Once again, the "Ground Zero Mosque" story -- attempts to make political hay out of a building that is neither a mosque nor at Ground Zero -- dominated a good deal of the weekend chatter both online and offline.
On Friday, President Obama, during an outreach to Muslim Americans celebrating Ramadan, made his position clear.
As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. 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.
Then on Saturday, both the President and deputy press secretary Bill Burton made additional statements.
The president sought to clarify his remarks Saturday, saying he was not commenting on "the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there."
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Statement from Bill Burton: "Just to be clear, the President is not backing off in any way from the comments he made last night. It is not his role as President to pass judgment on every local project.
"But it is his responsibility to stand up for the Constitutional principle of religious freedom and equal treatment for all Americans. What he said last night, and reaffirmed today, is that If a church, a synagogue or a Hindu temple can be built on a site, you simply cannot deny that right to those who want to build a Mosque.
"The World Trade Center site is hallowed ground, where 3000 Americans-Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims were the victims of a cold-blooded massacre. We are still at war with the small band of terrorists who planned and executed that attack. But that does not give government the right to deny law-abiding Americans of one faith the same rights you would accord anyone else."
Both online and off, there was a quick reaction to both statements. ABC titled their coverage of the first statement with President Obama Supports Building of Mosque Near Ground Zero.
When the second statement came, there was another reaction. Many treated it with disappointment. Respected bloggers at many sites looked at it as a walkback, a retreat from the position President Obama took on Friday.
I don't agree. The president's statement on Friday was not "President Obama Supports Building of Mosque" no matter how many wanted to read it that way. And the statement on Saturday was not the president throwing away that support. President Obama was absolutely consistent in both of these positions.
His position was never about whether it was a good idea that there be a Muslim community center two blocks away from the former site of the World Trade Centers. It was that those seeking to stop this construction on religious grounds would find no support in the constitution.
Obama's position in defense of the right to build a mosque is as strong and as firmly-stated as anyone could wish. And exactly right. There is no issue here but that the 1st Amendment applies both when you like it and when you don't. Seeking to make it more than that is looking for a fight that not only won't be won, it can't be won.
Whether it's "wise" to build this center is something I don't know. You don't know. President Obama doesn't know. Those thundering against it don't know. Those applying to build it don't know. Because the "wisdom" of building the center is as much of a semantic, vaguely defined swamp as arguments drenched in "emotional damage" or "healing" or "sacred ground."
The president is standing fixed on the firm ground of defending consitutional rights. Those seeking to drag him into the muck of emotional argument in this case, no matter how well intended, are doing neither him nor the center any favors.
Frankly, if you wanted a president who would make these arguments on an emotional basis rather than grounding his arguments in law, you shouldn't have elected the former president of the Harvard Law Review. And if what you're waiting for us President Obama to step in and say "yes, I want this built," I certainly hope you don't get your wish.
Because I do believe in the 1st Amendment protections -- which should ensure that the president is ready to defend the right of anyone to build a church, mosque, synagogue, reading room, RTC, or spaghettitorium at any time and in any place they want. However, that same protection should also mean that the president should never champion such a cause.
The 1st Amendment is about extending the rights of the people by limiting the rights of the government. You can't ask that government stay out of matters of religion by providing an endorsement.
I reserve the right to criticize the president on any issue (hey, I'm a Democrat, and anyone who ever thought we'd start singing from the same song sheet after the election clearly never met this party) but on this issue, President Obama has it exactly right.