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:

Happy Labor Day!  With 57 days to go until the biggest massacre since Little Big Horn,  President Barak Hussein Obama (peace be unto him) is bringing his legendary laser-like focus to his tanking economic policy in a vain attempt to save as many Democratic Congressional positions as he can.

Obama  is pitching a proposal calling for long-term investments in the nation’s roads, railways and runways that will cost American taxpayers at least $50 billion.

The infrastructure investments are just one of a bunch of targeted proposals the White House is expected to announce in the days leading to the November election.

The proposal calls for investments over six years, with an initial $50 billion front-loaded into it to “help create jobs in the near future”.

Because nothing will save our economy like more unneeded pork-barrel projects.

According to the administration elements of the infrastructure plan include: rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads; constructing and maintaining 4,000 miles of railways, enough to go coast-to-coast; and rehabilitating or reconstructing 150 miles of airport runways, while also installing a new air navigation system designed to reduce travel times and delays.

Obama is also calling for the creation of a permanent infrastructure bank that would focus on funding national and regional infrastructure projects.

This package follows the infrastructure investments that were a part of the $814 billion Porkulous Bill.  Officials said this infrastructure package differs from the previous package because it’s aimed at long-term growth, while still focusing on creating jobs in the short-term.  Uh huh.

Meanwhile, as small businesses struggle to survive, public attention is turning to what is destroying American small business owners: higher taxes, new accounting procedures and health-care mandates.  While Obama and his minions boast about plans to help the situation with an array of small-business initiatives, many owners say the government intervention is as much a deterrent to hiring as the faltering economy.

Their perceptions are important because the Obama administration is counting on small-business owners, whose ranks represent more than half the U.S. workforce, to jump-start the economy, much like they did after downturns in the early 1990s and 2001.

The White House is seeking artful solutions to the legitimate concerns of businesspeople about the crush of higher taxes. Among the ideas being floated are a temporary payroll-tax holiday and permanent extension of the expired research-and-development tax credit, being touted as ways to offset the impending elapse of tax cuts for the top 2 percent of households.

Those “in-the-know” believe that small businesses would be willing to expand their payroll if capital were more readily available to them.  Small businesses naturally suffered more in the credit crunch than their larger counterparts because they rely almost solely on banks for their financing.

To date, existing loan programs haven’t induced a whole lot of hiring. Surveys conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business and the National Small Business Association show owners much less optimistic in recent months about their prospects of hiring and growing than they were late last year and earlier this year.

Even those supporting the loans admit that the government investment likely won’t pay off until consumers start spending and business owners start feeling more confident.

If that’s the case, why not simply extend the Bush tax cuts for everyone?

In all, Scooter and the gang have created about a dozen small-business programs, including a health-care tax credit; more opportunities for women business owners to receive government contracts; and cuts in capital gains taxes.

Gene Sperling, counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner on small-business issues, says:

Our view is that the financial crisis put multiple barriers in the way of small businesses and the appropriate policy response has to be aggressive and multifaceted instead of looking for one silver bullet.

However, the chief U.S. financial economist at IHS Global Insight, Brian Bethune, firmly believes that the initiatives coupled with numerous other new regulations are making owners feel overburdened, overregulated and less secure about the economy:

They may see it as more interference.  They see it as bureaucratic intrusion.

Business owners and advocates complain that some of the programs contradict one another. Stephanie Cathcart, spokeswoman for the National Federation of Independent Business, said benefits from the payroll tax exemption business owners use when they hire unemployed people are wiped out by provisions in the health-care overhaul law that reduce a tax credit when businesses hire:

It’s counterintuitive.  Frankly, a lot of these initiatives fall short.

Every economic measure presented to the public by Obama and his administration, in the next 57 days, will be nothing by weak, blatant attempts to save the Democratic Party’s positions of power within America’s Legislative Branch. 

It’s too late.  The public will not be fooled.   Obama holds the responsibility for our horrible economic situation and he will not able to stop the upcoming re-enactment of the Little Big Horn on November 2nd by giving beads to the Indians.

Surrounded by his clueless economic team, including outgoing chief pinhead of the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Christina Romer, whose replacement has yet to be named, President Barack Hussein Obama (peace be unto him) tried to be “Little Mary Sunshine” yesterday while ignoring the fact that August saw a net job loss of 54,000 jobs:

In the month I took office, we were losing 750,000 jobs a month.  This morning, new figures show the economy produced 67,000 private sector jobs in August, the eighth consecutive month of private job growth.  Additionally, the numbers for July were revised upward to 107,000. Now that’s positive news, and it reflects the steps we’ve already taken to break the back of this recession.

The net job loss for August is largely because of the layoffs of 114,000 Census temporary workers.

When May’s job numbers showed a net increase of 431,000 jobs, 411,000 of which were Census jobs , Obama bragged that

…most of these jobs this month that we’re seeing in the statistics represent workers who’ve been hired to complete the 2010 census.

However, when Scooter spoke on June 4th, he did not say just how many of the 431,000 jobs were Census jobs:  95% of them.  Instead, the Great Prevaricator cited the overall report, and its deceptively large number as evidence that businesses are

…starting to hire again. Workers who were laid off, they’re starting to get their jobs back. Companies that were almost forced to close their doors are making plans to expand and invest in new equipment.

Yeah?  Notice he did not name these “companies”.

As I mentioned earlier, nonfarm payrolls fell by 54,000 last month, matching the level of revised losses recorded the previous month.  The revision in July layoffs to 54,000 followed an original estimate of a 131,000 drop in payrolls.

The U.S. economy has shed jobs for three straight months, though the losses in August were about half the 110,000 predicted by economists in a Dow Jones Newswires survey.

The unemployment rate, calculated using a separate household survey, edged up to 9.6%, as expected, after holding at 9.5% for previous two months.

According to the U. S, Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult men (9.8 per-cent), adult women (8.0 percent), teenagers (26.3 percent), whites (8.7 per-cent), blacks (16.3 percent), and Hispanics (12.0 percent) showed little
change in August. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted. 

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) declined by 323,000 over the month to 6.2 million. In August, 42.0 percent of unemployed persons had been jobless for 27 weeks or more. 

In August, the civilian labor force participation rate (64.7 percent) and the employment-population ratio (58.5 percent) were essentially unchanged.

The number of persons employed part-time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) increased by 331,000 over the month to 8.9 million. These individuals were working part-time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

Yesterday the president tried to deflect attention away from his horrible economic policy with all his might .  He said that the 67,000 private sector jobs created were “not nearly good enough” and said he would “in the weeks ahead” be detailing

…further steps to create jobs and keep the economy growing, including extending tax cuts for the middle class and investing in the areas of our economy where the potential for job growth is greatest.

Great.  Because everything you and your theoretical economists have tried so far has been a blazing success, hasn’t it, Scooter?

As he did Monday, the president again pleaded with Congress

…to make passing a small-business jobs bill its first order of business when it gets back into session later this month.

 He then scolded Senate Republicans for having

…blocked this bill, a needless delay that has led small-business owners across this country to put off hiring, put off expanding and put off plans that will make our economy stronger.

Asked what the other incentives will be, the president said he would be “addressing a broader package of ideas next week.”

When a report dared to ask to what degree he regrets his administration’s decision to call this Recovery Summer, Scooter started stammering.  Then he said:

I don’t regret the notion that we are moving forward, but because of the steps that we’ve taken.  And I’m going to have a press conference next week, where, after you guys are able to hear where we’re at, we’ll be able to answer some specific questions.

…the key point I’m making right now is that the economy is moving in a positive direction, jobs are being created; they’re just not being created as fast as they need to, given the big hole that we experienced…We’re moving in the right direction.  We just have to speed it up.

Rest assured, Scooter’s been responsible for on this since Day One.

Yesterday afternoon, the first family left for Camp David, for another vacation. On Monday, Scooter will make a campaign stop  in Milwaukee at Laborfest, an annual event put on by his campaign donors and personal advisors in the AFL-CIO.   He’ll also travel to Cleveland next week on Wednesday, where he will address another hand-picked pep rally on the economy.

Then, on Friday, he’ll have a press conference at the White House, his first solo session with reporters since his May news conference on the BP oil spill.

Maybe he’ll actually give an honest answer to an honest question….nawwww.  Probably not.

How does Barak Hussein Obama (peace be unto him), Eric Holder, and their Department of Justice reward a dedicated lawman for decades of service?   They sue him. 

The DOJ sued Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Thursday, claiming the Arizona lawman refused for more than a year to turn over records in an investigation into allegations his department discriminates against Hispanics.

The lawsuit calls Arpaio and his office’s defiance “unprecedented,” and claimed that the federal government has been trying since March 2009 to get officials to comply with its probe of alleged discrimination, unconstitutional searches and seizures, and having English-only policies in his jails that discriminate against people with limited English skills.

Wow.  You would think this is America…or sumpin’.

Arpaio had been given until Aug. 17 to hand over documents the DOJ asked for 15 months ago.

Sheriff Joe”s attorney, Robert Driscoll, would not comment on the lawsuit, saying he had just received it and hadn’t yet conferred with his client.

Arpaio’s office had said it has fully cooperated in the jail inquiry but won’t hand over additional documents into the examination of the alleged unconstitutional searches because federal authorities haven’t said exactly what they were investigating.

This is just the latest in a series of harassing actions taken against Arizona by our own federal government, which remains determined, regardless of what this administration publically says, to continue to allow the massive influx of illegal aliens across our Southern border..

Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the department’s civil rights division claims:

The actions of the sheriff’s office are unprecedented .  It is unfortunate that the department was forced to resort to litigation to gain access to public documents and facilities.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix and names Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and the county.

Many of the policies Arpaio has put into place in the greater Phoenix area are similar to Arizona’s new law, most of which a federal judge has put on hold.  Sheriff Joe has set up a hot line for the public to report immigration violations, conducts crime and immigration sweeps in heavily Latino neighborhoods and frequently raids workplaces for people in the U.S. illegally.

Oh, my gosh.  He actually enforces the law!  Oh, the horror!

Sheriff Joe rightfully believes that the inquiry is focused on his immigration sweeps, patrols where deputies flood an area of a city, in some cases heavily Latino areas, to seek out traffic violators and arrest other offenders.

Critics complain that his deputies pull people over for minor traffic infractions because of the color of their skin so they can ask them for their proof of citizenship.

Arpaio denies these allegations of racial profiling, saying people are stopped if deputies have probable cause to believe they’ve committed crimes and that it’s only afterward that deputies find many of them are illegal immigrants.

According to Sheriff Joe’s office, half of the 1,032 people arrested in the sweeps have been illegal immigrants.

Last year, the Obama administration stripped Arpaio of his special power to enforce federal immigration law. The sheriff continued his sweeps through the enforcement of state immigration laws.

Last year, the nearly $113 million that the county received from the federal government accounted for about 5 percent of the county’s $2 billion budget. Arpaio’s office said it receives $3 million to $4 million each year in federal funds.

In a separate investigation, a federal grand jury in Phoenix is examining allegations that Arpaio has abused his powers with actions such as intimidating county workers by showing up at their homes at nights and on weekends.

Can you say “witch hunt”?

Meanwhile, the federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers.   According to a local sheriff, Mexican drug cartels are now in control of some parts of the state.

The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego.

The signs caution travelers that they are entering an “active drug and human smuggling area” and they may encounter “armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” Beginning less than 50 miles south of Phoenix, the signs encourage travelers to “use public lands north of Interstate 8” and to call 911 if they “see suspicious activity.”

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose county lies at the center of major drug and alien smuggling routes to Phoenix and cities east and west, has said that his deputies are outmanned and outgunned by drug traffickers in the rough-hewn desert stretches of his own county:

Mexican drug cartels literally control parts of Arizona.  They literally have scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills and they literally control movement. They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has.

This is going on here in Arizona. This is 70 to 80 miles from the border – 30 miles from the fifth-largest city in the United States.

The sheriff said that he asked the Obama administration for 3,000 National Guard soldiers to patrol the border, but what he got were 15 signs.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer condemned what she called the federal government’s “continued failure to secure our international border,” saying the lack of security has resulted in important natural recreational areas in her state being declared too dangerous to visit.

In a recent campaign video posted on YouTube, Gov. Brewer – standing in front of one of the BLM signs – attacked the administration over the signs, calling them “an outrage” and telling President Obama to “Do your job. Secure our borders.”

BLM spokesman Dennis Godfrey in Arizona said agency officials were surprised by the reaction the signs generated when they were put up this summer.  Did he expect people to like under attack by Mexican Drug Lords?

By, hey, don’t worry.  Obama and Holder are on the case.  According to Sheriff  Babeu, requests by Arizona law enforcement personnel and Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) for 3,000 National Guard troops along the state’s border with Mexico have been answered so far with 1 percent of that number deployed there this week:

 
We have a whopping 30 [National Guard troops] this week that are showing up.  It’s less than a half-hearted measure designed to fail.

Through their actions, this president and his administration have given the impression that they care more about the fictitious “civil rights” of those who have entered our county illegally than they do about the safety and welfare of citizens of the country that Obama swore an inaugural oath to.