Your dislike of anything conservative is how people like Beck and Limbaugh become your distraction. Actually i’m sure of it seeing your past opinions and articles. As much as you dislike them i’m sure you have an intolerance of any conservative opinion. Yet, somehow, we’re supposed to care about free speech and expression?. One day, and at your age you should already realize this, all the bobbleheads on television are distractions.
I judge this in one way: what is one’s opinion of what is actually being built at Ground Zero? This is the site where thousands of Americans lost their lives, not unlike the Gettysburg battlefield or the beaches of Normandy. If this is about sacred ground, if this is about respecting the memories of those who died, then why aren’t they protesting the fact that this space, which should rightfully become a public commons in memorial, is being mostly devoted to a commercial office building? They say that it’s a symbol that the US doesn’t back down, that we move forward, etc. Hardly. If people are so outraged about this community center occupying an old Burlington Coat Factory but don’t have a problem with a commerical, for-profit entity being built where people actually fell, then their priorities are hopelessly damaged. It’s a symbol that in New York City the only crime worse than slaughtering thousands of its citizens is letting real estate go to waste.
Is anyone really missing the inconsistency and complete lack of logic at work here?. Both the Muslims responsible for the Ground Zero mosque and the (assumingly Caucasian) students wearing the American flags were acting within their rights -- in both instances, the key issue isn’t whether their actions are constitutional or legal, but whether they are insensitive. Roger’s argument in this posting is that the Muslims are perfectly within their rights and thus should be allowed to build their mosque. The hypocrisy couldn’t be clearer between Roger’s opinions on the Ground Zero debacle and his opinions on the Cinco De Mayo debacle. Yet, when people made the same argument about the “Cinco De Mayo” students acting within their rights, Roger still criticized them on the basis of their insensitivity and advocated them being sent from class.
Pretending that the imam somehow didn’t realize how close it was to the site when it was he who stated that America was mostly responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Roger, you stereotype anyone who is not on the left side to be an ignorant Glenn Beck type. How ironic that you would indulge in such ignorance yourself. The shame is on you for not researching or “forgetting” to put that as a qualifier in your argument. I say no more. The problem with building it so close to the site is that Muslims, not the ones who did this as they are dead and those in connection have been captured, were still responsible for the attacks, and many others not in this country. This fear of terrorism in America exists because the threat is real. If rogue Israeli soldiers attacked a neighborhood occupied by the Hezbollah, taking many innocent lives with them, you would be outraged if they built a synagogue near the site. Even the makers of South Park were pushed to remove an episode of their show from their site because it depicted Mohammed and due to this their lives were threatened. If anyone claiming to be a Christian bombed a building you would personally be transported to the site to stop them from building a church anywhere within a five mile radius. But this is “tolerance” because they’re Muslims and we’re afraid of them. We give them this leeway because we’ve negotiated with them and bowed to their fears and censored ourselves, all to appease them and keep their anger quelled, all the while stroking their egos and allowing them to further push the lines. Not accepting it just lets them further victimize themselves, and it gives the fear they’ve planted room to grow.
Im sorry Roger, but to expect that the land formerly occupied by the World Trade Center Towers (one of the most valuable tracts of real estate in the world) would be set aside for a green field is just not realistic. You live in Chicago, Roger. Nor is it, in my opinion, warranted. Therefore, it may be necessary for you to equate the World Trade Center Towers with landmarks or structures that are as precious to you in your own city. I suggest you watch Ric Burns documentary New York Center of the World if you have not done so already. In fact, to many New Yorkers, those buildings were special. Unique.
Although the insane rhetoric is there, the actual practicalities of organizing such insurgencies would be difficult in the extreme. On the other hand, America is a vast piece of real estate. Too many Americans, for good and for ill, are largely indifferent to forming communities and doing any kind of hard work to organize themselves. I get the sense that many in the Teabagger contingent like to put on a show, but there are too few of them really committed to extremist goals beyond making barroom rants and the like. It would take dire economic straits and a total loss of national identity.
Instead, we’re quibbling like a bunch of quarrelsome middle school students about whether or not one building is ever going to be built in New York City, of all places, one of the most ethnically and spiritually diverse, and traditionally tolerant, cities that the world has ever seen?. For that matter, how radical is it to believe that, even if those New York Muslims were actively desiring the destruction of America, (which, from all available appearances, they most definitely are not,) no possible good can come from continuing to make a media spectacle of the issue, with about a third of the nation of Pakistan underwater right now, and so many innocent Muslims in grave danger of losing their hopes, their sustenance, their very lives? This is a perfect opportunity for the American government, and individual Americans, and American churches, synagogues, etc., to show the world that we really do care, that we are not fighting some sort of Christian jihad against the Muslim world.
The unspoken implication — sometimes spoken quite loudly among the more brazen — is that Islam equals terrorism, and that to build a mosque near Ground Zero is to give al-Qaeda a headquarters on our home turf. Vote for me!”. The election of Barack Obama was supposed to indicate a post-racial America, but it really exposed what was lying underneath, because between suspicion of Muslim terrorists and Mexican immigrants — terror babies! anchor babies! — racism seems to have been re-popularized and re-legitimized by those on the far right. Laura uses the N-word with impunity, Sarah Palin actually stands up for her! Wouldn’t you want to distance yourself from such an incident? No, because the far right wants to whip this country into a racial fervor, exploit the divisions that already exist, and hopefully get that Kenyan Muslim and all his un-American, socialist, tyrannical, baby-eating Democratic cronies out of office. “The only thing you have to fear is what we tell you to be afraid of. The casual racism is shocking. No one seems embarrassed or ashamed to believe this. When Dr.
And, further, other than his his lying about it — and, please, it’d be a grain of sand in his desert of lies — would it really matter? Now, his bowing to everyone: that matters; his isolation of our allies: that matters; his disingenuous attitude toward Israel: that matters; that he might be muslim: who gives a damn OTHER than his policies, actions, attitudes? Hate to break this to you but your contempt for every-day Americans is on parade. First, it’s 24% (at least according to yesterday’s articles) but secondly, this isn’t new. So is your assumption of their bigotry.
Mother, Cell 211, the White Ribbon, etc.) as I am a big Movies buff, movies are my life.Being a Muslim and Iraqi living in Iraq, I want to thank you for your moderate writings, integrity and honesty, it really takes a great amount of courage to say what you have said in this article in these difficult times we are living; I will not discuss the right to build the Mosque in that location or not specifically, but I want to express a more general point of view; as I notice that the American people (as I expect from them) are a warm-hearted and open minded, with a great tolerance in their hearts; that they will not fall for the traps that are aimed to set wars among nations and cultures, traps that use the minds of simple people to ignite hatred in them; and i am sure that evil doers will not succeed; however, it saddens me that there are extreme people that are fueled and driven by hatred, such as the gentleman who has written above that Islam is not a religion of peace and that Qurraan is not a book of peace, I do not know weather that gentlemen has misinterpreted a false version of our holy book or his intolerance has blinded him from seeing the truth; but be sure that there is no religion in the world condones and approve killing or evil doing; even atheists must consider killing is a wrong thing, and be sure that our religion(of a billion followers) is not different from others; believe me when I say that intentionally KILLING AN INNOCENT SOUL IS an unforgivable sin in our religion; and no Muslim has approved the tragic bombing of the WTC, nor any terrorist attack on any city in the world; we are strongly against them, as they are the doings of a bunch of criminals have nothing to do with Islam or any other sane religion; and they are very few, as the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful with open minds to other people’s cultures (take me for example, I am a Muslim, I read The QURRAAN and I Pray, but also I have hobbies such as Watching movies and listening to Heavy Metal). Ebert;First I want to express my great admiration for you as a Movies critic and as a human being, I have the Cinemania Cd, and I always read your articles when I want to buy a movie, because I trust your judgment, and I agree with your writings in 90% of the times, i find that your writing style is unparalleled, also I always find hidden gems that I would have never seen without reading your reviews, which I have found them to be great movies (e.g. Greetings Mr.
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