Rauf, of course, is the iman behind the Park 51 Community Center project.
And I'm certain that all Furriners readers have a competent grasp of google so this will not replace your own research should you be interested in learning about this gentleman's background. However I did want to single out a couple recent "takes" of Fareed Zakaria.
Take #1 (from 8/8)
Take #2 (from 8/22)
Also, here is a quote from John Podesta on Charlie Rose last week (~8/19):
The Iman who leads that effort was somebody that has been embraced by Republicans and Democrats. (He is someone) who Condi Rice and Karen Hughes sent on the road on behalf of the State Department as a goodwill ambassador explaining the best traditions of America. This is exactly the kind of voice that we want to hear. A voice that repudiates Al Qaeda - that is against terrorism.
Showing posts with label Park 51 Mosque. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Park 51 Mosque. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Barack Obama & The Park 51 Community Center
Allow me to rant a bit:
Mitch McConnell (human/turtle hybrid?) was on Meet The Press this weekend and he said this in response to a question about the controversial community center/mosque:
Obviously, this is not about freedom of religion. Typically, these kinds of decisions have been made by local officials. What's been different about this one is that you have the President of the United States weighing in on this issue - actually on each side of the issue within 24 hours which has helped stimulate a great national debate - not about freedom of religion but about the appropriateness of the location.
Okay, so that is not THAT unreasonable (for a modern day Republican/conservative anyway). However, a couple things I will note for the record. As this article indicates, President Obama's comments were made at a Ramadan Iftar dinner on 8/13, so if that is not an appropriate venue to comment on an issue concerning Muslim-Americans, I don't know what could be. Moreover, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich had long since taken this out of being a strictly local issue. Here is a column commenting on Palin's opposition from 7/19 and here is a column that Gingrich published on 7/28. Now, I will grant you that they are nothing but citizens with an opinion, but you must grant me that these are not ordinary citizens.
Also, I was watching an episode of Charlie Rose last week as Mr. Rose was having a conversation with John Podesta (a former Chief of Staff for Bill Clinton) and Kenneth Duberstein (a former Chief of Staff for Ronald Reagan) regarding the first year and a half of the Obama presidency. Mr. Duberstein (more on him later) - though still very much the conservative - said this:
I think what (Obama) said Friday night on religous freedom and what America stands for was absolutely appropriate... the presidency should be on the high plain of talking about principles of America... he was absolutely right to talk about that but he should have said that the placement of a mosque is a local issue by New York City and New York state.
Okay, I don't necessarily agree with the need to comment on the jurisdiction of the zoning issues... but whatever... my point is that even rational conservatives recognize that the appropriateness of the POTUS addressing this issue.
Mitch McConnell (human/turtle hybrid?) was on Meet The Press this weekend and he said this in response to a question about the controversial community center/mosque:
Obviously, this is not about freedom of religion. Typically, these kinds of decisions have been made by local officials. What's been different about this one is that you have the President of the United States weighing in on this issue - actually on each side of the issue within 24 hours which has helped stimulate a great national debate - not about freedom of religion but about the appropriateness of the location.
Okay, so that is not THAT unreasonable (for a modern day Republican/conservative anyway). However, a couple things I will note for the record. As this article indicates, President Obama's comments were made at a Ramadan Iftar dinner on 8/13, so if that is not an appropriate venue to comment on an issue concerning Muslim-Americans, I don't know what could be. Moreover, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich had long since taken this out of being a strictly local issue. Here is a column commenting on Palin's opposition from 7/19 and here is a column that Gingrich published on 7/28. Now, I will grant you that they are nothing but citizens with an opinion, but you must grant me that these are not ordinary citizens.
Also, I was watching an episode of Charlie Rose last week as Mr. Rose was having a conversation with John Podesta (a former Chief of Staff for Bill Clinton) and Kenneth Duberstein (a former Chief of Staff for Ronald Reagan) regarding the first year and a half of the Obama presidency. Mr. Duberstein (more on him later) - though still very much the conservative - said this:
I think what (Obama) said Friday night on religous freedom and what America stands for was absolutely appropriate... the presidency should be on the high plain of talking about principles of America... he was absolutely right to talk about that but he should have said that the placement of a mosque is a local issue by New York City and New York state.
Okay, I don't necessarily agree with the need to comment on the jurisdiction of the zoning issues... but whatever... my point is that even rational conservatives recognize that the appropriateness of the POTUS addressing this issue.
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