Tuesday, August 17, 2010

What's Located Close to Ground Zero?

Here is what's located at the same distance from Ground Zero as the Cordoba House. A "gentlemen's club", OTB, McDonald's, bars, stores, coffee-shops. And this is what Sarah Palin refers to as "hallowed ground'? Seriously?

The amount of hypocrisy surrounding this topic is very telling. There is so much starry-eyed, flag-waving, chest-thumping quasi-patriotism around. Of course, it's easy to wave flags and screech about your love for America. It's a bit more difficult to familiarize yourself with the American Constitution and live according to its tenets. For those who have forgotten, this is the text of the First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Freedom of religion lies at the foundation of this country's existence. Somehow, it's become acceptable in the recent years to insist that one is ultra-patriotic while stating that the US is "a Christian country." The founding fathers are surely turning in their graves every time such statements are made.

I'm glad that we finally have a president who is familiar with the constitution and who reminded people that his duty is to defend everybody's right to practice their religion freely:


We can be proud of the President's stand on this issue. Especially, when we remember how the previous administration spit on the constitution every time it got in the way.

3 comments:

David Gendron said...

I agree. It's the best thing that Baraque "Uncle Tom" OSama did, but Mediocrats will pay the price in November...

SereneBabe said...

I'm also glad he said something. At first it seemed bold and I really respected it. Then he back-tracked and said "I was only saying they have a right to do be there, not that it should be."

A couple things (many, really), but, I think an actual mosque on the actual site would be a beautiful move, frankly. The notion that Americans understand (hahahaha) that it's not Islam as a whole that were terrorists. That the USA was founded for freedom and that we recognize the value of that freedom above any "grudges." (I realize "grudge" sounds trite, but I don't have a lot of time right now to find the right term.)

Richard said...

It is troubling when any minority in the U.S. is singled out for ‘different’ treatment because it is so easy to extend the treatment to other minorities. Segregation and the multitude of local laws that dreadful concept produced was enforced in the North as well as the South. It proved an appallingly a simple matter to exclude African-Americans from many aspects of U.S. society. So why not ban Jews as well? In my lifetime many hotels and country clubs routinely banned Jews from their premises. How about Catholics do we really want their kind in here? Denying the Constitutional rights of anyone in this country threatens the rights of everybody.