives in the numerous small ways that good Christians do.

Sarah Palin talks OTR with Greta Van Sustern & Continues to Lie

Last night Sarah Palin was a guest on Greta's show. They discussed drilling in ANWAR & Cordoba House, the Cultural Center that has suddenly become a controversy based on the hateful rhetoric of people like Sarah Palin & Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs.

This is the portion of the transcript from Greta's show regarding the Cordoba House discussion:

VAN SUSTEREN: We're back live in Wasilla, Alaska, with former governor Sarah Palin. And once again, President Obama has put himself in the middle of a controversy, this time over the planned mosque near Ground Zero in New York. Now, on Friday, President Obama came out strong in defense of Muslims building that mosque. Then Saturday, when things seemed to get a bit heated, the president clarified his statement, saying he would not comment on the wisdom on the decision to build a mosque there. Governor Palin?

PALIN: Well, you know, it sounds cliched to say that the president is disconnected from the American people on this issue, but how else do you describe it? He just doesn't get it, that this is an insensitive move on the part of those Muslims who want to build that mosque in this location. It feels like a stab in the heart to, collectively, Americans who still have that lingering pain from 9/11.

VAN SUSTEREN: So but where do you divide the line? Because you've got the 1st -- you know, they do have a -- there is a 1st Amendment to practice your religion. But the American people overwhelmingly say, well, you know, while they recognize the right, they just don't want the right exercised there.

PALIN: Well, exactly. And nobody argues that that freedom of religion that the Muslims have to build that mosque somewhere. However, there are 100 mosques already in New York. To choose and be so adamant about this exact location just a block or two away from 9/11, again, is that knife, it feels like. Now, if the purpose of this mosque, as we are lead to believe, is to create this tolerant environment, to avoid anything like a 9/11 ever repeating, you have to ask why didn't one of those 100 mosques already accomplish such a thing, allowing that tolerance and that acceptance of differing views? So I don't buy into that reason, that that's the purpose of this location being chosen.

VAN SUSTEREN: I'm curious what the sort of political effect will be because the statement the president made was not one that was sort of, you know, off-the-cuff, when he got sort of caught walking in some place and some reporter throws a question. He actually -- you know, he thought about it. He made a statement at a public dinner. So there must have been some discussion about it.

PALIN: There had to have been discussion about it. It had to have been a deliberative and well thought-out comment that he had made and then had to kind of clarify it the next morning. You know why he had to do such a thing, Greta? You twittered right after he had made that comment. You must have got your information from the press pool or something. You twittered that night, on a Friday night after he gave that comment to the Muslim community as he was celebrating the holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic community there in the White House -- you twittered what he had said.
And there across the Internet then, the ensuing explosion based on his comment -- I have not seen such a thing in the political debate and discourse in this country in quite some time. The next morning, he realized then, I think, Whoops, I better backtrack a little bit, and that's what he did the next morning.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, I can't wholly take credit for it because what happens is, is that we get the White House press pool reports that come across the BlackBerry, and it happened late Friday night. And as luck would have it, I'm one of the -- I'm the late anchor. And so the minute that I got it, I just duped it onto Twitter and to GretaWire and people picked it up.

PALIN: And once you did, once people picked it up, though, we were appalled! We -- we were -- it was shocking because this leader of the free world has such power in his words. He should utilize that power in the words to represent the will of the people and not underestimate the wisdom of the people in America. And the overwhelming majority of Americans right now are saying, Mr. President, no, this hurts. This is a slap to those innocent victims who were murdered that day on 9/11. Build the mosque. Build it somewhere. Join the other 100 mosques that are already there in New York, but somewhere else that's less offensive and less provoking of more pain and -- and anger.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, it's going to have political ramifications because we -- already Senator Harry Reid is disagreeing with the president, heading for the hills on it may be -- might be sort of a flip way to say it. But there's the political ramifications, and then there's also the real substantive problems (INAUDIBLE) What should the president do to try to sort of heal the wound? Because there is a wound in this country between many Muslims -- not all of them -- and many Americans -- not all of them -- with Muslims. I mean, how can we at least make some effort to fix this, put this fire out, rather than fuel it?

PALIN: Well, what the president seems to be suggesting is that everybody needs to be so tolerant of others' beliefs. That is fine. Then let him take that lesson and try to apply it to the debate on the other side if you were right now and talk to that imam, those others who want to build and choose that precise location for their mosque that is so offensive to so many people, and ask them to be tolerant. Ask them to understand America's feelings on this. And see if then the president can use some of his influence in a more positive, less divisive way. That's one way that he can help bridge this divide.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, I think it certainly says the president doesn't pay attention to polls because I think (INAUDIBLE) American people overwhelmingly are opposed to it. I mean, I think the numbers -- I haven't seen the numbers today because I've been on the road with you -- actually, up in the air with you. But I haven't seen the numbers, but he certainly - - I mean, he's making decisions independent of the polls.

PALIN: No, I don't believe that.

VAN SUSTEREN: You don't believe it?

PALIN: I believe that's why he made his comment Friday night. He knew immediately because his advisers told him, You went too far on this. So the next morning, he tried to backtrack that. And now, curiously, he's not coming out and saying -- we want to know -- Mr. President, we have a right to know. What's your position on this? Again, we all know that there is that 1st Amendment right to build a church, a mosque where they want to, if it's legally appropriate. But what is your position on this? Should they? Do you support it? And we don't have the answer from him.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, if he wants to come to "On the Record," we'd be happy to ask him those questions.

PALIN: I hope he does!

VAN SUSTEREN: Anyway, Governor, as always, thank you. And (INAUDIBLE) look at this beautiful yard that she has here. And we're going to have much more with Governor Palin. You don't want to miss "On the Record" tomorrow and Wednesday. Governor Palin and her husband, Todd, are taking you to heart of Alaska so you can actually see for yourself this land, this ANWR area, this battle ground of the oil drilling war, make your own decision. We'll be back here tomorrow night and Wednesday night at 10:00 PM Eastern. We want you back here.

Transcript of OTR with Greta Van Sustern


First reaction to this whole piece is WTF!!??!!



Lets take this one at a time okay? That will make it so much easier to tear apart the lies of Sarah Palin & show how willingly Greta is to just toss her journalistic credentials out the window when it comes to Sarah Palin.

PALIN: Well, you know, it sounds cliched to say that the president is disconnected from the American people on this issue, but how else do you describe it? He just doesn't get it, that this is an insensitive move on the part of those Muslims who want to build that mosque in this location. It feels like a stab in the heart to, collectively, Americans who still have that lingering pain from 9/11.

President Obama did respond correctly because it is not his job to get into the middle of a situation like this. His job is to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans not just a select few. Unlike Sarah Palin who while pretending to be a governor felt that she could "take her governor's hat off" and then make a point of coming out for or against a project.

Our president knows his place and his job.

This cultural center is NOT a "stab in the collective hearts of Americans, it is only a political talking point being used by some shameless people who will pick up any subject they think is newsworthy to attack others in the hopes of scoring political points.

PALIN: Well, exactly. And nobody argues that that freedom of religion that the Muslims have to build that mosque somewhere. However, there are 100 mosques already in New York. To choose and be so adamant about this exact location just a block or two away from 9/11, again, is that knife, it feels like. Now, if the purpose of this mosque, as we are lead to believe, is to create this tolerant environment, to avoid anything like a 9/11 ever repeating, you have to ask why didn't one of those 100 mosques already accomplish such a thing, allowing that tolerance and that acceptance of differing views? So I don't buy into that reason, that that's the purpose of this location being chosen.

This shows the complete and utter lack of understanding of the issue not to mention it reaffirms the claim that this is based on religious intolerance & hate for anyone who is Muslim.

This spot is not near "9/11", as claimed. A stupid way to refer to Ground Zero. This "knife to the heart" thing is also being overplayed as well. This is also not a Mosque. It is a cultural center with planned space for:
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 mosque, 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


Now, to suggest that this center is not needed because there are other local mosques which have not been able to "improve" relations is a telling statement indeed. It suggests that this is all about religious intolerance, and equates all Muslims with terrorists.

Are we now to believe that all Christians are unable to preach against pedophilia due to the fact that priests have been molesting children for decades without being stopped? Or since preaching about abortion has not stopped it that they should stop preaching about how wrong it is? Or perhaps Christians should give up preaching about how sinful it is to be gay because that has not stopped people from being gay? Maybe we should stop all churches altogether since their purpose seems to have not worked for so many?


There is no instant response to teaching tolerance, it is a never-ending battle and as someone else just recently said (h/t to annes_123) the purpose of extending tolerance towards the mosque .. is NOT "here we will give you this now let's see what YOU do back... , indeed, it should be held up as a great idea, as we need more people teaching and practicing tolerance and encouraging diversity within our country.

PALIN: There had to have been discussion about it. It had to have been a deliberative and well thought-out comment that he had made and then had to kind of clarify it the next morning. You know why he had to do such a thing, Greta? You twittered right after he had made that comment. You must have got your information from the press pool or something. You twittered that night, on a Friday night after he gave that comment to the Muslim community as he was celebrating the holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic community there in the White House -- you twittered what he had said.
And there across the Internet then, the ensuing explosion based on his comment -- I have not seen such a thing in the political debate and discourse in this country in quite some time. The next morning, he realized then, I think, Whoops, I better backtrack a little bit, and that's what he did the next morning.


Yes Sarah, it was the fact that Greta twittered about this statement by the president on the Cordoba House that caused a huge uproar and demanded he clarify his statements. Heck, even Greta did not buy into that claim.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, I can't wholly take credit for it because what happens is, is that we get the White House press pool reports that come across the BlackBerry, and it happened late Friday night. And as luck would have it, I'm one of the -- I'm the late anchor. And so the minute that I got it, I just duped it onto Twitter and to GretaWire and people picked it up.


The fact of the matter is that the President did not do anything more than reiterate what he had previously stated, and refused to give a personal opinion on the matter, which is exactly what he should do.

PALIN: And once you did, once people picked it up, though, we were appalled! We -- we were -- it was shocking because this leader of the free world has such power in his words. He should utilize that power in the words to represent the will of the people and not underestimate the wisdom of the people in America. And the overwhelming majority of Americans right now are saying, Mr. President, no, this hurts. This is a slap to those innocent victims who were murdered that day on 9/11. Build the mosque. Build it somewhere. Join the other 100 mosques that are already there in New York, but somewhere else that's less offensive and less provoking of more pain and -- and anger.


What Sarah Palin fails to realize is that the job of President of the United States is to protect all citizens and to defend the constitution of the USA rather than get into personal pissing matches.

He did his job, when asked to clarify his statement, he said he was not going to comment on his personal feelings regarding the wisdom of creating this cultural center at the specified location, rather that they had the right to do so based on the law. That is the exact right response for the president.

There is no slap at anyone, anywhere at anytime. Sarah Palin for all her complaints about wanting smaller government, less government intrusion, and demanding more states rights, now seems to want the federal government to get involved in a local issue. The local community has approved of this center and that is the bottom line. It is none of Sarah Palin's business, nor is it the business of anyone else. It has met all legal requirements, it has the blessing of the local community where it will be located, therefore all the blowhards in the rest of the country have no say in this matter.

"Do you favor or oppose the building of an Islamic community center and prayer space two blocks from the site of the World Trade Center?"

Manhattan:
Favor: 53%
Oppose: 31%
Unsure: 16%

Polling on Cultural Center


Over 50% of locals favor the idea. That speaks volumes.

PALIN: Well, what the president seems to be suggesting is that everybody needs to be so tolerant of others' beliefs. That is fine. Then let him take that lesson and try to apply it to the debate on the other side if you were right now and talk to that imam, those others who want to build and choose that precise location for their mosque that is so offensive to so many people, and ask them to be tolerant. Ask them to understand America's feelings on this. And see if then the president can use some of his influence in a more positive, less divisive way. That's one way that he can help bridge this divide.



Again, Sarah Palin seems to want the President of the United States to get involved in a local matter, where the locals have approved of something that outsiders don't like. Who cares if Sarah Palin and her ilk are offended by this cultural center? "America's feelings on this" don't matter on issues such as this. This is not a center being built by the terrorists. It is not a full blown Mosque, or anything other than a center for locals to use that they have approved of. The president is doing the right thing, and there is no need to "bridge a divide" that is located solely in the minds of the intolerant and bigoted.


In stating the she doesn't believe that the President was paying attention to the polls, Greta got this remark from Sarah,

PALIN: I believe that's why he made his comment Friday night. He knew immediately because his advisers told him, You went too far on this. So the next morning, he tried to backtrack that. And now, curiously, he's not coming out and saying -- we want to know -- Mr. President, we have a right to know. What's your position on this? Again, we all know that there is that 1st Amendment right to build a church, a mosque where they want to, if it's legally appropriate. But what is your position on this? Should they? Do you support it? And we don't have the answer from him.


Sarah has no right to know the President's official personal position on this matter because his personal position doesn't matter one single bit. That is where a lot of Sarah Palin's problems arise. She doesn't understand that there is a line drawn between professional/political and personal. His job is to protect the rights and freedoms of all of us regardless of what his personal beliefs are. His personal feelings don't matter any more than anyone else's do with the exception of the local community in regards to this matter.


I've grown very tired of this being an issue simply because there needs to be another political talking point by Sarah Palin and her ilk. Unless she is demanding that the federal government get involved in every local issue, which she has claimed is a part of the problem, then she needs to shut up and sit down.

Updated Information on Cordoba House (aka NYC Mosque)

Just found some interesting information that I thought I should share regarding this controversy.


How it all got started:
Pamela Geller of "Atlas Shrugs", the woman who once proclaimed that Malcolm X was President Obama's father started the attacks against this Cultural center.

A Timeline:

Dec. 8, 2009: The Times publishes a lengthy front-page look at the Cordoba project. "We want to push back against the extremists," Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the lead organizer, is quoted as saying. Two Jewish leaders and two city officials, including the mayor's office, say they support the idea, as does the mother of a man killed on 9/11. An FBI spokesman says the imam has worked with the bureau. Besides a few third-tier right-wing blogs, including Pamela Geller's Atlas Shrugs site, no one much notices the Times story.

Dec. 21, 2009: Conservative media personality Laura Ingraham interviews Abdul Rauf's wife, Daisy Khan, while guest-hosting "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox. In hindsight, the segment is remarkable for its cordiality. "I can't find many people who really have a problem with it," Ingraham says of the Cordoba project, adding at the end of the interview, "I like what you're trying to do."
(This segment also includes onscreen the first use that we've seen of the misnomer "ground zero mosque.") After the segment — and despite the front-page Times story — there were no news articles on the mosque for five and a half months, according to a search of the Nexis newspaper archive.
**(The link below provides video of the segment as well)**

May 6, 2010: After a unanimous vote by a New York City community board committee to approve the project, the AP runs a story. It quotes relatives of 9/11 victims (called by the reporter), who offer differing opinions. The New York Post, meanwhile, runs a story under the inaccurate headline, "Panel Approves 'WTC' Mosque." Geller is less subtle, titling her post that day, "Monster Mosque Pushes Ahead in Shadow of World Trade Center Islamic Death and Destruction." She writes on her Atlas Shrugs blog, "This is Islamic domination and expansionism. The location is no accident. Just as Al-Aqsa was built on top of the Temple in Jerusalem." (To get an idea of where Geller is coming from, she once suggested that Malcolm X was Obama's real father. Seriously.)

May 7, 2010: Geller's group, Stop Islamization of America (SIOA), launches "Campaign Offensive: Stop the 911 Mosque!" (SIOA 's associate director is Robert Spencer, who makes his living writing and speaking about the evils of Islam.) Geller posts the names and contact information for the mayor and members of the community board, encouraging people to write. The board chair later reports getting "hundreds and hundreds" of calls and e-mails from around the world.

May 8, 2010: Geller announces SIOA's first protest against what she calls the "911 monster mosque" for May 29. She and Spencer and several other members of the professional anti-Islam industry will attend. (She also says that the protest will mark the dark day of "May 29, 1453, [when] the Ottoman forces led by the Sultan Mehmet II broke through the Byzantine defenses against the Muslim siege of Constantinople." The outrage-peddling New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser argues in a note at the end of her column a couple of days later that "there are better places to put a mosque."

May 13, 2010: Peyser follows up with an entire column devoted to "Mosque Madness at Ground Zero." This is a significant moment in the development of the "ground zero mosque" narrative: It's the first newspaper article that frames the project as inherently wrong and suspect, in the way that Geller has been framing it for months. Peyser in fact quotes Geller at length and promotes the anti-mosque protest of Stop Islamization of America, which Peyser describes as a "human-rights group." Peyser also reports — falsely — that Cordoba House's opening date will be Sept. 11, 2011.
Origins of the Ground Zero Mosque Controversy


There is also a false story of the 9/11 families being against this Cultural Center but that is not true. So far, one person, Debra Burlingame, whose brother was the pilot of the plane flown into the pentagon (funny she isn't complaining about the worship center located there isn't it?) is the one victim family member on record as being against this. She is also the co-creator of Liz Cheney's "Keeping America Safe" initiative.

Also very worth noting is that none of the 9/11 Families groups who actually seem to be membership organizations made up of families of the victims seem to have taken positions on the mosque issue at all. I looked at the websites of several such organizations. And they each contain 'about' pages with some information about the organization, its membership and in most cases boards of directors. The website of Burlingame's group, 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America, contains no such information. But it's statement of purpose does give some sense of viewpoint: "The war against sharia is a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity."

Since almost three thousand people died as a result of the attacks, many thousands count as family members of the dead. And given that the public at large is at best divided over mosque question and likely on balance against it, it stands to figure that there's a similar spectrum of opinion among these families. Yet I have not seen any clear evidence that as a group these people are against the Cordoba House project.

Getting some facts on the table


Another really good article on the subject is in "The New Yorker" titled Zero Grounds by Hendrik Hertzberg which is worth a read.

NYC Mosque Controversy

I've written about it before, which you can read about here.

This controversy has gotten out of control, and it sickens me.  I have to ask why it is so disturbing to have a cultural center located a couple of blocks away from Ground Zero.  It has to be the "Mosque" part of it, otherwise I cannot imagine that this would be a topic of discussion for anyone.

So why is the "Mosque" consideration a problem?  Is it because the terrorists claimed to be Muslim and working on the behalf of Islamic ideals?  If that is the issue then I have to ask...so what?   We don't condemn an entire believe system simply based on the ideals of a few fanatics do we?  Do we demand that all Christians remove churches from parks, schools and anywhere else that children might congregate simply because priests have molested children?

Don't we constantly hear from Christians who claim that we are trying to remove their religious symbols and viewpoints from this country?  They claim they have every right to place their nativity scene's around the public square during the holiday season.  They claim that this country should be allowed to pray in schools, and teach creationism alongside of evolution..right?  They want their holiday's recognized by everyone even though this is a country with many different religious beliefs, encompassing many varied viewpoints, and yet to speak to them about tolerance and understanding would be unacceptable in their eyes.

But now they demand sensitivity from a different religious sect for their viewpoints, when they themselves are unwilling to offer that same sensitivity towards those who believe differently.  To use tolerance and understanding as an excuse is beyond the pale considering how these same people act when it comes to their own personal religious beliefs.  They have no tolerance and understanding, instead they demand acceptance of their beliefs.

If it is religious institutions that should not be close to Ground Zero, then should we remove or demand the removal of the churches that are located much closer than the Cordoba House would be?

  I'd be willing to bet that this would not go over well, so it all comes back to the fact that it is the Muslim religion that is the issue.

Are people really that intolerant?  To be sure the answer is yes.  People can claim that this is only about what they are calling the "Ground Zero Mosque", which is a total fabrication.

This is not a "Mosque" it is a Cultural Center.

It is not at Ground Zero, it is a couple of blocks away.

This is not being solely directed at the Cordoba House either.

There are problems cropping up all over the country involving this issue with Mosque's.

Tennessee, California, Georgia, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Illinois as well as Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, and Midland Beach, Staten Island, in New York City, are all area's that are suddenly having controversies dealing with Mosque's.

This is about Muslims in the U.S.A. Plain and simple. That is the bottom line.

Our President recently came out with the only proper response that a president of this country should.

“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.”

This is and was the absolutely correct thing that our President should say.  There is nothing more to be added.  I know that many who oppose the idea of this cultural center are demanding that the president come out and take a personal stand on this issue, but it is not his job nor his place to do so.   His job is to follow the constitution and protect everyone, not a select few.

We've also heard from those who oppose this building that "they can build a mosque when we are allowed to build a church in Iraq" or other such nonsense.   Lets clear up that misconception now.


List of Christian Churches in Baghdad - Iraq
Chaldean Church (Catholic denomination):

1. "Pregnant without Sin" (in reference to Virgin Mary), built in 1921 - Camp Gelani.
2. Mar Aphram, built in 1940s - Shalcheya.
3. Mar Yousif, built in 1956 - Eastern Karada.
4. Mar Youhanan the Baptist, built in 1960 - alDura.
5. Holy Family, built in 1960 - Aurfaleya (Betaween)
6. The Virgin- Prayer's Lord (Sultana alWardeya), built in 1960 - Karada Khareg.
7. Holy Heart of Jesus, built in 1964 - Hay alWehda.
8. Mar Eliya of Heyra, built in 1964 - Hay alAmeen.
9. Mar Yousif- Protector of the Workers, built in 1965 - Hay alYarmook
10. Mar Yaqoub- Bishop of Nisibin, built in 1965 - alDura
11. The passing of the Virgin, built in 1966 - alMansour
12. Mar Toma the Disciple, built in 1966 - Nereya and Gayara
13. Mother of Continuous Help, built in 1966 - Hay anNedhal and alSadoon
14. The Virgin- Protector of Crops, built in 1968 - alBayya'
15. Mar Gewergis, built in 1969 - Hay Sumer/New Baghdad
16. Virgin Mary, built in 1971 - Palestine Street
17. Martyr Mar Baythoon, built in 1978 - Baladeyat/7-April
18. Holy Trinity, built in 1978 - Habebeya/7-April
19. Mar Marey, built in 1980 - Hay Beydha/alBanook
20. The Disciples Mar Putros and Mar Polos, built in 1986 - alDura
21. Congratulating the Virgin, built in 1989 - Hay alMuthana/Suq alThelatha
22. The Rising, built in 1994 - Hay alMualemeen/alMashtal
23. Mar Polos- The Disciple, built ??, al-Zafaraneya

Assyrian (include Assyrian, Assyrian Evangelical, and Old Assyrian):

1. Virgin Mary (Mar Kura), built in 1928 -Karada Maryem
2. Mar Qaradagh, built in 1946 - Camp Gelani
3. Evangelical Assyrian, built ??, Sahat alTayaran
4. Mar Gewergis, built in 1961 - alDura
5. Mar Odishu Nokhreta, built in 1972 - Elwiya
6. Virgin Mary, built in 1970 - Neyreya and alGayara
7. Mar Marey, built in 1985 - alAmeen
8. Mar Zaya, built in ?? - alDura
9. Virgin Mary (Old Assyrian Church), built in 1988 - Hay alReyadh

Syriac (include Orthodox and Catholic):

1. The Disciples Mar Putros and Mar Polos (Orthodox), built in 1964 - Industerial Street
2. Mar Yousif (Catholic), built in 1965 - alMansour
3. Lady of Salvation (Catholic), built in 1968 - Eastern Karada
4. Mar Maty (Orthodox), built in 1981 - Hay Sumer/Ghadeer
5. Mar Toma (Orthodox), built in 1978 - alMansour/Hay alMuhandeseen
6. Mar Behnam (Catholic), built in 1982 - Hay Sumer/alQanat
7. Mar Behnam (Orthodox), built in ?? - Hay alMechanic/alDura

Armenian (include Catholic and Orthodox) :

1. Holy Heart of Jesus (Catholic), built in 1938 - Eastern Karada
2. St. Gregor the Illluminant (Orthodox), built in 1956 - Sahat alTayran
3. St. Garabeet (Orthodox), built in 1973 - Hay alReyadh

Melkite, known commonly as "Room" (include Orthodox, Catholic and Latin):

1. Mar Anderaous (Orthodox), built in 1940's - Camp Gelani
2. Room Catholic, built in 1962 - Karada Dakhel
3. St. Jerjis (Orthodox), built in 1976 - Hay alReyadh
4. Cathedral of St. Joseph (Latin), built in 1965 - Hay alWehda/Elwiya

Protestant:

1. Adventest Church, built in 1958 - alNedhal Street

Evangelical:

1. National Evangelical, built in 1954 - Hay alNedhal

http://www.chaldeansonline.org/church/christian.html



So now what is the next excuse going to be?


That Muslims need to be understanding of how "we" feel?

Like somehow Muslims are not included in that "We".

Muslims died on that day as well.  They rushed to the scene of the unfolding disaster and helped in ways that anyone else might have done.   They are as much of the "we" as anyone else.
Here is a list of the Muslims that died on September 11th.  Remember their names as they deserve to be honored just like anyone else who died that day due to the terrorist attacks.

Samad Afridi
Ashraf Ahmad
Shabbir Ahmad (45 years old; Windows on the World; leaves wife and 3 children)
Umar Ahmad
Azam Ahsan
Ahmed Ali
Tariq Amanullah (40 years old; Fiduciary Trust Co.; ICNA website team member; leaves wife and 2 children)
Touri Bolourchi (69 years old; United Airlines #175; a retired nurse from Tehran)
Salauddin Ahmad Chaudhury
Abdul K. Chowdhury (30 years old; Cantor Fitzgerald)
Mohammad S. Chowdhury (39 years old; Windows on the World; leaves wife and child born 2 days after the attack)
Jamal Legesse Desantis
Ramzi Attallah Douani (35 years old; Marsh & McLennan)
SaleemUllah Farooqi
Syed Fatha (54 years old; Pitney Bowes)
Osman Gani
Mohammad Hamdani (50 years old)
Salman Hamdani (NYPD Cadet)
Aisha Harris (21 years old; General Telecom)
Shakila Hoque (Marsh & McLennan)
Nabid Hossain
Shahzad Hussain
Talat Hussain
Mohammad Shah Jahan (Marsh & McLennan)
Yasmeen Jamal
Mohammed Jawarta (MAS security)
Arslan Khan Khakwani
Asim Khan
Ataullah Khan
Ayub Khan
Qasim Ali Khan
Sarah Khan (32 years old; Cantor Fitzgerald)
Taimour Khan (29 years old; Karr Futures)
Yasmeen Khan
Zahida Khan
Badruddin Lakhani
Omar Malick
Nurul Hoque Miah (36 years old)
Mubarak Mohammad (23 years old)
Boyie Mohammed (Carr Futures)
Raza Mujtaba
Omar Namoos
Mujeb Qazi
Tarranum Rahim
Ehtesham U. Raja (28 years old)
Ameenia Rasool (33 years old)
Naveed Rehman
Yusuf Saad
Rahma Salie & unborn child (28 years old; American Airlines #11; wife of Michael Theodoridis; 7 months pregnant)
Shoman Samad
Asad Samir
Khalid Shahid (25 years old; Cantor Fitzgerald; engaged to be married in November)
Mohammed Shajahan (44 years old; Marsh & McLennan)
Naseema Simjee (Franklin Resources Inc.’s Fiduciary Trust)
Jamil Swaati
Sanober Syed
Robert Elias Talhami (40 years old; Cantor Fitzgerald)
Michael Theodoridis (32 years old; American Airlines #11; husband of Rahma Salie)
W. Wahid

This entire controversy is more than ridiculous, it is bigoted, hateful, and un-American.  What's worse it shows  us in a bad light to the world.  How intolerant are we?  How can we profess to live by the constitution if we allow this kind of action to take place?  What does it say about us all that we are allowing small minded people to control this narrative?


On the one hand we have people screaming for the government to do something, anything to keep this cultural center from going up and on the other hand we have these same people screaming about government overreach and interference.   The hypocrisy is astounding but expected as we see it continuously from the same people, over and over again.

Stop calling it the Ground Zero Mosque.  It isn't one.
Stop calling it the 9/11 Mosque.  It isn't one.

It is the Cordoba House, it is a cultural center and it needs to go up as planned, in the place it was planned, because our constitution not only allows it, but since we are a nation of laws, our laws say that as long as it meets the appropriate approval within the legal framework, that there is no reason to keep it from being established.

Palingates has a great post up with the tweets from the head twit herself regarding this controversy. Check it out!

Don't be afraid to stand up and speak out against this group of haters who are trying to stop this cultural center from being established at the currently planned location. The country and the world needs to know that not all of us feel the same as these loud mouthed knuckledraggers.
 Make your voice heard.

The Dangerous Nature Of Sarah Palin's Lies & Hateful Rhetoric

Sarah Palin has been discussed lately due to her tweets, with her comments on the Mosque/Community Center being set up 2 blocks away from Ground Zero.

She has taken this a step further now with a post on her facebook page which shows that she is deliberately fanning the flames of religious intolerance as well as deliberately misinforming her adoring fans about the truth of what is going on.

This is the post she made:

An Intolerable Mistake on Hallowed Ground


Earlier today, Mayor Bloomberg responded to my comments about the planned mosque at Ground Zero by suggesting that a decision not to allow the building of a mosque at that sacred place would somehow violate American principles of tolerance and openness.


No one is disputing that America stands for – and should stand for – religious tolerance. It is a foundation of our republic. This is not an issue of religious tolerance but of common moral sense. To build a mosque at Ground Zero is a stab in the heart of the families of the innocent victims of those horrific attacks. Just days after 9/11, the spiritual leader of the organization that wants to build the mosque, Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, suggested that blame be placed on the innocents when he stated that the “United States’ policies were an accessory to the crime that happened” and that “in the most direct sense, Osama bin Laden is made in the USA.” Rauf refuses to recognize that Hamas is a terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of our ally, Israel, and refuses to provide information about the sources of funding for the $100 million mosque. Rauf also plays a key role in a group behind the flotilla designed to provoke Israel in its justifiable blockade of Gaza. These are just a few of the points Americans are realizing as New York considers the proposed mosque just a stone’s throw away from 9/11’s sacred ground.


I agree with the sister of one of the 9/11 victims (and a New York resident) who said: “This is a place which is 600 feet from where almost 3,000 people were torn to pieces by Islamic extremists. I think that it is incredibly insensitive and audacious really for them to build a mosque, not only on that site, but to do it specifically so that they could be in proximity to where that atrocity happened.”


Many Americans, myself included, feel it would be an intolerable and tragic mistake to allow such a project sponsored by such an individual to go forward on such hallowed ground. This is nothing close to “religious intolerance,” it’s just common decency.


- Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin Facebook Notes Page


First of all, lets dispel some of the misinformation.   Cordoba House is NOT, I repeat NOT "at Ground Zero" as Sarah and her ghostwriter would have you believe.   This is a map showing the location of the structure in relation to Ground Zero:

This next picture is from Google Maps and I have placed a red box around the area that the Cordoba House is going to be located and you can see it in relation to where Ground Zero actually is.

Now lets address this "building a mosque" claim.

This is not a building being erected, but a renovation of a building that is already in place.  This building will be named "Cordoba House" and will include many many more things than just a prayer center, which by the way is already in place and being used regularly.

Cordoba House is a Muslim-led project which will build a world-class facility that promotes tolerance, reflecting the rich diversity of New York City. The center will be community-driven, serving as a platform for inter-community gatherings and cooperation at all levels, providing a space for all New Yorkers to enjoy.


This proposed project is about promoting integration, tolerance of difference and community cohesion through arts and culture. Cordoba House will provide a place where individuals, regardless of their backgrounds, will find a center of learning, art and culture; and most importantly, a center guided by Islamic values in their truest form - compassion, generosity, and respect for all.


The site will contain tremendous amounts of resources that otherwise would not exist in Lower Manhattan; a 500-seat auditorium, swimming pool, art exhibition spaces, bookstores, restaurants - all these services would form a cultural nexus for a region of New York City that, as it continues to grow, requires the sort of hub that Cordoba House will provide.

The Cordoba House Project

No one in this community has any illusions about the dangers we face in this world. We lived through the attacks of 9/11 and years of rebuilding. Many of us responded that day and afterwards – including dozens of members of Imam Rauf’s congregation. Our neighbors at Sufi Books (now Dergah Al-Farah), which has been on West Broadway since 1983, responded immediately and passionately in our neighborhood’s and our country’s defense – by helping to save lives at the site of the attack and by immediately condemning the terrorists and their cause. Rauf recently described his mission as to “embolden the vast majority of Muslims who hate terrorism to stand up to the radical rhetoric” and to “interweave America’s Muslim population into the mainstream society.”


When Ms. Grillo leads tours as a docent for the 9/11 Tribute Center, she asks visitors from all over the world to focus on the word “tolerance.” What better place to teach tolerance than near the site where hate tried to kill it?

A Tradition of Tolerance: Welcoming Cordoba House


Now just for a bit of a refresher, lets revisit the 1st Amendment to the Constitution shall we?  You know that pesky document that Sarah Palin keeps demanding we stick to when she feels she has another rant coming on?

The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law "respecting an establishment of religion", impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.

Seems to me that Sarah Palin and those opposed to this Community Center are trying to impede the free exercise of religion by demanding that this place not be allowed to go forward, and they are also interfering with the right to peaceably assemble by demanding that this community center be moved to a different location simply because they dislike the specific religious beliefs of those who are going to be using the prayer center.


It has been nearly 9 years since the September 11 Attack on this country. How long is long enough to begin healing? How far enough away would it be acceptable to establish this community center in order to make people like Sarah Palin happy?  Does Sarah Palin and her facebook ghostwriter know how many Muslims were killed on September 11th? Do they even care?

Americans were killed along with people from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, China, El Salvador, Germany, Grenada, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Sweden and the United Kingdom. People of various ages ranging from 2 up to 85 years old. This was a world tragedy not just an American one. Yes, it happened on American soil, and yes it was directed at American, but we were not the only ones who lost people on that tragic day. People from all backgrounds were killed on that day.

There is so much involved in this subject that we could go on for days discussing it, but the main thrust of this post is supposed to be about getting the facts out there,  and showing the dangerous attitude of the people who are supporting the misinformation that Sarah Palin and those like her are distributing in the name of politics or personal bigotry.

How are people reacting to her facebook note? Good question, and I have some answers. It isn't pretty. Not pretty at all and it shows how she stirs anger and is quite happy to do it as we've seen from the many incidents where she has sought to divide people in this country.

Those are just two screenshots of the comments made.  At this moment there are 2,884 comments and a majority of them are like what I have show with the screen shots.

Here are a few more that I copied earlier...

Steve Walther 
Absolutely unbelievable. Thats nothing less than outright provocation.21 minutes ago


Camille Troy 
Mayor Bloomberg is very accomplished. He may not be my favorite Mayor but you cannot argue w/ success. His religious faith is glorified by showing tolerance to others IMO.19 minutes ago


Rich Fitzgerald 
symbolism is a huge part of islamic extremist thinking. building it at ground zero is a symbol of their success in beating the infidel..
wake up liberals !!19 minutes ago
Christine Lesko
 Mayor Bloomberg , Are you reading these? For no amout of money should the city allow this to happen. This is 9-11 all over again.18 minutes ago


Leslie Miller
 this in NOT tolerance and openness in the manner in which brings peace. the peace is false and those who are allowed to build such things are hoping we keep on being tolerant and open so as to destroy America.17 minutes ago


David Swift 
The goal of the muslim world to to destroy the world. They can't do it they can't do it by war, so they WILL do it with the ballot box.17 minutes ago


Theodore Hoak 
Sarah, You tell it like it is, and Patriotic Americans support you. This is a definite in your face America attempt, especially since their plans also include opening this on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. How any Real American can support this is beyond me. Haven't enough Americans fought and died for this country to show the Liberal ...See More17 minutes ago


Kimi Perkins O'Dell
 It just shows you the intolerance of extreme Muslims. Not putting them all in one basket, mind you, as there are some peace loving Muslims I know personally. Is the world so small that there is NO other location to build their mosque? They feel it necessary to minimize the event, forget the anquish and the pain and overlook what was one event ... See More17 minutes ago




Pattie Coker Holt
 he must be a liberal. get him out of office16 minutes ago




John Davis
they should never build this anyway near ground zero period. to many lives lost. scared ground for christian's16 minutes ago


Steven Thomas 
Bloomberg a BLOOMING IDIOT!!!! Can't he see those radicals want to take over this country!!! When will they wake up!!!!16 minutes ago


Cathy Ashby
 Perhaps we should also allow a floating sushi bar over the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor16 minutes ago


Mark Adams 
New York City is one of the most liberal areas in the country. However, even a majority of New York City voters agree with Governor Palin on the mosque
New York City voters oppose 52 - 31 percent a proposal by a Muslim group to build a mosque and cultural center two blocks from Ground Zero, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Another 17 percent are undecided.
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1302.xml?ReleaseID=147315 minutes ago


David Bower 
It is nothing less than a monument to their victory.15 minutes ago ·  1 person




Cindy Bevington Olmstead 
Whatever happened to old-fashioned consideration and respect? If this religion is truly anti-violence, why don't they say, hey, a terrible thing connected with our religion happened here, and we don't want to rub salt in the wound, so out of respect for those who died, we will NOT build a mosque, but rather will find a place that doesn't cause irritation? Now THAT would show that their religion truly does respect others and denounce violence.15 minutes ago ·  1 person


Jenny Maria Moiser Heinzen 
You don't see the U.S.A putting up statues of Busch in Iraq to replace the Saddam Hussein ones that were torn down....15 minutes ago


Liberty Force 
Patriots, It is time to take back our country! Join us at Liberty Force.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12058120131801014 minutes ago ·  1 person




Mary Roosa 
The most disturbing thing is that nobody is listening to the families of 9/11 victims! It is just common decency and "political correctness" is killing us!14 minutes ago


Camille Troy 
LOL A Guiliani - Bloomberg showdown? You mean Mister "NOUN+VERB 9/11" Guiliani? As I said :


election year ? CHECK!


politicizing 9/11? CHECK!... See More14 minutes ago


Nancy Taul Howey 
I wonder what he would have said if some one had suggested building a Baptist church there?13 minutes ago


Rafael Gomez
 Sarah, come on! You cant really be serious (or disingenuous). There were many Muslims who died on 9/11 too. Moreover, the terrorist attacks on 9/11 are not a reflection of Islam anymore than the dropping of the Atom Bomb was a reflection of Baptist love towards the Japanese :)13 minutes ago


Judie Tracy 
wow...13 minutes ago


Theresa Woltmann- Silvestri 
Politicians have NO common decency!!!! Its all about THEM.12 minutes ago


Don LaBanca 
If the city of New York, specifically Mayor Bloomberg, had any balls, they'd take the site of the proposed mosque by eminent domain and put an end to this crap once and for all. NO mosque, NO way, NO how, Not NOW not EVER12 minutes ago


Mary Manley 
This tells who we are as a nation. I think that we need to look at this with common sense. What has tolerance and openness led to?12 minutes ago


Karin Berryman 
How disgusting for those who died and their families. The suicide bombers may have had the excuse of being brainwashed, but what is Bloomberg's?12 minutes ago


Dan Combs 
This Is a country founded partly on religious tolerance; the founding fathers wanted everyone to be able to chose their own form of Christiamity, not be forced to worship at a state church. The Muslim religion did not enter into the picture. Similarly, Americans should not have to tolerate the religion of another tried and tested, violent culture... See More12 minutes ago


Camille Troy
 Forget 9/11??? If you bring up Saddam Hussein and Iraq I'll wager you don't KNOW anything to FORGET! Sheesh!12 minutes ago


Doug Mataconis 
That sound you here is the death of the First Amendment, property rights, and religious tolerance. 


Nice job there12 minutes ago


Mary Urscheler Moïse 
This is NOT religious tolerance! THIS IS RADICAL ISLAM MAKING A HUGE STATEMENT! WAKE UP AMERICA!11 minutes ago ·  1 person


Debra Luptak 
Thank you Sarah for keeping it "real"...this is absolutely insane that ANY American would even consider this mosque to be built on or near ground zero...what a slap in the face...are we that gullible...wow. My heart breaks for the families of those who innocently died on 9/11 and this is just a stab in the back and will be a constant reminder...May God's will be done here!11 minutes ago


Shelly Young Bird 
I totally agree! And I also say, "Palin for President!!"10 minutes ago


Ron Kreitzer 
got some dam nerve putting it at ground zero.....just a place for them to plan another 9/11....America is so gullable.....10 minutes ago


Steve Dia 
What a huge insult that would be to our country. We Americans had better wake up and very soon or this will no longer be the land of the free. We are in need of a new governing party and ideals.10 minutes ago


Donna Jacobson 
Remember people, Bloomberg is the one that literally wrote himself in for mayor for there terms when the term for every other mayor is two. 


Also, I lost my cousin, a firefighter, on 9/11 and the last thing I want to see next to the place he gave his life is ANYTHING Muslim.9 minutes ago via Facebook Mobile


Daniel Gokie
 Thank you for bringing up the topic.8 minutes ago


Penny Rogers 
When are people going to stop this movement.... Please listen to the 9-11 ,family"s. It's disrespectful to them and the United States... It seem's you have to be policalty correct anymore. I would just like to throw up on this administration!!!!!! Enough is enough!!!!!!!8 minutes ago


Camille Troy
Donna Jacobson-
I am deeply sorry for your loss.8 minutes ago


Gloria Legorreta Anderson 
This building in NY is just to flaunt in the face of Americans a "victory" of sorts. No different than the building of the Dome of the Rock in Jerasalem where Jews believed, and still believe, the rock to be the very place where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac.8 minutes ago


Lena BattleCat Pullum
 I dont care one shit about these damn Muslims and their feelings in regard this Mosque! i am sick to my stomach with these ppl trying to FORCE their religion, their veiws and their so-called ethics down the throats of American society and they R doing it on our own soil! Poor us! Our politicians R kissing the asses of these religious fanatics because they R scared 2 death that they may begin their efforts AGAIN, 2 murder more americans!8 minutes ago ·  1 person


Carol Anderson McKinney 
Amen sister!! This is a slow and steay infiltration of our country and an insult to the victims, their families, the emergency workers twho gave their lives, the children who are growing up without a mom or dad or grandparent! THINK about them more then appeasing a group of people who would glady wipe us off the face of the map given the chance!7 minutes ago


Edi Saddlemire 
HUH ???7 minutes ago


Michael Santa Cruz 
?@Mark Adams: 
http://weeklystandard.com/articles/mosque-grows-near-brooklyn
The author of that article is a Muslim centrist with obvious expertise on the subject, but if you read very carefully, you will see that the links to radical Islam are fairly spurious. To summarize: Raum served in an nonprofit with the former director of a questionable ... See More6 minutes ago


Kurt Nielsen 
That is the Hopey,Changey type pf crap that will end up destroying us....If you "Go with the flow" in a river you will drown eventually..we must STAND against this.......religious freedom is one thing being ...allowing the muslims to use that part of our sacred "Bill of Rights" to spit in our eye and rub our noses in it is another..akin to the ...See More6 minutes ago


Kerry Burak 
what a freakin ridiculous idea.. a mosque at ground zero? what they hell are these people thinking? what it does is violates all laws of common sense. not to mention the fact of insulting those that died that day. it has NOTHING to do with First Amendment. If they want to build a mosque.. let them.(i believe in freedom to choose ones own religion). but somewhere else other than ground zero.6 minutes ago


Rich Shull 
What a freakin retarded anti american government we have going on. I am ashamed of america. I really think the senators and congress need stop, re-evaluate, take a look at where they think it will honestly go, and correct it.5 minutes ago


Shirley Beckman
 What were they thinking?5 minutes ago


Leo Torrez 
I would like to see Sarah and Jan Brewer on the ticket! Out with idiots Nobama, and Biden......and take Bloomberg with them...I am christian, my friend is Muslim, my family Catholic and Jewish....WE ALL SAY STOP THE MOSQUE.... SARAH and JAN "because they can!"4 minutes ago via Facebook Mobile


Rita Siller 
Someone has got to stop this madness! This was Bloomberg's reply to a recent email asking him to stop the mosque:
Last month, the local community board voted by an overwhelming margin (29-1) to endorse the project.
Time to get rid of him and the entire local community board!4 minutes ago




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Ronald Twyman 
It is time we stop leting this Antichrist politics go unchecked and stand up for and return to our religious rights, befor it is to late to save our children!14 minutes ago ·  1 person


Luanne Buege 
what are they thinking - oh that's right - they forgot how13 minutes ago


Don Evans Rafael:
The killing of other Muslims makes no difference to Islam as long as the intent is towards the "Infidels". "...terrorist attacks on 9/11 are not a reflection of Islam"? What an ignorant statement!13 minutes ago


Karen Jalaba
 Where is our government when we need them???????12 minutes ago


Christine Kingsbury
 It makes no difference what we do when dealing with these religious fanatics that are a kickback from thousands of years ago. This is an instance where we are damned if we do and we are damned if we don't. They will not appreciate the concession of the American people if we "tolerate" the building of an Islamic Mosque on a piece of land that has ... See More12 minutes ago


Jesse Pettyjohn Jr.
 Bloomgerg is an IDIOT,who would have never been elected if he did not have his own money. I live in NJ,I saw those buildings fall.I lost some people I know ,that day.It is not tolerance that should come from us but what should come from us is anger for the nerve of these maggots(Bloomberg included)that they give us another sucker punch.12 minutes ago


Andy Tackett 
no the building of one shows the intolerance of the muslims wanting to build there bloomberg is dead wrong and the last pole of new yorkers was at 52% not wanting it there so why does the majority not get heard 12 minutes ago


Terri Murray
 I would think so 11 minutes ago


Willis W Mahan 
Like Hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 11 minutes ago


Karin Berryman 
I only saw this outrage 5 mins ago and the other thing is ; What does this kind of thing do for your soldiers, for those battling with tragic memories I would think this would be outright dangerous! Whoever gives the ok for this can be sued in my book!10 minutes ago




Homer Cantrell
 Religious tolerance has absolutely nothing to do with Terrorist Organizations wanting to build a trophy mosque at the site of the worst terrorist act commited on OUR land. The Obama Admisistration would do well to tell these people: "NO WAY are you going to build a mosque on that site." However, we all know our secret Muslim so-called President will just sit back and let it happen.10 minutes ago


Jean Pierre Wilding
 There should be no problem in banning building it. It amounts to a hate crime, and if anything does not promote unity and is not PC. Even if you believe in that nonsense. God bless America - start praying for a miracle.9 minutes ago via Facebook Mobile


Carolyn Adams
 Why not just make Ground Zero a memorial park and let it alone. There are still enough spirits to make it sad but beautiful. Because anything that is chosen would be out of place. Any cemetery is both sad but yet beautiful. Sometimes it is hard to go there but once you do you feel better.9 minutes ago


Patrice Benner-Dick
 Sarah, thank you for being the voice of so many Americans who feel the same way but are powerless to be heard.9 minutes ago ·  1 person


Bobby Vergis 
In the history of Islam, mosques have been built on the sacred ground of countries or cities they have conquered. This is not an issue of religion, but of this imam wanting to make a statement of how muslims have conquered America. 


Besides that; the design of their mosque is just a loud obnoxious statememnt in and of itself, just yards from the ... See More9 minutes ago


Ralph Edward Benner 
WE ARE TO BLESS AND CURSE NOT. Why? Because God said, Vengeance is mine-I will repay. We are to show LOVE at all times. Why? Because perhaps you will win a friend who once was an enemy. If not, you heap coals of fire on the enemys' head(s) Why?Why?Why? Blessing, Cursing, Loving are all boomerangs-If they do not strike the target they all come home to the sender.9 minutes ago




Esther Zeigler Burns 
The problem is the assumption that everyone thinks alike. The Mosque at ground zero will be seen as marker of a heroic victory over the great Satan. I mean, liberals hate themselves to the point they like being debased and debasing their country....Bloomberg must have a closet full of BDSM gear then.8 minutes ago


John Sutherland 
Sarah, I'm sure you understand that the progressives and the communists in our midst intend to completely destroy our Judeo/Christian American culture. They mean to bring us down. Don't expect fair fights or honest debates - they lie, cheat, and steal to get their way. But they are America haters 100%. It never occurred to me that success would... See More8 minutes ago


Carol Anderson McKinney 
good video explaining what this is all about!! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxFzFIDbKpg&feature=player_embedded8 minutes ago ·  1 person


Debi Fitts
 Amen Sarah....we know what their agenda is.8 minutes ago


Ricky Abel
 Bloomberg is a douche7 minutes ago ·  1 person


Lisa Horn Brichetto
 It really is just about common decency, something so many Americans just don't have anymore. Thank you Sarah for speaking out about this.6 minutes ago


Becky Lew- Hobbs
 Sarah - thank you stating what so many of us agree with. Ground zero should be a memorial and not a religious statement.6 minutes ago


Duwayne Rains 
Never EVER let this happen America! This is a slap in the face to all Americans! Why do we continue to let the minority rule? To the Mayor and everybody else in NY, get a little backbone and stand up for once!5 minutes ago ·  2 people


Rick Gallagher 
B.S. A mosque at ground zero is a slap in the face to Americans!5 minutes ago


Cheryl Hannan Nashatka 
Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time."
4 minutes ago


Scott Tucker 
I agree with Bloomberg.
Shut up. Go home.
Become obscure again.3 minutes ago


Stu Ballenger 
If anyone needs a volunteer to fly a plane into it once its built...hit me up..3 minutes ago


Joe Starbuck 
Oh, forgot one more thing: did you see the President walking to his plane? He was carrying a book called "Post America" written by a Muslim. Some say, "Maybe he's trying to get more insight to deal with sensitive issues." I'm not buying this angle because too many of his recent decisions have been pro-Muslim and anti-Christian, anti-Constitution. I... See More3 minutes ago


Christy Foster 
I can't believe this is happening?? WHY would we allow this to happen?? I am with Duwayne have a little backbone and stand up to these people... Did Americans forget what happened that day and who did it???3 minutes ago




Richie Diaz 
Go Sarah. Always willing to step up to the Plate and take a swing, for the American people.2 minutes ago




Lena BattleCat Pullum 
THE ANTICHRIST, 4 THOSE WHO BELIEVE THIS, IS AT WORK AND HE HAS THIS NATION AND IT'S POLITICANS SNOWBLIND TO THE FACTS OF LIFE AND THE REALITY OF OUR PRESENT SITUATION! I TRULY BELIEVE THIS IS JUST THE BEGINING OF A MORE SINISTER FUTURE FOR US! GOD HELP US!2 minutes ago


Vicki Conard 
Thank you Sarah Palin for bringing this to our attention. Maybe with your contacts you can help stop this. It would be nice to see that you can push through all the red tape and have this dumped out of New York! This is definitely an eye opener.about a minute ago


So as is obvious there is a lot of hate, misinformation and dangerous attitudes among Sarah's followers.   The anger displayed toward individuals who have a different belief system than they do is plainly evident and exceptionally frightening.   To believe that Muslims are all bad, or that this Community center is some kind of dangerous place or disrespectful slap in the face to those who died is a joke, but sadly one that is becoming more and more popular with a select group of citizens.

How sad that this is what so many feel, when they themselves are likely to cry foul if someone tried to trample on their right to free religious expression.


What better place to teach tolerance than near the site where hate tried to kill it?

That comment stands out for me.

Sarah Palin could have taken this opportunity and used it to show herself to be a true Christian, and instead she went down the opposite path. She could have shown herself to be supportive of the Constitution like she professes herself to be, but again that is not the path she wanted to take.

 I am not surprised by the behavior she displays and encourages in people, but I am saddened by it.  I have been paying close attention to her for what feels like an eternity but in reality is has only been a few years.  In those few years, I have watched her lash out, encourage rage and anger in her supporters, lie, deliberately misrepresent, and bilk people out of money,  and all of it to feed her own ego, and to become a celebutaunt on the national stage.

She is a dangerous person and one who should not be ignored, as she will do everything in her power to continue to encourage dangerous behavior from as many people as she can.  That is what she does and it is who she is.  Sadly she has conned a lot of good decent people into believing her, but I am always hopeful that people will finally remove the blinders from their eyes and simply look at the facts which show how shallow, egotistical, and narcissistic her behavior is.

More examples of those fans of Sarah Palin and her viewpoints.

A disgusting ad celebrated by Conservatives4Palin:



"The audacity of jihad." Real subtle. But you see here the neo-fascist, civilization-war rhetoric that Palin will deploy more and more crudely as she moves toward the White House.

Andrew Sullivan The Daily Dish “They”

-Check out this awesome ad on the mosque issue from National Republican Trust.
By Ian Lazaran 

Conservatives4Palin; Georgia Elections Open Thread



Despite its name, the National Republican Trust has no formal connection to the Republican Party. It is an independent group with ties to the conservative Web site Newsmax. 
FactCheck.org

Another article leads us to further information about this group and its founder:

Scott Wheeler is at it again. As before, the following fundraising email has not been edited:

Dear National Republican Trust Supporter:

How do you feel about leather-clad, baton-wielding New Black Panthers "patrolling" your local polling place? Or the planting of a monstrous 13-story mosque at Ground Zero? What about NASA's Muslim outreach...the NAACP's race-fueled assault on the Tea Party...and Jeremiah Wright's enduring influence over Barrack Obama? Worrisome, yes. Outrageous, even. But random, isolated incidents? Not a chance.

We are developing an investigation that will demonstrate these events are calculated elements of a grand and poisonous strategy to divide, dispirit, and diminish The Left's political adversaries. In other words, you and me.

Big Media just rendered their verdict on our campaign by refusing to run our Mosque Ad.

IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED OUR POWERFUL TELEVISION AD THAT

WILL KILL THE GROUND ZERO MOSQUE. PLEASE WATCH IT HERE!

NBC and CBS refuse to run this ad. They think they have a monopoly on your news consumption. Let's prove them wrong.

They don't mind running the radical left wing Moveon.org ads, but they won't run this one. You might have heard about Big Media's shameful actions last night on the O'Reilly Factor.

You can help us blow through their barrier with the truth! If we can raise enough money, we will post this ad on the Drudge Report, the most widely viewed website in the world. From there, it will go viral, reaching millions of Americans, and killing the plans to erect this disgraceful mosque!

GO HERE TO JOIN THE FIGHT, AND SIGNAL TO BIG MEDIA

THEIR NEWS MONOPOLY HAS ENDED!

Please forward this message to all of your friends and family!

Together, we'll make sure every American is aware of this despicable plot.

We can defeat the censors and kill the mosque, if all those reading this email will donate. This must be a team effort. We all must pitch in. Anyone who donates $100 dollars or more we will receive an autographed copy of Shadow Government: What Obama Doesn't Want You to Know About His Czars.

This disgraceful Mosque project cannot go forward. We owe it to the 3,000 Americans slaughtered on 9/11 to ensure this project of hate is stopped immediately.

We can do it, but we desperately need your help with this campaign. The media may refuse to cover this project, and even work to silence our voice, but together, we can expose this outrage and broadcast it into the living rooms of every proud American.

Please consider an investment of $250, $100, $50 or $25. And Please know that no contribution is too small. Together, we suffered on that horrific September day; united, we will fight to honor and protect our fallen by stopping this disgusting effort.

This Ad campaign and our ongoing investigation will ensure that we are victorious. We will kill the Ground Zero Mosque.

We cannot let these terrorists build a shrine on the ground where they cowardly attacked innocent Americans on 9/11. GO HERE TO JOIN THE FIGHT!

Yours for America,

Scott Wheeler,

Executive Director

[Link: www.GOPTrust.com...]

Note Wheelers ranting about a conspiracy trying to bury the truth and silence him and his talk of exposing it. That's how totalitarians talk.

Scott Wheeler Falls Off The Conspiracy Nut Tree & Hits Every Branch On The Way Down

Now I had previously put up photographs of the site of this Community Center (and make no mistake that is what it is) showing it in relation to where Ground Zero is, but for a better understanding of what the location looks like and to show that this isn't going to be a Mosque like the above video is trying to imply it will be, you must remember that this is not a new building going up.  It is a building in place that is simply being renovated to use for the Community Center.  This center will have bookstores, restaurants, a swimming pool, and many other things.
This is a picture of the street where this Community Center will be located:

Not quite the way it is pictured
in the video is it?

This is what is in the video and what these people would have you believe that this Community Center will look like..






If they are going to continue to claim that this "Mosque is being built at Ground Zero", which we have now proven to be two separate and distinct lies, (it is a building that is being renovated & it is not at Ground Zero) then you have to ask yourself, what else are they willing to lie about?   The answer to that is ..whatever they want to lie about in order to scare people and use that fear to bring in support both emotional and financial.

They certainly aren't going to tell people that this center is housing much more than a prayer room  (which is already being used) because that would seem much more reasonable and not so frightening to people who are already leery of those who are "different".

What is so frightening and damaging to the community about restaurants, bookstores, swimming pools, art exhibitions and worship groups?  Nothing about those things are frightening at all to reasonable people so that is why they aren't mentioned, and that is why this is being labeled a Mosque instead of a Community Center.




I had been trying to write a conclusion to this piece and had rewritten it several times when I noticed someone had linked to this article by Jeffrey Goldberg at the Atlantic who wrote a wonderful piece titled "Why Sarah Palin Endangers American National Security (and Israel's, as Well)"

On the second point, the danger she poses to America -- and specifically, to American national security -- Palin has this week argued vociferously against the building of a mosque near the site of Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. She calls the idea of a mosque there a provocation. But it is her opposition to the building of a mosque that is provocative. The organization that hopes to build the mosque, the Cordoba Initiative, is a moderate Muslim group, striving for better relations between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds. It is in the direct interest of American national security to strengthen those groups that argue against Islamism. Palin's opposition to the mosque -- and by extension, to the enfranchisement of moderate Muslims -- is a gift to Islamists, proof to their potential followers that America is as intolerant of Islam as Europe is, proof that it is America, not Islam, that wants to see our civilizations clash. We as a society should embrace those Muslims who want to live the American dream; their lives, as free, devout and proud Muslims in a diverse country, are a refutation of the radical notion that the West is forever aligned against the interests of Muslim believers. Opposing the building of mosques by anti-jihadist Muslim groups in this country is perhaps the best way to radicalize American Muslims not otherwise prone to radicalization.

It is true that this country is home to a non-insignificant number of already-radicalized Muslims. There's no point in denying that. But there's a war on -- a clash within a civilization -- and we can affect the outcome of this war by embracing those Muslims who are ready and willing to live in our multi-confessional country, while fighting those who violently oppose American values. Sarah Palin, from what I see so far, views Islam as a monolith, and because of this view, she argues for policies that could do severe damage to American national security. This is a complicated war we're in, and Sarah Palin is, by the evidence at hand, dangerously simple-minded.

Jeffery Goldberg @ The Atlantic
(H/T to drpatois at palingates.blogspot.com for the link)

I agree with his conclusion as it was what I was trying to put into word. She is more than just simple-minded, she is willing to take on any cause if she thinks it will keep her in the news, and she doesn't care about what the issue is, nor does she care to understand the issue. For Sarah it has always been about making noise and riling up her supporters in whatever way she can.

There is no doubt that there are people in the world who want to do harm to others and they will always find a reason to do so in their own warped minds, but we should not be playing into their hands and into their deliberately misinformed viewpoints by ensuring that their supporters are seeing us act out in the ways that these terrorists claim we will and do.  Sarah Palin and those who blindly follow her are dangerous to this country for the simple reason that they seek to divide us, which weakens us in many different ways, on many different fronts.

We will never completely eradicate terrorism.  There will always be those who seek power through intimidation and fear, but we can fight it, and we only lose to them if we allow ourselves to change who we are and what we do out of fear and intimidation.