in the wrong era. Soundly refuting
liberals online since 2000. NOTE: That is NOT
me pictured at left. :)
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Audacity of Truth
"Diplomacy":
"People are saying what in the world is going on with North Carolina, we look like Mississippi." - NC Gov. Bev Perdue (D) on the passage of Amendment One, 5-11-12
Mr. President, whose side are you on?
Last night, President Obama spoke at an Iftar dinner at the White House. (Iftar is the traditional Muslim dinner held at the end beginning of during Ramadan.) In his remarks, he waded deep into controversy over the building of a large mosque at Ground Zero in New York City. In his remarks, he made clear his support for the mosque, appealing to America’s traditions of religious tolerance:
Now, that’s not to say that religion is without controversy. Recently, attention has been focused on the construction of mosques in certain communities -– particularly New York. Now, we must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of Lower Manhattan. The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country. And the pain and the experience of suffering by those who lost loved ones is just unimaginable. So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. And Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.
But let me be clear. As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. (Applause.) 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 unshakeable. 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.
We must never forget those who we lost so tragically on 9/11, and we must always honor those who led the response to that attack -– from the firefighters who charged up smoke-filled staircases, to our troops who are serving in Afghanistan today. And let us also remember who we’re fighting against, and what we’re fighting for. Our enemies respect no religious freedom. Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam -– it’s a gross distortion of Islam. These are not religious leaders -– they’re terrorists who murder innocent men and women and children. In fact, al Qaeda has killed more Muslims than people of any other religion -– and that list of victims includes innocent Muslims who were killed on 9/11.
Nice platitudes, which however include the condescending and patronizing section highlighted above. Mr. President, this is not about religious freedom: Muslims have the right to practice their faith in over 30 mosques in New York City, alone, and can build more. And it is not about private property rights (which is funny coming from you, given your treatment of property rights in the GM and Chrysler bailouts), for no serious critic says property owners do not have the right to do what they wish with their property within zoning laws.
It is, however, about the location chosen and the inappropriateness of exercising those rights at that place. Ground Zero is where a Muslim jihadist organization launched a razzia (“raid”) against the kuffar (“infidels”) for the sake of Allah (“jihad fi sabil Allah“) and in accordance with the Qur’an, chapter nine, verse five:
Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
And, at the same link, verse 111:
Lo! Allah hath bought from the believers their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain. It is a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur’an. Who fulfilleth His covenant better than Allah? Rejoice then in your bargain that ye have made, for that is the supreme triumph.
That act of war, done in the name of Islam and in accordance with Islamic law, killed 3,000 of our people and foreign guests. And you think it’s a good thing to build a mosque there? Muslim spokesmen and their liberal and libertarian apologists demand we be tolerant and sensitive. Tell me, sir, why shouldn’t they (and you) be tolerant and sensitive toward the nearly 70% of Americans who oppose building that mosque on that spot?
Contrary to popular Leftist mythology, Americans are very tolerant, generous people. We also have a well-developed sense of decency. And we are not bigots when we say that building a mosque at Ground Zero, one that will be headed by an Islamic supremacist imam and which every Muslim knows is a deliberate provocation, is indecent and an insult to the memory of those who died there.
And what does it say about you, sir, that you side with allies of the Muslim Brotherhood against the wishes of the people who elected you? I’ll let Jennifer Rubin have the last word:
Obama has shown his true sentiments now, after weeks of concealing them, on an issue of deep significance not only to the families and loved ones of 3,000 slaughtered Americans but also to the vast majority of his fellow citizens. He has once again revealed himself to be divorced from the values and concerns of his countrymen. He is entirely – and to many Americans, horridly — a creature of the left, with little ability to make moral distinctions. His sympathies for the Muslim World take precedence over those, such as they are, for his fellow citizens. This is nothing short of an abomination.
Indeed.
LINKS: Lots have been written about this in the last 24 hours. Bad Rachel calls it an act of appeasement. Power Line scoffs at the vapid multiculturalism of the President’s remarks. Debra Burlingame, sister of one of the pilots of the hijacked planes on 9-11, is stunned by the President’s statement. Andrew Bostom quotes Muslim apostate Ibn Warraq on Obama’s Ramadan obeisance to totalitarian Islam. Baseball Crank (always worth reading) says Obama has chosen sides. Blue Crab Boulevard says it’s not a question of rights, but one of wrongs.
ADDENDUM I: Inevitably, this is going to raise the “Obama’s a seekrit Mooslim” issue again. I don’t believe it for a minute and give it the same credence I give Laredo Trutherism. He is, however, an extremely cynical, yet intellectually shallow progressive politician of the Chicago type, who sees people not as individual citizens, but as groups to be pandered to in return for votes and donations. This is also further proof that he is a Leftist academic elitist who looks down on the rest of his countrymen, those “bitter clingers.”
ADDENDUM II: As a matter of pure politics, I have to ask: Is he insane? The leader of the Democratic Party, Obama has now nationalized the Ground Zero mosque issue and by his remarks guaranteed that Democratic candidates across the nation are going to be asked from now until Election Day whether they agree with the President’s endorsement of the mosque, which is strongly opposed by two-thirds of the nation. I wonder how many buried their head in their hands when they heard the news?
FINALLY: I’ve always tried to differentiate between Islam and Muslims, because not all Muslims agree with or want to practice the aggressive, illiberal, supremacist, and intolerant aspects of Islamic doctrine. And so I have to sympathize with those Muslims who must feel their legs have been kicked out from under them by the President’s divisive statement in support of what is, in effect, the effort to build a jihadist victory monument.
(Crossposted at Public Secrets)
EDIT: Fixed because I had mixed up the iftar meal with the Eid meal held at the end of Ramadan. Thanks to Helen in the comments.
UPDATE: The President tries to walk-back his comments from last night. Good luck with that, bub.
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Just to be pedantic, this is not the end of Ramadan but the beginning. This dinner was the first one of the month when you can break the fast at sunset. There will be an Eid at the end, some time in September.
I said it right after November 4, 2008: Barack Obama is America’s version of Robert Mugabe.
I believe more and more every day, with every comment that 0bama makes, that he is intentionally trying not only to divide our people but to ignite race and/or religious riots. This latest episode simply reinforces the validity of my ideas.
Thanks, Helen. I actually knew that, but messed it up trying to get the post out.
Correction forthcoming….
I wish I had a dollar for every time he said “Let me be clear”. He has taken his arrogance to a higher level. He is a pig, a punk, a bully and a narcissistic sociopath. He is thumbing his nose at the American people. His media visibility is a daily occurrence, letting people know ‘he is watching’. He believes himself to be omniscient. What are people not understanding about his agenda and the fact that his decisions are based on what he was not only taught as a child, but by his beloved Reverend. He hates the American people, specifically his own white heritage.
Let me be clear, I loathe this pig.
Once again Obama reveals his heart and mind. Will the MSM ignore this too?
In the end, he once again voted, “Present.”
Yeah, even a Friday Evening speech gets noticed. So now he wants to claim he did not mean THAT mosque, or community center, or whatever the heck it is being called now. Just one of the miscellaneous dozens of multi-story mosques being proposed for Lower Manhattan.
“Let me be clear” – so now he is channeling Nixon?
When will enough be enough? When do the good people of America rise up and speak with one voice…..”we’ve had enough”.
Step aside Mr. Obama, and let the adults take over.
once again our president opposes the wishes of the majority of the american people. i guess in the leftist view democracy means the minority rules.
Barack Obama once exclaimed, “Thank God there is only one Barack Obama!”
And Michelle agreed…..
Very nice post.
At best this is yet another example of how Obama is so out of touch with the American people, not to mention politically tone-deaf (your Addendum II). At worst is shows that he really is a post-American president. Sadly, I’m inclined toward the latter view.
Yes, the “secret Muslim” stuff is nonsense but all this does is fuel the fire.
Why must we disregard the possibility that Obama may, at least, have Muslim sympathies?
Look at where he spent a significant portion of his childhood (Indonesia) where he spent at least one year attending a Muslim school and no doubt was exposed to the Muslim religion.
Whether this is true I cannot say. But he is surely acting as he has been trained; to despise the United States, Americans and our traditions and way of life.
For it before he was against it.
Well, he does have the courage of his convictions. Which is to say, none and none.
“Peace be upon you.” In Islam peace is what losers (non-Muslims) get while the winners (Muslims) get victory. This is really Islam’s meaning of “Peace”. It is what comes after successful jihad.
They have a right? I’ll let Will Rogers speak for me.
“Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.”
We could also start using an old song written for unionizing:
Which side are you on, boys,
Which side are you on?
Being black, I have tried to dismiss the bloopers, blunders and practical jokes of Mr. Obama. But, this is it for me. The dude is a total jerk who has no real sense of the democratic process. This probably ruins the perception of a black president for another 200 years.
If he is a Christian, where is the church he has adopted to attend? I may agree that he is not a Muslim. He is as Zippy says a narcissistic sociopath with grand self-illusions. He worships himself.
cicero – I don’t speak for all conservatives, but I’d be willing to bet I speak for most. The color of Obama’s skin has nothing to do with why his politics and ideology are bad for this country. Look no further than Lt. Col Allen West as one example – and I’m sure there are many more – of a black man I wouldn’t have any hesitation of voting for. But not because he’s black. It’s because his sense of what being an American leader, one which puts America first and unites us all under the founding precepts of our Constitution and limits the perversion of government power over the individual, is what we need most now. Everything about Obama was snake-bitten from the beginning, and unfortunately many fell for his sugar-coated presentation, the media praise and, yes, the superficial desire of putting our first black president in office (without vetting who he really was).
Having finally put a black man in the White House is an historical achievement, no doubt. It’ll be another historical achievement when we put a female in the White House, or a Hispanic president, etc. Let’s just make sure we don’t put them there only to affect “an historical achievement”. Because, as we can see, it has adverse consequences.
This probably ruins the perception of a black president for another 200 years.
Dunno. Jimmy Carter didn’t kill the idea of a white President for me. The fact is, Americans are not the racists Democrats insist we have to be. My only comment on Obama is this: for the supposedly smartest President ever, he sure is a blithering idiot.
If this be racism, then by all means play that worn out card. Its magic is gone, it no longer has the power to force decent people to shrink into a self denouncing grovel.
I agree with you Sefton. Well stated!
Actually, cicero, my first choice for president would be Thomas Sowell. He is incredibly accurate in almost everything he has written in the past 30 years, knows where his loyalties are and the priorities of those loyalties, and has an immense store of knowledge that he draws from all the time.
It has nothing to do with the color of Obama’s skin; it has everything to do with the content of his heart. But the important thing to remember is, it is his heart, not the heart of the black people in this great nation.