NC-2: Etheridge down 46/41 (SUSA)

[Torie]

TBH I wasn't all that enraged by the video camera scandal.  Those two insufferable little creeps were probably following him around all day with their camera.  People, even congressmen, are entitled to some modicum of privacy without having people follow them around with video cameras.  I would get pretty pissed off too (although my preferred solution would be to take out my own video camera, and start filming them).

Those two little creeps should  have sued Etheridge for assault and battery.  His scalp being hung over the mantle piece will become a very precious family heirloom.

[Torie]

Renee Ellmers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOiPylM_KDA

If she wins, it would be the upset of the cycle...

Ellmers did just fine fencing with Anderson Cooper. In fact, I would give her the match on points. She is no pushover. She is entitled to her opinion that the Mosque should not be built, and entitled to point out that Etheridge did not take a stand on it, until she ran her commercial.  And yes, I think the Mosque should be built, but that is just my opinion. There are arguments to be made on both sides.

[Torie]

Replying to the post above directed to me from TDFB, there is no question that the promoters have the right to build the mosque. The issue is whether the promoters can be subject to criticism for exercising that right. The Iman who is the front man is kind of a shadowy figure (at least weird and camelion like), and the source of his money (if the money is really there), is even more murky, and the motives for pushing all of this arguably less than praiseworthy.

Personally I don't mind the mosque going up, even if the sponsors are closets Jihadists and militants, because that indeed would be a testimony of the confidence of Americans that toxic ideas are just not going to get traction in this country, and as a reflection of our self confidence, our tolerance for stuff we consider execrable, because in our diverse country, we have all sorts of folks some of us consider execrable, and life goes on. That is who we are, and we take pride in that - or should.

Does that make sense?

Oh yes, I think there is a real possibility that the whole Mosque thing is a set up, and there was never any intention to build it, or at least a realistic belief that the money would be raised, and the whole point of the exercise was in fact to "expose" Americans as a bunch of paranoid, hypocritical bigots to the Arab street, and the Islamic world at large. As I say, I just don't trust the motives of these particular promoters. So, calling their bluff would just be a delightful bonus to it all.