What Sully Said

Andrew Sullivan nails Newt Gingrich and Moose Lady to the wall.

'The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over. The proposed 'Cordoba House' overlooking the World Trade Center site -- where a group of jihadists killed over 3,000 Americans and destroyed one of our most famous landmarks -- is a test of the timidity, passivity and historic ignorance of American elites,'' - Newt Gingrich, conflating all American Muslims as Islamists, and ignoring the many non-Americans killed at Ground Zero. Extra points for fake populism, and following Palin's despicable lead.

The Palin-led tone of the GOP is increasingly, well there's no other word for it, neo-fascist. As if it is now un-American to support freedom of religion - especially near a site destroyed by those who oppose it. Palin sees a mosque as a stab in the heart of America. I see it as a sign of America's endurance as a place where freedom of religion is sacrosanct, and where we make distinctions between genuine believers and those who distort and pervert faith for political and murderous ends.

I see the Cordoba project as the best response to Bin Laden's evil that a true democracy can muster.

It's gotten to the point where Palin and Gingrich are declaring war on mosques inside the United States as evil symbols of conquest over the Baby Jesus.   A country founded on religious freedom now must show its resolve by turning to fundamentalist neo-fascism?  Anyone demanding this of a synagogue would be politically immolated in a space of milliseconds, reduced to ash in the dustbin of history and rightfully so.  But declaring jihad against mosques in New York, well...that's okay, because all Muslims are irredeemably evil, right?  That's permissible.  In a fair and just world, Sarah Palin and especially Newt's political careers would be done from this.

The whole Cordoba House flap from the right is empirical evidence of basic intolerance and hatred.  As I've said before, the one thing Bush did right as President was to keep a lid on this disgusting hate for Islam because Muslim-Americans are just that...Americans.  Collective punishment should be impermissible in 2010 in America...but there you go.

And these are the Republican Party's leading lights for President in 2012.  I'd say Obama has nothing to worry about in a fair and just America...but we don't live in one.