Hallowed Ground - Part 1
Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 2:23PM 
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)Earlier this week I began a weeklong series of posts on First Amendment issues entitled "Don't Be Stupid." Part 1 and Part 2 of that series looked at the misuse of the First Amendment by Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Sarah Palin. Before I post the final installment, I want to switch to another current abuse of the First Amendment, namely the controversy around Park 51, the proposed Islamic Cultural Center in lower Manhattan, that has raised the hackles of many a political opportunist in recent weeks.
If you've read my earlier commentary you know that I feel strongly that Park 51 ought to be built precisely where it has been planned. Freedom of Religion cannot be subject to the dictates of personal or national emotion. If you can have a Burger King, a strip club and a betting parlor within the same radius, then all this talk of "hallowed ground" begins to ring resoundingly false to me, despite the best intentions of those who might actually genuinely care.
With all the inflamatory rhetoric around the issue, it's become very apparent that there is more than just "genuine concern" at play here - there is a powerful undercurrent of straight up bigotry roiling beneath all the righteous indignation. I'm well aware that everyone who doesn't believe that the project should be built is not necessarily a bigot - there is a significant difference of opinion within my own family about this one. But what can't be ignored is the blatant usage of this issue by political opportunists to stoke religious intolerance and Islamophobia, in the hopes of making electoral hay in the Fall.
There are a few particular distasteful examples in this arena. Senate majority leader Harry Reid is one of the worst, in my opinion, because in speaking out against the building of the project he has revealed that the cynical politics of the GOP which he has so often railed against, may be just as firmly ensconced in the Democratic Party. I would have hoped for more political courage from him, but I'm beginning to see why Nevada voters are seriously considering a legitimate crackpot for his replacement (though I hope to high Heaven she doesn't win).
Newt Gingrich is another example of the worst of what's bubbling up from the underbelly of America these days. Gingrich has made a series of inflammatory statements on the issue along with the usual lineup of craven would-be presidential candidates. I could go on & on about what's wrong with the arguments being raised by these people, but instead I'd direct you to peep Frank Rich's excellent NY Times Op-Ed this week which he must have copied directly from a folder in my brain titled "that's-what-I-was-thinking-but-you-said-it-so-much-better."
I'll leave you with a clip from Saturday's broadcast that outlines some of the hypocrisy at play in all this sudden outrage at the purchase of the former Burlington Coat Factory building. For how long has the "holier-than-Islam" crowd been striving to shut down the rest of the crap near Ground Zero? Or is this strictly a "no-Muslims-need-apply" sort of thing? You decide...
"Hallowed Ground" - Part 1.
Reader Comments (2)
The ignorance in the American society will be much revealed in 10years time.With the likes of Palin,China will soon be leading our world for which their currently at it.America should educate its citizens and stop Politics!!!A nation at risk!
I am so happy that the ugly (inside and out) crazy old gym teacher reaped what she had sowed. She could have gotten her argument across by saying “N word” and not using the word and by not saying "don't NAACP me" but like Michael Richards AKA “Cosmo Kramer”,she ends up the the trash heap of history, a history of her own making. I am so happy that the free market AKA sponsors started to pull their ads (I guess they were exercising their free speach) and she finally realized that she was just another “run of the mill gabby” and her days were numbered. She realized that she was not as smart as she thought she was, finally!
Palin was the one who got bent over the use of the word "Retard", Palin also said that the people have the right to build the Mosque in NY, but out of respect for the 9/11 families they shouldn't, but I guess this same standard is not applicable to Laura Schlessinger. Do you see the hypocrisy? The problem with Palin is the same when she mistakenly referred to Ronald Reagan Eureka College, being in California and we all know its in Illinois, same thing, she does not fact check anything she is going to say. She is soooo Palin!