That acerbic cartoon and its absurd invective is against the tradition of American plurality. It is reductive, small-minded, and it conflates terrorism at-large w/ the totality of Islam itself. It is an embarrassment.

I agree w/ Mayor Michael Bloomberg:

“Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question: Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here. Muslims are as much a part of our city and our country as the people of any faith. And they are as welcome to worship in lower Manhattan as any other group.”

Bin Laden wants a clash of civilizations; the opponents of the mosque project are giving him what he wants.

Of course, I fully expect any retort to be vitriolic & snarky. So be it.

As a New Yorker it really bothers me that they are building this Mosque near Ground Zero??? It is still very raw for many of us.

I dont think Bloomie’d get reelected after this.

It’s just not OK. OK!

This is an idealogical war. You either believe that allowing this mosque to be built is somehow a demonstration of our strength as a nation – that we will NOT bend or break our principles in the face of terror, that we are, in fact, above and larger than the hate of the extremists, that this demonstrates how very different we are, and why America is a beacon of hope for millions, OR, that this is an unnecessary provocation. That just because they CAN do it does not mean that they SHOULD, and that we, as Americans, should be able to reject the expressions of certain freedoms if they fly in the face of all our values. That allowing this mosque to be built is capitulation to a hateful ideology, built from fear and political correctness, and actually shows weakness, not strength.

Personally, I do not find the argument that the project leaders are extremists, or squabbles of how close it actually is to ground zero particularly compelling, at least not compared with the arguments above. As someone who grew up in and around NYC, I wanted us to build towers ASAP after 9/11 in the shape of a big middle finger pointing toward Saudi Arabia. But in the end, I agree with Mayor Bloomberg. And its important to understand that NYC is very different from where you live, and Manhattan even more different than the other boroughs. This was the right decision for New York City, and make no mistake, it WAS NY’s decision to make.

To say the least,. it is in less than poor tastes.
We have rights and with them come responsibilities, and where they may have the right to build, it is irreponsible to do so.
It is also far from prudent, as I am positive that if built, it will be a problem for the city which will draw extremest’s from both sides. A magnet for trouble.
I am trying to imagine a good arguement to block them in court, and having a bit of trouble doing so…but my first point is that building in the immediate area amounts to incitement.
Best would be if they realized the good and decent thing to do is pack up and build elsewhere, ( Iran ) but I don’t see that happening.
I should not have to lose rights to do as I please in a responsible way in order to block this building.
I won’t rule out dirty pool in this case, I do not feel a threat to my honor in doing so and investigating the organization and it’s ties… I have already heard there may be some issues there.
I am very disturbed that they even would consider this and wish they could dismiss it as just completely out of hand and a really stupid idea, but I count on the fine folks of the ACLU and others of the same stripes to stick their noses in, and I have been told I cannot just shoot them.
So…does anyone have anything solid to fight with? Short of implementing some legislation which would have unintended consequences?
I like incitement, believe it fits as there will undoubtably be blood on the ground at this Mosque, and in short order. I doubt they would even be able to finish construction before it became a real headache.
Could that be supported? Common sense says yes, it could…but that is not usually the battlefield we get to play on.
Oh, and the cartoon is great and right on point.

http://www.humanevents.com/offers/offer.php?id=MSQ100&time=201008041001

GoldwaterWhereAreYou,

“the tradition of American plurality” is not being violated by complaining about the building of the next, of over a hundred mosques in NY, on the graves of those Americans.

It is an insult, and it is meant to be an insult. The people wanting to build it know how New Yorkers feel about it, and rather than respect their feelings, they want to go ahead with the project.

The PROPONENTS of the project are the ones giving bin Laden what he wants, not the people on the receiving end of this provication.

I laughed outloud, and (quite mysteriously) felt no pang of guilt, no inner voice crying out ‘but, but, but COEXIST!!!’.

Nor do I fear for their First Amendment rights.

when I read this! Well done, and thank you for adding nothing to the discussion, comrade. You certainly like to throw around “idiot” and “ignorance” a lot for someone who is, at least today, a one-trick pony.

someone else beat me to it.
So will you be happy when they start calling for shria law to be imposed in thier area.

Many if not most of the people who actually need to be exposed to the thinking behind the COEXIST sticker don’t have cars. They are still living in the 16th century, watching the 21st as it progresses further and further every day, and can offer only hatred and envy in response. They are purely Reactionary, and tragically their demented religion may well deny them hope for change — and that is the true horror we face. Our enemy may be beyond salvation, no matter what we do.

Let me epeat that for the benefit of any libs who just walked thru here and are horribly insensate-shocked by this historical fact: the US Marines in the Pacific did not take Japanese prisoners. Wounded, dazed, begging for mercy – they were dispatched. Cruelty?nev Prejudice? No, just Reality. We learned quickly, they did not take prisoners, and feigned surrender in order to stage glorious suicide for the Emperor with a grenade stashed in their underwear, and blow up two or three of the enemy with them. We paid in American blood the first few times on Guadalcanal, trying to honor fair ROEs and taking them prisoner. Didn’t work; we learned and never took more (in general) for the rest of the war. Acat I think this supports your point about relative CoExistence. It is relative despite our best intentions.

were a legitimate religion. But it is no more legitimate than that practiced by Jones, Koresh, Manson. At some point you have to call a heretical cult a CULT and exorcise it from our country and culture.

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34.
*********************************
Apparently there are those that do not have the understanding that what happened on 9-11 is a sin perpetrated upon our nation.

These that are without understanding would rather give into fear and not hear the facts about where the money is coming from to build the
Ground Zero Mosque.

It would be the sane thing to check first and make sure the money to build the Mosque is not coming from any group that was and or is affiliated with those that caused the following destruction seen in this video. . .

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5474006551011489413#