….Last Friday, he needlessly jumped into a percolating political controversy — again — to enlighten the uneducated masses. This time the subject was the Islamic cultural center proposed to be built two blocks from Ground Zero, where Islamist terrorists murdered more than 2,700 Americans.
“The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country,” he said, beginning what was to be yet another lecture on what he sees as our failure as a people to live up to our values. “And the pain and the experience of suffering by those who lost loved ones is just unimaginable. So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. And ground zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.
“But let me be clear. As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And 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. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable.”
No one can pack more conceit, more condescension, into two little paragraphs than Barack Obama can. In the first paragraph, he establishes that opponents of the Islamic center are reacting purely emotionally. “I understand the emotions that this issue engenders.” In the second, he informs us that, as an enlightened being, he sees this issue properly — it’s about freedom of religion. Appealing to our reverence for the Constitution, he states that “our commitment” (all Americans are bound by creed to agree on this) “must be unshakable.”
These are not the words of a president attempting to lead and unite a nation. They are the words of an academic attempting to instruct a class that he considers particularly thick-headed. And they came unprompted. He didn’t have to address the issue at all. He wanted to. He needed to. His conscience compelled him to….
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