Friday, August 20, 2010
You don't give the mob what it wants
Politicians, columnists, prominent bloggers & tweeters, should always take note of who is lining for & against their views, but especially for.
Remember the incident during the '08 campaign, one of Sen. McCain's town meeting events, a supporter, a woman, made some ignorant, baseless charges against Sen. Obama. McCain was taken aback, & disturbed, as if he had never considered the kinds of people & emotions his campaign was stirring up & tapping. The woman assumed McCain represented her views. If one is not a bigot but one is leading bigots, what does one do? That's happening with the Park51 opposition.
At this point, about 95% of the misinformation is coming from the opposition to Cordoba House. The unchecked "facts" are viral.
My inclination was to go the route of, "This is so ugly that we ought to negotiate this building into another location." Because I didn't have strong feelings about it. I didn't think it ought to be that big a deal. But now, I'm starting think that Park51 should be built as planned because the opposition is now so obviously weighed down by bigots & know-nothings. They have to be answered.
The Archdiocese of New York has a special relationship with New York City firefighters. It also engages in many interfaith activities. So when Archbishop Timothy Dolan offers to "mediate" a new location, he thinks he's interceding in a local dispute. But outside the New York City area are mobs shouting, "Stop them!" Them are Muslims including Americans, Park51 is some kind of triumphant monument, as if the Armies of Islam have overrun & conquered us. & the mob lines up behind Timothy Dolan. He becomes a de facto mob leader. You don't give the mob what it wants. The mob wants a lynching.
On conservative talk radio, which is half of the AM dial here, hosts accept calls from babbling, irrational folks & make no attempt to correct the misinformation. Then when someone calls to complain that the show encourages bigotry, the host indignantly denies any connection to the whacko callers & says, "You're talking to me & I don't believe that about Muslims." As if he bears no responsibility for what he allows on the show.
The best thing America could do now is let the community center be built instead of demanding that American Muslims "voluntarily" waive part of their First Amendment rights. Otherwise, the terrorists do "win" this one. They say we hate Islam, & we're saying, "Well, now that you get down to it, yep."
Remember the incident during the '08 campaign, one of Sen. McCain's town meeting events, a supporter, a woman, made some ignorant, baseless charges against Sen. Obama. McCain was taken aback, & disturbed, as if he had never considered the kinds of people & emotions his campaign was stirring up & tapping. The woman assumed McCain represented her views. If one is not a bigot but one is leading bigots, what does one do? That's happening with the Park51 opposition.
At this point, about 95% of the misinformation is coming from the opposition to Cordoba House. The unchecked "facts" are viral.
My inclination was to go the route of, "This is so ugly that we ought to negotiate this building into another location." Because I didn't have strong feelings about it. I didn't think it ought to be that big a deal. But now, I'm starting think that Park51 should be built as planned because the opposition is now so obviously weighed down by bigots & know-nothings. They have to be answered.
The Archdiocese of New York has a special relationship with New York City firefighters. It also engages in many interfaith activities. So when Archbishop Timothy Dolan offers to "mediate" a new location, he thinks he's interceding in a local dispute. But outside the New York City area are mobs shouting, "Stop them!" Them are Muslims including Americans, Park51 is some kind of triumphant monument, as if the Armies of Islam have overrun & conquered us. & the mob lines up behind Timothy Dolan. He becomes a de facto mob leader. You don't give the mob what it wants. The mob wants a lynching.
On conservative talk radio, which is half of the AM dial here, hosts accept calls from babbling, irrational folks & make no attempt to correct the misinformation. Then when someone calls to complain that the show encourages bigotry, the host indignantly denies any connection to the whacko callers & says, "You're talking to me & I don't believe that about Muslims." As if he bears no responsibility for what he allows on the show.
The best thing America could do now is let the community center be built instead of demanding that American Muslims "voluntarily" waive part of their First Amendment rights. Otherwise, the terrorists do "win" this one. They say we hate Islam, & we're saying, "Well, now that you get down to it, yep."
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"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
Video of Sharif El-Gamal, who is developing the downtown Islamic Center, or whatever they are going to end up calling it. He makes it clear that in no uncertain terms are they moving the site.
As an owner of property in the Manhattan area, and having been to NYC many times, two blocks is a long way from Ground Zero! Unless you've been to the city, you do not realize that all you can see is up! There is no horizontal real view of NYC except up or down a corridor of streets. That's why the Towers were so indigenous to the people -- one would sometimes check the for the North tower to get ones bearings after coming up from the subway.
No one will notice the damn cultural center once it is built.
Will there be the voice of reason, especially if the center refuses to move? Are there enough sane voices to stop they hysteria that is being whopped up? Will the stupid people start attacking the local mosque in their area? Will the nutjobs become exactly what Bin Laden wanted them to be - intolerant, insufferable little white ass Christian snobs?
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As an owner of property in the Manhattan area, and having been to NYC many times, two blocks is a long way from Ground Zero! Unless you've been to the city, you do not realize that all you can see is up! There is no horizontal real view of NYC except up or down a corridor of streets. That's why the Towers were so indigenous to the people -- one would sometimes check the for the North tower to get ones bearings after coming up from the subway.
No one will notice the damn cultural center once it is built.
Will there be the voice of reason, especially if the center refuses to move? Are there enough sane voices to stop they hysteria that is being whopped up? Will the stupid people start attacking the local mosque in their area? Will the nutjobs become exactly what Bin Laden wanted them to be - intolerant, insufferable little white ass Christian snobs?
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