Anyone see this yet? I thought it was a pretty good recap of a lot of the ignorance surrounding the whole issue: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QZpT2Muxoo0?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QZpT2Muxoo0?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
this is better: <object width="853" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Qg_iDPRud_c?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Qg_iDPRud_c?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="853" height="505"></embed></object> Spoiler in truth, i think it's a "little" over the top...but not much.
Yes, equating building an Islamic cultural center to allowing Hitler to rise to power is totally better. Anyone comparing this or 9/11 to the holocaust is off their rocker, including Olbermann comparing dissuading a group from creating a cultural center to Hitler's persecution of... well, everything.
My previous response still stands and as a Muslim he should know better about the need to pray 5 times a day. Also to add that I am not surprised there are Arabs and or Muslims that feel that way. That just goes to show that Muslims are not some monolithic block and how ignorant it is to hold them collectively responsibly for 9/11 and accusing those who want to build this center of making some sort of victory statement on Ground Zero.
Perhaps the best analysis of the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy. Simple and straight forward logic http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts...oing_to_ regret_the_cordoba_house_controversy
That is pretty much all of Manhattan. I have never seen so many signs that succinctly read "Peep Show."
If there are so many votes to be lost on this (or similar) issues...then the answer cannot possibly be just the GOP. When Dems in an area that tends heavily to the Dems take this position, there is some other reason. The rank and file Dems certainly are not listening to the GOP anymore than you are.
it's your exact line of reasoning basso. Opposing this mosque because of what some crazy idiots did on 9/11 is the same as condeming all Germans today for what the Nazis did. And you know that the Nazis had a much higher percentage of German's as belonging to that party than there ever is of extremist Muslims as part of the greater Islam. So in reality, your whole argument that all Islam should be held responsible for 9/11 is like saying all Germans should be held responsible for the Holocaust and therefore Germans shouldn't be allowed to open up any kind of business near the Holocaust museum or any type of Jewish memorial. That's how insane your logic is.
Equating a religion of 1 billion people to Al Qaeda and 9/11? Really? I mean, do you really think Islam - this entity that represents 1/6 of humanity is the reason for 9/11? It can't be anything else? So if Islam didn't exist and let's say it was a Christian cult instead - why, they'd never resort to violence right?
Look closely at his words. He said no such thing. In fact, his direct quote was He isn't saying that this situation = Holocaust. He's saying situations like this, piled one on top of the other, over time, set the stage for horrors like the Holocaust to happen. And he's right. We dare not go down this road, for if we do, we start to become that which our forefathers sailed across the ocean in the Mayflower to escape: a country that tells it's people how, where, and what to worship.
Apparently hardcore Muslim Republicans are pretty upset about the rhetoric from Newt and others. Hey Basso - I guess the Republican Muslim Americans are terrorists too right? http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/...-republicans-take-issue-with-g-o-p-on-mosque/ August 17, 2010, 5:24 PM Muslim and Arab Republicans Take Issue With G.O.P. on Mosque By BERNIE BECKER A half-dozen Republicans have signed a letter criticizing the way some members of their party have responded to the proposed Muslim community center and mosque near ground zero in Manhattan. The letter – whose six signers include officials from both the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations — takes issue with Republicans who have called the proposed location of the center insensitive. The letter also says that, while the signers want the G.O.P. to be successful in the midterm elections, “we cannot support victory at the expense of the U.S. Constitution or the Arab and Muslim community in America.” David Ramadan, one of the signers, indicated via e-mail that all of the six are either Muslim or of Arab descent. He also said in a short telephone interview that the group was intentionally kept small – limited to “hardcore Republican activists,” as he put it. Meanwhile, Randa Fahmy Hudome, another of the signers, said on Tuesday that fellow Republicans had so far given her an “overwhelmingly positive” response to the letter. Here is the text of the letter: August 17, 2010 Dear Republican Colleague: We are writing to you today as loyal Americans who are active members of the Republican Party. We also happen to be proud of our Arab American and Muslim American contributions to the Republican Party. We are deeply concerned by the rhetoric of some leading members of our party surrounding the construction of the Muslim Community Center in downtown Manhattan. These comments are not only constitutionally unsound, they are also alienating millions of Arab American and Muslim American voters who believe, as we do, in the principles of our party – individual liberty, traditional values, and the rule of law. As you know, our party has had a long history of inclusion – beginning with our great President Abraham Lincoln, whose leadership on the slavery issue was monumental, and continuing through President George W. Bush whose public statements and actions on the differentiation between Islam and the terrorists who attacked us on 9-11 were critically important. We are particularly proud to note that President Bush appointed more Arab Americans and Muslim Americans to his administration than any other president in U.S. history. That being said, it perplexes us as to why some vocal members of our party have chosen to oppose the construction of a cultural and religious center on private grounds. Not only does the First Amendment to our Constitution protect the right of these private citizens to worship freely, it also prevents Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion. Our party and the leaders in our party should not be engaged in judgment issues of the location of a cultural center and a house of worship in direct contravention of the First Amendment. While some in our party have recently conceded the constitutional argument, they are now arguing that it is insensitive, intolerant and unacceptable to locate the center at the present location: “Just because they have the right to do so – does not make it the right thing to do” they say. Many of these individuals are objecting to the location as being too close to the Ground Zero site and voicing the understandable pain and anguish of the 9-11 families who lost loved ones in this horrible tragedy. In expressing compassion and understanding for these families, we are asking ourselves the following: if two blocks is too close, is four blocks acceptable? or six blocks? or eight blocks? Does our party believe that one can only practice his/her religion in certain places within defined boundaries and away from the disapproving glances of some citizens? Should our party not be standing up and taking a leadership role– just like President Bush did after 9-11 – by making a clear distinction between Islam, one of the great three monotheistic faiths along with Judaism and Christianity, versus the terrorists who committed the atrocities on 9-11 and who are not only the true enemies of America but of Islam as well? President Bush struck the right balance in expressing sympathy for the families of the 9-11 victims while making it absolutely clear that the acts committed on 9-11 were not in the name of Islam. We are hoping that our party leaders can do the same now – especially at a time when it is greatly needed. While we share the desire of all in our party to be successful in the November elections, we cannot support victory at the expense of the U.S. Constitution or the Arab and Muslim community in America. As President Lincoln so eloquently stated in his famous speech: “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” As proud and patriotic Americans, we are grateful for all the rights our U.S. citizenship allows us, and we will always do our best to not only protect our rights but the rights of all others as well. May God Bless our nation, our freedoms, and our party. David Ramadan Vice Chair, Ethnic Coalitions, Republican Party of Virginia Sherine El-Abd President, New Jersey Federation of Republican Women Randa Fahmy Hudome Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy, Bush Administration George Salem Solicitor of Labor, Reagan Administration Suhail Khan Chairman, Conservative Inclusion Coalition Samah A Norquist Senior Advisor to Arab and Muslim Outreach, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Bush Administration
He's like... a parody of a parody now. <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="384" height="283" align="middle"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://widget.nbc.com/videos/nbcshort_at.swf?CXNID=1000004.10045NXC&widID=4727a250e66f9723&clipID=805561&showID=61"/><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><embed src="http://widget.nbc.com/videos/nbcshort_at.swf?CXNID=1000004.10045NXC&widID=4727a250e66f9723&clipID=805561&showID=61" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" width="384" height="283" align="middle" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object>
I love this guy. He really thinks our standards of religious liberty should be subject to those of SAUDI ARABIA. Proof that conservatives are nothing but Christian Ayatollahs. His argument isn't against a mosque at "ground zero," its against a mosque ANYWHERE in America. What a whack-job. Would he be against a Catholic Church being built near a playground?
http://www.scpr.org/programs/patt-morrison/2010/08/18/ground-zero-mosque/ Sam Harris and Reza Aslan debate the Park 51 Mosque.
I don't know if others here have been reading the comments after any news report on this topic - but they are disturbing. Has American become filled to the brim with blind idiots?
