Former President Bush offers 'no comment' on Cordoba House/mosque controversy.
--Josh Marshall
Rand Paul has a new position on the Cordoba House Project: as a libertarian and believer in private property rights he believes it should be left to local authorities to decide. But he doesn't believe it should be built. Says the campaign: "In Dr. Paul's opinion, the Muslim community would better serve the healing process by making a donation to the memorial fund for the victims of September 11th."
--Josh Marshall
Another TPM Reader from the defense bar weighs in with his own verdict on the Blago verdict: never talk to the government.
That's a lawyers' argument. No doubt. But having watched a lot of public corruption cases from start to finish over the last decade, I have to say there's a lot of truth in what he says. A lot of these public corruption charges are just really hard to make stick. There's no getting around that. Especially the ones that center on some alleged quid pro quo. And when people do get convicted of stuff, or find themselves compelled to plea out, more often than not it's on ancillary charges, often for lying to federal investigators, rather than for acts that made them crooked in the first place.
As our other TPM Reader noted earlier, it looks now that Fitzgerald just never had that strong a case on the law -- in good measure because press leaks forced his hand and made him bring the charges before the corrupt transactions had been completed. That's the paradox of this one. Before the bar of common sense, Fitzgerald had more than enough evidence to show that Blago was as crooked a pol as Chicago had produced in some time, which is saying something. But on the law, the case maybe just wasn't that solid. It will be interesting to hear what the jury has to say.
--Josh Marshall
A longtime TPM Reader weighs in on the Blago verdict ...
This verdict should not be a surprise to anyone. For a long time knowledgeable observers in Chicago have looked at the government's charges and really thought that there was no there there. The fact that the Governor had not benefited at all from any of his alleged machinations played a huge role.But looking at the case, you really see that Fitzgerald blew it. Essentially these charges were drawn up overnight after the Chicago Tribune called Fitzgerald in his office and told him that they were running a story the next day that the U.S. Attorney's Office was tapping the Governor's telephones. Not a single completed crime had occurred.
--Josh Marshall
Rand Paul's lead over Democrat Jack Conway in the Kentucky Senate race is just 5 points.
--David Kurtz
The jury has returned a verdict in the criminal trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The court is expected to announce the verdict at any time now. The consensus among observers seems to be that the jury, in its 14th day of deliberations, will not be able to return a verdict on all the counts.
--David Kurtz
The former New York Giant most famous for his walk-off home run to win the pennant in 1951 has died. Watch the enduring call of the "Shot Heard 'Round the World":
--David Kurtz
Presidential candidate and Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) says the State Department's sponsorship of Imam Rauf as part of its program to send American Muslims abroad to speak about US religious pluralism is "disgusting" and "dangerous."
--Josh Marshall
While interning for us last year, Eric Nusbaum wrote an incredibly moving essay for his sports blog Pitchers and Poets that has now been selected for inclusion in the anthology The Best American Sports Writing 2010. Great work, Eric!
--David Kurtz
TPM Reader EA notes how the kind of boffo over-the-top 'branding' games that are the norm in 30 second attack ads can be rather more pernicious when applied to religious hate speech ...
It seems like enough damage has been done with the misnomer "Ground Zero Mosque," but Palin's tweet that the mosque is just two blocks away from "9/11" is similar to the crawl headline I saw in the Trentonian over the weekend visiting my Grandmother in the Philly burbs. It said, "Obama supports 9/11 mosque." (I wonder where this construction originated and how widespread it has become relative to others)
--Josh Marshall
Where do major national Christian denominations stand on the Cordoba House project? Our Brian Beutler reports.
--Josh Marshall
If you have a taste for black comedy, here's some good stuff. Since the early Bush administration the US State Department has been sending American Imams to Muslim-majority countries around the world to talk about religious pluralism and the glories of practicing Islam in America. Twice the Bush administration sent none other than New York Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the Cordoba House project, on one of these trips. And now, as I write, he's on a third trip to the region (specifically Saudi Arabia and a series of Gulf emirates) to tell audiences what it's like to practice Islam under our regime of religious freedom and equality.
That must be going great, right?
I can just imagine the fun moments with Rauf dispelling the myths of his benighted Saudi listeners about the place of Muslims in the West.
Of course, if you think that Rauf is back there in the Islamic hood to give the locals an update on his work to place America under the rule of Sharia Law, then the comedy may have a different context.
--Josh Marshall
From TPM Reader HK, an American Muslim ...
What has been conspicuously absent from most coverage of the "Ground Zero Mosque" has been actual Muslim American perspectives on it. I wonder how much of this is simply because of foresight, or rather because of a semi-willful lack of touchpoints between the political blogosphere and Muslim community leaders and activists.
--Josh Marshall
In a dark moment like this when expediency and emotion are carrying the day, I'm thankful that we have a robust and growing political movement which supports a consistent and absolute adherence to the Constitution in all matters, everywhere and at all times.
--Josh Marshall
Richard Hanna, the Republican House challenger in New York's 24th district was that rare Republican standing up for the right for American Muslims to build a mosque in Lower Manhattan. Until his Democratic opponent, Rep. Michael Arcuri, came out against it. Now Hanna's decided he's against it too.
--Josh Marshall
I find it a tad rich that Gov. Christie (R) of New Jersey is saying that both sides are using the mosque controversy as a "political football" since pretty much all the political advantage appears to be on the one side and this has all the appeal of kryptonite for Democrats. But give the man credit for being a lonely voice in his party pushing back at least a bit against the current anti-Muslim hysteria.
--Josh Marshall
TPM Reader GP:
Isn't the quick, easy and proper response to the "hallowed ground" argument to say that the Constitution is ALSO hallowed? How many people have died defending that over 235 years?It's an embarrassment that Democrats don't know how to make the Constitution itself as American as the WTC. Nothing is more American, and turning the tables on the Republicans would make them turn tail with this bogus critique.
--David Kurtz
I've been waiting, watching to see how long it will take to get close to the language of blood libels and stabs in the back as the various demagogues and haters up the volume on the anti-Cordoba House agitation. Well, not too long apparently. Says Sarah Palin, the decision of "those Muslims" to build near the WTC complex "feels like a stab in the heart of collectively American who still have that lingering pain from 9/11."
See the video.
--Josh Marshall
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