Month: August 2010

The barking is getting louder. From the Washington Times, in a piece declaring that "the United States of Arabia has now arrived," Jeffrey T. Kuhner writes:

The battle over the ground-zero mosque is more than another battle in the heated culture wars. It is a watershed moment: the point at which liberal multiculturalism capitulated to the relentless march of political Islam. Muslim radicals around the world rightly will view it as a triumph over the feckless American infidel: Even the site of their deadliest attack against America is not free from Islam's looming presence. This event signifies the loss – the defeat – of American will and purpose in the struggle against jihad.

Even Andy McCarthy wants the tiger he is riding to calm down.

In what could be a South Park parody but sadly isn't, the Wiesenthal Center behind the Museum of Tolerance – which opened in Manhattan last week – slams the Cordoba center for insensitivity. Meanwhile … :

In Jerusalem, Israel – where the Wiesenthal Center plans to open its next Museum of Tolerance – construction of the proposed tolerance museum has “resulted in digging up the remains of people who had been buried in a Muslim cemetery for generations,” [professor Marnia] Lazreg said.  “I am not sure that I would have chosen a site close to Ground Zero for building a mosque and cultural center, although there is no law against doing so,” she said. “But we have to be fair …. The mosque-center promoters have not engaged in acts of physical desecration of the victims of 9/11 attacks.”

Fallows makes the case.

Geocurrents: "Nigeria and Cameroon may have their differences, but they share a passion for Guinness Stout."

Yes, one day, we can all come together, shitfaced though we may be.

Where is the ADL? Didn't Jihadists attack the Pentagon? Isn't it sacred ground? And yet in Room 1E438, the infidels are praying to their alien God! Since, according to Chris Caldwell, there is a "standing fear" that all Muslims can be financed or influenced by Wahhabists, why are we allowing these fifth columnists to worship in the heart of the nation's defense? Take it away, Jeffrey:

You see, what happens is this: First radical Muslims disguised as patriotic American military officers take over Room 1E438, and then, before you know it, they've conquered Room 1E437, and Room 1E439, and from there… well, you know how this ends. These rooms, of course, are holy, because Muslims once attacked the Pentagon.

When will the GOP urge a Muslim ban to replace the gay ban in the military?

Think Progress keeps the heat on Boehner, Pence, and Cantor. Special props to journalist hedge-fund manager Robert Barbera (above). Previous Dish coverage here, here, and here.

Have you seen the condition of pensions guaranteed to state and municipal workers? Yikes.

The congressman defends himself from K-Thug. Krugman hits back:

Notice that Ryan does not address the issue of the zero nominal growth assumption, and how that assumption – not entitlement reforms – is the key to his alleged spending cuts by 2020.

I also see that Ryan is perpetuating the runaround on revenue estimates. If you read either this article or his original response to the Tax Policy Center, you could easily get the impression that nobody would do a revenue estimate, that CBO said it was JCT’s job, and JCT balked. Even Nate Silver has fallen for this.

He also side kicks Ezra for backing Ryan's role in the debate. Megan steps in:

[I]t is not correct to accuse Ryan of deliberate dishonesty; he asked the CBO to score it, and they turned him down.  Nor is it correct to imply that this is somehow out of the ordinary.  If you supported the health care plan, you supported the exact same process that Ryan is now proposing to use to tweak his proposal.

Fareed Zakaria puts his money where his mouth is and returns an ADL award. I hope it starts a trend. They must have given many awards to many distinguished people. Those who believe in freedom of religion should, in my view, follow Fareed's example. Money quote:

[D]oes Foxman believe that bigotry is OK if people think they’re victims? Does the anguish of Palestinians, then, entitle them to be anti-Semitic?

Foxman digs in:

If the stated goal was to advance reconciliation and understanding, we believe taking into consideration the feelings of many victims and their families, of first responders and many New Yorkers, who are not bigots but still feel the pain of 9/11, would go a long way to achieving that reconciliation.

Greg Sargent interjects:

The "stated" goal, eh? … This goes considerably further than ADL's initial statement, which didn't question the motives behind the center. In other words, this is no longer just about the feelings of those still wounded by 9/11, as ADL initially claimed. With this response, ADL has strayed even further from its own stated mission. After all, the group says its "ultimate purpose" is to "put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens."

The ADL is becoming a force in our society for the promotion of bigotry. It should be renamed the Muslim Defamation League.