Our craven politicians need to read the Constitution and adhere to the 1st amendment of the Bill of Rights.  It is a founding principle of our country and it is cheapened every time an elected representative denies the Cordoba Institute their right to build where they wish to build. 

Ben Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are spinning in their graves wondering who the weak ass cowards are living in their land and how their leaders have become such lily livered craven snakes.

What ever happened to "Give me liberty or give me death?"

Rolling over on the Bill of Rights makes our leaders worse surrender monkeys than the Vichy.

In fairness, we've been building 'ground zeros' near Iraqi mosques since March 2003.  (twitter.com)

and

"Because of their track record of killing Americans, I can't support the construction of a Ground Zero McDonald's." (twitter.com)

and

 "Because 4,196 Americans were killed in traffic accidents in 2001, I cannot support the building of roads or driving of cars near Ground Zero" (twitter.com)

and

As New York City's indigenous Lanape Natives died at Ground Zero by the thousands when overrun by Christian colonists, shouldn't we ban Christian churches from their sacred ground? 

and

If you're going to complain about a Mosque being built near Ground Zero, you need to also complain about a Catholic Church being built near an elementary school.

and

Think you're pissed about a Islamic cultural center two blocks from Ground Zero? Imagine how about the Japanese feel about a U.S. military base 20 miles from Hiroshima. 

Ultimately, this "controversy" is all about racism, religious bigotry and flagrant disregard of the Constitution.  Those muslims need to stand strong and build their community center.

Mosque gets all the press, but area near Ground Zero full of bars, porn, liquor stores, salons... urban blight.

______________________

Ground Zero Mosque protesters surround and attack two men speaking Arabic. Police have to rescue them. Turns out they weren't Muslims but were Arab Christians protesting with them. No racism here:

(From page two of the article)

At one point, a portion of the crowd menacingly surrounded two Egyptian men who were speaking Arabic and were thought to be Muslims.

"Go home," several shouted from the crowd.

"Get out," others shouted.

In fact, the two men – Joseph Nassralla and Karam El Masry — were not Muslims at all. They turned out to be Egyptian Coptic Christians who work for a California-based Christian satellite TV station called "The Way." Both said they had come to protest the mosque.

"I'm a Christian," Nassralla shouted to the crowd, his eyes bulging and beads of sweat rolling down his face.

But it was no use. The protesters had become so angry at what they thought were Muslims that New York City police officers had to rush in and pull Nassralla and El Masry to safety.

"I flew nine hours in an airplane to come here," a frustrated Nassralla said afterward.

The incident underscores how contentious — and, perhaps, how irrational — the debate over the mosque has become.

A mosque, for instance, has been located since 1983 on West Broadway, about 12 blocks from Ground Zero. After the 9/11 attacks, the mosque's imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, began shaping plans to build an Islamic cultural center closer to Ground Zero as part of an attempt to build cultural ties between Islam and America.

Called Cordoba House, the center would rise 13 stories and would include a 500-seat auditorium, a swimming pool and a mosque.

Late last month, after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a variety of political leaders announced their support for the project, the lower Manhattan community board voted 29-1, with 10 abstentions, to approve Cordoba House.

But there is still one hurdle left. Because plans call for extensive renovations to the former Burlington Coat Factory building, the center needs approval from the Landmark Preservation Commission.

That approval could come as early as July. But no matter what is decided, it will do little to soothe many hurt feelings — especially those of 9/11 victims' relatives.