Keith's Latest "Komment" on the Mosque

Once again, MSNBC's chief propagandist, Keith Olbermann, has gotten up on his soapbox and done his best "Network" imitation. No, he didn't threaten to shoot himself on national TV, but in his self-righteous anger, managed to embarrass himself with his position on the New York mosque.

It isn't that Olbermann defends building the mosque in the Ground Zero neighborhood. That is his right. It isn't that Olbermann is concerned about Islamophobia in America and that Muslims might be marginalized. That is admirable.

What I find objectionable to Olbermann here is his refusal to consider the arguments against having a mosque at that particular location. He refuses to consider the legitimate concerns and questions surrounding Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. He never once mentioned Rauf or acknowledged the objections to some of his known statements about 9-11 and shariah law. Those are valid points of discussion. Not to Olbermann. To Keith, it really all boils down to two main points:

1 To elitists like Olbermann, most Americans have no clue about the Constitution and the right of a religious minority to worship and build their places of worship.

2 Opponents of the mosque hate Muslims.

He is completely wrong on point one and only partially correct on point two.

As to point one, while polls show 65-70% of Americans opposed to the mosque, they also show a similar number acknowledging that they have the legal right to build it.

Point two is more complicated. It is way too simplistic to dismiss opponents of the mosque as bigots. That is Keith's style, however. He believes that those who oppose Obama are racists. He also believes that those who support Arizona in the immigration controversy are bigots toward Hispanics. Wrong on both those counts.

But back to the Islamic issue. To cast opponents of the mosque at Ground Zero as Islamophobes is grossly unfair. To be sure, they are out there. I spend enough time in the blogosphere that I know they are out there. I have read a lot of stuff that basically damns Islam and Muslims in general. There are readers of this blog who are convinced that I hate Muslims. Well, I don't. Do I have concerns about certain aspects of Islamic doctrine? You bet. I have written about them often. Am I opposed to the idea of sharia law gaining a foothold in the US? Absolutely. It is in contradiction and incompatible with Western values of freedom and tolerance. I guess my problem is that I consider Islam to be both a religion and a political ideology. The religion I can deal with in terms of charity, praying and dressing modestly. What's not to admire and respect about that? However, I take issue with any idea that my country would be dominated and controlled by Islam the political ideology and sharia law to enforce it. Does that make me an Islamophobe? Depends how you define phobia and Islamo, I guess. Do I hate Muslims? No. (But Keith Olbermann would say that I do.) Do I want to see feelings against American Muslims inflamed over this mosque issue? No, and in that regard, I think that Muslim leaders are leading their people down a bad path by pushing this mosque at Ground Zero. Were they to acknowledge and respect the sensitivities over 9-11 and build it somewhere else, the thing would die down quickly. Go ahead and build it and the damage will be lasting. Right now the perception is that they don't care about the feelings of the majority of the American people. They are widening the divide. Don't they see that?

Maybe they do.


I respect Olbermann's concerns about how Muslims are treated in this country. Yet, with few exceptions, Americans have acted with incredible restraint and tolerance in the wake of 9-11. There are certainly hard feelings. Some of the things I have read on the Internet are worrisome. Yet, there has been no Kristallnacht in America. There has been no organized government boycott of Muslim-owned businesses. There has been no round-up of innocent civilians who have disappeared. Our government (both administrations since 9-11) has attempted to concentrate on those individuals who are engaged in subversive/terroristic activity without casting a brush against an entire group of people. Perhaps some mistakes have been made since 9-11 in the government's efforts to prevent future 9-11s, but they have been honest mistakes followed by attempts to rectify them and punish transgressions. Yet Olbermann says that American Muslims are being the victims of terror right here in America. He talks about America's "shameful" past without mentioning any efforts to right the wrongs. He goes out of his way to rebut a woman by name who lost her son on 9-11.

How Olbermann can frame his arguments on such complicated subjects in a way as to ignore the real concerns and questions surrounding this mosque speaks volumes about his professionalism and credibility as a journalist.

And to quote Martin Niemoller and the analogy to what happened in Nazi Germany? What are you talking about, Keith? Not even close. This is America, damn it!