Obama throws support behind controversial Islamic center

[Dos Equis]

What a shock.

Obama throws support behind controversial Islamic center
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 13, 2010

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama threw his support behind a controversial proposal to build an Islamic center and mosque near New York's ground zero, saying Friday that "Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country," according to remarks distributed by the White House.

"Let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country," Obama said, according to prepared remarks released before a speech.

"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said.

Obama was speaking at a White House Iftar dinner celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The president's remarks drew praise from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who announced his support for the Islamic center last week.

Bloomberg compared Obama's speech to a letter President George Washington wrote in support of a Jewish congregation in Newport, Rhode Island. "President Obama's words tonight evoked President Washington's own August reminder that 'all possess alike liberty,' " Bloomberg said in a statement.

"I applaud President Obama's clarion defense of the freedom of religion tonight," he said.

The president invoked the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which critics of the Islamic center cite as the main reason for preventing its construction.

"We must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of lower Manhattan," Obama said, according to his prepared remarks. "The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country."

"The pain and suffering experienced by those who lost loved ones is unimaginable," he continued. "So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground."

But Obama argued that American ideals and the Constitution demanded that the project proceed.

"This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable," he said. "The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are. The writ of our Founders must endure."

The proposed Islamic center has provoked vocal opposition from some families of 9/11 victims and other groups. Nearly 70 percent of Americans oppose the plan, according to CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll released Wednesday.

The project's leaders say they plan to build the $100 million, 13-story facility called Cordoba House three blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks. The developer, Sharif El-Gamal, describes the project as an "Islamic community center" that will include a 500-seat performing arts center, a lecture hall, a swimming pool, a gym, a culinary school, a restaurant and a prayer space for Muslims.

On Wednesday, the project's developers declined an offer by New York Gov. David Paterson to relocate the project to a state-owned site.

Earlier this month, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously denied landmark status for the building where the proposed Islamic center would stand, allowing the project to move forward.


http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/08/13/obama.islamic.center.support/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

[Montague]

Shocker.
 

[240 is Back]

if obama tried outlawing a christian church 10 blocks from oklahoma city, people would be shitting bricks.

[Kazan]

if obama tried outlawing a christian church 10 blocks from oklahoma city, people would be shitting bricks.

Doesn't matter the POTUS has no business showing support for any religion, let alone throwing out the usual political double speak about rights to practice religion. When in reality no one is telling Muslims they can't practice their religion.
For a supposed constitutional scholar he says some stupid shit.

[Arnold jr]

if obama tried outlawing a christian church 10 blocks from oklahoma city, people would be shitting bricks.

You don't get it do you? This has nothing to do with rights in regards to religion...zero, nothing, nada.

Doesn't matter the POTUS has no business showing support for any religion, let alone throwing out the usual political double speak about rights to practice religion. When in reality no one is telling Muslims they can't practice their religion.
For a supposed constitutional scholar he says some stupid shit.

Constitutional scholar or not, he's violated the very constitution he swore to uphold from day one. There have been a lot of "Bad" presidents over the year but as it stands now I don't know if there's ever been one who violates the constitution more than Obama. Now let me be clear, that only makes him a bad president if you are one who believes the constitution should be upheld, if not than hey, he may be the greatest president of all time...unfortunately some actually believe this.

[240 is Back]

Doesn't matter the POTUS has no business showing support for any religion

agreed 1000%.  

However, I'm not sure he is supporting their religion, per se.  Rather, it looks to me like he's supporting a universal enforcement of the US' "freedom to practice religion" thing that the Constitution gives us.


"Let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country," Obama said, according to prepared remarks released before a speech.

"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said.

[Kazan]

Really it includes the RIGHT to build a place of worship, please show me exactly where the fuck that is written in the constitution

[240 is Back]

Really it includes the RIGHT to build a place of worship, please show me exactly where the fuck that is written in the constitution

in response, PALIN tweeted:
Will Obama express US lingering pain& ask Muslims for tolerance by discouraging 9/11 mosque while he celebrates Islamic holy month tonight?

[Kazan]

in response, PALIN tweeted:
Will Obama express US lingering pain& ask Muslims for tolerance by discouraging 9/11 mosque while he celebrates Islamic holy month tonight?

You have obviously mistaken me for someone who gives a fuck what palin says, the question still stand

[Montague]

if obama tried outlawing a christian church 10 blocks from oklahoma city, people would be shitting bricks.

I don’t recall Oklahoma City being propagated by a group of Christians in the name of Christianity, and with groups of Christians gleefully parading in the streets after the tragedy transpired.

Islam, on the other had, fits the above description to a "T" and I still fail to understand why you lobby so hard for the rights of a group of people who celebrated the deaths of 3,000 of your countrymen & women.

Why should people who wish for and celebrate our demise deserve the same rights that we have worked to earn and enjoy?

[240 is Back]

I don’t recall Oklahoma City being propagated by a group of Christians in the name of Christianity, and with groups of Christians gleefully parading in the streets after the tragedy transpired.

Islam, on the other had, fits the above description to a "T" and I still fail to understand why you lobby so hard for the rights of a group of people who celebrated the deaths of 3,000 of your countrymen & women.

Why should people who wish for and celebrate our demise deserve the same rights that we have worked to earn and enjoy?

I'm not lobbying for any group.

I'm lobbying for enforcement of the constitution.

in no way do i endorse what they're doing - but giving the govt power to pick/choose which religions can practice where is a DANGEROUS precedent.

[Montague]

I'm not lobbying for any group.

I'm lobbying for enforcement of the constitution.

in no way do i endorse what they're doing - but giving the govt power to pick/choose which religions can practice where is a DANGEROUS precedent.

Dangerous?

Dangerous?

The group of people I mention above is FUCKING DANGEROUS.
And, only a fool would want to grant them the same privileges and powers that we have.

Why the fuck would you want to extend the courtesies of our Constitution to people who are killing us?

You know what would be easier?
Why don’t you just supply them with the fucking Intel and weapons, and then get down on your knees and blow them before they blow your blind ass away, after which they’ll go pray to Allah in their fucking Mosque that you lobbied to have built in the interest of their fairness to our Constitution?

[GigantorX]

Isn't the building of it called "The Cordoba Mosque Project"?

Interesting that the Muslim group behind this would name it this....

[240 is Back]

The group of people I mention above is FUCKING DANGEROUS.
And, only a fool would want to grant them the same privileges and powers that we have.

then ship them to gitmo.  are they even citizens?  if not, the constitution doesn't apply to them.  But if they are US citizens, who haven't brokwn a law... as much as i disagree with what they say - as long as they don't break any laws, what can you do?

Dont get me wrong, i'd happily plug 10 terrorists then enjoy a ham sandwich.  I'm no sympathizer.  if they are breaking the law in any way, you use the pat act, you find out, and you lock their asses up for the next 80 or 100 years.  I have no prob with that.

but if their only crime was being smug pricks, then i dont support yanking their constitutional rights.

[Coach is Back!]

What a shock.

Obama throws support behind controversial Islamic center
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 13, 2010

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama threw his support behind a controversial proposal to build an Islamic center and mosque near New York's ground zero, saying Friday that "Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country," according to remarks distributed by the White House.

"Let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country," Obama said, according to prepared remarks released before a speech.

"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said.

Obama was speaking at a White House Iftar dinner celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The president's remarks drew praise from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who announced his support for the Islamic center last week.

Bloomberg compared Obama's speech to a letter President George Washington wrote in support of a Jewish congregation in Newport, Rhode Island. "President Obama's words tonight evoked President Washington's own August reminder that 'all possess alike liberty,' " Bloomberg said in a statement.

"I applaud President Obama's clarion defense of the freedom of religion tonight," he said.

The president invoked the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which critics of the Islamic center cite as the main reason for preventing its construction.

"We must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of lower Manhattan," Obama said, according to his prepared remarks. "The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country."

"The pain and suffering experienced by those who lost loved ones is unimaginable," he continued. "So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground."

But Obama argued that American ideals and the Constitution demanded that the project proceed.

"This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable," he said. "The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are. The writ of our Founders must endure."

The proposed Islamic center has provoked vocal opposition from some families of 9/11 victims and other groups. Nearly 70 percent of Americans oppose the plan, according to CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll released Wednesday.

The project's leaders say they plan to build the $100 million, 13-story facility called Cordoba House three blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks. The developer, Sharif El-Gamal, describes the project as an "Islamic community center" that will include a 500-seat performing arts center, a lecture hall, a swimming pool, a gym, a culinary school, a restaurant and a prayer space for Muslims.

On Wednesday, the project's developers declined an offer by New York Gov. David Paterson to relocate the project to a state-owned site.

Earlier this month, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously denied landmark status for the building where the proposed Islamic center would stand, allowing the project to move forward.


http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/08/13/obama.islamic.center.support/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

Did you expect anything else from an America hating traitor such as Obama? Remind me what the penalty is for treason again?

[Montague]

then ship them to gitmo.  are they even citizens?  if not, the constitution doesn't apply to them.  But if they are US citizens, who haven't brokwn a law... as much as i disagree with what they say - as long as they don't break any laws, what can you do?

Dont get me wrong, i'd happily plug 10 terrorists then enjoy a ham sandwich.  I'm no sympathizer.  if they are breaking the law in any way, you use the pat act, you find out, and you lock their asses up for the next 80 or 100 years.  I have no prob with that.

but if their only crime was being smug pricks, then i dont support yanking their constitutional rights.

Not a single one of those cock-suckers denounced the actions of extremists who killed our citizens in the name of the Muslim god.
That constitutes a sanctioning in my book.

Any person who celebrates the death of a nation DOES NOT DESERVE THE RIGHTS THAT NATION OFFERS.

And, it is wrong to build a shrine for the members of that religion right next to the site of the mass murder they so cheerfully celebrate.

[Kazan]

then ship them to gitmo.  are they even citizens?  if not, the constitution doesn't apply to them.  But if they are US citizens, who haven't brokwn a law... as much as i disagree with what they say - as long as they don't break any laws, what can you do?

Dont get me wrong, i'd happily plug 10 terrorists then enjoy a ham sandwich.  I'm no sympathizer.  if they are breaking the law in any way, you use the pat act, you find out, and you lock their asses up for the next 80 or 100 years.  I have no prob with that.

but if their only crime was being smug pricks, then i dont support yanking their constitutional rights.

Again with the constitutional rights, yet you can't tell me what constitutional right is being violated, answer the question or stop the propaganda.

You fuckers duck and weave this question like a boxer

[Lord of the Roidz]

Hahaha. Obama just drove one more nail into the Dem's coffin. Let's see, over 70% of American opposes the Mosque.....a huge amount oppose his suing of Arizona over the immigration bill. Everything this clown says or does is in total opposition of what the majority of America (except lefties like 240) want. Democrats are probably wishing Obama would just shut his Piehole about the Mosque, Ramadan and all that shit. They know he's destroying their chances in November.

[blacken700]

"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country," Obama told an intently listening crowd gathered at the White House Friday evening to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said. "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."

obama

[Arnold jr]

Hahaha. Obama just drove one more nail into the Dem's coffin. Let's see, over 70% of American opposes the Mosque.....a huge amount oppose his suing of Arizona over the immigration bill. Everything this clown says or does is in total opposition of what the majority of America (except lefties like 240) want. Democrats are probably wishing Obama would just shut his Piehole about the Mosque, Ramadan and all that shit. They know he's destroying their chances in November.

Actually it may be pure genius. Think about it, he's making transformation changes, be them as horrible as they are he's doing what he said. In Nov. the Republicans will annihilate the Democrats hands down and here's what happens next:

*For two years republicans will have their hands full overturning Obama policy, some of which he will be able to block by executive order, which is bullshit BTW.

*They will never agree on one single thing, Obama is not Clinton and he is not going to compromise even if it destroys the country.

*Come 2012 Obama can now once again place blame on the Republicans, you see nothing really changed the past two years, it was all they could do to get Obama policy overturned.

*Obama no easily wins 2012 because guess what, because most Americans still haven't woken up to the truth and live in a fantasy land that makes as much sense as Mr. Rogers Land of Make Believe.

Maybe Americans will wake up, a lot have but I don't know if enough have yet or if enough see the true gravity of reality.

[Fury]

I'm not lobbying for any group.

I'm lobbying for enforcement of the constitution.

in no way do i endorse what they're doing - but giving the govt power to pick/choose which religions can practice where is a DANGEROUS precedent.

How long are you going to continue to duck Kazan's question regarding the Constitution?

Your propaganda and constant quoting of Palin to people who couldn't give a fuck about her is getting to be quite sad.

[George Whorewell]

One and done.

The Democratic Party is going to be wiped off the map by 2012.

Here in NYC, I've never seen people so pissed off. The KSM trial is one thing. This is a whole other ballgame. My fear is that somebody is going to do something about it in a violent manner.

Of course if that happens, the left is going to try to divert attention away from Islamic terrorism and focus on "home grown right wing extremist groups".

Hey heres an idea for the knobs on here that just don't get it-- How about the "Museum of Lynching" next to NAACP headquarters? Or, since many of you like to absurdly reference Oklahoma City, how about if the group responsible decided to open a shooting range+meeting hall for it's local chapter a few feet away from where the Federal building stood?

Forget about the constitution and all of the other legal arguments over the building of this monstrosity--- Are you people just complete fucking idiots that have been living under a rock the last 10 years? It's offensive and incendiary (two words that douchebags on the left using when convenient for their agendas) for a radical Imam that refuses to denounce terrorism to build a giant Mosque a block away from Ground Zero. Can you wrap your tiny brains around that idea?

[blacken700]

this is a land of laws and we have to follow them. not the emotions of people

[Dos Equis]

One and done.

The Democratic Party is going to be wiped off the map by 2012.

Here in NYC, I've never seen people so pissed off. The KSM trial is one thing. This is a whole other ballgame. My fear is that somebody is going to do something about it in a violent manner.

Of course if that happens, the left is going to try to divert attention away from Islamic terrorism and focus on "home grown right wing extremist groups".

Hey heres an idea for the knobs on here that just don't get it-- How about the "Museum of Lynching" next to NAACP headquarters? Or, since many of you like to absurdly reference Oklahoma City, how about if the group responsible decided to open a shooting range+meeting hall for it's local chapter a few feet away from where the Federal building stood?

Forget about the constitution and all of the other legal arguments over the building of this monstrosity--- Are you people just complete fucking idiots that have been living under a rock the last 10 years? It's offensive and incendiary (two words that douchebags on the left using when convenient for their agendas) for a radical Imam that refuses to denounce terrorism to build a giant Mosque a block away from Ground Zero. Can you wrap your tiny brains around that idea?

Well said. 

And to answer your last question:  "No."

[George Whorewell]

this is a land of laws and we have to follow them. not the emotions of people

You're right-- Unless we are talking about immigration laws,  laws that prevent voter intimidation and the seperation of powers outlined by the constitution.