A proposal to build a Muslim Community Center in Lower Manhattan appears to be going forward. (See here.) At a time when the right is seeking to whip up hate and fear in any way it can, it’s refreshing to see it suffer a defeat. The right’s attempt to build up hysteria over this failed to get much support, even after the loathsome Sarah Palin jumped on the bandwagon. (So much for Palin’s supposed ability to reach out to people.) The misnamed Anti-Defamation League (which is actually devoted to defaming people) also hopped on board with little effect. New York’s Republican mayor, Michael Bloomberg refused to oppose the building. (I guess he’s too busy whipping up hatred of Mexicans.)
I could be wrong about this, but It seems to me that anti-Muslim sentiment is stronger in Europe than it is in the U.S. We don’t have the government passing laws against minarets and veils here. A recent attempt to whip up opposition to a mosque in Temecula, California fell flat. Perhaps U.S. society is too heterogeneous and too secular for this sort of thing. If that’s so, it’s one thing we have going for us.
The Spanish Prisoner 
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