The local TV news [and the New York Times] reports that Mayor Bloomberg had a Ramadan dinner tonight, in which he told Manhattan’s Muslims to not back down from building on Park Place.
Speaking at a traditional dinner at Gracie Mansion as part of Ramadan, the mayor sought to tamp down the opposition and regain control over a national debate that has escalated by the day, starting as a local zoning dispute and becoming a referendum on the limits of religious tolerance in an age of terrorism.
Mr. Bloomberg, flanked by the center’s developer and the wife of its imam, said he understood the impulse to find a different location, in the hope of ending the controversy.
“But it won’t,†the mayor said. “The question will then become, ‘How big should the ‘no-mosque zone’ around the World Trade Center be?’ â€
He added: “There is already a mosque four blocks away. Should it, too, be moved? This is a test of our commitment to American values. We must have the courage of our convictions. We must do what is right, not what is easy.â€
Way to go, Mayor Mike! Unfortunately, a lot of other New York politicians, including Democrats, are doing what is easy and timidly calling for the center to be moved.
Meanwhile, in the Los Angeles Times Jonah Goldberg takes victimization to new heights, or depths, if you will.
Here’s a thought: The 70% of Americans who oppose what amounts to an Islamic Niketown two blocks from ground zero are the real victims of a climate of hate, and anti-Muslim backlash is mostly a myth.
But is that a thought, though? Or is it flatulence? Hard to tell. And what does he mean by “an Islamic Niketown”?
But you see where he’s coming from — only patriotic, flag-waving, right-wing Americans get to be victims. Everyone else in the world just picks on them for no reason. (See also Alex Pareene.)
I think that if John wayne were still alive, and he got a good look at Jonah the Doughboy, he’d turn liberal.
John Wayne WAS a liberal, compared to the extreme-right-wing brownshirts who call themselves Republicans today. So was Ronald Reagan.
Mayor Bloomberg has got it 100% right. The worst thing the developers could do is to back down now. Newt Gingrich said that if he were President he would declare ground zero and the surrounding area a national battlefield. That statement provides all the information necessary to understand exactly what the motivation and intent of those opposing an Islamic cultural center is. The purpose is to cast all of Islam as an enemy of America and of traditional American values. And his reason for doing so is to serve his own political agenda by endearing himself to the religious right …regardless of the cost to our nation.
And what does he mean by “an Islamic Niketown�
It could be an innuendo to a Nike missile, or a subtle play on words for someone who might reference New York as Hymie town, or it could be a simple reference to the inclusion of a sports complex within the Islamic cultural center. Even though I assume Jonah is a Jew I’m inclined to think the Hymie town reference is his intended usage because he prides himself on being clever and he could stick a dart in Jessie Jackson while impressing his fellow code talkers on how clever he is.
flatulence? you got that right!
I believe “Nike” in this context means “victory” or “we have won”. An allusion to the story of Pheidippides, harping on the meme that Park51 will be some kind of monument to terrorism.
So now he is dragging Pheidippides into this. He has no shame!!! I have to wonder how long it would take Mr. Goldberg to make it “Twixt the fennel-field and Athens”.
I heard him on “Talk if the Nation” once. He was defending “Dubya” against accusations of torture and war crimes. I swear, one of his arguments was that when Clinton was the President, he lied in order to hurt him and his reputation. So therefore, liberal reporters were lying about Bush.
You can’t argue with that kind of “logic”.
Niketown?
Jonah, born through a different vagina, would be too stupid and unbalanced to be employed as the night janitor in an insane asylum.
He and Bill Krisol are the posterchildren for the success of the Wingnut Welfare Nepotism Outreach Program.
Now I’m glad that Mayor Bloomberg got his third term!
Dear Jonah Goldblob:
If you and your ilk get their way, you will have achieved what amounts to a fascist Pyrrhic victory.
Sincerely,
joanr16
John Wayne, the actor, played to the political party of the day.
John Wayne, the person, was a liberal. As was Red Skelton.
There was a schism in our country after 9/11.
Part of the country wanted to show that we would continue to be a nation of laws and ideals. Individuals standing together to lead the way forward after a horrible attack.
Another part decided to follow leaders, no matter how unscupulous they were and where that path led. Mob mentality ruled with these people. And it still rules today.
This Islamic Center is just an extension of that schism.
How do you convince a group of people that religious tolerance is a virtue, when those same people don’t think torture is a vice?
When you stand for a human right as basic and fundamental as the right not to be tortured, and are deemed insufficiently patriotic, if not a traitor, how do you then begin to explain to these people where religious tolerance should fit in the nations big picture?
We’re whispering into a horrible headwind.
This nation has lost its soul.
We stand for nothing anymore, except the right to make money. If you already have it, that is…
I like Bloomberg. He almost makes up for Guiliani.
IntelVet: I have a friend who lives in L.A. He voted for Schwartznegger for governor. When I told him that AS was for gun control, he sputtered “but, but, but, his movies, his guns….” I told this friend, “AS grew up in Austria, post World War II and he’s married to a Kennedy. He believes in gun control, he ain’t gonna be changing the laws anytime soon. He’s an actor… the guns are props.”
There was a schism in our country after 9/11.
“Either you’re for us or against us” — George Bush, or more exactly Michael Gerson with his religious rhetoric designed to stir up American religious bigotry and hatred.
I unsubscribed to the LATimes about a week after it featured Jonah Goldberg on its Oped page. A lot of other people down here did the same. I will say that reading him was a fascinating way to spend a few minutes. Maybe the only Opinion writer who is a master at posing his argument for something which by the end of his essay he has managed to do a bang-up job of discrediting his own original position.
Which has always made me suspect that his mother, Lucian Goldberg of Linda Tripp/Monica fame got him the job simply because why else would the Times hire him given that he’s not only a disgrace to the profession of oped writers, he’s a disgrace to what is/was a fairly reputable newspaper.
Felicity — I consider Goldberg to be a disgrace to vertebrates.
But you see where he’s coming from — only patriotic, flag-waving, right-wing Americans get to be victims. Everyone else in the world just picks on them for no reason.
Although all of the other adjectives imply it, don’t forget “Christian”.
And there’s already a Niketown in NYC.
Yeah, Poopyman, I thought of Niketown, too. There’s a big one several stories high with escalators in downtown Denver.