The "horror" of a Ground-Zero Mosque

Run for your virtual lives, dear readers.  Those pernicious Muslims have set out with a goal of destroying EVERYTHING upon which this country was founded!!  I want to go ahead and clear the air here.  You can feel free to disagree with me but to do so you must admit that: 1. you have no desire to follow the tenets of the Constitution and/or 2. you are a small-minded bigot.

A gaggle of squawking fool have come forth to graciously inform us all that we're stepping on the memory of the Americans that perished in the despicable 9/11 attacks by allowing an Islamic community center so close to the site of the World Trade Center.  These critics claim that, aside from being distasteful, we should rescind the right to religious freedom for those building this unholy bastion of the impure.  For some reason there are people lined up around the country ready to rally behind the champions of this cause.

I want to go on the record here by stating that the U.S. Constitution does NOT guarantee you the right to not be offended.  The beautiful 1st Amendment does give you free reign to practice your religion freely and to say whatever the hell you'd like.  The people complaining about the mosque are within their rights to complain, but they seem to have gotten the idea that just because they don't like Islam that the government should step in to literally suspend 1st Amendment rights for a specific group of people.

As offensive as an idea may be, I believe it is 100% acceptable as long as it doesn't violate anyone other person's constitutional rights. If they wanted to construct this Islamic community center ON ground-zero with the broken shell of the WTC they should have every right to do so, regardless of how offensive it might seem.  The simple fact is that neither you or the U.S. government should have the right to stop this project.  So ask yourself again--do you hate the 1st Amendment despite the religious freedom it grants YOU?  Do you really want the government to have the power to make decisions based on what some people find offensive?  The framers of the Constitution didn't and that's exactly why the 1st Amendment was written.

The religious arguments against this contested community center are even more ludicrous.  The main opponent of the mosque in Tennessee actually made claims that the Islamic agenda involves implementing Sharia law--many pieces of which violate the Constitution.  Some Muslims may indeed feel that way but how is this any different than Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck trying to drag U.S. laws into a greater alignment with the Bible?  Believe me when I say that you do NOT want Christianity as the de facto state religion, because then which denomination does the government enforce?  A big "sorry" to Glenn and Sarah (and many others) because if you aren't Catholic then you're in the minority and as such you'll be in violation of the law if you don't convert.  It's also beyond stupid to lay fault on more than a billion people for the actions of a fanatical few.   

So, do you still think that the ground-zero mosque shouldn't be allowed?  Feel free to comment if you think I've somehow made a mistake but if you aren't ready to logically defend your view then I'll simply assume you're a moron.  Until next time, dear readers, stay salty.

Hopefully the first of many

So I was getting tired of the same tripe being sold as informed commentary out there in internet land.  Amidst the sea of political punditry the reasonable voices are drowned out.  I hope to be an unreasonably loud voice of reason.  Why should I take a moderate tone when the entire political landscape has turned into an escalating war of sound bites, misinformation, and utter ignorance? 

I want you, my dear readers, to know that if you feel offended by any of my ramblings, I simply don't care.  I'm not here to make you feel better or to validate whatever views to which you happen to cling.  I do want you to question those views, to be curious, and to make me question MY views.  I welcome any chance for debate but you'd better bring your "A" game because I never come to the rodeo without my hat.

With this introduction out of the way, stay tuned and you just might be surprised what you find here.