By now, almost everybody in America has taken a stand one way or another on the mosque which imam Feisal Abdul Rauf wants to build just two blocks away from Ground Zero. And although the opinion of 70% of Americans is that it ought not be built near the place where the World Trade Centers once stood, filmmaker Michael Moore is raising money to help fund its construction.

That’s right, that ogre of man who has dedicated his life to overthrowing capitalism, subverting American exceptionalism, and opposing the War on Terror at every turn, has now raised $50,000 to help Rauf build his little “prayer center” two blocks away from the very spot where Muslim terrorists killed almost 3,000 Americans in 2001.  Moreover, Moore has gone on record saying his only complaint regarding the proposed mosque is that it’s being built two blocks from Ground Zero instead of right on Ground Zero.

Moore actually said: “I am opposed to the building of the ‘mosque’ two blocks from Ground Zero. I want it built on Ground Zero.” (more…)

People have asked me my opinion of the Rev. Terry Jones’ threat to burn the Quran this past weekend. Personally I think the best thing to do with this story is to not give this insignificant media-hound with all of fifty parishioners a voice. But it’s way too late for that now. So, of course I find the action in poor taste – I would never burn any religion’s sacred parchment. That is just wrong and disrespectful to millions trying to practice their faith and go about their daily lives in peace.

But (there’s always a “but” in such testy cases), when I juxtapose this one twisted symbolic gesture against the disregard—and I would argue contempt—being shown by so-called “moderate” practitioners of Islam who insist on building their mosque almost on top of the ashes of 9/11 victims against the wishes of so many Americans, I can understand the frustration that creates a Jones and his ilk. And the fact is, as Mayor Bloomberg offered up, if there is freedom of speech for the fanatical Muslim goose, it must also be for the crackpot Christian gander.

Still, as a matter of common decency I hope this guy tables forever his plans—and there are no copycats. And as a practical matter, I agree with General Petraeus in that the last thing our men and women in the field need is another faux propaganda storm putting them in greater harm’s way… although I do believe that fear of retaliation should not be a reason to quell free speech but rather to fight harder for it. (Easy for me to say as I am not humping a pack in Kandahar I freely admit!)

However, something did occur to me this weekend. Jones is going about this all wrong. If he really wants to burn the Islamic holy book, I know a way that he could do it while at the same time have every left wing pundit and mainstream news outlet not decry his act but rather defend and even celebrate it. He should burn it on the steps of the Museum Of Modern Art up here in New York. And instead of calling it a protest, or a statement, he should just call his Quran torching “art.” In the interest of consistency, artistic integrity and fairness, maybe he can even do it in the building, right on the same spot where in 1989 the infamous “Piss Christ” photo was proudly exhibited. You remember that? The piece of “art” that showed a crucifix submerged in urine? As artist Andres Serrano explained his artistic vision in an open letter to the National Endowment for the Arts: (more…)

Thanks to a heads-up from terrorism expert Steven Emerson and his organization IPT, the Investigative Project on Terrorism, I learned that in late July Nihad Awad, the unctuous executive director and co-founder of CAIR, gave a lecture at Jordan’s Kuta University entitled “The Experience of CAIR in Clarifying the Image of Islam in the West.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has muscled its way into being the go-to Muslim-American mouthpiece for the benefit of the lazy and complicit mainstream media – including The O’Reilly Factor, where Awad recently appeared and attempted to smear the opponents of the planned Ground Zero monument to Islamic supremacism. He works tirelessly to advance the stealth jihad agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood, for which CAIR is a front group.

At Kuta, Awad spoke to students, professors, and the dean about “the international image of Islam,” which he claimed had been “subject to insult and distortions since the first Crusade.” He also presented practical steps that Muslims can follow to teach the world about Islam. (more…)

So Mayor Bloomberg proves once again that he may be the dumbest rich man in the world. First, on Monday he speculated on who might be behind the Time Square car bomb. His speculation, which is purely speculative, of course! – was assisted by our nation’s elf, Katie Couric:

Bloomberg: If I had to guess 25 cents, this would be exactly that. Somebody….

Couric: A homegrown….

Bloomberg: A homegrown, maybe a mentally deranged person or somebody with a political agenda that doesn’t like the health care bill or something. It could be anything.

Yep, those folks are so angry at health care reform, that they’re setting off car bombs, left and right. You know, when they’re not running hardware stores, cheating at Scrabble with their neighbors, or playing with their grandkids. (more…)

So a marketing consultant who works for Mayor Bloomberg just resigned after getting into hot water over some stale jokes she made about Mexico at the Huffington Post.

Now, to be clear: the jokes that Betsy Perry made in the post were about Mexico. Not Mexicans.

There is a difference, people.

The jokes included a bit about “drinking the water,” a line about as old as Montezuma, and his revenge. She also brought up the drug gang problems, as well as the kidnappings and, of course, the swine flu. Now, the stuff she said about all this was neither particularly insightful or funny – but the last time I checked, that is not a cause for losing your job. If that were the case, Janeane Garafalo would be living under a bridge. (more…)