The Weekly Standard's John McCormack has the money quote:
If the purpose of the junket is to "help people overseas understand our society"--and not to help Rauf raise the $100 million for his mosque--wouldn't it make sense to send someone representative of the vast majority of Americans who oppose the Ground Zero mosque? Perhaps the State Department could send someone--maybe Juan Williams or Rich Lowry or Abe Foxman or Bill McGurn or David Harsanyi or Neda Bolourchi or Sarah Palin or Rod Dreher or Christopher Caldwell or Bill Kristol--to explain to the people of the world that Americans aren't bigots but simply find it offensive and insensitive to build a mosque two blocks from the site of a horrific Islamist terrorist attack?
And then McCormack suggests that Greg Gutfeld might be the perfect guy to do this. Gutfeld, as you know, has suggested building a gay bar next to the mosque since we're all concerned about sensibilities and such.
And in a related story, Andy McCarthy reports that human remains are still being found at Ground Zero:
In late June, CBS — in a barely noticed story that is no longer available on its website — reported that 72 sets of human remains had just been recovered and identified as a result of new construction work at the Ground Zero site.
And we're ready to build a mosque there? Seriously?
I'm not sure what kind of "outreach" this Imam is really headed to the Middle East to do, but I hope it's to point out that sensibilities run both ways and NOT to raise money for a mosque at Ground Zero that runs against the wishes of most Americans who will NEVER FORGET.
2 comments:
Pat, it's a weird coincidence that you picked this up. McCormack's article links to Claudia Rossett at Forbes, who broke the story. She refers to "bridge building" which set my antenna buzzing. Yesterday, I blogged NEH head Jim Leach's "civility" tour and noted that he kept harping on a "Building Bridges Initiative". The Denver Post article is new - but it's a rehash of the same speech Lynch has given again and again for nearly a year. Except that the speech is rewritten for every audience, and here's an interesting version delivered to the Carnegie Corporation in NYC, last September: http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/speeches/09292009.html
You have to search the NEH site to find these, and each one has a little nuance...
Wonder if it is related to Rauf's "bridge building" or just coincidence?
Good item Pat, thx!
-linked at RR today:
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/2010/08/what-my-fellow-mossbacks-are-thinking.html
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