Aside from their general ineptitude, President Barack Obama, New York City Michael Bloomberg, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, three of the most influential politicians in the country, have something else in common: they are completely and utterly wrong on the Ground Zero Mosque debate.
President Obama and Mayor Bloomberg have been dominating the headlines with their support of the Park51 development, blocks from the most devastating attack on American civilians in the history of our nation. Today, our favorite Speaker of the House joined the fracas with her astonishing comments about what should happen to the opponents of the Ground Zero mosque.
It was only a matter of time before we heard from the President on the issue. At the Ramadan dinner Friday night, Obama endorsed the Ground Zero mosque, saying, “Muslims have the right to practice their religion, as everyone else in this country.” But the next day, Obama backtracked, arguing that he “was not commenting and will not comment on the wisdom…to put a mosque there…I was commenting on the right that people have that dates back to our founding.” But the president is missing that the consternation being generated over the situation has absolutely nothing to do with the founding, nor will it ever.
Conservatives and others who oppose building the mosque so close to Ground Zero realize that this is not a first amendment issue; it is a matter of common sense. It is a matter of paying respect to the 3,000 innocent Americans who were murdered in the name of Islam. Obama flip-flopped, then ultimately chose a side that alienates 63% of Americans who have been polled in opposition. Apparently our Commander-in-Chief has more interest in playing politics than in showing reverence to those Americans who lost their lives on that clear, September morning.
Mayor Bloomberg is even more oblivious, especially given that he’s the man in charge of the city hit hardest on 9/11. On August 6th, shortly after the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted against granting landmark status to the building that will be used for the mosque, Bloomberg remarked that, “A handful of people ought to be ashamed of themselves” and that “to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists.” Wait – what? Capitulating to the wishes of the 63% of Americans who have expressed opposition would be handing victory to terrorists? Actually, what he fails to realize is the fact that allowing this mosque to be built would simply do that. Bloomberg should do a Google search on Hagia Sophia in Turkey, the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the Cordoba mosque in Spain before he makes a comment like that one.
Rounding out the Triumvirate of Ineptitude, Speaker Pelosi dropped these pearls of wisdom yesterday on San Francisco’s KCBS radio:
"There is no question there is a concerted effort to make this a political issue by some. And I join those who have called for looking into how this opposition to the mosque is being funded."
So Bloomberg feels that it is “un-American” to look into how the mosque developers are getting their funds, but Pelosi says we need to investigate the 63% of Americans, like you and me, who are in opposition to building this mosque so close to Ground Zero? I must be missing something.
The Left is blaming the Right for making a campaign issue out of the Ground Zero mosque, but you know what? It is a symbol for a wrecked Democratic agenda that has been sending this country down the path we have been on for the past four years. The comments from the Triumvirate are indicative of how the Democrats handled healthcare and cap & trade: force it down the public’s throat without answering questions at town hall meetings, calls, and visits to congressional offices, all the while denigrating the countless countrywide tea party rallies. But we can stand up to this small liberal elitist group that thinks they control our lives. We just have to remain loud, vocal, and mark our calendars for November 2, 2010.
