Seriously the amount of attention being paid to this issue is mind boggling. I turn on the Tee Vee this morning and see two members of Congress debating this non-starter of an issue. I get home from work and see a Republican official and a Democratic official debating this non-starter of an issue.
Last night, I thought I crafted what was a pretty well-put together article about how the "Ground zero" mosque was not actually at ground zero. Oh and I also discussed the revelation that strip clubs, a sex shop called Thunder Lingerie and off track betting sites were nearly an equal distance from ground zero as the Cordoba House.
Boy did I get an earful from a couple of my facebook and twitter friends. It went something like this:
"You are being insensitive"
"More than 60% of the country doesn't approve of this"
"This isn't the Mr. Rogers "won't you be my neighbor" thing to do"
Let's bring it home. This is like putting a KKK Statute on the back of Rosa Park's bus"
Okay, so I embellish a bit for the sake of hopefully striking a funny bone or two. It's Monday and we need a laugh.
But seriously, how far is far enough? Two blocks, three blocks, a half a mile. How far do we have to go as to where someone in the New York area would not be offended?
Would it make a difference to the naysayers if they find out a Mosque is only four blocks away? Well there is.
Would it make a difference if Muslims were also killed during the 9/11 attacks? Well there were A lot of them.
Would it matter if the local community folks support the building of the mosque?
Well they do . A community board supported building the Mosque by a vote of 29-1 back in May which was nearly three months ago.
"It's a seed of peace," board member Rob Townley said. "We believe that this is significant step in the Muslim community to counteract the hate and fanaticism in the minority of the community."
This isn't about being sensitive or a good neighbor. This is about the GOP extremists and their uncanny ability to commandeer the media cycle. This is about trying to drive a wedge into the homes of Americans across the country. We have to be smarter. We rejected the GOP agenda in 2006 and 2008. Are we really going to allow it to be pushed through in 2010 because a Mosque is built two blocks from "Ground Zero"?