Okay, well I think it's a pretty commonly accepted truism that the guaranteed way to endear oneself to a new crowd of people is to walk into the room and launch immediately and without preamble into a political rant. Right? Right. Okay, so…
I wasn't really planning on hauling out the ol' soapbox this soon, though anyone who knows me could have told you that some political screeds were inevitable. But this load of self-righteous horseshit over the so-called "Mosque at Ground Zero" is snowballing into utter insanity, and I've got a bit of spleen in dire need of venting over the whole thing.
So first, let me see if I've got this straight.
A few subhuman buckets of fuck blow up buildings full of people in the name of their own twisted version of a particular ideology, and we're supposed to tar everyone who believes in the actual ideology as somehow being responsible? And their presence anywhere near the scene of the crime is supposed to be an affront to those who remain emotionally affected by what happened?
By that "logic", the Republican Party should never have any sort of organizational presence in Oklahoma City again, because Timothy McVeigh was a right-wing nutjob.
But okay, so it's an election year and the wingnuts have found another total non-issue to whip up into a massive fundraising bonanza of a crisis. Can't get the Elmers all het up over gay marriage this time? Welp, may as well shift gears and go after them thar Moozlems for awhile!
And boy howdy, are they!
By now, there can't be more than a small handful of Americans (mainly coma victims) who haven't heard about the right-wing brouhaha over the construction of the "Mosque at Ground Zero." The "mosque", of course, is the Cordoba House, a planned Islamic community center to be built two blocks away from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. It's going to be a 13-story building (which, in Lower Manhattan, qualifies as a ranch-style home) that does contain a prayer room – as well as a performing arts center, a swimming pool, a basketball court, a fitness center, and a culinary school.
In other words, it's not really a mosque, at least any more than a YMCA or a hospital with a chapel is a "church", and furthermore it's not even on "Ground Zero".
But don't lets go lettin' facts get in the way of a perfectly good tantrum, shall we? The "mosque at Ground Zero" has become the flavor of the month for outrage-craving teabaggers from sea to blathering sea, and Republican politicians, desperate for a cheap election-season hotbutton issue, seem more than happy to glom onto the controversy.
They'll all tell you, though, that this isn't about anti-Muslim bigotry and hatemongering. Nooooo… it's merely concern for the feelings of those who lost people when the Trade Center was destroyed nine years ago. It's about protecting the "hallowed ground" of the Trade Center site. It's all about respect, y'see.
And if you buy that one, why then I reckon we oughtta wander on over to Brooklyn and go bridge shopping.
But yeah, they're just "protecting hallowed ground". Horseshit. This is Lower Manhattan, fer cryin' out loud! Vatican City, it ain't. There's a strip club one block south of "Ground Zero", another strip club three blocks northeast (and one block from the proposed Cordoba House site), an off-track betting parlor a block east of that… you get the picture.
So, are the strippers at those clubs required to have images of the Twin Towers embossed on their pasties? Y'know, for the benefit of the horny businessmen who frequent those places when they need a quiet moment to reflect on what "nine-eleven" means to them?
A five-minute video is now making the Internet rounds, shot yesterday during a rally against the building of the Cordoba House, that shows exactly what's fueling these protests.
A rare moment of candid honesty in this whole sorry-ass mess, isn't it?
And, predictably enough, it turns out that the "Muslim" the crowd was hassling wasn't even a Muslim. He was, reportedly, a union carpenter named Kenny who works at the Trade Center site.
One of the most unintentionally hilarious parts of that video is about 1:50 into it, after the crowd has gone completely nuts on ol' Kenny. Some fucking tool can be heard just off camera bellowing, "They can TRY to make it look like we're a buncha racists, but it AIN'T HAPPENING!"
Hey Stosh, that crowd just went after that black fellow like he was made of free bacon, and all because you morons thought he "looked like a Muslim."
And you think that "They" are going to try to make y'all look like a bunch of racists? Nobody needs to "make" you look like anything, pallie - that angry mob of yours just showed with appalling clarity just exactly what it is.
Now, take a deep breath, and walk around the block to New York Dolls for a lap dance (be sure to ask for the Hallowed Ground Special!) and just calm the hell down already, willya?
Well hell, I'll jump in here and throw in my two cents.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite argument is that the building of this community center is somehow a victory dance for al Qaida.
After Obama said "let me be clear," and defended the U.S. Constitution (which I believe is in his job description) he decided twenty-four hours or so later to walk that back a bit when he said his comment about their right didn't reflect the "wisdom" of their decision.
Well FUCK, Barry, you don't have much room to talk about wisdom when you already gave your opponents the ammunition to dust off the ol' 'he's a Muslim' meme again, but yanked the rug out from under any of your supporters who might have had a momentary sliver of hope that you finally sprouted a vertebra or two.
I'm not seeing much wisdom to go around in the village of D.C. or on the MSM from anyone when it comes to this issue.
But even dumber is the reverse psychology of the supposedly loyal 'mericans barking at the moon of this across all the mass media.
If the herd of right-wing fucktards foaming at the mouth over this community center — and the even bigger flock of spineless moderates on both sides of the aisle giving serious consideration to taking a big steaming shit on the first amendment — isn't the greatest recruiting tool for al Qaida, I don't know what is.
It's like they're trying to prove to the world that we're a bunch of stupid, fucking hypocrites who can't even abide by our own values. It's the first fucking amendment people, surely you can read that far into the Constitution before you get bored and stop.
But the neo-nazi zombie brigade are just the tools of the real players in this whole thing. The people who know this hoopla is a real shot in the arm for al Qaida - because these people are the very ones who are making a killing (pun intended) on keeping this endless "war on terror" going.
It's like every third episode of Xena, where some arms merchant tries to stir the pot so he can sell his wares.
Unfortunately Obama is no Lucy Lawless in this scenario - he's more like Joxer. And I know the morons will want to say that Palin is Xena, but that's not even worth a derisive snort. She's more like Discord (though not as hot).
Anyway, it looks like all those efforts to undermine education in this country since Reagan are finally paying off for the rich bastards that reap the benefits of our exponentially growing military budgets.
Now if you'll excuse me I need to go secure all the fragile stuff in the china cabinet because the tremors from all the founding fathers turning over in their graves is threatening to break something.
Burlington.
ReplyDeleteCoat.
Factory.
After the first Tuesday in November, we'll never hear about this shit again.
pardon me, i just stepped on my dick, thanks to the xena references.... i had no idea that show had a plot.
ReplyDeletesomething a little more mainstream for masses, as i was raised in the church of the NFL; imagine a golden goose, offerning mindless bliss, at least twice weekly during the doldrums of snow and ice, threatens to stop offering its guilded eggs because everything, is not enough.
in an even simpler posit; if square pegs fit through round holes, GWB would not have been a "C" student.
just as the water drips between your fingers as you sip from your cupped hand, the integrity of the melting pot, our very culture, or lack thereof, fractures into 310 million shards.
throw another log on the fire, it's going to be a long winter's night