As a rule, I  don’t  usually respond to comments made on my blog, preferring to let the remarks speak for themselves but, in this case, I feel compelled to do so.

Moreover, I’m often bewildered by some people’s proclivity to read something and see only what they want to see, while dismissing (maybe subconsciously) everything else that might challenge their point of view.

To WowSameOld: Yes, it is definitely about placement – and ONLY about placement. Holding an interfaith prayer service (including Muslims) at the Pentagon which, indeed, also was attacked on 9/11, is a positive and healing act – but hardly the same thing as building a 15-story mega mosque and cultural center two blocks from Ground Zero.  It puzzles me why people like yourself,  seemingly intelligent and well-spoken, can’t see the difference – or even entertain the reasons why it might offend people.

You also mention another mosque nearby,  Masjid Manhattan, just 5 blocks from Ground Zero.  I could be wrong, but I’m assuming it was there before 9/11.  Furthermore, if it was, it’s a testament to American tolerance that’s it’s still standing.  In addition, if there’s already a mosque 5 blocks away, why the need for another one?  Surely, there can’t be that many Muslims living in Lower Manhattan that two mosques within a  5-block radius are necessary.   

For Bert:  You left Genghis Kan and Attila the Hun (definitely not Muslim!) off your long and irrelevant list of infamous terrorists!  And, if you really want to stretch the definition of ‘terrorist’ to the max, as you seem determined to do – you  could probably add the name of our first president – George Washington.

However, I don’t think clouding the issue serves any purpose.  None of those groups you mentioned, destructive as they may be, flew two super-jets into towering urban skyscrapers, killing more than 3,000 innocent people – and only by some miracle – didn’t kill thousands more.  That act of unprecedented terrorism will stand alone (Please God) for many generations to come. 

The sad fact is, and denial and clouding the issue won’t change it, if you look at the majority of trouble spots all over the globe, where people are slaughtering their fellow man in huge numbers, it always seems to be over a Muslim issue.  (Please don’t point out the handful of places where the latter doesn’t fit.)

For  HamBone and Bert:  One last time … objection to the mosque at Ground Zero has absolutely nothing to do with intolerance – no matter how hard you try to spin it that way.  It has everything to do with insensitivity.  And if you can’t, or won’t, understand that, then there’s nothing left to say.

Speaking about tolerance, those of you pointing fingers at others, accusing them of being intolerant – what about the intolerance of Islam?  Try being gay, or a woman, in a Muslim country.  And let’s see if a synagogue or church would be allowed in Mecca.  Why aren’t you up on your soapbox about that?

And, lastly:  this blog is meant for civilized (and intelligent, I hope) discussion and debate.  An exchange of opinions.  There’s no place on it for mean-spiritedness, viciousness, name-calling or insults.  There’s plenty of other places on the ‘net to vent your neurosis – and where you’d be more than welcome.  Not here.  If you can’t make your point without demeaning somebody, you’ve got a serious problem. 

Not only that – you’ll be immediately deleted – and all your hostile venting would have been for naught.

The escalating, embittered controversy over the planned mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero has lost all semblance of common sense.

While self-appointed  ‘progressives’  are staunchly in favor of the Muslim mosque and cultural center  (surprise, surprise!), ‘conservatives’ – and the majority of the American people – are not.

Democrat and Republican leaders have turned the dispute into a political football, with one side claiming self-righteous ownership of the First Amendment . However, it’s true there are some Democrats who are deserting the ship on this issue. (Then again, those nasty mid-term elections are breathing down their necks.  Better to be safe than sorry.)

The bitter brouhaha has launched a war of words among the competing cable news shows, with one talking-head blasting the other’s point of view.  Even Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart has jumped on the bandwagon, adding his biased (and not so funny) opinion, to the delight of his parroting audience.

“America stands for freedom of religion,” N.Y.C. Mayor Bloomberg says in his support of the mega-mosque.  (I wouldn’t take any bets on his re-election.)

Yes, we know America stands for freedom of religion, Mr. Mayor.  Nobody is disputing that.  I don’t think too many Americans would deny Muslims the right to build a mosque and worship as they wish.

BUT NOT TWO BLOCKS FROM GROUND ZERO!

While it’s certainly true all Muslims are not terrorists – it’s just as true that all terrorists seem to be Muslim.  Moreover, the terrorists who flew those planes into the W.T.C. that horrible day were Jihadist Muslims who wanted to hurt us bad.  They accomplished their mission – and we are still bleeding from the mortal wound.

To erect a monument to the Muslim faith so close to the bloodied hallowed ground where thousands lost their lives in the name of that particular religion – is the ultimate insensitivity. 

Furthermore, anyone who thinks this unwanted mosque could ever be an “interfaith bridge-builder,”  or some  warped affirmation of America’s freedom of religion – is either absolutely Looney Tunes, or surely working with a single-digit I.Q.

One of my bloggers sent me this.  It’s a letter to the editor that appeared in a British newspaper, and reported to be written by a local housewife.  Tell me what you think? 
 
 “Are we fighting a war on terror or aren’t we?  Was it, or was it not, started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores in July 2002, and in New York Sept 11/2001, and have continually threatened to do so since?

“Were people from all over the world  not brutally murdered that day in London, and in downtown Manhattan, and in a field in Pennsylvania ?

“Did nearly three-thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn’t they?

“And I’m supposed to care that a few Taliban were claiming to be tortured by a justice system of the nation they come from, and are fighting against in a brutal insurgency. I’ll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11 and 7/7.

“I’ll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere belief of which is a crime punishable by beheading in Afghanistan.

“I’ll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg’s head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

“I’ll care when the cowardly so-called ‘insurgents’ in Afghanistan come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques and behind women and children.

“I’ll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of Nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

“I’ll care when the British media stops pretending that their freedom of speech on stories is more important than the lives of the soldiers on the ground or their families waiting at home to hear about them when something happens.

“In the meantime, when I hear a story about a British soldier roughing up an insurgent terrorist to obtain information, know this:

“I don’t care.

“When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take this to the bank:
 “I don’t care.

“When I hear that a prisoner – who was issued a  Koran and a prayer mat, and ‘fed special food’ that is paid for by my taxes – is complaining that his holy book is being ‘mishandled,’ you can
absolutely believe in your heart of hearts:

“I don’t care.
 
 And oh, by the way, I’ve noticed that sometimes it’s spelled ‘Koran’ and other times ‘Quran.’  Well, believe me …. you guessed it.

“I don’t care!

“Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. Our soldiers don’t have that problem.”

Following world condemnation, Iran is said to be “reviewing” the stoning-to- death sentence of a 43-year-old widow convicted of – not premeditated murder- but the unforgivable crime of adultery.

If the human rights outcry is successful, the mother of two will just be hanged, instead.

This is the mindset of certain, stuck-in-the- Middle Ages countries the civilized world thinks they can deal with.  It wouldn’t be surprising if these same countries next instituted burning at the stake.

To comprehend just how utterly barbaric a stoning is, I suggest readers view the recently released movie, “The Stoning of Soraya M.”   Based on a true account, the film tells the story of Soraya, a young housewife and mother, who in 1986 was buried to her waist in her Iranian hometown square and stoned to death by her fellow villagers.

A word of advice: don’t buy any popcorn to munch while watching this film.

Without going into the gory details, suffice to say that in most stoning cases, the woman is buried up to her neck, and onlookers are invited to pelt the poor soul with rocks until she’s dead.  However, there’s game rules.  You mustn’t use a large enough stone that would knock her unconscious or kill her outright – no, you must only use a stone large enough to knock out teeth, eyes, break the nose and pulverize her head into a bloody mass.  The sinner must suffer mercilessly, and for many hours before she’s allowed to die.

Where is the women’s rights movement?  They should be taking to the streets, worldwide, in a relentless mass movement to put an end to this barbarity.

Is anyone else wondering if there’s somebody at the helm of our Ship of State?

Here we are more than 70 days after the BP oil disaster and it appears little has been done to halt the 50,000 barrels a day gushing from the ocean floor. More disturbing is that even less is being done to clean up the devastating spill poisoning the water and beaches and killing wildlife along the Gulf Coast.

Are all the Feds up in Washington ‘stuck on stupid?’

Neither BP nor our government is showing anything close to leadership, or even competence, in dealing with this national emergency.  As I follow developments on CNN’s Anderson Cooper’s nightly news program, I hear local officials and residents – even Louisiana’s governor Bobby Jindal, beg the federal government to get its act together and do something productive about the catastrophe.  Apparently, pleas fall on deaf ears.

Obviously, since BP continues to screw up, and shows a total lack of motivation, it can’t be counted on for anything constructive.  So the big question is why our government continues to let them run the show – and there’s no doubt that BP is the one in charge.

Now the spill has reached Florida’s Panhandle, and will invade the beaches of South Florida before the summer is out.  Let’s hope Gov. Crist will have better luck getting Washington to act.