more of a rant than an article. this guy is more rambling and verbose than I am. and there's absolutely no new information here. I and others have been making the point since this dust-up began.
on the bright side, he's absolutely right: professional fearmongerers and exaggerators have whipped New Yorkers and other Americans into a frenzy, and the newsmedia professionals are either too lazy or too stupid to call them on it.
But doesn't anyone find it remarkable that we are so easily misled? No mention of this in Booker's article. I, for one, found it positively astonishing at first. The first thread about a mosque appeared here about a month ago, and I remember posting about how sweet and fitting it was, and all that, not imagining that within a month New Yorkers would be molded into a frenzied, hateful mob over what turns out to not even to be a mosque, but a cultural center intended to foster inter-faith dialogue.
Here's an excerpt from Obama's speech of August 14:
"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And 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. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure."
Good for him. I may not agree with Obama about the role of government, but he's dead right about this. If we let the bullies and bigots win, then we're as weak and soulless a people as our enemies claim we are.
Exactly. I think any elected official deserves respect if they're willing to do what's right and not just what's popular.
