I am very proud of my president today. He stood up for all of us when he stood up for the mosque.

[Faygo Kid]

I think Fareed Zakaria got it exactly right when he said we need to encourage this kind of outreach, not fight it.

President Obama made a straightforward, no hesitation endorsement. Period.

I like the cut of his jib on this one. Well done, Mr. President.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. I second the endorsement.

President Obama symbolically advanced the cause of world harmony with this one.

[JNelson6563]

2. Agreed.

:toast:

[backscatter712]

3. He clearly did the right thing.

And it may pay off.

Because you know the right wing's already going apeshit over this.

For example, Lady Blah Blah's latest tweet:

"SarahPalinUSA: Will Obama express US lingering pain& ask Muslims for tolerance by discouraging 9/11 mosque while he celebrates Islamic holy month tonight?"

We all know that the right wing's gonna go off half-cocked and give Democrats plenty of fodder for attack ads against them.

[Douglas Carpenter]

4. AMEN, Amen and amen!!!

[Paladin]

5. Agreed, 100%.

And to those posters turning up on other threads related to this matter, who claim this is nothing more than a local issue that Obama should have stayed out of, I have to ask: What the hell rock have you been living under for the last month?

[PA Democrat]

6. Agreed.

[ibegurpard]

7. fully support his stand on this

[NJmaverick]

8. K&R

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Faygo Kid]

11. ???

I think you swung and missed on this one.

[jefferson_dem]

14. Goodness...

Reach much?

[saltpoint]

20. IMO that is not the question at hand,

in addition to being dead wrong.

The president chose to enter the debate and what he said elevates the dialogue and reframes the context to insist on the larger picture.

These are modern times. The bigger the picture the more people and things can fit in it.

[impik]

36. Gibbs was 100% right. You're a walking proof

[felix_numinous]

10. K & R

[bigwillq]

12. I agree with Obama on this

:thumbsup:

[healthpellets]

13. It's about property rights, not "religious freedom"

The owner of the property should be able to do what he wishes with the property, as long as whatever he desires is within the bounds of the law.

Religion should have nothing to do with it.

[Smarmie Doofus]

15. That's true, but that's not how it's being generally perceived.

Therefore, the president's stand is the correct one, imo. The symbolism is what's important here.

[healthpellets]

16. what symbolism is important?

that he's standing up for muslims?

[Smarmie Doofus]

18. Not muslims, per se. Religious pluralism. nt

[saltpoint]

19. Agree. The president was speaking for everybody

about something that directly or indirectly concerns everybody.

[Faygo Kid]

21. Welcome to DU. And yes, he is standing up for Muslims, and religious freedom.

You have a problem with that?

[healthpellets]

30. in the sense that i don't think religion needs to be part of the discussion, then yes

i have a problem with that. it needs not be about muslims or xtians or jews or hindus or any other sect. it seems like an unnecessary diversion from the real issue.

[saltpoint]

31. The objection to the Center is almost all on grounds of

religious bias.

Specifically, it is an effort by the Right to fear-monger and to manipulate ignorance and xenophobia to serve their political agenda.

It is character assassination of an entire culture.

The President asserted a higher principle in his defense of the Center.

[stevenleser]

41. Gee, real hard to tell that you are a Freeper/Teabagger troll... NOT. Alerted n/t

[Caliman73]

37. No one is objecting to the center because of property rights.

The owner of the property has given consent to the Islamic center by making the property available to them. The city planning commission has given approval for the proposed purpose of the center by allowing permits to build. The people in the area have given consent. The protests are coming from people outside the area who are bringing up the 9/11 attacks to gin up anti-Muslim sentiment. They are making it about religion.

[saltpoint]

17. President Obama, and Mayor Bloomberg last week,

did it right on the Islamic Center proposed for that site in New York City.

Public servants in their respective positions of influence must hold the umbrella over all the citizens they represent and serve, and these two guys did it right.

There isn't anything wrong with an Islamic Center to start with, no matter where it is, and not least, it would provide an opportunity for many U.S. Americans to drop in and LEARN something about a world culture many people don't know that much about .

Recommended.

[Honeycombe8]

22. A pretty safe position, given that the decision was already made, wouldn't you say?

That's neither helpful nor brave. I think it's called...what's that called, when you're riding a wave that already exists?

[saltpoint]

23. I liked its strategic value in and of itself, as it helps

in a big way to close down objections from far-Right ideologues, such as Newt Gingrich, whose propaganda against the "mosque" is highlighted in a concurrent du thread.

Bloomberg and Obama did this entirely right, IMO, both of them asserting long-standing customary respect for others' differences and framing that respect as 'American,' which implies both a character trait and a responsibility and condition of citizenship.

[superduperfarleft]

25. If he'd come out in support beforehand, it might have made it worse.

I'm hardly one of Obama's biggest fans, and have accused him and his administration numerous times of being completely tonedeaf, but he handled this perfectly.

[Faygo Kid]

26. No. He did the right thing, and deserves credit for it.

If you thought that was easy, you haven't been paying attention.

He was exactly right here. Put down your pedantic purity, and give him a little thumbs up here.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

27. yes Obama did the right thing

[Faygo Kid]

28. Thanks. Are we so jaded we don't appreciate it when a president does this?

This isn't an everyday thing.

This one matters.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

29. I think that other countries respect him too

[Hansel]

40. Nope. nt

[ruggerson]

24. He did the right thing and stood up against prevailing public opinion

IOW he showed leadership.

[Odin2005]

32. K&R

[Faygo Kid]

33. And again.

Isn't this why we are on DU?

[Whisp]

34. K&R. He's a wonderful man

one day he will get all the credit he is due, or at least a bit more of it.

:)

have a great weekend, Mr. President.

[JoeyT]

35. K&R

Standing up for freedom of religion, property rights, and doing the right thing all at once.

[donco6]

38. He did the right thing. I'm glad. n/t

[activa8tr]

39. Obama stands up for what I stand for. I Thank him! I wrote him...

telling him I thanked him. I hope all DU members who agree do the same.

[eridani]

42. Yes, he did.

Here's hoping this level of gutsiness is habit-forming.