American Family Association: No More Mosques, Period
August 11, 2010 10:31 am ET — Walid Zafar
Bryan Fischer, the American Family Association's unofficial spokesman and the group's director of issues analysis, writes some rather incendiary stuff. Like most of the people AFA employs, his main area of expertise (and some might legitimately argue, obsession) is in exposing the so-called "radical homosexual agenda." But Fischer is more than just a less-relevant, grandfatherly version of Tony Perkins. In fact, Fischer's antics put Perkins to shame. For instance, he has advocated stoning killer whales and even blamed bear attacks on an unwillingness to follow in Jesus' footsteps.
Like most far-right Christian zealots, Fischer really hates Muslims. Like a lot. Indeed, as Right Wing Watch notes, "Fischer was hating Muslims long before it was the cool conservative thing to do." In the past, he's suggested that the "most compassionate" thing to do would be to deport all Muslims back to "Muslim countries." He's even managed to fit his two favorite targets into the same conspiracy, theorizing in April that the military is run by "fundamentalist Muslims and homosexual activists." In a post yesterday, Fischer brings us the crazy yet again, this time calling on the government to prohibit mosques from being built anywhere in the United States. Period.
Permits should not be granted to build even one more mosque in the United States of America, let alone the monstrosity planned for Ground Zero. This is for one simple reason: each Islamic mosque is dedicated to the overthrow of the American government
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American Fascists Association: "No More Mosques. Period!"
It's not about the mosque! It's America's war on "the Other."
Five months later, the American political debate -- in a time of crushing 9.5-percent unemployment, record foreclosures and bankruptcies, and climate change linked to catastrophes from Moscow to Pakistan to Iowa -- has been hijacked over the arcane question of whether to allow an Islamic cultural center in lower Manhattan. The controversy is stunning -- but it should not be. The national brouhaha over the $100 million Muslim Park51/Cordoba House proposal is not an anomaly but rather the culmimation of an alarming downturn in America's mood, its discourse, and even our former ambitions as a beacon of religious and political tolerance. In 2010, a large swath of the American public -- led by ratings-mad media mavens and immoral politicians like Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin -- had declared out all-out war on "the Other" in America in all its alleged forms, from immigrants to Muslims to non-white aides working in the West Wing of the White House and of course the president himself.
And it is threatening to rip America apart in a way that we have not seen in 145 years.
Which brings us to the present crisis: Mosques in America. It should tell you something that the backlash against Muslims practicing their faith in America is far greater in 2010 than it was in the months immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. That's because the political firestorm with its epicenter in lower Manhattan really has nothing to do with 9/11 or its aftermath, and everything to do with "the Other" the awful forces and fears that have been unleashed in the last couple of years -- fears that craven politicians like Gingrich, Palin and the formerly rational Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota are eager to surf into the White House in 2013. If the Manhattan mosque controversy were really about our 9/11 sensibilities, how does one explain the opposition to other Islamic houses of worship from Tennessee to California to Staten Island?
America, we are in for the bumpy political ride of a lifetime. It will take enormous courage for defenders of two centuries of religious freedom and tolerance toward both religious and economic refugees to stand firm in the face of the kind of raw public anger and emotion that have caused backbone-impaired politicians like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid or supposed progressive stalwart Howard Dean to wither in mere days. Our determined minority may be barely clinging to our cherished traditions -- as best expressed by President George Washington in 1790 when he wrote "the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection, should demean themselves as good citizens" -- in the face of this onslaught for the next few years.
Let's face it: This country has long had its Know-Nothings and its Birchers and its McCarthyites, but it never had gizmos like Fox News or Sarah Palin's Twitter feed to fuel toxic ideas so far so fast. It's time we admit these seemingly disconnected battles over "anchor babies, mosques, and a black man in the Oval Office are all part of the same war against "the Other," and that we are in the fight of a lifetime.
It's not only about the Mosque or Islam, but about "The Other", aka Anti-White Conservative
Anti-'Mosque' Geller: 'Strip Clubs Didn't Bring Down The Towers'
Christina Bellantoni | August 18, 2010, 4:47PM
Pamela Geller, one of the most prominent opponents of the proposed Islamic center two blocks from the former World Trade Center, said today in an interview the treatment of the South Park creators is a prominent factor in her quest to stop the center from being built.
Geller, author of the book, The Obama Administration's War on America, is the force behind the anti-Muslim group Stop Islamization of America and the Atlas Shrugs blog but insists her opposition to the Islamic center is not racist or bigoted. "It's a common decency issue," she said.
Strip clubs didn't bring down the towers. It's faulty logic," Geller told TPM.
Pamela Geller making dangerous analogies about the Mosque
Glenn Beck Attacks Obama For Being "In Lockstep" With Hamas For Supporting Ground Zero Mosque, Then Exhorts People Of Faith To Stand Together
Reported by Ellen - August 18, 2010
Glenn Beck’s latest demagoguery: suggesting our president is a terrorist – and a Muslim terrorist at that – by saying he’s "in lockstep" with Hamas. Why? Because President Obama and a Hamas leader support the building of the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque." Of course, Beck didn’t accuse Michael Gerson, a senior aide and speechwriter for George W. Bush, of being "in step" with terrorists, nor did he accuse the numerous prominent Christian and Jewish leaders and scholars who have thrown their support to the project (and condemned Beck’s rhetoric). Instead, chickenhawk Beck made sure to pick a target he knew would not hit back. Then, as if in response to his critics, Beck made a splashy (and self-promoting) pretense of endorsing all faiths.
Beck didn’t just accuse Obama of being "in lockstep" with Hamas once. Beck said it at least twice in his opening monologue yesterday (8/17/10). First, at about the 2 minute mark. Beck said, "Nothing says building bridges to me like the leader of Hamas... You have Hamas and the president in lockstep. Ha!"
Glenn Beck Attacks Obama For Being "In Lockstep" With Hamas For Supporting Ground Zero Mosque, Then Exhorts People Of Faith To Stand Together
Mosque Madness –The Murdoch/Pam Geller Nexus
Reported by Priscilla - August 18, 2010
The type of commentary, about the proposed NY City Islamic cultural center, coming from the right wing and their Fox News mouthpiece, seems to be another manifestation of that fine, American tradition of inflaming base bigotry toward those seen as foreign or different. That urge for scapegoating is frequently seen on Fox "News" which has lots of card in its "fear of..." deck. Lately, they’ve been playing the fear of radical Islam card in their coverage of the Manhattan mosque
The Murdoch/Geller Nexus of Evil
Geller falsely suggests Imam Rauf is promoting "radically intolerant" Sharia law in book
August 16, 2010 9:00 pm ET
From the August 16 edition of Fox Business' Money Rocks:
Ted Olson, a former Bush SG and husband of 9/11 victim, backs the Park 51/GZ Mosque plan
"Ex-terrorist" Walid Shoebat is too sketchy for Debbie Schlussel but fine for Fox News
August 18, 2010 3:10 pm ET
As part of Fox News' ongoing attack on Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and the Islamic cultural center in Lower Manhattan, Fox & Friends hosted Walid Shoebat, a self-professed "former terrorist" and born-again Christian, to smear Rauf as a supporter of terrorism. Shoebat has a history of making inflammatory remarks about Islam and President Obama, and some have questioned the veracity of Shoebat's claims about his "former terrorist" past.
Walid Shoebat too crazy for anti-Islamist Debbie Schlussel, but good enough for FNC
Palin attacks Obama's mosque comments, calls mosque "stab in the heart" for Americans, "slap" to 9-11 victims
August 16, 2010 10:28 pm ET
From the August 16 edition of Fox News' On the Record:
Hannity still falsely claiming Imam Rauf wants to "shred" the Constitution, install Sharia law
August 17, 2010 10:22 pm ET
From the August 17 edition of Fox News' Hannity:
Reid: Mosque Should Be Built Someplace Else
First Posted: 08-16-10 03:36 PM | Updated: 08-16-10 04:01 PM
President Barack Obama's endorsement of the "Ground Zero mosque" during a speech on Friday night spurred some hope among supporters that a forceful case could be made for both the project's constitutionality and its larger geopolitical impact.
That hope was short-lived. By Saturday, the president clarified that he was not speaking about the "wisdom" of the Islamic cultural center per se, just the right of the group to build the Cordoba House in downtown Manhattan.
And on Monday the highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate officially came out against construction of the mosque in its current location
"The First Amendment protects freedom of religion," reads a statement from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office (D-Nev.). "Senator Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built someplace else. If the Republicans are being sincere, they would help us pass this long overdue bill to help the first responders whose health and livelihoods have been devastated because of their bravery on 911, rather than continuing to block this much-needed legislation."
Senator Harry Reid (D) says NO to Ground Zero Mosque
Gingrich compares NYC Islamic community center to "Nazis" putting a "sign next to the Holocaust museum"
August 16, 2010 8:36 am ET
From the August 16 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:
Limbaugh suggests new name for NYC Islamic center: The "Hamasque"
August 18, 2010 12:49 pm ET
From the August 18 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:
On Fox, two Canadian Muslims + two Christians = widespread Muslim opposition to NYC mosque
August 11, 2010 9:48 am ET by Julie Millican
As part of its continued Crusade against Park51, a planned NYC Islamic community center, Fox & Friends this morning hosted Muslim Canadian Congress founder Terek Fatah to attack the center, which is the second time in as many days that the show has opened its airwaves to members of this group to assail the so-called "Ground Zero mosque." Why would Fox repeatedly be hosting members of the Muslim Canadian Congress? Probably because they want to give the impression that the community center is so extreme that Muslims around the world are coming out to oppose it. And, since they can't really find many people who aren't white who are outraged by it, they have to keep dipping into the same well. Bolstering my theory is that after hosting Fatah to declare the community center to be a "provocation," co-host Brian Kilmeade, in all sincerity, marveled that Fatah was "at least, off the top of my head, the fourth Muslim to come forward and say, 'Not here, not now.'" The fourth!
On RNC News Channel, Two Canadian Muslims + Two Christians (Ex-Muslims) = Widespread Opposition
Laura Ingraham Was For The Ground Zero Mosque Before She Was Against It
Reported by Ellen - August 16, 2010
Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham, now vehemently against the so-called Ground Zero Mosque wholeheartedly endorsed it before she condemned it. As Think Progress reported, via Salon, last December, Ingraham told a co-founder of the project and the wife of its Imam,"I like what you're trying to do."
Now, of course, Ingraham is singing an entirely different tune. She recently told George Stephanopoulos that building the project means "the terrorists have won."
For the videos, see: Laura Ingraham busted for flip-flopping about the Ground Zero Mosque
Ill. Gov. Quinn says he'd oppose NYC mosque
BY KEVIN McDERMOTT > | Posted: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 4:10 pm
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday said he believes proponents of building a mosque near the site of the 9-11 attacks in New York City should respect a ``zone of solemnity'' and move it further from the site.
The comments were surprising because Quinn is the state's top Democrat and a staunch supporter of President Barack Obama, who has said the mosque has the right to locate near ``ground zero'' as a statement of American principles of freedom of religion.
Several other major Democrats around the country have broken with the party's general support of the mosque, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello of Illinois .
Quinn, DINO Costello opposed Ground Zero Mosque
UPDATE (08.22.2010): Sen. Durbin (D-IL) supports Park 51. [BND]
Durbin supports NYC mosque, cites religious rights
CHICAGO -- Illinois Senator Dick Durbin says he's in favor of a proposed mosque and community center blocks from ground zero.
The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate says those against the proposed mosque are trying to divide America with fear and hate.
Durbin says he's had his differences with former President George W. Bush. But Durbin says Bush showed leadership after 9/11 by making it clear that the war was against terrorists who had perverted the teachings of Islam, not with Muslims.
Olbermann's Special Comment on the Park 51/Cordoba House controversy, attacks the Right Wingers.
-- From the 08.16.2010 edition of Countdown W/ Keith Olbermann, via PoliticsNewsNews's youtube.
Media conservatives "favor religious freedom," but ...
August 05, 2010 8:55 am ET
Several prominent media conservatives have claimed to "favor religious freedom" while qualifying that claim in order to attack the Islamic community center and mosque set to be built two blocks away from Ground Zero, demanding that it be moved elsewhere in New York City.
Media conservatives qualify support for "religious freedom" to attack mosque
Palin: "We're all about religious freedom, but" do it "down the road." Discussing her opposition to the proposed Islamic community center in downtown Manhattan, Fox News contributor Sarah Palin said:
PALIN: I just think this is just one of the worst decisions that ever has been made that will adversely effect New York City. And those innocent victims, those families of those who were killed in the 9-11 tragedy, it saddens me to think that people don't understand what building this mosque at such hallowed ground really represents. The mosque, fine, we are all about religious tolerance, that's what makes America beautiful and free.
We're all about religious freedom, but to provoke even more heartache and more division in our country, especially there in New York City, by choosing that specific location, to kind of mark territory with this mosque. I think that it's a knife in the collective heart of Americans who say, "Yeah, build the mosque, but down the road." Build it somewhere else where it's not such a painful reminder to those who certainly care about our national security, will never forget what happened on 9-11, and are committed to never allowing that to happen again. [Fox News' Hannity, 8/4/10]
Gingrich: "I favor religious freedom," but "there are over 100 mosques in New York City." Elaborating on his statement on the proposed Islamic community center, Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich said:
GINGRICH: Well, I think it's outrageous. Here you have people who have proposed to build a 13-story mosque at the edge of the World Trade Center area at a time, by the way, when the Greek Orthodox church in nine years has not been able to get its church rebuilt. They didn't propose -- they say they're interfaith. They didn't propose, Let's build a mosque, church and synagogue. They said, Let's build a 13-story mosque and a community center, which they initially called the Cordoba House, which is named for a city in Spain where a conquering Muslim army replaced a church with a mosque. I mean, it was a very direct reminder historically that this is all about conquest. This is about who wins.
And I -- I -- I frankly find it very offensive, first of all, that they we're so stupid that they can use that kind of a title and we didn't notice it. Second, that -- you know, there are over 100 mosques in New York City. I favor religious freedom. I'm quite happy if they'd come and said, We want to build a community center near Central Park, we'd like to build a community center near Columbia University. But they didn't. They said right at the edge of a place where, let's be clear, thousands of Americans were killed in an attack by radical Islamists. [Fox News' On the Record, 7/26/10]
Hypocritical Conservatives at it again
Conservative media invent controversy over Rauf's 9-11 comments
August 13, 2010 5:09 pm ET
The conservative media have repeatedly attacked Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf for his remark that "the United States' policies were an accessory" to the 9-11 attacks. However, Rauf's comments are not outside the mainstream; indeed, the former chairman and vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission have stated that U.S. "actions have contributed" to "a rising tide of radicalization and rage in the Muslim world."
But Rauf's comments are mainstream, as shown by op-ed by 9/11 Commission chair and vice chair
Former chairman and vice chairman of 9/11 Commission: "We face a rising tide of radicalization and rage in the Muslim world -- a trend to which our own actions have contributed." In a September 9, 2007, Washington Post op-ed headlined "Are we safer today?" Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton, former chairman and vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission respectively, wrote: "We face a rising tide of radicalization and rage in the Muslim world -- a trend to which our own actions have contributed. The enduring threat is not Osama bin Laden but young Muslims with no jobs and no hope, who are angry with their own governments and increasingly see the United States as an enemy of Islam."
Conservative media invent controversy over Rauf's 9-11 comments
FACT CHECK: Islam already part of WTC neighborhood
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A New York imam and his proposed mosque near ground zero are being demonized by political candidates - mostly Republicans - despite the fact that Islam is already very much a part of the World Trade Center neighborhood. And that Muslims pray inside the Pentagon, too, less than 80 feet from where terrorists attacked.
And that the imam who's being branded an extremist has been valued by both Republican and Democratic administrations as a moderate face of the faith.
He's devoted much of his career to working closely with Christians, Jews and secular leaders to advance interfaith understanding. He's scolded his own religion for being in some ways in the "Dark Ages." Yet he's also accused the U.S. of spilling more innocent blood than al-Qaida, the terrorist network that turned the World Trade Center, part of the Pentagon and four hijacked airplanes to apocalyptic rubble.
No one has established a link between the cleric and radicals. New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said: "We've identified no law enforcement issues related to the proposed mosque."
He has denounced the terrorist attacks and suicide bombing as anti-Islamic and has criticized Muslim nationalism. But he's made provocative statements about America, too, calling it an "accessory" to the 9/11 attacks and attributing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children to the U.S.-led sanctions in the years before the invasion.
No mosque is going up at ground zero. The center would be established at 45-51 Park Place, just over two blocks from the northern edge of the sprawling, 16-acre World Trade Center site. Its location is roughly half a dozen normal Lower Manhattan blocks from the site of the North Tower, the nearest of the two destroyed in the attacks.
The center's location, in a former Burlington Coat Factory store, is already used by the cleric for worship, drawing a spillover from the imam's former main place for prayers, the al-Farah mosque. That mosque, at 245 West Broadway, is about a dozen blocks north of the World Trade Center grounds.
The REAL facts about Islam in the WTC Neighborhood
Pamela Geller chewed out by Alyona's fill-in, Lauren Lyster.
--from the 08.03.2010 edition of RT's The Alyona Show
Beck, Geller push falsehood that Ground Zero "mosque" will open on September 11
August 10, 2010 9:47 am ET — 38 Comments
Glenn Beck and Pamela Geller advanced the false claim that the New York City Islamic cultural center will open on September 11, 2011. In fact, both the executive director of one of the groups spearheading the project, as well as the Imam involved, have flatly denied that the center is slated to open on September 11.
Beck, Geller, push falsehood that "Ground Zero mosque" will open on 9/11
Beck: "You want to open [the center] on September 11th? You're a fool."* On the August 10 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, guest Glenn Beck acknowledged that "we have no right to stop" the building of the center, but said it is "in extraordinarily bad taste, I think it's foolish, I think it's a slap in the face to do it," and added, "You want to open it on September 11? You're a fool. You're insulting people, but we have no right to stop you."*
Geller promoting ads which suggest the center will open on September 11, 2001. Atlas Shrugs blogger Pamela Geller promoted ads showing an image of the World Trade Center with the words "September 11, 2011, WTC Jihad Attack" and an image of the planned cultural center,--with a photoshopped image of the crescent of Islam superimposed over it--with the words "September 11, 2011." From Atlas Shrugs:
Beck, Geller falsely claim it will open on September 11th, 2011
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Well, let them build the mosque, whether the Righties like it or not!
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