Obama the Mosque- ito

There are probably a few of you out there who recall Lance Ito, the judge who presided at O J Simpson's murder trial. Ito was best knows for letting the case get completely out of control; what should have taken a month, instead took much, much longer to complete. He allowed the court to be turned into a circus. the result was one that made most Americans unhappy.

I realized this morning that President Obama is like Judge Ito when it comes to the ground zero mosque. Obama has the power to bring that dispute towards a quick and proper resolution. All that is necessary would be for the President to announce that while the developers have a right to build a mosque where they please, building one at ground zero is a very bad idea. He cold ask the City and State to cooperate in finding the developers another site, an idea offered first by NY Governor Patterson. Obama could also appeal to the developers for the tolerance of others that they claim for themselves; they could easily move the project a few blocks, especially with the backing of powerful leaders like the president and governor.

Instead of using his power for good and to move towards resolution, Obama, like Ito, is moving things towards confrontation and an unhappy result. Obama has cast the issue as one of religious freedom, even though he knows that his position will not hold up under scrutiny. No one is saying that there should not be a mosque in downtown New York. No one is denyinig that Muslims should have a right to build mosques. The issue is whether the mosque should be a ground zero. that is an issue of decency and honor, not of religious freedom. Obama instead has fallen prey to his own world view where minorities are victims and America is a transgressor. He cannot side against the mosque, since doing so would put him on the side he despises. Those poor Muslims cannot be denied their mosque, even though they quickly rejected Patterson's offer of assistance to move the project, a decision that showed their true aim is not to smoothe relations as they claim. Maybe Obama can speak at the opening of the mosque, bow to the Imam and apologize for the USA. Hopefully by then, he will no longer be president. Just Mosque-ito in chief.