Also, @Andy, this is a blog, hence editorializing, as you called it … i call it a blog post … is appropriate.

Thanks Homer

As I said before- it’s their property, and they can put whatever they want there. And the people who don’t want it there have a constitutionally protected right to picket the place and say what they think of it. Some of them are certainly bigots, but not all of them are. I just don’t like the attitude of people who say, “if you don’t support the mosque, you are an ignorant racist.” It’s just exactly the same thing as saying “if you do support the mosque, you are unpatriotic.”

And by “oppose” I mean I care enough about it to devote part of an evening posting a few comments on a web page- nothing more. I won’t be out there screaming on the news or lighting anything on fire. I may take a minute to mourn the loss of the Dakota Roadhouse (and its cheeseburger fries) next door to the building, should it meet an untimely demise because of this mess.

there are standards to pass the academy but the problem is there is no periodic retesting after graduation. Most cops are in shape- some are not. Height and weight requirements also have very little to do with who you want by your side in the middle of an angry mob- the 300 pound linebacker or the 110 pound weakling who is skinny enough for the arbitrary cut off? Good police work is more about knowing what’s going on on your post, who the players are, where to go to find the person who you’re looking for, knowing what information is important and what’s not, being able to prepare reports and testify competently, having good judgement, etc. than being able to run after some teenager who was smoking a joint. I would be more concerned about the intelligence standards than the fitness standards.

What did you do to help your fellow New Yorkers on 9/11? What have you ever done to help them? Next time you call 911, be sure to tell the operator what your height and weight requirements are for the cops who come to help you, no matter how short or fat you are, no matter what race or religion you are, or no matter how stupid the comments you post on the internet are.

Therefore, I’m ignorant.

Oh, and fat, too.

I bet the mosque supporters are happy to have such a brilliant orator in their camp.

What I’d really like to see is a reinstatement of the height and weight requirements at the NYPD. Short and fat cops are no protection against tyranny.

I also don’t like that the guy who’s building it owes hundreds of thousands in taxes and no one is asking why he doesn’t have to pay it before he builds or buys anything at all. I don’t like the veiled threat he made that the extremists wouldn’t like it if the mosque wasn’t built. And I don’t understand why everyone is so interested in being tolerant of people who treat women, gays, jews, etc. so badly. If I felt like EVERYONE would be welcomed at the mosque maybe I would be more likely to welcome it.

Ultimately, it’s a private building on private property and they can build it if they want. That doesn’t mean I or anyone one else can’t exercise our right to free speech and protest it being there as long as it is within the bounds of the law. And disagreeing with people who support the mosque doesn’t make us ignorant and it doesn’t make us racists.

It’s crazy that in this day and age some people are still uncomfortable with the idea of free speech, when it’s about something they don’t agree with.

Don’t delete anything! :)

I was at the gym this morning and the monitors had the network news coverage of the WTC ceremony. Most of their talking heads were not scholars or serious news analysts but a rogue’s gallery of opportunists and nut-jobs – Rudy Giuliani, the preacher from Florida, etc. Rather sad that’s what this day has turned into…

Thank you for this (entire) post, and thanks to those men and the people like them who just look out for others no matter what.

♥ and peace.

This nation did not overreact. Not at all. For a time — and for the first time I can ever remember — this country actually came together to voice a collective concern and acted on it. My feeling is that as one of the world’s leaders we can not allow dictatorships of hatred go on and breed killers. Aggressive acts were necc — and, I feel, still are. Just because time and money are spent without visible change to some, does not mean you change your mind and walk away.

http://www.ae911truth.org/

And the bagpipes crossed the Brooklyn Bridge this morning. recorded from my apartment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNSU8JSaPK4

I’d also add that I agree with Fareed Zacharia and Ted Koppel, who have both recently wrote against the United States’ overreaction to the events of 9/11/01.

Both articles are worth a read and consideration:

Zacharia’s piece: http://tinyurl.com/2abbthu
Koppel’s: http://tinyurl.com/2wez89r

We need to stop playing into the hands of Al Qaeda and related criminal extremists, which at no point were more than a few hundred people.

We did not control what they did to us nine years ago, but we can control our own actions going forward, whether it’s unnecessary vanity wars in countries that had no connection whatsoever with 9/11, or dancing with snakes “preachers” who seek to turn the efforts of a few hundred criminals into a battle of civilizations.

Some of our reactions to the events of 9/11 over the past nine years have benefitted the murderous criminals of Al Qaeda beyond their wildest dreams.

It was horrible. We can’t forget it, nor should we. But we must also move on.