The 9/11 Anniversary - Let's Be Thankful For What Didn't Happen

The 9/11 Anniversary has come and gone; thankfully, 

without any further violence to anyone.

Despite the "threat" of a misguided Florida pastor to 

burn copies of the Qu'ran, and the threat of total street

violence from the "Arab Street", the solemn day of 

remembrance came and went in what was, for the 

most part, a decent respect for the events and casualties of

that day nine tears ago.

It's as if both sides peered over the edge into the abyss

and said, "No Thanks". And that's actually a tribute to

the good sense of people of good will on both sides.

To be sure, there was a well-attended demonstration

at the site of the proposed Muslim "cultural center"

in Lower Manhattan, featuring anti-Islamic activist 

Pamela Geller and freedom-fighter and free speech 

activist Geert Wilders from the Netherlands. And there was 

also a small "counter-demonstration" by the usual coterie of

leftist nuts and peace activists. 

But both groups managed to do something right, which 

was to keep the Elected Politicians firmly at arm's length -

something which I am convinced helped keep both 

demonstrations peaceful.

And the Qu'ran-burning pastor in Florida? He called 

off his event after fellow clergy from both Christianity

and Islam gently reminded him that in Islam,

burning of the Bible is haram - forbidden - because

the Old Testament tells the story of the many 

prophets as revered in Islam as they are in Christianity.

And what both sides need to do now is to step back

and explore ways in which both communities might

better coexist with one another. 

Here in America, that's  not yet a large problem.

Muslim immigrants here tend to be either well-educated,

relatively secular professionals or hard-working taxi

drivers, shopkeepers, small business men of all kinds.

On balance, they are a net plus to society, even allowing

for the occasionally deranged lunatic like Ft. Hood's

Maj. Hassan.

The same, however, cannot be said of Europe. There,

unlimited immigration of millions of poor, uneducated, 

unassimilable Muslims has led to all sorts of problems -

problems which Europe's cowardly "politically 

correct" leaders have been both unable and unwilling

to take seriously. And we have the same problem here,

only worse.

Just substitute "Mexicans" and "America's cowardly

"politically correct" leaders " and you'll know what I'm 

talking about.

And if Europe's and America's leaders won't handle 

the problem, it will be handled for them - by Nationalistic 

peoples pushed beyond both anger and reason.

And trust me, no one is going to like that outcome.

Islam Dominant: The Ground Zero Mosque

The "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy isn't going away
anytime soon, no matter what our social and political
"leaders" say. 

But as is usually the case where there's a more heat
than light on a subject, the issues are not always
completely clear cut. To begin with, we should try to 

understand a few things.

First of all, religious freedom and tolerance are
uniquely part of the American experience - in contrast
to both Europe and the Muslim World. 

Had there not been brave people with the courage 

to flee religious persecution and discrimination,
there probably wouldn't be a United States of America.

And, unfortunately, the Muslims are only the latest
"other" religious group to face religious persecution
and discrimination here in the United States.

A quick history lesson. One hundred and fifty years ago,
waves of economic-based immigration brought tens
of millions of Roman Catholic Irish, Italians, and Poles
to our shores, to face immediate discrimination and
prejudice at the hands of the American Protestant
majority.

An entire political movement - The "Know-Nothing" 

party -  was built around anti-Catholic sentiment. 

And like today's Muslims, the Catholics were 

suspected of being a "fifth column" - part of a global 

"Papist Plot", to bring the United States - and all of 

Western Civilization - under the domination of the 

Pope in Rome.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? And the language used
by the press of that time in describing the "Catholic
Threat" would never be allowed today, even in the
most fever-swamped screeds of the fringes.

In this light, it should come as no surprise that President
Obama took the time to remind the nation of its too-often
forgotten commitment to religious freedom and toleration.
And to a point, the President is right - Imam Feisal Abdul
Rauf and his followers do have a legal right to erect a mosque
in a location of their choosing, subject to local ordinances
and the like.

But all legal platitudes aside, the decision to build a
Mosque at this particular location is hugely unwise.

To begin with, it's a direct insult to the thousands
of New Yorkers whose memories of the events of 9/11
are indelible scars.

Second, it sends exactly the wrong message of Islam
Dominant and Triumphant - when the building is
complete, it will directly overlook two holes in the
ground where the World Trade Center used to be.
That's not too terribly helpful for the "War On Terror" -
in fact, it makes "terror" look like the winning side.
Look for Al-Jazeera and the rest of "violent Islam" -
(and there's really no other kind) to treat this as
a deservedly huge propaganda victory.

So, what would be the right decision? Go ahead
and build a Mosque - but anywhere else, just not
at this particular spot.

To his credit, New York Governor David Paterson
in suggesting this got it exactly right. To his
everlasting shame, New York Mayor and Mosque
supporter Michael Bloomberg got it exactly wrong.

It would be as if the Church of the White Aryan
Resistance decided to build a church next door
to the Mt. Zion AME Church in Harlem - and then
deck the place out in Confederate Flags and play
"Dixie" on Martin Luther King Day.

Or better yet, build it next to Temple Beth Israel
and fly the swastika and play "The Horst Wessel Lied"
every Friday at sundown.

Nobody in their right mind, of course, would allow
either such thing - but that's exactly what the mosque
supporters among our elites are doing.

And this whole affair just reeks of the contempt
of the Secular Liberal Ruling Elites for any opinions
but their own. Steeped in moral relativism, bound
by situational ethics, and hopelessly debilitated
by "political correctness" , the decision to permit
this ill-advised project is just one more blot on
a sorry and sordid record.

Whether the issue is Immigration, Islam, endless
war, trade, financial reform, or corporate greed,
our "Ruling Elites" have managed to be consistently
wrong every time, on every issue.

Always ready to excuse and forgive every crime,
every transgression, every bit of wrongdoing, our
"Elites" are like the Bourbon kings of France -
they learned nothing, and remembered nothing.

And we the people, in no mood to either forgive
or forget, may well decide to give them the same
treatment the Bourbons got in 1789.