Proposed mosque brings out worst in America

Puh-leeze! Can we come to our senses when it comes to the proposed Islamic Cultural Center near Ground Zero?

The arguments being made against it by Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Rudy
Giuliani and other political cheap-shot experts are absurd.

First, they insist, this is “hallowed ground.” No, it’s not. The mosque
would not be built at Ground Zero, but two blocks away — on a busy
commercial street. Two blocks from Ground Zero today, you can already
find a strip club, an off-track betting parlor, a McDonald’s and Burger
King, an Irish pub, pizza joint and Dunkin’ Donuts. They’re OK and a
mosque is not? Puh-leeze!

Second, they accuse Muslims of being “insensitive” on wanting to build here, because 70 percent of Americans think it’s a bad idea. So what? The exercise of our Bill of Rights does not depend on a public opinion poll. There are parts of the South where 70 percent of the people think interracial marriage is a bad idea. Does that mean we shouldn’t allow it? Puh-leeze!

Third, they piously affirm they’re all for religious freedom — just not at this particular location. That’s the most stupid argument of all. And, unfortunately, one repeated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Read it again. The Constitution does not suggest a geographical test for our freedoms. They apply equally, to all Americans, everywhere in this country. Puh-leeze!

Let’s face it. This whole controversy is being manufactured by politicians willing to trash the Constitution in order to score cheap, short-term, political points. Sadly, it’s an expression of America at our worst.

Visit Mr. Press’s website at billpressshow.com.