August 14, 2010

HARD TO SEE W WAITING A MONTH TO CALL OUT THE RIGHT...:

Obama stands up for Ground Zero mosque (ABBY PHILLIP & MAGGIE HABERMAN, 8/13/10, Politico)

President Barack Obama on Friday endorsed a controversial plan to build a mosque and Islamic center just blocks from Ground Zero in Manhattan, despite the strong objections of conservatives, the ADL and those who lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks.“Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground,” Obama said at a White House dinner celebrating the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. “But let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.”Having steered clear of the controversy for weeks, Obama took on opposition to the mosque directly — a move that many other Democratic lawmakers had been hesitant to do in the face of highly emotional appeals against its construction.

Bush aide backs Obama on mosque (Ben Smith, 8/13/10, Politico)
President Obama's defense of Muslims' right to build a mosque near Ground Zero was a sharp rebuke to most of the contemporary Republican Party, but it was very much in line with the tone of his predecessor, George W. Bush, who had waged his own internal party wars over his insistence that Islam is a "religion of peace."[...]

"An enormously complex and emotional issue -- but ultimately the right thing to do," [former senior Bush aide, chief speechwriter Michael] Gerson said. "A president is president for every citizen, including every Muslim citizen. Obama is correct that the way to marginalize radicalism is to respect the best traditions of Islam and protect the religious liberty of Muslim Americans. It is radicals who imagine an American war on Islam. But our conflict is with the radicals alone."


...and to base the case only on rights is little different than opposing it.


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Posted by Orrin Judd at August 14, 2010 7:19 AM
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