Democrat Congresscritters have a big problem:  If they don’t extend the soon-to-expire Bush tax cuts, nearly all their constituents back home will be hit with the biggest tax increase in American history.

According to a new analysis by Deloitte Tax LLP, a tax consulting firm, a family of four with a household income of $50,000 a year would get slapped with $2,900 more in taxes in 2011.  The same family making $100,000 a year would see its taxes rise by $4,500.

The folks that actually run businesses and hire Americans face even bigger tax hikes. A family of four making $500,000 a year would pay $10,800 more in taxes. The same family making $1 million a year would get a tax increase of $53,200.

The estimates are based on total household income, including wages, capital gains and qualified dividends. The estimated tax bills take into account typical deductions at each income level.

Democrats have been whining for the last ten years that tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 under former President George W. Bush were nothing but a windfall for the wealthy.  While they did help the wealthy, they also reduced taxes for the working poor, the middle class, and just about everyone in between.

Those tax cuts are gone at the end of this year, just in time for a high-stakes debate leading into the Midterm Elections in November.  If this less-than-competant Congress fails to act, families at every income level will see more taxes being withheld from their paychecks come January.

The tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 reduced marginal income tax rates at every level. They also provided a wide range of income tax breaks for education, families with children and married couples.

Taxes on capital gains and dividends were reduced, while the federal estate tax was gradually repealed, even if it was only for this year.

President Barack Hussein Obama (peace be unto him) wants to extend  the tax cuts only for individuals making less than $200,000 and joint filers making less than $250,000 in adjusted gross income. That’s income from wages, capital gains and dividends, before standard deductions and exemptions are subtracted.

All you evil wealthy capitalists (except for Mr. Soros, who wants the rest of us to be the Proletariat) MUST be punished, even at the cost of Americans’ livelihoods.

Republicans and a growing number of Democrats in Congress (who actually possess a spine) want to extend all the tax cuts, at least temporarily.

On Thursday, House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said he wants an up-or-down vote on extending all the tax cuts before congressional elections in November.

Boehner said:

Raising taxes on anyone, especially small businesses, is the wrong thing to do in a struggling economy.  On the issue of job killing tax hikes the American people are not going to accept anything less than the vote that they deserve.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., trying to save Democrat seats in the House, refused to commit to vote on any tax proposals before the election. She did, however, pledge to address them by the end of the year.

Pelosi told reporters Thursday:

The only thing I can tell you is that the tax cuts for the middle class will be extended this Congress.

Can you say:  LAME DUCK SESSION?

According to a new Associated Press-GfK Poll, more than half the country backs raising taxes on the richest Americans,  The survey showed that by 54 percent to 44 percent, most people support raising taxes on the highest earners.

39 percent agree with Obama, while 15 percent favor raising taxes on everyone by allowing the cuts to expire at year’s end. Still, 44 percent say the existing tax cuts should remain in place for everyone, including the wealthy.

In contrast, a poll conducted by RasmussenReports.com shows that 51 % of Americans favor extending the Bush tax cuts for everyone.

While Obama’s plan would spare about 97 percent of Americans who actually file tax returns, it would mean huge tax increases for the wealthy.

According to the afore-mentioned analysis by Deloitte Tax, under Obama’s plan, a family of four making $325,000 a year would get a tax increase of $5,400, while the same family making $1 million a year would get a tax increase of $56,300.  A family of four making $5 million a year would get a tax increase of $325,600.

San Fran Nan whines that the nation cannot afford to extend tax cuts for top earners:

I see no justification for going into debt to foreign countries to underwrite and subsidize tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America.

What part of the fact that these are the people who actually start businesses and hire people, don’t you understand, Madame Speaker?  Gimme that gavel.

According to congressional estimates, making all the tax cuts permanent would add about $3.9 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. Obama’s plan would cost a little more than $3 trillion over the same period.

So, basically, Scooter and his minions are ignoring the economic growth that lower tax rates have been proven to create (please research a guy named Ronald Reagan), while proclaiming a  savings of 900 billion.

This information is coming from an administration and congress that have run up the biggest national debt in U.S. History. 

Hey, Scooter.  Considering your fiscal irresponsibility, using the defense of saving money in order to burden American taxpayers with the largest tax increase in American History is a bit disingenuous, isn’t it? 

Yesterday was an interesting day in America.  Across our great nation, the heads of Democratic and Moderate/Beltway Republicans were exploding, like the computer Landru in the old Star Trek episode.

They just could not figure out why Americans in Delaware, New Hampshire, New York, and all over the country are rejecting their philosophy of Washington politics as usual, in favor of old-fashioned American common sense and values.  All those who proclaim themselves to be “the smartest people in the room”  found out yesterday that they actually aren’t.

With the victory of Christine O’Donnell, the Tea Party candidate, for the Delaware Senate nomination, the meme by those “in-the-know” that old-fashioned Reagan Conservatism was passe’ got thrown out the window.

Ms O’Donnell’s victory on Tuesday night, boosted by an endorsement from Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, sent shock waves through the Republican establishment, which now finds itself as much under siege as the Obama administration.

Ms O’Donnell defeated Mike Castle by 7 % of the vote.  Castle, who had been in office seemingly forever, had been endorsed by most of the establishment Republicans.

David Frum, noted Canadian commenter, who has been a messenger boy for the Moderate/Beltway Republicans, was inconsolable:

The Republican party is getting dragged further and further to the right and that is good news for people like Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.  But for Mitt Romney it spells disaster.

In an ordinary electoral cycle, Mitt would be the favorite for the 2012 Republican nomination, in the dynamic tradition of Bob Dole and John McCain.

But because of the re-birth of Reagan Conservatism in the Republican Party, Mr Romney’s success in pushing through a healthcare reform in Massachusetts that is slightly to the left of “Obamacare” will likely prove fatal to his chances.

On Wednesday, Mitt remained true-to-form and exhibited one of his political talents:  pandering. Despite Beltway insiders, such as Karl Rove, George W. Bush’s former electoral manager, and Charles Krauthammer, the columnist, proclaiming Ms O’Donnell as someone not worthy to carry the Republican banner in Delaware, Mitt donated $5,000 to her campaign and desperately tried to distance himself from her critics in order to ride the crest of the Tidal Wave before it pulls him under.

Ms O’Donnell’s victory was not welcome news for the few Moderate/BeltwayRepublicans  left in Congress, particularly the handful of senators, including Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, who will be facing re-election in the next two or four years.

Polls still show the Republican Party will take control of the House in November.  Don’t be surprised if they take the Senate, also, despite what all the “experts” say.  The Republican leadership on Capitol Hill will have to learn how to get along with a new intake of lawmakers who have run on a ticket of contempt for the way it does business.

Norm Ornstein of the conservative American Enterprise Institute said:

Out go the country-club Republicans like Mitt Romney, in come the grass-roots revolutionaries like Sarah Palin.  America just became a lot more ungovernable than it already was.

If you mean unwilling to put up with business as usual, you’re right.

Speaking of business as usual, the Democrats unveiled a new party logo yesterday:

Can you believe that they actually paid somebody for this?

After the events of this last couple of days, I’ve decided that I want to be a Consultant, a Political Pundit, or a Weatherman.  They have the only jobs where you can be wrong the majority of the time and still remain employed.

Sarah Palin caught the mood of Americans with a blunt Tweet:

Lamestream media: Listen/Learn/Don’t underestimate the wisdom of the people. Times, they r a’changin!

Underdog Christine O’Donnell upset 42 year incumbent Rep. Mike Castle in the Delaware Republican Senate primary tonight,giving the tea party movement a major victory and, according to the professional hand-wringers, giving Democrats an unexpected chance to hold the First State seat.

O’Donnell, making her third run for the Senate in as many elections, received support from several national figures, from the Tea Party Express to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, providing a much welcome boost to a shoestring campaign against the seemingly unbeatable Castle.

O’Donnell proclaimed in her victory speech:

The people of Delaware have spoken.  No more politics as usual.

The O’Donnell victory, considered an extreme long shot as recently as a month ago, is seen by the so-called pundits, professional and otherwise, as a major boost for Democratic hopes of holding the seat once held by Vice President Joe Biden. New Castle County Executive Chris Coons was unchallenged for the Democratic Senate nomination.

Prominent Republican strategist Mike Murphy said:

I’m sad to say the Delaware primary results tonight are straight out of Harry Reid’s dream journal.

Well, Mike, if Castle had opposed the Porkulus Bill and Cap and Trade, he might not have been a loser.

While the Delaware race received the most national attention last night, it was far from the only one being contested as seven states and the District of Columbia voted in the final major primaries of the 2010 election.

In New Hampshire, former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte held a narrow lead over attorney Ovide Lamontagne in the battle for the Republican Senate nomination. The winner will take on Rep. Paul Hodes (D) in the race to replace retiring Sen. Judd Gregg (R).

In New York, in a district where they evidently like graft and corruption, Rep. Charlie Rangel crushed his competition in a crowded Democratic primary field in the 15th district while Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D) cruised in a primary challenge from businesswoman Reshma Saujani in the 14th.

Also in New York, tea party favorite Carl Paladino crushed former Rep. Rick Lazio in the fight for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Paladino will be a major underdog this fall against state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is heavily favored in the fall.

I see a pattern forming here.

But, there is little doubt that O’Donnell’s victory is what will dominate the news today.

Scared by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski‘s (R) primary defeat late last month, Castle decided to go extremely negative against O’Donnell in hopes of using his financial advantage to define her in the eyes of likely voters.

However, that effort was evidently too little, too late for Castle whose political career, which began when he was elected to the Delaware state House in 1966, ends in a shocking defeat.

According to Vin Weber, a former Minnesota congressman and GOP lobbyist:

This shows that conservative energy at the grassroots is at tidal wave levels. It may well cost us the Delaware Senate seat, but the same phenomenon will help Republicans, particularly in House races in November.

State and national Republicans have attacked O’Donnell’s personal finances and public misstatements in order to further Castle’s campaign meme that she is close to unelectable.

National Republican Senatorial Committee executive director Rob Jesmer wrote the following in a less-than-pleased statement released after the race was called:

We congratulate Christine O’Donnell for her nomination this evening after a hard-fought primary campaign in Delaware.

According to all the pundits, the Delaware result is also a major blow to Republicans’ hopes of winning back the Senate majority this fall. To do so, the GOP needs a net gain of 10 seats, which, with Delaware now supposedly going to the Democrats, would mean that Republicans need to close to a clean sweep in states like California, Wisconsin and Washington.

The O’Donnell situation reminds me of another true story:  The legendary Groucho Marz and his family were invited to a ritzy country club.  They were at poolside and Groucho was about to go swimming in the pool.  The manager of the snooty country club came up to him and said: 

I’m sorry, sir. Jews are not allowed to swim in our pool. 

Groucho replied, without batting an eye: 

Well, since my daughter’s only half-Jewish, can she go wading up to her waist?

The last few days, I’ve watched in fascination and horror as Conservative posters re-enacted the Civil War on Conservative websites over a Delaware Primary Election.  What they seemingly forgot, was that Tea Party Movement is not tied to a single political party.  It was formed by people wanting less taxes and less government intrusion of their lives.  Since the Gadsden “Don’t Tread on Me” flag has been adopted by the movement, it seems appropriate that all these winds of change were felt last night in 3 of the original 13 colonies.

There will definitely be a lot of hand-wringing seen today from amateur political strategists.  The truth of the matter is, if these politicians had held to Conservative principles, they would not have lost.  Unfortunately for the career politicians and political pundits, last night, for the voters, principles mattered more than strategy.

Whether we want them to or not, Congress comes back from summer recess this week with Democrats torn between trying to show that they can fix the economic mess they have gotten us into or laying low until after the Midterm Massacre on November 2nd.

It looks like they will fly under the radar.

The Congressional Calender is full as lawmakers begin four weeks of writing and trying to pass bills before leaving sneaking out of town ahead of the Nov. 2 election: Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire at year’s end; annual spending bills await action; and President Barack Hussein Obama (peace be unto him) last week unveiled a new brilliant plan to stimulate the economy through tax credits, breaks for business investment and public works projects.

Unfortunately for Scooter, all signs point to the Democrats going into a holding pattern until after the Midterms.

Congressional majority members are come back to Washington after a month of being at home, getting an earful from their constituents.  On top of that, Republicans are dead-set against White House initiatives.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. lamented:

It will be difficult to get a very broad agenda through.

The Democrats will probably try to put off some issues until the lame-duck session after the election.  The problem with that is that Republicans will not cooperate, because they will have regained majority control of the House and, possibly the Senate, also.

The Dems have promised their voters that they’ll act before the end of the year to extend the middle-class tax cuts pushed through by President George W. Bush.  But if they don’t, a family in the $50,000-$75,000 income range would face an extra $1,126 in taxes next year.

Obama and most of the Democrats want the extensions to apply only to individuals with annual incomes of less than $200,000, or joint filers earning less than $250,000. Continuing those tax cuts would add $3.1 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. The debt would rise by an additional $700 billion if tax cuts for the richest people are also extended.

But some Democrats, with common sense, say that with the economy in bad shape, the time’s not right to end tax breaks for the wealthy. Republicans, headed by House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio, are demanding a two-year freeze on all tax rates.

Boehner told CBS‘ “Face the Nation” in an interview broadcast Sunday:

If the only option I have is to vote for those at 250 and below, of course I’m going to do that. But I’m going to do everything I can to fight to make sure that we extend the current tax rates for all Americans.

How many of those Liberal Democrats have ever been hired by a poor person?

House Democratic leaders want to wait and see what the Senate does before tackling the tax cut issue.

Congress still has not presented the president any of the 12 annual spending bills it must consider to pay for government programs when the new budget year starts on Oct. 1.  Because Congresscritters are afraid of losing their jobs due to spending increases, they instead will have to vote to keep agencies funded at current levels to avoid a shutdown.

Among others bills that will be put on the back burner are a bill to authorize defense programs for 2011 and a bill requiring greater disclosure of corporate and union spending on campaign ads.

Senate Republicans have opposed the defense bill because the House added a provision to end the don’t ask-don’t tell policy for gays serving in the military. GOP aides said that there would be three weeks or four weeks of debate time  over that bill, if that provision remains in it.

The campaign spending bill was a response to a Supreme Court ruling lifting restrictions on election ad spending.  Advocates of the measure, mostly Democrats, which requires greater identification of those financing ads, had hoped it could be passed before the November elections.   But in July, the Senate fell three votes short of overcoming a GOP filibuster.

However, Congress will still try to pass some bills before they recess again.

First on the Senate’s agenda, is a bill creating a $30 billion government fund that is supposed to encourage lending to small businesses and provide about $12 billion in small business tax breaks. Democrats should have the votes, and it could pass in the week the Senate returns.

Unfortunately for the Dems, they are going to have to face the House ethics committee trials of two of their most prominent members, Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California, for alleged ethics violations. One or both of those trials could begin before the fall election.

Sho’ ’nuff hate it for them.

The Senate will open a trial today on the impeachment of U.S. District Court Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr.   Last March, the House approved four impeachment articles charging the Louisiana judge with taking payoffs and lying under oath.

This will be the first impeachment trial since the one held for former President Bill Clinton in 1999. The Senate acquitted Clinton. If Porteous is found guilty, he would become the eighth federal judge in U.S. history to be impeached and convicted.

Other issues that may or may not be addressed include:

–The Senate is about to passing food safety legislation giving the Food and Drug Administration greater power to order recalls and to increase inspections of food facilities. The House has already passed a similar bill.

–The House could discuss a $4.5 billion Senate-passed Nanny-State child nutrition bill, promoted by first lady Michelle Obama, that would create healthier standards for food served in schools.

–The Senate could act on a rules change, pushed by some of its newer members, to end the custom where a single senator can secretly block a bill or a nomination.  I wouldn’t bet on it, though.

–The Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to vote on a new arms treaty with Russia. A two-thirds vote by the full Senate is needed for ratification. Also possible, although probably a long shot, is consideration of a long-stalled free trade agreement with South Korea.

Hopefully,  America will make it though the rest of this year without this self-aggrandizing, immensely unpopular Congress inflicting further damage to our country.  They are all running scared right now and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Do you remember where you were, 9 years ago today?  You were probably at work, like I was, when somebody told you to go find a television, because a plane had flown into the World Trade Center in New York City.  While watching Fox and Friends or whoever the TV was turned to, you watched in horror as a second plane came into view and hit the second tower.

Then, the realization hit us all that this event was no accident.  America had just joined the worldwide cadre of nations that had experienced an Islamic Terrorist attack on their home soil.   As the morning went on, President Bush was notified and whisked up into Air Force One.  Then, Americans watched helplessly as a plane struck the Pentagon, and another plane went down in a field in Pennsylvania, while en route to attack Washington, thanks to the heroic actions of some of its passengers.

Here is the tragedy of 9/11/01, broken down by the numbers.  Courtesy of nymag.com:

The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.

Total number killed in attacks (official figure as of 9/5/02): 2,819  

Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343 

Number of NYPD officers: 23 

Number of Port Authority police officers: 37 

Number of WTC companies that lost people: 60  

Number of employees who died in Tower One: 1,402 

Number of employees who died in Tower Two: 614 

Number of employees lost at Cantor Fitzgerald: 658 

Number of U.S. troops killed in Operation Enduring Freedom: 22 

Number of nations whose citizens were killed in attacks: 115 

Ratio of men to women who died: 3:1 

Age of the greatest number who died: between 35 and 39  

Bodies found “intact”: 289  

Body parts found: 19,858 

Number of families who got no remains: 1,717 

Estimated units of blood donated to the New York Blood Center: 36,000 

Total units of donated blood actually used: 258 

Number of people who lost a spouse or partner in the attacks: 1,609 

Estimated number of children who lost a parent: 3,051 

Percentage of Americans who knew someone hurt or killed in the attacks: 20  

FDNY retirements, January–July 2001: 274 

FDNY retirements, January–July 2002: 661 

Number of firefighters on leave for respiratory problems by January 2002: 300 

Number of funerals attended by Rudy Giuliani in 2001: 200 

Number of FDNY vehicles destroyed: 98  

Tons of debris removed from site: 1,506,124  

Days fires continued to burn after the attack: 99 

Jobs lost in New York owing to the attacks: 146,100 

Days the New York Stock Exchange was closed: 6  

Point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average when the NYSE reopened: 684.81 

Days after 9/11 that the U.S. began bombing Afghanistan: 26 

Total number of hate crimes reported to the Council on American-Islamic Relations nationwide since 9/11: 1,714 

Economic loss to New York in month following the attacks: $105 billion 

Estimated cost of cleanup: $600 million 

Total FEMA money spent on the emergency: $970 million 

Estimated amount donated to 9/11 charities: $1.4 billion  

Estimated amount of insurance paid worldwide related to 9/11: $40.2 billion 

Estimated amount of money needed to overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $7.5 billion 

Amount of money recently granted by U.S. government to overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $4.55 billion  

Estimated amount of money raised for funds dedicated to NYPD and FDNY families: $500 million 

Percentage of total charity money raised going to FDNY and NYPD families: 25 

Average benefit already received by each FDNY and NYPD widow: $1 million 

Percentage increase in law-school applications from 2001 to 2002: 17.9 

Percentage increase in Peace Corps applications from 2001 to 2002: 40 

Percentage increase in CIA applications from 2001 to 2002: 50 

Number of songs Clear Channel Radio considered “inappropriate” to play after 9/11: 150 

Number of mentions of 9/11 at the Oscars: 26 

Apartments in lower Manhattan eligible for asbestos cleanup: 30,000  

Number of apartments whose residents have requested cleanup and testing: 4,110 

Number of Americans who changed their 2001 holiday-travel plans from plane to train or car: 1.4 million 

Estimated number of New Yorkers suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorder as a result of 9/11: 422,000

Yesterday, I heard an American President in a Press Conference say that we were going to celebrate today as a Day of Service and Remembrance.  This statement followed Obama’s original plea for a National Day of Service last year that fell on mostly deaf ears, except for his Far Left Base and those Muslims who hoped that Americans would forget the slaughter of 9/11/01.  What the president did not understand then, nor does he now, is that Day of Service sounds conspicuously to Americans like Day of Atonement and Americans have nothing to atone to the Muslim World for, despite what Obama said on his World Apology Tour.

During  the last question of yesterday’s Press Conference, Wendell Goler of Fox News asked Obama about the wisdom of building a mosque at the site of 9/11.  The President of the United States refused to give a direct answer, instead launching into an emotional diatribe about the courageous Muslims serving in our Armed Forces.  While I salute the courage of loyal American Muslims serving our country, I wonder why Obama would not give a straight answer?  Could it be for some of the same reasons that he will not be at Ground Zero today for the second year in a row of his short presidency?  Instead, Obama will deliver remarks from the Pentagon.  His handlers have excused his absence due to safety reasons.  Funny, that did not stop President Bush:

President Obama, you’ve shown where you stand on the Ground Zero Mosque situation, even if you won’t give a straight answer.  68 % of Americans oppose your stance. 

9/11 was indelibly seared into the collective memories of Americans on that fateful day, regardless of the present-day wishes of a minority percentage of our population.  The victory mosque at Ground Zero should never have gotten this far and the appeasers (including Barack Hussein Obama) who back the building of this insult should be ashamed of themselves.

Have You Forgotten?

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam behind the Cordoba House, otherwise known as the Ground Zero Mosque,warned Americans in a thinly veiled threat on Wednesday, that moving the facility could cause a violent backlash from Muslim extremists and endanger national security.

The so-called “Moderate Imam” told CNN that the discussion surrounding the center has become so politicized that moving it could strengthen the ability of extremists abroad to recruit and wage attacks against Americans, including American troops fighting in the Middle East.

Rauf said:

The headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack.

In the same breath, he added that he was open to the idea of moving the planned location of the center, currently two blocks north of the World Trade Center site.

He also said:

But if you don’t do this right, anger will explode in the Muslim world.

Rauf predicted that the reaction could be more furious than the eruption of violence following the 2005 publication of Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

72 % of Americans believe that the mosque, which would include a Sept. 11 memorial ( To which side?) and a Muslim prayer space, should be moved farther away from where Islamic extremists destroyed the World Trade Center and killed nearly 2,800 people.   Supporters, including NYC Mayor Bloomberg and a cadre of Liberals and Squishy Republican Moderates, fall back on the false argument of protecting religious freedom.

Rauf, 61, has been MIA since the controversy over the proposed Ground Zero Mosque erupted earlier this year.   He has been traveling abroad, including taking an American taxpayer-funded State Department 15-day trip to the Middle East to promote religious tolerance (and raise funds for the building of the mosque).

In his first interview since returning to the U.S. on Sunday, purposely scheduled with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, Rauf responded to a number of questions that have been raised about the project.

He claimed that money to develop the center would be raised domestically for the most part.

He also said:

And we’ll be very transparent on how we raise money.

He also added that no funds would be accepted from sources linked to extremists. 

Uh huh.  Tell me another one.

Rauf said that, in retrospect, he might have chosen a different location for what he described as a multifaith community center:

If I knew this would happen, if it would cause this kind of pain, I wouldn’t have done it.

You knew this would happen.  You did not care.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf wrote an op-ed which was published in the New York Times on September 7th, 2010.  Here are some excerpts:

…We have all been awed by how inflamed and emotional the issue of the proposed community center has become. The level of attention reflects the degree to which people care about the very American values under debate: recognition of the rights of others, tolerance and freedom of worship.

Freedom of Worship, huh?  Recently, on May 26, Abdul Rauf was featured on the popular Islamic website Hadiyul-Islam.   At the same time on that website, a fatwa was being issued forbidding a Muslim to sell land to a Christian, because the Christian wanted to build a church on it.

 Throughout my discussions with contemporary Muslim theologians, it is clear an Islamic state can be established in more than just a single form or mold. It can be established through a kingdom or a democracy. The important issue is to establish the general fundamentals of Sharia that are required to govern. It is known that there are sets of standards that are accepted by [Muslim] scholars to organize the relationships between government and the governed. [emphasis added]

Current governments are unjust and do not follow Islamic laws.

New laws were permitted after the death of Muhammad, so long of course that these laws do not contradict the Quran or the Deeds of Muhammad … so they create institutions that assure no conflicts with Sharia. [emphasis in translation]

Back to September 7th’s NY Times:

Many people wondered why I did not speak out more, and sooner, about this project. I felt that it would not be right to comment from abroad. It would be better if I addressed these issues once I returned home to America, and after I could confer with leaders of other faiths who have been deliberating with us over this project. My life’s work has been focused on building bridges between religious groups and never has that been as important as it is now.

From an interview the Sydney Morning Herald, published on their website on March 21, 2004:

The US and the West must acknowledge the harm they have done to Muslims before terrorism can end, says an Islamic cleric invited to Sydney by Premier Bob Carr.

New York-based Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who impressed Mr Carr at an international conference last year, arrives in Sydney today for two weeks of meetings and public talks.

Speaking from his New York mosque, Imam Feisal said the West had to understand the terrorists’ point of view.

In a move likely to cause controversy with church leaders, Imam Feisal said it was Christians who started mass attacks on civilians.

“The Islamic method of waging war is not to kill innocent civilians. But it was Christians in World War II who bombed civilians in Dresden and Hiroshima, neither of which were military targets.”

Imam Feisal said the bombing in Madrid had made his message more urgent. He said there was an endless supply of angry young Muslim rebels prepared to die for their cause and there was no sign of the attacks ending unless there was a fundamental change in the world.

Imam Feisal, who argues for a Western style of Islam that promotes democracy and tolerance, said there could be little progress until the US acknowledged backing dictators and the US President gave an “America Culpa” speech to the Muslim world.

This is “Bridge Building”?

Back to the Times:

We are proceeding with the community center, Cordoba House. More important, we are doing so with the support of the downtown community, government at all levels and leaders from across the religious spectrum, who will be our partners. I am convinced that it is the right thing to do for many reasons.

Above all, the project will amplify the multifaith approach that the Cordoba Initiative has deployed in concrete ways for years. Our name, Cordoba, was inspired by the city in Spain where Muslims, Christians and Jews co-existed in the Middle Ages during a period of great cultural enrichment created by Muslims. Our initiative is intended to cultivate understanding among all religions and cultures.

Un momento, por favor, Imam. 

 The historic city of Cordoba, Spain was originally Christian, but was overtaken by Islamic marauders and turned into an Islamic stronghold in the 8th century CE. The Islamic seizure of Cordoba began in the year 711 CE by Berber tribesmen who had recently converted to Islam. They crossed the 14 mile stretch of ocean between North Africa and Europe into what was then called Al-Andalus, which is now modern-day Spain.

Please continue, Imam Rauf:

…I am very sensitive to the feelings of the families of victims of 9/11, as are my fellow leaders of many faiths. We will accordingly seek the support of those families, and the support of our vibrant neighborhood, as we consider the ultimate plans for the community center. Our objective has always been to make this a center for unification and healing.

Putting a victory mosque at the site where a group of Islamic Terrorists killed 3,000 people is “sensitive”?  I do not think that you know what that word means.

…President Obama and Mayor Michael Bloomberg both spoke out in support of our project. As I traveled overseas, I saw firsthand how their words and actions made a tremendous impact on the Muslim street and on Muslim leaders. It was striking: a Christian president and a Jewish mayor of New York supporting the rights of Muslims. Their statements sent a powerful message about what America stands for, and will be remembered as a milestone in improving American-Muslim relations.

The wonderful outpouring of support for our right to build this community center from across the social, religious and political spectrum seriously undermines the ability of anti-American radicals to recruit young, impressionable Muslims by falsely claiming that America persecutes Muslims for their faith. These efforts by radicals at distortion endanger our national security and the personal security of Americans worldwide. This is why Americans must not back away from completion of this project. If we do, we cede the discourse and, essentially, our future to radicals on both sides. The paradigm of a clash between the West and the Muslim world will continue, as it has in recent decades at terrible cost. It is a paradigm we must shift.

I know which direction you seek to shift the paradigm, Imam:

In a 2001 interview with Beliefnet on Islam and America, he was asked, “Some Islamic charities are being investigated for terrorist ties. Have you seen what you consider to be reputable Islamic charities being financially damaged?”

He responded:

We believe that a certain portion of every charity has been legitimate.  To say that you have connections with terrorism is a very gray area. It’s like the accusation that Saddam Hussein had links to Osama bin Laden. Well, America had links to Osama bin Laden – does that mean that America is a terrorist country or has ties to terrorism?

Rauf concludes his Sept. 7th, 2010 thusly:

How better to commemorate 9/11 than to urge our fellow Muslims, fellow Christians and fellow Jews to follow the fundamental common impulse of our great faith traditions?

Imam Rauf, I don’t care if you build a mosque in the middle of Yazoo City, Mississippi.  However, your attempt to build a mosque at the site of the worst Terrorist attack ever on America soil is nothing but an arrogant, insensitive attempt at poltical/religious propaganda.  I pray that you fail.

Common Impulses?  Funny, I’ve never had an impulse to fly a plane into a building and kill thousands of people or behead somebody who will not swear allegiance to Christ.  But, I guess that’s just me.

Mayor Richard Daley unexpectedly announced yesterday that he will not run for re-election in 2011, proclaiming it’s

…time for me, it’s time for Chicago to move on.

The truth is I have been thinking about this for the past several months.  In the end this is a personal decision, no more, no less.

His wife Maggie stood by his side at City Hall with the help of a crutch, smiling broadly as the mayor continued:

I have always known that people want you to work hard for them. Clearly, they won’t always agree with you. Obviously, they don’t like it when you make a mistake. But at all times, they expect you to lead, to make difficult decisions, rooted in what’s right for them.

For 21 years, that’s what I’ve tried to do.  But today, I am announcing that I will not seek a 7th term as mayor of the city of Chicago.

Simply put, it’s time . Time for me, it’s time for Chicago to move on.

I hope Mayor Daley seeks re-election.  I will work and support him if he seeks re-election. But if Mayor Daley doesn’t, one day I would like to run for mayor of the city of Chicago.

Emanuel said he has always wanted to be mayor, even when he was in the House of Representatives. Emanuel was viewed by Democratic insiders as a rising star in the Democratic caucus and a possible candidate for speaker of the house before he left to work in the White House.

According to everyone’s favorite “political muscle”:

I miss the contact with constituents. I miss… running the office, that touch with people. 

Emanuel said he “learned a lot” from constituents by simply greeting people at the grocery store.

The Chicago Mob does that, too.

However, his aspirations to serve as speaker are “over,” Emanuel said.

That’s good, Rahmbo.  Because after this November’s political massacre, there may not be a Democratic Speaker of the House for quite a while.

Speaking of November’s upcoming re-enactment of The Little Big Horn, isn’t it quite a coinky-dink that a second-generation 7-term Chicago mayor decides to step down, giving Chicago political prodigy Barack Hussein Obama (peace be unto him) and his handlers the opportunity to get rid of Clintonista extraordinaire Rahm Emanuel?

Why, one would almost think that Scooter would rather have BFF Valerie Jarrett as his Chief of Staff.

Ahhh, Chicago politics.  I believe Sean Connery summed it up best when he said: