TIMELINE: Nine months of the right's anti-Muslim bigotry

From Media Matters Cheered on by Fox News and the rest of the right-wing media, conservative activists spent the past year engaged in an anti-Muslim campaign that included efforts to block the planned Islamic center in lower Manhattan and demonize the imam spearheading the project. The bigotry has culminated in a Florida pastor's now-"suspended" plans to burn Qurans on September 11 -- plans that the pastor has explicitly linked to the controversy over the Islamic center.

December 2009

NY Times first reports on the Islamic cultural center. The New York Times first reported on the plans to build an Islamic cultural center in an abandoned Burlington Coat Factory building two blocks away from ground zero in a December 8, 2009, article. The Times emphasized the purpose of the center, which, according to project leader Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, was "to push back against the extremists." The article partially foreshadowed the controversy, reporting that Joan Brown Campbell, the director of the Chautauqua Institution religion department and "a supporter of Imam Feisal," "acknowledged the possibility of a backlash from those opposed to a Muslim presence at ground zero."

Geller writes first Atlas Shrugs post on the center. That same day in an Atlas Shrugs post, Pamela Geller reacted to the Times' article, writing: "I don't know what is more grotesque...jihad or the NY Times preening of it. The New York Times yet again misrepresents, obfuscates, and confuses infidels and kaffirs about Islam." In her post, Geller mostly discussed Sufism, the branch of Islam that Rauf and his followers belong to.

Ingraham tells Daisy Khan, "I like what you're trying to do." As noted by Salon.com's Justin Elliot, who created a timeline of the Islamic Center controversy in mid-August, the first known appearance of the story on Fox News occurred on December 21, 2009, when Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham, while filling in for Bill O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor, hosted Daisy Khan, Rauf's wife and executive director of the project. During the interview, Ingraham criticized Rauf's statement that "it was Christians in World War II who bombed civilians in Dresden and Hiroshima." She later added: "But I like what you're trying to do, and Ms. Khan, we appreciate it." Ingraham also stated during the interview, "I can't find many people who really have a problem" with the Islamic center, and told Kahn it's "fantastic" that "your group takes a moderate approach to Americanizing people, assimilating people, which I applaud."

Geller attacks Islamic center as "Islamic domination and expansionism." In a December 21, 2009, post titled, "Mosque at Ground Zero: Adding Insult to Agony," Geller called the center a "giant victory lap" and wrote: "Any decent American, Muslim or otherwise, wouldn't dream of such an insult. It's a stab in eye of America. What's wrong with these people? Have they no heart? No soul?" Geller also claimed of the project: "This is Islamic domination and expansionism. The location is no accident."

January 2010-April 2010

The story goes into hiding. Following Geller's December 21, 2009, post, the story fell from public view. Even Geller did not post on the subject again until May 6, 2010. During this period, Fox News continued its long-standing campaign of anti-Muslim rhetoric, smearing individual Muslims as "terrorists," calling for racial profiling, and fearmongering about Islam in general.

May 2010

Geller resumes attack on Islamic center. Following a unanimous resolution by the New York Community Board 1 to express support for the project, Geller brought the story back into public view with a post titled, "Monster Mosque Pushes Ahead in Shadow of World Trade Center Islamic Death and Destruction." In the post, Geller framed the issue as one of "sensitivity" and claimed the project is a "victory lap," an "insult," and a "stab in the eye of America":

One might think that the Muslim community might be capable of some sensitivity, considering what a manically sensitive bunch they are about everything. Every time there is a jihad attack (which is happening with increasing frequency), they start wailing on us infidels about Muslim sensitivities and anticipatory and imaginary affronts and insults.

What could be more insulting and humiliating than a monster mosque in the shadow of the World Trade Center buildings brought down by Islamic attack?

Worse still, the design is a mockery of the World Trade Center building design. Islamic jihad took down those buildings when they attacked, destroyed and murdered 3,000 people in an act of conquest and Islamic supremacism. What better way to mark your territory than to plant a giant mosque on the still-barren land of the World Trade Center? Sort of a giant victory lap. Any decent American, Muslim or otherwise, wouldn't dream of such an insult. It's a stab in eye of America. What's wrong with these people? Have they no heart? No soul?

As of September 10, Geller has written 205 blog posts categorized as "Mosque at Ground Zero: Takbir!"

New York Post: "Mosque Madness at Ground Zero." As Elliott noted in the Salon.com timeline, the New York Post ran a May 6 article referring to the Islamic center as the "'WTC' mosque." The Post's Andrea Peyser also wrote a column in May titled, "Mosque Madness at Ground Zero," quoting Geller. Elliott stated:

Lots of opinion makers on the right read the Post, so it's not surprising that, starting that very day, the mosque story spread through the conservative -- and then mainstream -- media like fire through dry grass. Geller appeared on Sean Hannity's radio show. The Washington Examiner ran an outraged column about honoring the 9/11 dead. So did Investor's Business Daily. Smelling blood, the Post assigned news reporters to cover the ins and outs of the Cordoba House development daily. Fox News, the Post's television sibling, went all out.

Islamic Center of Northeast Florida was firebombed. Jacksonville, Florida's, First Coast News reported that on May 10, a man attempted to firebomb the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida "shortly before evening prayers." The Florida Times-Union later reported that "[a]uthorities found remnants of a crude pipe bomb in the explosion" and that "at the time of the blast about 60 people were inside." The article quoted FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Jim Casey as discussing the potential destruction and death the blast could have caused were it not for "the strength of the mosque building." The article also reported that "law enforcement officials" were surprised that "they had not gotten nearly as many calls as they expected" regarding the identity of the bomber after they released security video of the man.

Fox & Friends runs first of many segments on the center, hosting Rauf and 9-11 firefighter. On May 11, Fox & Friends ran the first Fox news segment following Ingraham's December 2009 interview with Khan. Doocy introduced the story by asking if the plans to build the center were a "great insult." The following segment featured guests Imam Rauf and Tim Brown, a firefighter who responded to the attacks on 9-11. Brown said he didn't "understand the need to put it there," but also said he and Rauf had a "nice relationship," were "learning from each other," and that Rauf was an example of a "wonderful Muslim." Rauf said: "First of all, this is not a mosque; this is a community center ... for the whole community" and said he would "absolutely" allow members of other faiths. Rauf also said he understood Brown's sentiments.

Geller focuses attacks on Rauf. In a May 15 post, Geller began the attacks on the project's leader, Imam Rauf, quoting from a Pajamas Media post by Alyssa Lappen on "[e]verything there is to know about Faisal Abdul Rauf, the wolf in sheep's clothing behind the planned lower Manhattan mega-mosque."

Geller appears on Fox News' Huckabee. On the May 15 edition of his Fox News show, Mike Huckabee hosted Geller to discuss the Islamic community center project. Geller called the Islamic center an "outrage and an insult," and said it was "humiliating to the families and to all Americans."

Geller appears on Fox & Friends. Fox News hosted Geller on the May 27 edition of Fox & Friends, during which Geller defended her billboard advertisements, which provide information on how to "Leav[e] Islam." She said they represented religious freedom and again criticized the Park51 project as "stab[bing] Americans in the eye."

Radio host Michael Berry: "I hope the mosque isn't built, and if it is, I hope it's blown up." On the May 28 edition of his radio show, Michael Berry said that "you can't build a mosque at the site of 9/11." After a caller asked Berry why you couldn't build a mosque at the site of 9-11, Berry responded: "No, you can't. And I'll tell you this: If you do build a mosque, I hope somebody blows it up. ... I hope the mosque isn't built, and if it is, I hope it's blown up. And I mean that." Berry subsequently apologized for the remarks.

June 2010

Geller holds June 6 protest against Islamic center. On June 6, Geller and her organization, Stop Islamization of America, held a rally to protest the Islamic center. While news reports put crowd estimates of the protest between 350 and "more than 1,000," Geller herself claimed that "some estimates ranged as high as 10,000."

Mark Davis compares Islamic center to a "Japanese plan to build a cultural center at Pearl Harbor." Filling in for Rush Limbaugh on the June 9 edition of his syndicated radio show, Texas radio host Mark Davis said that even with "the noblest of intent," building the center would be like a "Japanese plan to build a cultural center at Pearl Harbor."

Geller appears on CNN to call Islamic center a "kick in the head" to Americans. During the June 6 edition of CNN Newsroom, Geller said that for Muslims to "pray next to" ground zero is "repugnant" and a "kick in the head" to Americans.

Geller: "Islamic supremacists want to build a monster mosque ... on the cherished site of land they think they conquered." In a June 23 post, Geller wrote: "We are still finding bodies of Americans murdered by Muslim terrorists on September 11th. Still. And the Islamic supremacists want to build a monster mosque on that sacred burial ground, a giant symbol of Islamic supremacism on the cherished site of land they think they conquered?"

July 2010

Palin asks Muslims to "refudiate" the Islamic center. On July 18, Fox News contributor Sarah Palin tweeted: "Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate." Following criticism of her use of the made-up word "refudiate," Palin deleted the post from her Twitter account and replaced it with the following message: Peaceful New Yorkers, pls refute the Ground Zero mosque plan if you believe catastrophic pain caused @ Twin Towers site is too raw, too real."

Florida church announces plans to burn Quran on 9/11 anniversary. Religion News Service reported on July 21 that the Dove World Outreach Center, a Florida church, "plans to host an 'International Burn A Quran Day' on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks this year." The group promoted the event on Facebook.

Gingrich: "There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia." On July 21, Fox News contributor Gingrich posted a message on his website stating, "There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over." He also falsely claimed that the site for the Islamic center would be "overlooking the World Trade Center site."

Geller continues anti-Islam media tour. During the month of July, numerous mainstream media outlets hosted right-wing blogger Pamela Geller to discuss the controversy surrounding a proposed Islamic community center and her group's campaign to stop it, despite Geller's history of outrageous, inflammatory and false claims, particularly when it comes to issues related to Islam. For example: MSNBC News hosted Geller on July 14, NBC Nightly News gave Geller platform to discuss the community center controversy on July 13, CNN Geller hosted on the July 14 edition of American Morning, and Geller appeared on the July 27 edition of Hannity.

Anti-Defamation League released statement opposing Islamic center. On July 28, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a statement opposing the Islamic cultural center: "The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found." The statement also stated "that some legitimate questions have been raised about who is providing the funding to build it, and what connections, if any, its leaders might have with groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values."

National Republican Trust makes anti-mosque TV ad; NBC and CBS refuse to air it. On July 15, Media Matters' Joe Strupp reported that an ad sponsored by the National Republican Trust Political Action Committee, created a controversial ad that "begins with a Muslim call to prayer, then images of terrorism. The narrator then proclaims mosque supporters rejoice in the 9/11 murder." The networks reportedly refused the ad because it "confuses moderate Islam with violent Jihad."

Anti-Islam graffiti found at Texas mosque, and is reportedly thought to be related to Park51 protests. According to a local WFAA News 8 report, vandals spray-painted "[s]tick-figure graffiti ... depicting Uncle Sam sexually assaulting Allah" on the parking lot of a mosque in Arlington, Texas. The report also noted that a playground behind the mosque was set on fire, and quoted the mosque's president, Jamal Qaddura, as saying that "whoever did this might also have tried to burn the mosque itself by pulling apart old gas lines." Qaddura also said "that he believes the damage may be linked to resentment over a planned Islamic community center near Ground Zero in Manhattan."

August 2010

Fox News guests opposing Islamic center outnumber supporters 35 to 11. An August 13 Media Matters for America review of Fox News' evening coverage of the planned building of an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero found that, since May, the shows have hosted at least 47 guests to discuss the project, nearly 75 percent of whom opposed the center.

Ingraham flip-flops on Park51. Eight months after her interview in which she told Daisy Khan, "I like what you're trying to do," Laura Ingraham went on the offensive, appearing on ABC's Good Morning America to claim, "I say the terrorists have won with the way this has gone down. Six hundred feet from where thousands of our fellow Americans were incinerated in the name of political Islam, and we're supposed to be -- we're supposed to be considered intolerant if we're not cheering this?" She added that "it's a finger in the eye, I think, of New York. ... This is sacred ground, OK? And I don't think people across the country are protesting" mosques. Ingraham continued: "I think the question we have to ask, George [Stephanopoulos], is why? Why do they want to build a $100 million, 15-story mosque, Islamic center?"

Kuhner smears Rauf as an "unrepentant militant Muslim." In an August 5 Washington Times column, Jeffrey Kuhner baselessly smeared Rauf as an "unrepentant militant Muslim."

Right-wing media attack Rauf over State Department trip. In an August 6 Forbes column, Claudia Rosett reported on Rauf's State Department-funded trip to the Middle East and said, "All this comes at a moment when Rauf and his partners in New York are preparing to raise $100 million to build a 13-story Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero." Right-wing media subsequently attacked Rauf over the trip -- during which he went to the Middle East to "discuss Muslim life in America and religious tolerance" -- by baselessly claiming he would use it as a "taxpayer-funded fundraising jaunt" to finance construction of Park51. In fact, the State Department had made clear that fundraising of any kind was prohibited during the trip, and Rauf had previously participated in this program under President Bush.

AP: "Foes of proposed mosques have deployed dogs to intimidate Muslims holding prayer." On August 8, The Associated Press reported on incidents of anti-Muslim vandalism in Tennessee and California, noting that "[f]oes of proposed mosques have deployed dogs to intimidate Muslims holding prayer services and spray painted 'Not Welcome' on a construction sign, then later ripped it apart."

Geller falsely claims Rauf made comment blaming "the Jews" for 9-11. In an August 11 post, Geller falsely claimed that Rauf once blamed "the Jews" for 9-11 and said, "If Americans only know it was the Jews' fault, they would have done to the Jews what Hitler did." But those comments had been widely attributed to Sheik Muhammed Gemeaha, a one-time imam at the Islamic Cultural Center in New York City who reportedly made those inflammatory remarks after resigning and returning to Egypt in 2001. Center officials roundly condemned the comments.

Fox, NY Post invent controversy over Rauf's 9-11 comments. Right-wing media, including Fox News' Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, repeatedly attacked Rauf for his remark that "the United States' policies were an accessory" to the 9-11 attacks. However, Rauf's comments were not outside the mainstream; indeed, the former chairman and vice chairman of the 9-11 Commission have stated that U.S. "actions have contributed" to "a rising tide of radicalization and rage in the Muslim world." Beck himself had previously said that while the U.S. did not "deserve 9-11," the U.S. was "in bed with dictators" and "that causes problems."

Right-wing media blast Obama for supporting freedom of religion. Right-wing media attacked President Obama over his August 13 statement that he "believe[s] that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country" and are entitled to build a mosque in lower Manhattan. Frank Gaffney asserted that Obama "stands with shariah," and Geller said Obama "has, in effect, sided with the Islamic jihadists."

Gingrich compares Islamic center to "Nazis" putting a "sign next to the Holocaust museum." On the August 16 edition of Fox & Friends, Newt Gingrich said: "Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust museum in Washington. We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor. There's no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center."

Morris: Park51 would be a "command center for terrorism." On the August 18 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, during a discussion of Park51, Fox News contributor Dick Morris claimed "these Sharia mosques ... have become the command centers for terrorists," adding, "so this one would be, too."

Wash. Times: "If the mosque is constructed, the terrorists win." In an August 19 editorial, The Washington Times stated of Park51: "The Ground Zero Mosque is not healing a rift but deepening a wound. If the mosque is constructed, the terrorists win."

Anti-Park51 protests full of right-wing hate. Following relentless right-wing media opposition to Park51 that included inflammatory, anti-Muslim rhetoric, and comparisons of Muslims to Nazis, anti-Park51 protests, including one on August 22, echoed the right-wing media's rhetoric and imagery, invoking Nazis and anti-Muslim smears.

Beck responds to "good Muslim" Rauf interview with mockery and lies. On August 23, Media Matters posted video of a 2006 Good Morning America segment with Beck and Rauf in which Beck agreed with Rauf's position that violent radical Islam is not representative of all Islam and appeared to call Rauf a "good Muslim." On his radio show that day, Beck and his co-hosts mocked the idea that Beck ever "endorsed" Rauf, and said instead that Beck endorsed the idea that "it's not all Islam, it's a small minority of Muslims" that commit violence.

Beck falsely claims Rauf's wife said "all Americans hate Muslims." On the August 24 edition of his Fox News show, Beck falsely claimed that Daisy Khan said that "all Americans hate Muslims." In fact, while discussing the strident opposition to the center, Khan said that hatred for Muslims in America is a cause for concern.

Vandalism at California mosque reportedly investigated as a hate crime; vandalism made reference to "Temple for the God of terrorism at Ground Zero." An August 25 Fresno Bee article reported that "[v]andalism to a Madera Islamic center and signs found on the property are being investigated as a hate crime." The article stated that a brick was thrown through a window and that signs reading, "No Temple for the God of terrorism at Ground Zero. ANB"; "Wake up America, the Enemy is here. ANB"; and "American Nationalist Brotherhood" were found at the mosque.

Vandals set fire to site of future mosque in Tennessee. ABC reported on August 29, "A fire early Saturday morning at the construction site of a new Islamic Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives" and "One construction vehicle was significantly damaged, while several others were doused with an accelerant but not set ablaze." The Associated Press later reported that federal investigators said the fire "was arson and offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest."

September 2010

Right-wing media criticize Petraeus' condemnation of pastor's plan to burn Qurans. After General David Petraeus released a statement on September 7 condemning Florida pastor Terry Jones' plan to burn Qurans on September 11, right-wing figures Pam Geller, Robert Spencer and Frank Gaffney - who oppose Quran burning -- declared Petraeus' statements to be "deeply troubling" and a "recipe for surrender." Petraeus opposed the burning on the ground that "it could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan" and that it is "precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems." Right-wing equates burning Qurans with building Park51. Led by Fox News' Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck, the right-wing media compared Pastor Jones' plan to burn Qurans on September 11 to plans to build the Park51 community center, stating that both groups have the right to go through with their plans but shouldn't do so. Palin wrote in a September 8 Facebook post that "[p]eople have a constitutional right to burn a Koran if they want to, but doing so is insensitive and an unnecessary provocation -- much like building a mosque at Ground Zero." Beck said that burning Qurans is "just like the Ground Zero mosque plan." Geller calls Imam Rauf quote "disgusting" and claims that "anti-semitism is a basic tenet of Islam." In a September 8 blog post, Pamela Geller quoted Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's statement that "[t]he very word 'islam' comes from a word cognate to shalom, which means peace in Hebrew." Geller wrote: "Considering that Islamic anti-semitism is a basic tenet of Islam. This is particularly disgusting. Talk about giving us the middle finger." Imam Rauf warns of "the danger from the radicals in the Muslim world to our national security." On the September 8 edition of CNN's Larry King Live, Rauf warned of the dangers of perceived anti-Islam sentiment in the United States, especially pertaining to opposition to his Park51 project. He stated: "If we move from that location, the story will be that the radicals have taken over the discourse. The headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack. And I'm less concerned about the radicals in America than I'm concerned about the radicals in the Muslim world." He then clarified that he was concerned about "the danger from the radicals in the Muslim world to our national security, to the national security of our troops."

Rauf reportedly told ABC News' Christiane Amanpour on September 9 that "My major concern with moving it is that the headline in the Muslim world will be Islam is under attack in America, this will strengthen the radicals in the Muslim world, help their recruitment, this will put our people -- our soldiers, our troops, our embassies, our citizens -- under attack in the Muslim world and we have expanded and given and fueled terrorism." (Accessed via Nexis) Media distort Rauf remarks to claim he "threaten[ed] America." After Imam Rauf warned of "danger from the radicals in the Muslim world to our national security," the right-wing media distorted his comments, with Laura Ingraham claiming he had issued a "veiled threat." Michelle Malkin, Gretchen Carlson, Pam Geller, Jim Hoft and the website Fox Nation all made similar claims about Rauf's meaning despite agreement among experts -- including top military and law enforcement officials -- that anti-Muslim protests like those against Park51 are aiding extremists. Responding to Rauf's September 9 comments, Fox & Friends' repeatedly pushed the claim that Rauf made a "threat" against America, with hosts Gretchen Carlson, Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade referring to Rauf's comments as a "threat" at least 10 times during the September 10 broadcast.

Obama, Clinton, Gates urge pastor not to go through with Quran burning. President Obama stated of Jones on Good Morning America: "I just want him to understand that this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women in uniform who are in Iraq, who are in Afghanistan." Obama urged Jones to listen "to those better angels." Secretary of State Hilary Clinton also denounced Jones' plans and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates reportedly called Jones on September 9 to ask that he cancel the Quran-burning event. Pastor agrees to "suspend" Quran burning, which he explicitly links to Park51 controversy. As the Associated Press reported, Jones agreed to suspend his plans to burn the Quran on the September 11, and that he would instead fly to New York and meet with Imam Rauf. Jones initially claimed that he had received a promise from Rauf that the Islamic center would be moved. After Rauf denied that claim, Jones had suggested that he would go ahead with the burning. Later, Jones told NBC's Today show that if he meets with Rauf in New York he won't burn the Quran on 9/11. The AP noted, "It wasn't clear if he meant the burning would be halted indefinitely or just for Saturday." Others threaten to burn the Quran. Following the announcement that pastor Terry Jones had suspended his plan to burn copies of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of 9-11, figures in Kansas and Wyoming reportedly revealed their own plans to burn the Muslim holy book.

Randall Terry, Tea Party group plans to tear pages out of Quran at White House on 9/11. Andrew Beacham, an Indiana tea party leader announced that "Tea Party and Religious rights activists will gather in front of the White House to tear out egregious passages from the Quran that call for violence against Christians and Jews." According to the press release, Randall Terry, anti-abortion fanatic and "host of daily TV show Randall Terry: The Voice of Resistance," is involved in organizing the event, at which protestors will ask:

"President Obama, do you support the Sharia law, the Quran, and Islamic violence; or do you stand with religious freedom, American liberty, your professed Christianity, and peaceful protest?

"Mr. President, you stand with the 'constitutional freedom' of Muslims to put a Mosque at ground zero. Do you stand with the 'constitutional freedoms' of those who protest against Sharia law, and burn a book that calls for killing infidels?"

Cover-up: Conservatives now pretending they never attacked Muslims' religious freedom

From Media Matters

Right-wing media have responded to President Obama's comments that he "believe[s] that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country" by falsely claiming that opponents of the proposed Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan have not talked about restricting Muslims' religious freedom. In fact, opponents have advocated using government intervention to restrict construction of the center or have asserted that the planners don't have a right to build it at the proposed location.

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Conservative media: Mosque opponents not talking about restricting religious freedom

Fox's Johnson: "I don't think anyone is talking about" restricting "the free exercise and practice of religion." On the August 16 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, Peter Johnson Jr. discussed Obama's comments and stated of opposition to the planned Islamic cultural center in Lower Manhattan: "Clearly, there's an unassailable, black-letter, red-line rule in American thought and American constitutional history about the free exercise and practice of religion. I don't think anyone is talking about that. But now the president is talking about the wisdom of putting the mosque at that particular site."

NRO: "[N]o reasonable opponent of the project contests the right of Muslims to worship as they please in this country." In an August 16 editorial, National Review Online stated that "no reasonable opponent of the project contests the right of Muslims to worship as they please in this country -- the First Amendment religious rights of Muslims never have been in question, at all." NRO further wrote: "The critics insist only that this particular location for a project led by these particular people -- including an imam who cannot bring himself to condemn Hamas -- is unseemly and ill-considered. That position in no way implies a disregard for the First Amendment."

Geller: "No one has suggested abridging the first amendment to stop the mosque." In an August 13 blog post, Pamela Geller wrote: "Obama knows this is not about religious liberty. No one has suggested abridging the first amendment to stop the mosque. There are hundreds of mosques in New York, thousands in America. This is not a religious issue. This is a national security issue."

WSJ: "Even opponents of the mosque concede" that government does not have right to stop construction of the community center. In an August 15 editorial responding to Obama's comments, The Wall Street Journal wrote: "The government has no right to stop imam Feisal Abdul Rauf from developing the abandoned Burlington Coat Factory at 51 Park Place into a 13-story complex of classrooms, auditoriums and a mosque under the name of Cordoba House. Even opponents of the mosque concede this point."

Beck: "There is no constitutional argument over whether Muslims have the right to practice their religion." On the August 16 edition of his Fox News show, Beck criticized President Obama's statement in favor of the "right that people have" to build a mosque where they choose, claiming that "there is no constitutional argument over whether Muslims have the right to practice their religion." Beck continued:

That's ridiculous. It's America. We all have a right to follow God and build our houses of worship. All Americans are clear on that, and if they're not, those are the dummies. What is at issue is the wisdom of this mosque, in the place of this mosque, and with the imam of this -- and the funding of this mosque.

Krauthammer: "We all agree on the legality" of building the center. On the August 16 edition of Fox News' Special Report, contributor Charles Krauthammer commented on President Obama's statement "addressing the legality of" building the Islamic cultural center. Krauthammer claimed that in fact, Obama was "not addressing anything" because "[w]e all agree on the legality. It's the propriety, the decency of this" that matters.

O'Reilly: "President Obama is framing this as a freedom of religion deal, but that's not what this is about." On the August 16 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly claimed that "President Obama is framing this as a freedom of religion deal, but that's not what it's about." O'Reilly added, "this is not about legalisms, it's about sensitivity towards thousands of Americans who lost loved ones in the 9-11 attack."

Palin: "Nobody argues that freedom of religion that the Muslims have to build that mosque somewhere." On the August 16 edition of On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, Fox News contributor Sarah Palin claimed that "[n]obody argues that freedom of religion that the Muslims have to build that mosque somewhere." Palin then argued that "there are a hundred mosques already in New York" and that "to chose and be so adamant about this exact location, just a block or two away from 9-11, again, is that knife" in the heart of Americans. Palin also asked "if the purpose of this mosque is to create this tolerant environment ... you have to ask, why didn't one of those one hundred mosques already accomplish such a thing?"

Santorum: "This has nothing to do with someone's right to build a mosque." Also on the August 16 edition of On the Record, Fox News contributor Rick Santorum suggested that the debate over the proposed Islamic center "has nothing to do with someone's right to build a mosque." Santorum continued by saying that "we have religious freedom in this country, and as long as you comport with the zoning laws, you can build a mosque." He later claimed that "if this was an affront to our unshakable belief in religious freedom, his [Obama's] position would be, they should build it." Santorum added that "people aren't saying that they can't build it. They're saying that the prudence would say that they shouldn't build it."

But mosque opponents have advocated for government intervention to stop construction of the center

NY gubernatorial candidate said he would appoint commission members who oppose plan to build the community center. As NRO's Josh Barro noted, "[C]onservative figures have continued to push creative ideas to throw red tape at the mosque." Barro highlighted New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio's pledge to appoint members to New York's Public Service Commission who oppose the community center and would block the sale of the property to the center's organizers.

Mosque opponents wanted landmarks commission to prevent mosque project from advancing. The New York Times reported on August 3 that "the project received its final city approval when the landmarks commission voted 9 to 0 to deny granting historic protection to the building in Lower Manhattan where the $100 million center would be constructed." The report noted:

Opponents, who have turned out in large numbers to speak out against the plan at public hearings this summer, seemed resigned to losing the vote, and few showed up to protest. After the commission voted, scattered members of the audience shouted "Shame on you!" and "Disgrace!" One woman carried a sign reading, "Don't Glorify Murders of 3,000; No 9/11 Victory Mosque."

The New York Observer reported that Lazio appeared at the hearing to "urge the commission to grant landmark status" to the building currently at the site and "he acknowledged that this discussion must take place in the context of the proposed mosque."

ACLJ filed lawsuit to block construction of center. After the New York City Landmarks Commission voted that the building at which organizers plan to construct the community center did not qualify for landmark status, Newsday reported that the conservative American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) "argued in papers filed in New York State Supreme Court that the commission's decision was invalid because it violated its own rules and procedures in part by failing to allow sufficient public input."

Wash. Examiner: "Can there be a higher civic purpose than preventing construction of a Muslim propaganda and recruiting center so close to the murder site of 3,000 Americans?" In an August 13 editorial, The Washington Examiner asked, "Can there be a higher civic purpose than preventing construction of a Muslim propaganda and recruiting center so close to the murder site of 3,000 Americans?" The Examiner further stated:

Local governments everywhere in America routinely regulate location and construction of religious facilities without impinging on the First Amendment right to worship. There are also volumes of federal, state and local historic preservation laws that could be invoked to force GZM to a different site. We hope Bloomberg accepts Newt Gingrich's invitation to debate this issue. Maybe then the mayor will explain why he disdains historic preservation of the area immediately around the site of the worst domestic attack in American history.

Wash. Examiner op-ed: "The federal government has at its disposal dozens of land preservation methods that could delay or even halt development of the Islamic center." In an August 11 Washington Examiner op-ed opposing the community center, Cheryl K. Chumley wrote that "[t]he federal government has at its disposal dozens of land preservation methods that could delay or even halt development of the Islamic center." From the op-ed:

Instead of decrying, condemning and reproving, politicians like Rep. Peter King, D-N.Y., who called the mosque project "particularly offensive," have opportunity to take action.

The federal government has at its disposal dozens of land preservation methods that could delay or even halt development of the Islamic center.

King, for instance, could introduce legislation extending the National Memorial designation currently affixed to the World Trade Center Site and in so doing, have a say in future development. Congress and the interior secretary could set the wheels in motion to preserve the property under the Historic Sites Act of 1935, a federal code that allows the National Park Service to "restore, reconstruct, rehabilitate, preserve and maintain" properties of historical significance.

Or, Congress could introduce legislation to expand the boundaries of the coincidentally close-by Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, or NHA, a preservation tag that runs from New York City to Albany.

Opponents have also claimed that community center organizers don't have a right to build it at planned location

Gingrich: "Nazis don't have a right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust museum" ... "There's no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center." On the August 16 edition of Fox & Friends, Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich said that "[p]eople have the right to free religion if they want it. I've said it openly, if they want to build this mosque in the South Bronx, I'm all for it." He later stated: "Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust museum in Washington. We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor. There's no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center."

Sekulow: "[Y]ou don't get to build a mosque on a site that's part of Ground Zero." On the July 22 edition of Fox News' Hannity (accessed via Nexis), the ACLJ's Jay Sekulow stated his opposition to the Islamic community center and said, "[Y]ou don't get to build a mosque on a site that's part of ground zero."

Limbaugh: "[T]he Constitution does not guarantee you can put your church anywhere you want it." On his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh stated: "If you're going to bring the First Amendment into it, that's where your argument's going to fall apart. There are 23 mosques in New York. The government -- the Constitution does not guarantee you can put your church anywhere you want it. It just says you cannot be denied the practice of worship."

Richard Land: People "have the right to have these mosques" but "don't have the right to have them any particular place they want them." On Public Radio International's To the Point, the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land stated that people "do have the right to have these mosques. Now, they don't have the right to have them any particular place they want them. You know, the Supreme Court in the [City of] Boerne [v. Flores] decision said that a Catholic church couldn't expand because of the objections of the historical district that it would bother the historical nature of the town square in Boerne."

Congressman calls Obama-Hitler comparison ‘brilliant

By John Byrne

A Texas Republican congresswoman told colleagues on that House floor Wednesday that a columnist who accused Obama of planting the seeds for a Nazi state is a "brilliant man."

The little noticed quip was picked up by the liberal blog ThinkProgress late Wednesday.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) quoted conservative columnist Thomas Sowell, who declared in an opinion piece that Obama's effort to set up a $20 billion fund for those whose livelihoods were damaged by BP's oil spill signals that “American democracy is being dismantled, piece by piece, before our very eyes.”

Gohlmert's remarks?

There’s a brilliant man named Thomas Sowell. And, um, I didn’t vote for Barack Obama in 2008, but I sure would have voted for Thomas Sowell. This man, well, his article says quite a lot. His editorial, um, says here — and it’s just been posted this week — but it says, “When Adolph Hitler was building up the Nazi movement in the 1920’s” — and I’m quoting from Thomas Sowell in his editorial:

‘leading up to his taking power in the 1930s, he deliberately sought to activate people who did not normally pay much attention to politics. Such people were a valuable addition to his political base, since they were particularly susceptible to Hitler’s rhetoric and had far less basis for questioning his assumptions or his conclusions. ‘Useful idiots’ was the term supposedly coined by V.I. Lenin to describe similarly unthinking supporters of his dictatorship in the Soviet Union.’

And this isn’t in the article — this is my comment — but we do have useful idiots today, who are heard to say, ‘Wow, what we really need is for the president to be a dictator for a little while.’ They know not what they say.

M.C.L Comment: Reason 3 billion and one why I hate conservatives and Republicans because this sort of crap if an elected Democrat compared Bush to Hitler during the great 9/11 exploitation era that Democrat would be either force to resigned or the Republicans and their allies in right wing press would use that Democrat as a weapon against the entire Democratic party. The article highlights another tactic of the right when a white right wing either elected official or a lame pundit wants to attack President Obama without sound super racist they find the few black conservatives they have in the field house to do it for them.

Right-Wing Media Distorts Clinton’s Oklahoma City Speech To Claim He Wants To Muzzle Dissent

By Alex Seitz-Wald On Friday, former President Bill Clinton spoke at the Center for American Progress Action Fund to mark the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing and discuss the current spike of anti-government activism. Clinton’s message was clear: Debate and free speech are essential, but leaders must be “responsible” with their words because they fall on the “serious and the delirious alike,” and it only takes one deranged person like Timothy McVeigh to cause massive harm.

Clinton’s speech forced conservatives to make a simple choice: either embrace the opportunity to elevate the debate by responsibly separating themselves from fringe elements, or inflame the debate by shucking responsibility and attacking Clinton. Unsurprisingly, right-wing media figures chose the latter course:

New York Post editorial: “[Clinton drew] implicit parallels between bomber Timothy McVeigh and peaceful — if rambunctious — political dissent like the Tea Party movement. … Like we said: shameless.”

Washington Examiner editorial: “Clinton is again peddling the argument that a new wave of domestic terrorism is coming this time because millions of Tea Partying Americans have during the past year or more taken to the streets to protest. … If Clinton and other liberal Democrats who agree with him truly believe that the words of Tea Partiers and other critics of the Obama presidency will inspire acts of terrorism, it only seems logical to conclude that they would also endorse official suppression of such speech.”

Fox News host Sean Hannity: “[N]ow, Bill Clinton advanced it, the latest one — that, you know, the Tea Party movement, the incendiary rhetoric by the right, et cetera, et cetera, and talk radio and hosts like myself, that somehow we are advocates of — of domestic terrorism like Tim McVeigh?”

Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin: “And Bill Clinton certainly isn’t interested in taking responsibility for horrors under his watch that do not fit the conservatives=violent extremists narrative.”

National Review’s Jonah Goldberg: “Now we have what increasingly appears to be an orchestrated media campaign, led by Bill Clinton and Barack Obama’s think tank, to demonize tens of millions of American taxpayers because they keep invoking the Constitution.”

Fox News host Glenn Beck on his radio show: “[Clinton] talked about control of the Internet. Now, is it, is it just happenstance that we’re setting up for an emergency and control of the Internet when Net neutrality has just been deemed unconstitutional by the courts and Obama says we’ll do it one way or another, we’ll do it through the FCC, we’ll just make the Internet a utility.”

Fox News analyst Mary Katharine Ham on The O’Reilly Factor: “Well, I think that certainly the chances of an al Qaeda or a radical Islamist attack are more present, I think, than a domestic militant threat. And think it’s fine to keep an eye on that kind of thing. I just think that [Clinton] is part of a process where they’re trying to freeze speech in some ways to chill free speech.”

As Media Matters noted, hate radio host Rush Limbaugh also “responded by unleashing a torrent of incendiary rhetoric” and blamed Clinton for the Oklahoma City bombing. If any of these pundits had bothered to actually listen to Clinton’s speech before condemning him, they would have heard him say: “This ‘tea party” movement can be a healthy thing if they’re making us justify every penny of taxes we raised and every dollar of public money we spend.”

They would have also heard Clinton repeatedly stress the importance of free speech and maintaining a “raging debate,” saying, “criticism is part of the lifeblood of democracy. Nobody’s right all the time.” Clinton argued that we have “the longest-lasting democracy in human history” because “there is so much free speech.” But, he added that “a bright line” must be maintained to prevent encouraging people from “taking the law into their own hands in a violent manner.”

Clinton’s point was that there are “deeply, deeply troubled” people who might misinterpret incendiary rhetoric and act violently on it. “For 99 percent of [right-wing talk radio listeners], it was just that: turn on the radio, listen to somebody say something you agree with, vent your anger, go on with your life.” “99 percent of them will never do anything they shouldn’t do,” he said.

Clinton foreshadowed the right wing’s response in his speech. He expressed hope that people wouldn’t “turn everything into politics,” but added, “I guess that’s naïve.”

M.C.L Comment: This what gets me about these pieces of trash that currently makes up the folks on the right, they whine about how liberals want to limit their free speech yet it was a mere 3 years ago you had two of George W.Bush's most fierce ball suckers Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh calling Bush critics anti-American or terrorist apologist or worst trying to get those critics to lose their jobs.

Bush's allies in the right wing media attack any form of criticism if you're Paul O'Neil and Richard Clarke and you told the media oh the Bush White House wanted to invade Iraq way before 9.11 some blond news model on Fox News would call you as disgruntled former employee during the day and at night Sean Hannity would repeat an attack Karl Rove emailed to him hours before.

I know this is projection but my question is do people like Beck,Hannity, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Coulter, Bachmann and fill in this right wing superstar wannabe think everyone in this country are like their followers dumb and would swallow any lie they tell them or do they really have short term memory?

‘We vote with bullets,’ reads Tea Party sign

By Rick Outzen TALLAHASSEE -- Passions were ablaze at a Tax Day Tea Party event held on the steps of the old Florida Capitol, with protesters holding signs that read, "We vote with bullets," "Fire Congress," "9/11 was an Inside Job" and "Return to the Constitution."

The Tea Party movement proclaims it isn't racist, but there were less than half a dozen black people in the crowd, a head count that supports the recent CNN/Opinion Research Poll finding that only two percent of the Tea Party activists were African-American.

Organized by the local Fox News radio station, it drew a few hundred people who listened to a taped speech from Glenn Beck and to various Republican and right-wing Christian leaders talk about taking back the federal government, living according to the U.S. Constitution and returning the nation to the "path of Godly virtues."

The We The People Rally, which draws its name from the first three words of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, promised to be "the focal point of Florida's message to lawmakers in Washington, D.C. and to elected leaders in every level of government in the Sunshine State." The organizers of the 2009 rally had reported that event had drawn over 2,000 protesters so the Independent News drove three hours to Tallahassee on Tax Day, April 15 to check out if the Tea Party Movement had grown since last year as some in the media claimed.

We found a crowd of less than 500 protesters and a slate of speakers who knew the Tea Party "buzz words" and how to pander to its audience.

The speakers, including Beck's video, insisted the Tea Party movement wasn't Republican or Democratic or Conservative or Liberal. However, the speakers themselves were conservative and Republican. They made it clear that they didn't like President Barack Obama or moderate Republicans like Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

The rally had four distinct layers. Along Monroe Street which runs in front of the historic Florida Capitol, the Mullet haircut crowd squatted-not listening to the speakers, but instead waving at cars turning on to Apalachicola Parkway and trying to coax truck drivers to honk their horns.

Many waved yellow "Don't Tread on Me" flags.

On the right side of the plaza, under the shade of towering moss-covered oaks, were Republican candidates trying to get petition cards signed and handing out flyers. The offices they sought ranged from U.S. Senate to Tallahassee mayor. Tanned college coeds wearing tight t-shirts for their candidates and short shorts circulated through the crowd promoting their candidates. Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate campaign signs and stickers were everywhere.

Rubio is running in the Republican primary against Gov. Charlie Crist and was pushed by some supporters at the rally as the second coming of Ronald Reagan.

Near the Capitol steps sat the gray-haired warriors, inspired by Fox News to protest the Obama health care plan. Several were in wheelchairs, using walkers and attached to oxygen tanks. They clapped. They cheered and gradually tired as the evening wore on.

Along the edges were the Florida lawmakers and their aides, also listening and perhaps trying to gauge how authentic the crowd was.

The ringmaster for the event was Preston Scott, former sportscaster and host of the morning show of the Fox News radio affiliate, WFLA 100.7 FM.

Scott made a concerted effort to prove to the sea of pale white faces in the audience that the Tea Party and his rally were racially diverse. He had his African-American intern, Jerome Hutson, and State Rep. Jennifer Carroll, R-Jacksonville, speak. Two African-American music ministers from a Tallahassee church led the crowd in singing "God Bless America."

Hutson, a Tallahassee Community College student who has been featured several times on Glenn Beck's Fox News show, was one speaker. Dressed in 80 degree heat in a khaki blazer, maroon sweater vest and yellow "power" tie, the Clear Channel radio intern looked like Carlton Banks, Will Smith's uptight, unhip cousin in "The Prince of Bel Air."

Hutson opened by shouting "Welcome Patriots" and professed allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, a document that he claimed President Obama called "a charter of negative liberties."

"We the people are meant to be free, no matter what race, sex or religion," said Hutson to applause and cheers. "And while we are on the subject of race, I want to say that the Tea Party Movement is not a racist movement. The Tea Party Movement is not anti-black people. The Tea Party Movement is not anti-minority. The Tea Party Movement is not anti-government."

"The spirit of the Tea Party Movement is Americanism, and it has made it the most free-est and most prosperous nation on earth -- whether you be white, black, brown, man, woman or child," he continued.

This sentence drew huge applause from the whites in the crowd. One black man just shook his head from side to side.

Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, and Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, both spoke. Their focus was on Washington, D.C. Hasner accused the Obama Administration of bankrupting the county "both fiscally and morally." He called the national debt "generational theft."

Atwater talked proudly about how the Florida Legislature has a balanced budget, but didn't mention its use of state trust funds or receipt of Obama's stimulus dollars. He called for a national convention to draft a constitutional amendment that would force the federal government to have a balanced budget.

In his taped speech, Glenn Beck stressed a return to the Constitution and emphasized the 10th amendment, which states that powers not granted to the national government nor prohibited to the states by the Constitution are reserved to the states or the people. The Washington Post had reported earlier in the day that 54 Republican members of the Virginia House of Delegates have signed a letter calling on the federal government to "cease and desist" from passing mandates that exceed its power under the 10th amendment. Nice coincidence.

"Never in our history has there been such a wide gap between what is legal and what is right," Beck said. "We must demand more of ourselves. We must elect people of character because character does matter."

"And that will begin that process of bridging that gap, returning our country to a path of Godly virtue," he added.

The crowd began to fizzle after Beck's presentation. Many left. Others seem to delight in ganging up on the few counter-protesters there. The Independent News staff moved through the crowd interviewing people.

When a counter-protester was interviewed, people would stand in the background with signs identifying the interviewee as "Infiltrator," "Party Crasher" and "Not One of Us."

One middle-aged lady with dyed red hair was following a Florida State student who had a sign jokingly declaring he was a "Socialist" and saying, "Where is the party?" When attendees tried to take a photograph of the man's sign, the lady blocked the camera with her "Don't Tread on Me" flag.

Though the Independent News reporters with their video cameras went unchallenged as they moved through the audience, this reporter didn't escape the attention of event organizers. Dressed in blue jeans, blue Oxford button-down shirt and wearing my Ole Miss baseball cap, I quietly watched the rally from different vantage points, took notes and recorded the speeches, wearing my Independent News press badge.

I was approached by man in a WFLA 100.7 FM t-shirt who wanted to know if I was with press and who I worked for. When he heard the words, "Pensacola," he backed off and said he worked with Preston Scott and they had noticed that I looked like I was from out of town.

"Is that a problem?" I asked.

"No, no, we just noticed you in the crowd," he replied as he moved quickly away.

He declined to answer my questions about who noticed me or how I looked different. When we walked back to our car after the rally, a couple of rally attendees followed us to our parking spot to get our tag number.

I waved as we drove away.

Let them eat applesauce: Right-wing media mock the uninsured

Research Department

Right-wing media figures have mocked Democrats' descriptions of hardships faced by their constituents who lack health insurance, including a story Rep. Louise Slaughter told about a woman who wore dentures that previously belonged to her dead sister. For example, Rush Limbaugh said, "So if you don't have any teeth, so what? What's applesauce for?"

Media conservatives ridicule the uninsured

Limbaugh: "What's wrong with using a dead person's teeth? Aren't the Democrats big into recycling?" Responding to Slaughter's account, which he called the "sob story of the day, Limbaugh stated:

LIMBAUGH: You know I'm getting so many people -- this Louise Slaughter comment on the dentures? I'm getting so many people -- this is big. I mean, that gets a one-time mention for a laugh, but there are people out there that think this is huge because it's so stupid. I mean, for example, well, what's wrong with using a dead person's teeth? Aren't the Democrats big into recycling? Save the planet? And so what? So if you don't have any teeth, so what? What's applesauce for? Isn't that why they make applesauce?

Limbaugh previously told a caller who could not afford the $6,000 it would cost to treat a broken wrist that he "shouldn't have broken [his] wrist."

Beck mocks Slaughter's story: "I've read the Constitution ... I didn't see that you had a right to teeth." On his February 26 radio show, Glenn Beck played an audio clip of Slaughter's account then said, "I am wearing George Washington's dentures right now. I'm wearing his teeth right now." He later added, "I just like wearing dead people's teeth. But in America -- I'm sorry, I didn't know that that was -- I've read the Constitution before. I didn't see that you had a right to teeth." Echoing Limbaugh's remarks the previous day, Beck stated, "The environmentalists should be all over Slaughter. 'How dare you say that?' My gosh, they're just recycling. They're just reusing."

Beck sidekick uses baby voice to mock letters Obama receives. On Beck's February 25 radio show, co-host Steve "Stu" Burguiere stated that Obama "gets 10 letters, Glenn, every night." Co-host Pat Gray asked, "From 2-year-old girls?" Then, one of the co-hosts started speaking in a baby's voice: "I have no health care, Mr. Pwesident, and I have no feet and no tonsils because doctors took 'em out."

Conservative blogger Pamela Geller linked to an audio clip of the segment, which she wrote was "[d]a best! the funniest thang evuh!"

Gateway Pundit attacks Slaughter's "sappy lib sob story of the day, hands down." On his Gateway Pundit blog, Jim Hoft linked to a video clip of Slaughter telling the story about the dentures under the headline, "Horror! Lib Dem Claims Her Constituent Wore Dead Sister's Teeth (Video)." After declaring the account the "sappy lib sob story of the day, hands down," Hoft wrote: "Will Obamacare buy me glasses and contacts? Will Obamacare buy me a gold tooth in the front of my mouth with a little heart on it?"

Ingraham: "Louise Slaughter won the Olympics of sob stories." On Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, radio host Laura Ingraham said she "liked the dueling sob stories, OK? One Democrat was trying to outdo the next on the sob story about how rotten our health care system is. Louise Slaughter won the Olympics of sob stories by saying one of her constituents had to wear her sister's dentures. OK? It got so bad with the health care system." She later added, "You had Harry Reid on the cleft palate with his -- I mean, the whole thing was ridiculous."

Fox Nation labels anecdote "Summit Insanity." From The Fox Nation, accessed February 25:

M.C.L Comment: In the mind of conservatives it's about who would Jesus deny help to. These are the same horde of zombies that like to tell us liberals don't have any morals yet they don't mind ignoring Jesus' principal teachings help the poor, clothe the naked and take care of the sick but three dollar gutter whores like Laura Ingraham pretty much say F them the Democrats are only trying to make you feel guilty Mr. Red State American.

And Mr.Red State American is going to nod like he always do, because Mr.Red State American has adopted the elite conservative world view of I got mine and the hell with you. But wait until Mr. Red State American get sick or someone he loves get sick than he's screaming where's my help when the medical bills start rolling in.

Mr.Red State American needs to listen to these stories because they're are one illness away from being one of these people and Mr. Red State American needs to stop listening to these scum bags on the right.. If Beck gets sick, he can reach in his pocket and pay for it, If Laura Ingraham or Ann Coulter get sick or something pop up after a weekend "exchanging" ideas with their male right wing counterparts they can reach in their pockets and pay for it, If one of Rush's Dominican lovers stab his fat ass he can reach in his pocket and pay for it and if Sean Hannity get sick or any little Hannitys get sick he can reach in his pocket and pay for it.