Classic Rant #313 (August 17, 2010): Really Bad Move

The decision to build a mosque two blocks away from the Ground Zero site in Manhattan clearly demonstrates that political correctness has a stranglehold on this country.

The Ground Zero site, where Muslim extremists attacked the free world on Nov. 11, 2001 by killing, injuring, maiming and permanently impacting thousands of people with the fall of the World Trade Center, is sacred ground in our country. To many, it is where the remains of their loved ones were vaporized. For many, it is the last place that their loved ones ever set foot on this earth.

Muslim would like to build a mosque and a cultural center two blocks away from this desecration, and many people, and many influential Americans, are supporting their right to build there, stating that religious tolerance is what this country stands for, and thus, this facility should be welcome with open arms by New Yorkers and Americans.

My question is: have they completely lost their minds?

Nobody is saying that the Muslims cannot build a mosque and a cultural center elsewhere. But to build it here is ill-timed, ill-mannered, and just not the right thing to do.

Again, Muslim extremists committed the acts at the World Trade Center, and no one is saying that all Muslims are like this. But to build a mosque so close to the site just nine years after it happened shows an unimaginable insensitivity that myself and most Americans do not support.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the emperor of New York, stands behind the Muslims' right to build, as do a number of local and national politicians. On the other side of the coin are a number of other politicians, lead by Rep. Peter King, who believe the building of such a facility is insensitive and uncaring.

Even President Obama has chimed into this situation, first saying he supported the mosque and then backtracking, saying he was for religious freedom but was not going to speak about the sensitivity of building such a facility so close to Ground Zero.

I do not think that this discussion has anything to do with religious freedom. We welcome all people and all religions here, and no one is saying that the Muslims cannot build a mosque and worship as they please. But to put it so close to Ground Zero is wrong, plain wrong.

For the past nine years, many American Muslims have been trying to make a case that they have no ties to these extremists, and they were appalled at what happened, as Americans, as much as anyone else.

Well, prove it! The insensitive idea of bringing a mosque to this site doesn't prove their case at all. It shows that they are uncaring, uncivil people.

A mosque at this site would plainly highlight that point. It is insensitive to those who lost their lives there, and those who have been permanently impacted by what happened on that horrible day.

What the political correct people are blinded by is their need to be all inclusive rather than do what is right.

Sorry, building a mosque there is not right, and doesn't make Americans feels comfortable with the Muslim community.

Hopefully, clearer heads on all sides will prevail, and this facility will be moved somewhere else. New York State Governor Patterson has offered the group another site which is in that area but further away from Ground Zero. At this point, he has not heard back from them about a possible move.

One can only hope that people will learn something from this escapade: being politically correct, without adding in any forethought or wisdom, is akin to picking a scab off a sore. The scab will regenerate itself, and the sore won't go away.

Don't think that the American public won't remember their leaders who support this mess come election time.

They will, and there will be political consequences for those supporting this idiocy.

And as for American Muslims, please don't look for our sympathy or empathy with your plight.

You aren't going to get it, not if this thing is built.