Conservative blogger proposes a gay bar next door to the Young Men's Islamic Association to be located at the Holy Mother Coat Factory. I would not oppose this, especially if they carried some good microbrews (though I will note that State Liquor Authority regulations would probably restrict it to just wine and beer); however, adding a Swiss Pork Store, a Talis dealer and a Puppy City would seem to be gilding the lily. But in the end, it's New York; so love it or fucking leave it. I also want not oppose putting a gay bar next to Ruben Diaz's church. I'd say the same of St. Patrick's Cathedral, but one would have to be very careful about carding the customers. 'Ground Zero Islamic Gay Bar': Good Idea? | The Atlantic Wire www.theatlanticwire.com
The “Mosque” a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing? The proposal a fraud? How intriguing.
But if Frum‘s theory is correct, and the “Mosque” proposal is a fraud, then we’re in the middle of reenacting a remake of "The_Man_That_Corrupted_Hadleyburg,” with religious intolerance replacing greed as the coin of the realm.
Now that's a story Mark Twain would appreciate. Is the 9/11 Mosque a Publicity Stunt? | FrumForum www.frumforum.com
Can all sides at least agree that this man is irrelevant? Gov: I’ll Help Provide State-Owned Alternative To Mosque Site capitaltonight.com and http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/08/10/paterson_mosque_plan_constitution/index.html
Critics of Islam please note; you are being forsaken by one of your own. The dispute over the "Ground Zero mosque" is an object lesson in how not to resist intolerance. – By Christopher Hitchens www.slate.com
I intensely dislike the content, but this decision by the MTA to carry “Anti-Mosque” ads is a tremendous victory for our Bill of Rights.
I hate the pricks who are running these ads, and I love our country for permitting them to do so. New York Buses Will Carry Ad Opposing Islamic Center – NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com
This article, by a thoughtful conservative intellectual, was not nearly so bad as I would have feared from the title. In fact, it gives Newt Gingrich a good bitch-slap upside the head, and ultimately does not come down against the YMIA proposed for the Holy Mother Coat Factory. But I nonetheless find it's last line distressing:
"Can we live in peace with a mosque near Ground Zero? Yes, but first we're entitled to some answers"
Maybe some answers would be nice (and in the interests of the facility's backers), but I wonder why Vitullo-Martin, who usually eschews every sort of entitlement, feels "entitled" to anything?
We, as a polity, are "entitled" to only so much from the developers of this facility as we would be from any land user at the same site. Further, while national security, law enforcement or tax enforcement agencies may, under the right circumstances, be entitled to probe into the project's money sources, virtually no one else, except maybe a lender, would seem "entitled" to such information under any circumstances.
So, the insistence of politicians that we pervert land use, land marking, and public utilities laws as a pretext to target one particular religious group is both astonishing and un-American.
And a thoughtful conservative should understand this. Mosque backers, answer these questions – USATODAY.com www.usatoday.com
Given the stakes, there's no way I'd support a Republican for Congress this year in a Democratic seat, but Hanna is entitled to some sort of reward for being a mensch. Hanna Breaks With GOP On Mosque capitaltonight.com
Who says this ticket's not balanced? Cuomo, Duffy Differ on Mosque – WSJ.com online.wsj.com
Working to Lower the Common Denominator Carl Paladino To File 28,000 Signatures For New "Taxpayers" Ballot Line www.nydailynews.com
Someone no one remembers endorses someone nobody can recall. John Faso For Rick Lazio For Governor www.nydailynews.com
I've no opinion on the merits of Towns' challenge, but one must note Powell's unseemly and impolitic obsession with the flaws of the elderly.
Beyond that, unless Towns is absolutely sure he can knock Powell off the ballot, one must question his strategy. The other day a commentator on one of my threads said "increasingly meritless challenges…requires the campaign to divert resources from the hard work of actually getting elected. Even if a campaign can’t knock a candidate off the ballot by the challenges, they can still tie them up in Court and at the BOE for days."
But why would Ed Towns want to keep Kevin Powell tied up so he cannot talk to the press and keep writing and publishing his off-the-wall "War and Peace" length screeds? The Twitter posts may be fun, but there's no comparison between them and the damage Kevin Powell could continue to do himself if he only were liberated from litigation. Is Congressional Hopeful Kevin Powell Tweeting From Court??? www.nydailynews.com
For all the wrong reasons, the competent guy won. So As We Were Saying… George Gonzalez Is The New NYC Board Of Elections Chief www.nydailynews.com
The fact that the threats against Senator Huntley are so disgusting nearly prevented me from pointing out that no one needs to tell Huntley to "Rest in Peace" when that's what she already does in the Senate. Queens State Sen. Shirley Huntley To Address Threats www.nydailynews.com
DeBlasio Gives up his security? No surprise; why would he need it?. He's like 6 foot 13 and has a job with less influence on public policy than membership on most Community Boards. Bill de Blasio Gives Up Security Detail | The New York Observer www.observer.com
Right wing Zionists continually dump on Cohen, even though Israel has few better friends.
Money quote: "Critics of Israel frequently accuse it of racism in its treatment of Palestinians. Sometimes, the charge is apt. But there is nothing in the Israeli media or popular culture that even approaches what is openly, and with official sanction, said in the Arab world about Jews.
The Economist and Rogan are insufficient in themselves to comprise a movement. Yet I cannot quite suppress the feeling that the need to demonize Israel is so great that the immense moral failings of some of its enemies have to be swept under the carpet. As Jacob Weisberg pointed out recently in Slate, the boycott Israel movement is unbalanced – so much fury directed at Israel, so little at countries like China or Venezuela. Can it be that the French philosopher Vladimir Jankelevitch was prescient when he suggested years ago that anti-Zionism 'gives us the permission and even the right and even the duty to be anti-Semitic in the name of democracy'? The line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is becoming increasingly blurred." Shameful silence on anti-Semitism: The Economist ignores hateful rhetoric aimed at Jews www.nydailynews.com
Wow.
A way to help democrats and hurt ACORN at the same time.
What’s not to like? Editorial – A Welfare Check and a Voting Card – NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com
I just said the same thing the other day Plagiarism Is Not a Big Moral Deal – Opinionator Blog – NYTimes.com opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com
I read the whole thing and still can't figure out what they stand for RealDealDemocracy realdealdemocracy.com
Levi on the stump? Isn't his stump the problems? Levi's on the stump – Entertainment News, TV News, Media – Variety www.variety.com
Since winning election, Assemblywoman Joan Millman has never actually pursued a petition challenge against any opponent, so Doug Biviano's quote –“We did it! With the hard work of many volunteers we collected 2,000 signatures, enough to scare off incumbent Millman and her election law vultures who like to pick at democracy’s bones,” — borders on slander. In fact, I have it on good authority that Vito Lopez (in an effort to keep her race off the ballot to diminish turnout and thus help his own candidates for District Leader) offered Millman his assistance to go after Biviano, which she refused. Brooklyn Eagle, Bay Ridge Eagle Brooklyn, NY :: daily paper in Brooklyn www.brooklyneagle.com
Jumaane Williams is so happy he could plotz. Term-Limit Change Could Miss Incumbents – WSJ.com online.wsj.com
Given that this is the way the father of the guy who beat Steven's also died, it's very creepy. Or maybe just very Alaska Did Former Senator Ted Stevens Die in a Plane Crash? | The New York Observer www.observer.com
Fulani is one of the few people in NY who could make me root for Sharpton in a pissing match Fulani Blames Sharpton, Not Bloomberg For Nonpartisan Elex Loss capitaltonight.com
Sometimes who choses to attend says as much as who does not. D'Amato to Rangel party – Maggie Haberman – POLITICO.com www.politico.com
Sue me, but if the President decides we should attack, I'll support him. Report: With Israeli strike looming, U.S. raising Iran stakes – Ben Smith – POLITICO.com www.politico.com