Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The Mask Slips Again

...and wingnuts tell the truth, this time on the real reason behind opposition to the Park51 project in Manhattan.  Yggy flags this from Marty Peretz (natch):

But, frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims. And among those Muslims led by the Imam Rauf there is hardly one who has raised a fuss about the routine and random bloodshed that defines their brotherhood. So, yes, I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse.

Now let's step back and think about that for a second.  Peretz is saying that because Muslim extremism exists, that it's okay to question if American Muslims should be covered under the First Amendment.  To Peretz they're not American, not worthy of the protections of the Constitution, and arguably not even human.
Adam Serwer sums this up as such:

This is the most honest statement in opposition to the Park51 project that I've read. American Muslims aren't really Americans, therefore they're not "worthy" of having First Amendment rights extended to them, therefore the community center shouldn't be built. This perfectly illustrates why "burn a Koran day" isn't a subject of outrage while conservatives organize against the construction of an Islamic community center in a preexisting prayer space as though the former were an "offense" to those who died on 9/11. White Christians are allowed to "abuse" the First Amendment because unlike American Muslims, they're real Americans and the freedoms outlined in the Constitution actually apply to them. Peretz argues this while stating matter of factly that "Actually, no one has shown that a single serious demonstration against Muslims and Arabs, against their beliefs and behavior can be raised in this country." It's called Google.

And that folks is the real heart of the opposition to Park51.   There's a large contingent of people who not only does the Constitution not apply to American Muslims, but that it shouldn't apply to those people who think it should apply to American Muslims, either.  Opposition to burning Qurans is exactly like opposition to Park51 apparently, and if you think either is wrong, you hate the Constitution or something.

The right for American citizens to persecute Muslims is apparently stronger than the rights Muslims have as American citizens.

Go figure.

No comments:

Related Posts with Thumbnails