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Smidlee on 16 August 2010
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HappySqurriel said:
superchunk said:

LOL, well at least it is a source. Love to see the similar question proposed as being near a school or Church or any number of other buildings. Bet the answer would be pretty much the same. Problem is they only interview about 1,000 people. It really depends on where those thousand live and their personal beliefs. All I know is the generally right centered group of people I work with in a red state predominantly think it is n't that big of a deal.


I think what you would find if you did a comprehensive poll on this is that the vast majority of people believe that they should have the right to build this mosque; and the vast majority of people believe that it is a bad idea (and it is in bad taste) that this mosque is built.

Where I think Obama missed the mark in his initial support is that he didn’t present it in a way that he found the building of the mosque (in any way) objectionable; and even in his clarifications he has avoided doing that. Essentially, it is the difference from an individual saying that "I find hate speech offensive but an individual’s freedom of speech needs to be protected even if they’re saying offensive things" and "There is nothing wrong with hate speech because we have freedom of speech"

If I was in Obama’s position, I would have said something (along the lines of) "While I recognize that these individuals have a right to build a mosque anywhere, I would implore them to choose another location in order to respect the victims of the 9-11 attacks."

Actually I believe Obama's smartest move would be to say nothing. I don't see where he gain anything by opening his mouth on this. Like you said we all know where the law stand on this issue.