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The Center Cannot Hold: Why the Mainstream Media Can't Stop the 'Ground Zero Mosque' Hysteria
Those of us in the "professional left" often lament the timidity and fickleness of our more establishment colleagues. If only they had been more resolute in their self-proclaimed roles as arbiters of truth and reason--the country wouldn't have fallen for weapons of mass destruction or gone berserk over death panels and deficits. But the furor over the so-called "Ground Zero mosque" should shred whatever faith we have left in the mainstream--not in its integrity, but in its power.
The list of establishment voices who have spoken out--often forcefully--against the plainly bigoted crusade against Park51, aka the Cordoba House, should be daunting. It includes the editorial pages of the New York Times , the Washington Post , the Los Angeles Times and (grudgingly) the Wall Street Journal as well as CNN's Fareed Zakaria (who returned an award from the ADL in protest), NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg, Post columnist Kathleen Parker, the American Jewish Committee, J-Street and Iraq war boosters Christopher Hitchens and Peter Beinart, whose recent Daily Beast columns put him somewhere just slightly to the right of Noam Chomsky. This honor roll even included, for a brief moment, President Obama, who is now twisting himself into knots trying to retract his retraction of his refudiation of the smear.
And yet--all of this pushback has made not one iota of difference. Over sixty percent of Americans still think an Islamic cultural center should not be built on "hallowed ground," and vulnerable Democrats like Harry Reid are caving faster than a Massey-owned mine on the issue, which apparently erases from voters' minds the mass joblessness that building more mosques would, in small part, ameliorate. There are even talks underway to relocate the center to a less sacred location--somewhere far far away from the strip club, McDonald's and off track betting parlor that currently dignify Ground Zero.
Let's face it: Sarah Palin's Twitter account won. Even worse, so did the blogger behind the jihad, Pamela Geller, a woman so unhinged that she can't even get her birther story straight . (She once suggested that Obama was the love child of Malcolm X). It's one thing to see the captain of the football team shrink away from a fight with the undersized school bully. It's quite another to see him stand up for what's right--and get knocked flat on his sorry ass.
My fellow Americans--what the hell is going on here? Ok, I excuse the Tea Party and the 18 percent of Americans who think that Obama is a secret Muslim. Prosecuting people who wear tin foil hats for believing in sewer alligators is unfair, and also, somewhat besides the point. But what about the rest of you? Have you been patiently waiting all these years to dump the First Amendment? Or maybe you think it only applies to Christians?
But maybe you're just slow on the uptake. You see, right now, Muslim-bashing is bad, because not all Muslims are the same, and it's important to tell the good Muslims apart from the bad Muslims. Also, the Constitution is sacrosanct and applies, yes, even to Muslims. But for the better part of the last decade, the exact opposite has been true. The Muslims who perpetrated 9/11 were indistinguishable from the Taliban and from the Baathists and from the ordinary Afghanis and Iraqis who suffered under their oppression and whose lives we care so much about that we send unmanned drones to bomb them and their mosques into oblivion. The Constitution? That didn't apply, and still doesn't, to the detainees at Guantanamo or heck, even to "normal" Americans who might be emailing strange places with strange names. Justice and rule of law--well that's not exactly relevant to the Muslims the Bush administration tortured and whose cases have been swept under the rug by Obama, who said "nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past." Belief in freedom of expression and devotion to multiculturalism--tell that to Debbie Almontaser, the former principal of Khalil Gibran International Academy who was forced from her job by the same right-wingers behind the mosque mania.
So dear American public, I don't really blame you. When you show up at Ground Zero armed with crucifixes ready to fend off the dark hordes, you're just following the old cues, the ones that have determined official state policy since September 11, 2001--revenge as justice; amnesia as progress; dehumanization as democracy. But it's important to understand something: it's the third week of August in an even-numbered year, so those rules don't apply at the moment. The political establishment and mainstream media love mainstream Muslims--didn't get that memo, didya? Aren't listening to those old Queen Bees any more now--are ya? Like being off the leash--dontcha?
Maybe it's the establishment, so busy lecturing the masses on the Constitution and Islam, who should be sent back to class instead. Lesson one: the hysteria over the "Ground Zero mosque" did not happen in a vacuum. Lesson two: when you permit and foment the indiscriminate dehumanization of Muslims in the name of 9/11, it is not one bit surprising that the public would view lower Manhattan as the frontline of a global religious war. Lesson three: the reason you don't have any power now--when you've decided that enough is enough--is that for so many years, you cheered the bullies on. It is not enough to demonstrate occasional courage. In order to regain your authority and honor, you have to show up to more than just one fight.
In the meantime, watch your back. Pam Geller has a slingshot--and she knows how to use it.
127 Comments so far
Show AllThe MSM, better and more accurately known as known as the FCM, is like some monstrous mutation from a 1950's science fiction film. Its ability to smell where the money is is absolutely uncanny.
" the hysteria over the "Ground Zero mosque" did not happen in a vacuum. "
Recall that a substantial percentage of the population still believes Dick Cheney's mantra that Saddamm Hussein assisted the 9/11 conspirators and had WMDs.
The ineffectiveness of the MSM is due to the fact that large numbers of people get all their information from the rumor mongers on the Internet blogs.
And Jesus is coming back to tell us the moon landings were faked.
Decent enough article as far as it goes, but it fails to mention two key points:
1. History amply demonstrates that when the fiscal pie gets cut too tightly, the "little people" either turn on one another, or towards the most convenient scape goat. (Hispanic "illegal" aliens now serve as the default position if public animosity cannot be directed effectively enough at Muslims, the preferred scapegoats du jour.)
2. The media in the hands of a small number of private corporations has given far too much time, space, air time, and bandwidth to mental midgets who get rich on celebrating hatred. They are positioned to foment the most divisive and ugly components of the human psyche. Massive ignorance coupled with prejudice and intolerance are the results on display.
What this screams out for is:
1. A way to undo media consolidation
2. The need to firm up the firewall between church and state
Another CD posting features the geniuses burning The Qu'ran in Gainesville, Florida. I have remarked about my experience living in that moral quagmire. Never before did I experience such fear-driven aggressive, angry, mean-spirited people. They drive like maniacs, too. With a church on every block, where's the love?
Jesus would not burn the Qu'ran!
He might have had a little trouble laying hands on one to burn.
Political Weather forecast:
Unrelenting PreMidterm Right-wing manufactured conflagrations of irrational hate with the MSM fanning the flames. The intended Scapegoats:
1.Latinos who are "illegal", 2.Muslims who want to pray and belong!
They really need to be questioning Dick Cheney's leadership role in the World Trade and Pentagon bombings. Surreal what most people are willing to buy.
I really fear the potential for a major incident on 9/11 this year.
As long as the rabid attack dogs of hatred and ignorance of are being sic'ed on Muslims, the day after Eid, the celebration at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, could see mass confrontation of Muslim celebrants.
I hope not......
I don't see a Kristallnacht happening on 9/11. In my experience, people are introspective on that anniversary. There was a lot of pain and anguish and confusion that day. Aside from Thanksgiving, I believe it is the only meaningful day that Americans remember.
Now 9/12 may be another matter......
You still don't get it. The American people have a long inglorious history of ignorance and hatred of foreigners which for some reason the democratic party professional left chooses to ignore. Widespread stupidity and racism are standard features of American society. When you couple this cultural trait with the world's largest military you have endless wars trying to kill as many foreigners in as many places as possible. The authorities can always count on this hatred and stupidity to rally big majorities for every war a president desires and remember 41% of the American people believe Jesus will return in their lifetime. Say no more!
If Obama was not a wind-up toy he could actually do a lot to stop the mosque hysteria. A few instructive and ironic remarks could have put this idiocy and the idiots behind it in their place, but no. Barry is not the man for the job; too simple and straightforward.
Woody in "Toy Story" had more balls than Barry.
If Christopher Hitchens has come out against the Mosque-at-Ground-Zero opponents, I may have to reconsider my position.
Which way?
As I was sorting the recyclables from the "trash" the other morning, it occurred to me that Gibbs was right -- Obama is not the same as GWBush.
GWBush, and those who served in his administration, seemed and seem to me to stand for something, to believe in what they say and the goals they pursue.
In my judgment, what they say, believe in and pursue is morally evil and pragmatically disastrous.
Obama, I think, is different. Unlike Bush, he does not believe in or stand for what he says and does. He is a hollow man. What he stands for, believes in, says and pursues, is the advancement of Obama. He stands for, and will do, say and pursue whatever it is that at the moment seems to him best calculated to advance him. Most of what he has thus far judged best able to advance him is, in my judgment, morally evil and pragmatically disastrous.
So there is a difference between Bush and Obama. Unfortunately the difference is neither flattering to Obama nor helpful to the rest of us.
Yes, Republicans pander to their base and scorn those who would never vote for them in a million years.
Democrats scorn their base and pander to those who would never vote for them in a million years.
Those two lines get my recommendation for the pithiest comment of the year.
Yeah... I can't stand listening to Obama now. His voice annoys me.
With Bush at least he'd say something funny once in a while. He was a Good Old Boy, straight out of Randy Newman's song.
But Obama doesn't say ANYTHING. He just opens his mouth and emits an unpleasant sound.
I feel the exact same way about Obama that I felt about G. W. Bush; I can't stand watching him on TV or listening to his voice, much less to what he has to say.
Hector, i have been saying this for the past year and a half.
Thank you for your post.
George W. has an extremely dark soul. Obama has none.
peace.
Is this author smoking something (and why isn't he sharing it)?
Why the media organs and personalities which Kim lists may have indeed voiced criticism of the anti-Islamic uprising, they comprise only a tiny fraction of what constitutes the mainstream media.
As long as AIPAC and Wall Street want a certain message delivered to the American people then the FCM will deliver it, honesty and integrity be damned.
Good to read that Zakaria gave Foxman the finger, though.
q
Sensationalism and emotion drives advertising. These days the competition for those dollars is fierce. Anything goes.
Amazing that just 19 people sent this once "free and open society" careening into the abyss.
One more small terrorist act and there's no telling what will happen.
When people ask me if I want the terrorists to win I tell them the terrorists won on 9/11/01.
Yes, it is remarkable how jittery the Greatest, Richest, and Most Powerful Country in the World really is. Whence such massive insecurity?
[I know that in fact we are no longer the richest country in the world, but the Greatest-Country-in-the-World cult doesn't seem to know that.]
Amazing that the people who wrap themselves in the flag can't see how unamerican they are. Book burning. Afraid of an idea? How absurd. Go to U-tube and listen to Allen West of Florida mouthing off on Coexist bumber sticker on August 18, 2011 on MSNBC. Now that guy is insane.
Clearly the problem is not that the proposed Islamic community center has =no right= to be there. The problem is going to be how to guarantee the safety of those who make use of it. Five percent of those who do will be undercover agents carrying prayer rugs and identifying each other as potential terrorists. Time to re-read "Skinny Legs and All" by Tom Robbins.
Ground Zero's hollow ground, not hallowed. The place's a big hole.
Americans hate Muslims because they think a Muslim man in a cave by himself was able to convince NORAD to conduct 5 "exercises" on 9/11 and the FAA not to intercept hijacked airliners, allowing them to fly freely for more than an hour.
That same man in the cave was able by himself to make two buildings collapse so neatly that controlled demolition is the only logical explanation to a 12 yo. with a 3-digit IQ. Buildings that tall never in the history of mankind collapsed because of heat or plane crashes. If much, they would collapse in blocks and it would take days.
My first reaction to this Mosque controversy was, why do Muslims want to hang out in the middle of so much hate and ignorance?
For your piece of mind, go someplace else. Remember, this is America, the land of hate and stupidity, and you can't win.
Well, a whole lot of people died there, and Americans worship death, so it must be hallowed ground.
I especially appreciate that second paragraph. Nicely put.
I wonder, as you do, why Muslims would even want to have a center down in a hood where even the stuff the streets are made of oozes with irrationality and hatred.
You're a breath of fresh air, delia_darrow. Keep 'em coming.
Glenn Greenwald has spent the past couple of days blogging about this insanity-- the most recent installment was an interview with Howard Dean. This was my comment regarding said interview:
________________________________________
I know it's Not Helpful to simply dismiss Complex Rationalized Hysteria as Mere Hysteria, but there it is. Glenn deserves credit for revealing it in all its pathos and emptiness.
Dean and his fellow-travelers here come across as a caricature of Modern Permissive Parents trying to cope with a Terrible Two-year old going ballistic at the prospect of sharing its bedroom with a new baby sibling.
In a misguided attempt to remain tolerant, sympathetic, understanding, and sensitive to the troubled kid, the parents fundamentally validate the kid's irrational and pathological hostility, and proceed with a wide-ranging discussion in which the problem child is stroked, solicited, and empowered in hopes it'll calm down and meet them halfway.
Thus, this appalling circular rhetorical mish-mash, full of sound and artificial "reasonableness". It's obvious that the "parent" is more freaked out and at a loss than the "kid".
I've never had anything good to say about Tough Love™, but I'm rethinking that now.
* retracted *
a 3-digit IQ would place your 12 yo. at average intelligence or above.
I have same concern for muslims.Why bother?
Why do Muslims still want to be a part of the American landscape? I dare not speak on behalf of all moderate American Muslims. I speak only on my behalf. We moderate Muslims (who have been dealt with this life altering event (9-11), who have had to-at the request of suddenly interested neighbors/co-workers/friends- continually "debate-explain" the passages in the Koran, explain why we don't wear veils, explain where Jordan is on a map, and explain to our children why we are blamed for 9-11) are still Americans. We love the America that welcomed our Grandfathers at Ellis Island. Yes, it is a difficult time, however, history brings hope that things will get better for our people. You see as simple as this sounds- life- God- Spirit has a way of working things out. Goodness and truth always prevail in the end. I believe there are 3 major religious beliefs in this world. No-not Islam, Christianity and Judaism- but rather people that are 1) enlightened and understand that all of mankind is to be respected and comes from the same place, 2) people that are inadequate and hate and 3) people that just don't understand yet.
'And yet--all of this pushback has made not one iota of difference.'
Tell it to the Environmental Movement - 40 years of pushback and the environment has never been sicker.
Clearly, the word hasn't gotten out yet.
Yesterday, a War on Stupid was declared.
Stupid will no longer be tolerated.
When you encounter stupid, your duty is to pound them with facts until they either agree to shut the f**k up until they're no longer stupid, or run away screaming 'You're a terrorist/socialist/whatever.'
Comrades - go forth, be smart, and stop the stupid every chance you get.
"Why the Mainstream Media Can't Stop the 'Ground Zero Mosque' Hysteria"
Easy. It hasn't discovered its next hyped up diversion yet.
Quick!!--somebody do something!
Too bad Congress isn't in session. They're sure to do something stupid. It's an election year.
Nice! Sure is a diversionary tactic.
BRAVO!
Most commenters so far seem to have missed the important point raised by Richard Kim. The anti-Muslim chants aren’t being led by the editorialists of the named MSM publications.
Kim blames them anyway: “[T]he reason you [MSM editorial writers] don't have any power now – when you've decided that enough is enough – is that for so many years, you cheered the bullies on. It is not enough to demonstrate occasional courage. In order to regain your authority and honor, you have to show up to more than just one fight.”
I think instead what we’re witnessing is an uprising of the unread. These folks, most of whom appear to believe Obama is a Muslim, or at least isn’t a Christian, and was born in Kenya, aren’t paying attention the editors. They are, however, paying attention to Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, New Gingrich, and dozens of lesser lights who get to prominently display their defective thinking in the MSM “news” columns, and who dominate talk radio and Fox news. The editors need to focus on those (mis)leaders by running opposing views in the “news” columns. We of the “professional left” don’t get misled by MSM reports, but a big slice of the U.S. population does. In other words, it ought to be obvious to the aforementioned editors that news stories have to be, really, “fair and balanced” if that imbecilic percentage is to somehow stumble onto the truth.
Check your uprising history and I think you'll find that they start with the unwashed illiterate and then spread upward finding leadership along the way. What we are witnessing is the germ of a social uprising--and it won't be pretty, because in order to make sure it's not a class war, the powers that be will ensure that it turns into a war of "American culture" vs anything else, the "most American" group wins. And it won't be the group that most resembled our founding fathers.
The hysteria is created to divert attention from the true culprits of 9/11 who were neocons in our government (including our CIA) and the Israelis. It is a testament to their control of our media, and consequently our Congress and nation.
The CIA needs to be abolished. Its largest budget item is propaganda and it is unaccountable with a horrendous past.
JFK resolved to bust it into a 1000 pieces, and per recent books, the CIA and Israel murdered him. In fact, the entire secret government and much of the Pentagon need to be abolished for the good of the country and the world; not to mention fiscal responsibility.
Our CIA/secret government is the largest customer of mainstream media and most, if not all, of secondary media (and in many cases is the owner, and has hundreds, likely thousands of secret embedded agents). We need a new trustworthy media and not one that is subordinate to Israel's interests.
Our FBI needs to be re-formed with factions loyal to Israel eliminated and prior cover ups, such as the investigation of Flight 800, corrected, and the organized criminals currently looting the nation from Wall Street and Big banks stopped. Per JFK's initial steps and most pundits sage recommendations, the Federal Reserve should be ended also.
We are witnessing the manipulative power of our unelected, unaccountable secret government---which has been the culprit in the largest crimes against our nation.
The media manipulation is orchestrated by inflammatory presentations---such as the pictures of WTC towers crumbling on Drudge Report and virtually all editorials are written from the standpoint that nineteen Arabs did 9/11, instead of were patsies who thought they were participants in a drill (just like London 7/7/05). So even articles by editors that outwardly preach tolerance---are for the most part presented in a way to inflame the masses based upon their pre-existing misunderstanding of the truth---which came from these same complicit editors. None of these articles point accurately to the Israelis and our CIA as the culprits of 9/11, or the overwhelming facts which prove that. It is manipulation at the lowest level; knowing that rage that will be ignited and inflamed by their prior massive conditioning for the Official (false) conspiracy theory.
I think that the true meaning of this issue is even worse than people think. It has nothing to do with Islam, really.
I do believe it is a theatre of the absurd, where the handlers will use this as an example of the PEOPLE speaking out, and when the community center loses, or moves, this will be held up as a shining example of Democracy at work.
"SEE," the handlers will say, "you people DO have power!"
While the unread masses are congratulating themselves on the power of the people, the real issues where real PEOPLE are speaking up : the environment, net neutrality, health, finance, and ELIZABETH WARREN, Palestinians, homeless vets, and on and on, these will be lost in the "warm and fuzzy glow" of those who thought that they proved power to the people.
Will they realize what they really lost? Probably not, as that "warm and fuzzy feeling" could be good for a couple of years. We don't have to close Gitmo, it's here now, and the MENTAL waterboarding has barely begun.
Good insights!
The successes of the "people speaking out" IS very selective, isn't it?
When several million actually hit the streets in dozens of cities on Feb 15, 2003, travelling considerable distances to say NO WAR in the bitterly cold weather (it didn't get above 0F in Manhattan that day). They faced only club weilding cops, cattle pens, then complete silence from the mass media. The events of Feb 15 never happened.
But a couple blowhards whip the idiot-fraction of the masses to a fenzy and it's "The people have spoken!!!"
And that is the brilliance of the mass media propaganda system - they tell poeple what to think, while making the poeple believe they thought it up themselves.
The 9/11-site Mosque issue is a manufactured one. It's meaningless and inconsequential. Its primary goal is to maintain the meticulously sculpted anti-Muslim animus in the Western world. Its secondary goal is to shift public attention from important issues to a non-issue.
In all likeliness the masterminds behind this imaginary controversy are members of the Empire's security apparatus.
Most religious / gay rights / lifestyle issues are of this type. It doesn't matter if Muslims want to build another Mosque in Manhattan. It doesn't matter if gays are allowed to marry (they can live together and no one will complain). It doesn't matter if Tiger Woods... Actually, Tiger Woods doesn't matter. Kobe doesn't matter. Mel Gibson doesn't matter.
The real topic here isn't the mosque, but the manufacturing of non-existent problems. But we're all well-versed in this topic, considering where we're discussing it.
The much hyped over ``mosque'' in reality is not a mosque at all but a community center containing among other things, a swimming pool, library and prayer rooms. It happens to be proposed by a Muslim organization, otherwise the building itself is rather non descript.
The spectacle of public opinion debating an issue without even mentioning a few home truths is by now a familiar one.
Did you catch the picture of the now noseless girl on Time magazine? We did. We also know the title of the imam's book as it was titled overseas. Speaking of overseas, we also see what is going on in Britain and its islamization. No thanks.
And what would your point be?
The young woman on the cover of the magazine was mutilated not by the Taliban but by her own father according to ancient tribal traditions and not according to Islamic law.
q
American/Western Christians(spare the rod spoil the child) and/or atheiest don't beat the shit of of their kids too?
Westerners are brutal too.
Go look up the stats on American child/sexual abuse--start with the American Academy of Pediatrics--they estimate 1 in 6 girls are sexually abused and one in 9 boys.
Child abuse and domestic violence is a world wide problem--every culture--every country has it's share.
Yes, but most "sexual predators" are victims of aggressive police entrapment (undercover cops aggressively soliciting sex using highly explicit language and pictures) and are actually guilty of nothing more than not keeping their sexual impulses under control on the internet.
The far-more widespred forms of child abuse are physical beatings and violent, hateful verbal abuse at the hands of the parents - who then claim they they are just giving the children a good disciplined "christian upbringing".
I saw the picture.I also remeber a lot of pictures from afghanistan shot before 1979.Women in Burka in Kabul with women with short skirts in Kabul. That's what the "communist" and "Democrcaies" have wrought on that cuntry.They made sure it would only be wearing "burka".
Now I see this Times image and watch Time's refusal to show the maimed bodies and dead bodies of children from Drone attacks. this woman can still talk.The dead doesn't.