the ground zero mosque that is neither a mosque nor at ground zero: discuss

I’ve been following the “ground zero mosque” controversy for some time now, and every time I have wanted to blog about it, it occurs to me that pretty much all that I’d want to say about it has already been said. Let me just summarize my thoughts with some bullet points.

• Islam did not attack the WTC or Pentagon; al-Qaeda did
• If folks are upset about a supposed lack of sensitivity of an Islamic Cultural Center being built several blocks out of sight from the WTC site, then why aren’t they similarly offended by Christian churches near the site of Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that was blown to bits by the Christian fundamentalist Timothy McVeigh. BTW, two churches are across the street, one on either side.
  
• There are Muslim prayers held in the Pentagon and have been for many years
• There is a mosque near the WTC site already and no one cared about it before, so why now?
• The Imam who has spearheaded the Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero is not a radical terrorist sympathizer. He’s a Sufi who has worked for years to build interfaith dialogue and understanding. The US already sends him out as an emissary to Muslim countries for just that reason.
• We’re a democratic republic founded on religious tolerance. If we don’t allow the Cordoba Center (now called Park51) to be built, haven’t the terrorists already won?
• No one cares about the various adult theaters and video shops near “hallowed ground,” so how is an Islamic center such an offense?
• How far away is sufficient, were the Islamic center to be moved? Is Iceland too close? Judging from the anti-Islam rhetoric and growing violence against Americans of the Islamic faith, it would seem Tunguska, Siberia is still too close to lower Manhattan for some folks.
• Mayor Bloomberg has integrity, at least as far as this issue is concerned. President Obama had integrity then became wishy-washy. Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin and Pamela Geller, all of whom are inciting anti-Muslim feeling, are beneath contempt.

Like I said, all of this has been said in one form or another by people who are far more eloquent and insightful. But I had to say it as well, since the controversy simmers on, some people are already getting killed over it, and the madness has to stop.

dumb and dumber

 

what a surprise: pat buchanan hates people of color, women, Jews…hell, anyone who isn’t a white Christian dude

I’m all for freedom of speech, however odious it may be. And I give Rachel Maddow a ton of credit for enduring what had to have been a painful discussion/debate with Pat Buchanan on the Sonia Sotomayor nomination. But given Buchanan’s known antisemitism, misogynism, racism and, frankly, clear hatred of anyone who isn’t a white Christian male, why do networks like MSNBC continue to hire him as a commentator and give his idiocy a prominent TV pulpit? Just consider his hypocrisy: he rails against Sotomayor as an “affirmative action appointee,” yet it never occurs to him that it could be argued that the Republicans took the same tactic when Miguel Estrada was nominated to a Federal court appointment. He argues that Sotomayor is not qualified for the Supreme Court. Given the facts of her education, performance and very substantial judicial experience (the most in 70 years for any Supreme Court nominee), this is at best intellectually dishonest, at worst racist and sexist. I am very comfortable stating my opinion that it’s the latter. Pat Buchanan is racist. He hates women. In the past he’s made it clear he’s not a fan of Jews either. Let’s stop giving him credibility by providing him with a TV pulpit and instant credibility. He has no reason to be hired as a TV commentator or “expert.” Trust me, there are more than enough jackasses on the right to put on the air, so do we also need to include someone who so blatantly gives comfort and support to all angry white male Christians out there?

baracknophobia

VOTE!!!!

I’ve been blogging much more of late on politics than on new music and other things, but this election is really important.

No surprise here: I totally endorse Obama/BIden. The McCain of 2000 would have made this a tough choice. But McCain has proven to be a tool of George Bush. McCain reversed his principled stance on torture, supporting the Bush Administration’s idiotic belief that waterboarding doesn’t constitute torture and therefore can be applied to detainees. McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin was pandering at best, extremely dangerous and divisive judgement at worst. The tone of McCain’s campaign was the worst I’ve ever seen, and at one point even McCain seemed to realize he’d created a monster out of control. The last time I saw such blatant racism out in front was, maybe, the 60′s. I’m not saying McCain is racist; I don’t believe that at all. But I do think a lot of the core Conservatives out there who are coming to the McCain/Palin rallies are very racist.

I think most folks who read this blog (all five of you) are keenly aware of how important this election is. It’s like the lettering on any auto transmission: if you choose D you go forward, R takes you backwards. i don’t want to go back to the same crap we’ve just been through for the past eight years. Some people don’t think that McCain’s administration will be another Bush administration. The reality is that McCain’s policies are very close, and often identical, to those of the failed Bush Administration. Indeed, Palin and many other McCain campaign officials can’t come up with any ways that McCain would be different from Bush whenever they get asked that by reporters.

So please vote tomorrow. It’s not just a right, but a responsibility. And for those few people I’ve come across who remain unregistered and refuse to vote at all, don’t bitch when the government does something you disagree with.

What remains to be seen is how much disenfranchisement will occur. We need to have some form of automatic voter registration, so that voter suppression will no longer be a tool of the right wing.

this is what colin powell was talking about…

…in terms of how we’re going to be perceived by the rest of the world. Why am I having deja vu about the 60′s?

brilliant comment

Just read this here (scroll down a bit from the top of that page to read this and other comments):

It hurts to think how stupid the average Republican voter is in this country. That anyone in this country can countenance McCain’s pick for VP for even a micro-second shows how full this country is of dumbsh*ts. A red-neck, young-earth-believer, rapture-ready hockey-mom with virtually no experience and the GOP is going gah-gah over her? Republicans have nearly destroyed this country over the last 8 years, but they won’t be happy until they’ve finished the job with McCain/Palin. Good God, I’m just speechless. God help us all.

Yup.

The original article by Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, which is very much worth reading, is here.

We’re so totally wicked hosed if Obama/Biden lose. Seriously. And we thought W wore his religion on his sleeve? We ain’t seen nothing yet.

hatred

That’s pretty much all I can say about what the Republicans who are meeting right now convey to me. They are consumed by hate. Pure visceral hate of us nameless liberal folk. You know, us godless, perverted, heathen, elitist Eastern types (which used to be the codewords for “Dirty Jew” until these guys fell in love with our wonderful turncoat Joe Lieberman). Unlike the Democratic Convention last week, which had some positive, respectful words about John McCain as a person (just listen to Bill Clinton’s speech for one example), all these guys are doing is trashing Barack Obama and Joe Biden. And it’s personal. Even Michelle Obama isn’t immune. 

Their hypocrisy is blatant and glaring.

In their minds, it was fine, even legitimate for them to trash Obama, along with his association with his religious minister, Rev. Wright. That wasn’t decried as racism, nor was his personal life (indeed, his religious life) declared “off limits.” Hell, when Obama made a very subtle reference to racism, stating that he doesn’t look like the folks on Mt. Rushmore, the McCain team immediately criticized him for playing the “race card.”

Well, all these right-wing folks are doing is playing the gender card. I have enough faith in the American people, other than the fundamentalists, to believe that they will see through the illusions. It seems that many of them, even Republicans, recognize this for the farce that it is.

And I won’t even go further into the Palin fiasco. Yeah sure, someone like her is more qualified than Obama. He was…let’s see…head of the Harvard Law Review, an adjunct at my alma mater’s law school, and involved in State and Federal legislatures for some 12 years. And that’s in addition to his work as a community organizer.

She was…a finalist for Ms. Alaska.

I rest my case. And I didn’t even have to mention her devotion to abstinence-only education, her strict pro-life stance, her apparent willingness to ban books, her alleged association with the secessionist Alaska Independence Party, and Troopergate. The media, including the blogosphere, is doing a wonderful job of doing the vetting that McSame should have done ages ago. So I don’t need to echo what they’re reporting.

But would it kill these folks tonight to at least acknowledge that Obama and Biden are good people? Then again, when you have nothing much to run on, you trash your opponent and hope it sticks. Obama is ahead in the polls. How’s all this trash talk working for you, John and Sarah?

an alaskan’s perspective

Be afraid. Be very afraid.