Put the Tool Back to Work

By Cindy Gomez
Editor

There is tension in the air about the building of a community center two blocks from “ground zero,” the location of the Twin Tower attacks on 9/11. The Republican Party has capitalized on people’s justifiable anger over the Twin Tower attacks and created a problem where there wasn’t one. Suddenly, all over the country, people in power are being asked to weigh in on how they feel about the “Ground Zero Mosque.”

The issue would be ridiculous and laughable, except that people are taking it seriously, which makes it quite troubling.  As everyone knows (or should), there is no Ground Zero Mosque.  It is, in fact a community center; approved long ago for construction two blocks from ground zero. In any event, why would a mosque be such an affront to people?  There are probably dozens of buildings zoned for construction in and around the location of ground zero. What is “respectful” enough to build, if a mosque or a community center are not? Would a strip club be ok? How about a pizza parlor?

Underlying the ridiculousness of the Republican Party’s patriotic posturing lie two serious issues.  The first is religious freedom.  Our country was founded by people fleeing religious persecution.  The First Amendment to our Constitution expressly confers religious freedom to everyone, and it makes no distinction between Christian or pagan, Buddhist or Hindu, Muslim or Jew.  The ease with which the Republican Party is willing to deny constitutional freedoms with those it disagrees is frightening.
The second serious issue is our country’s tolerance of others.  People are protesting the building of mosques all over the country.  So let’s be honest.  This isn’t about one mosque or its location.  It’s about “them,” a fear of Muslims, and how many in this country believe they should be removed. 

The dishonesty of the people leading this charge is exceeded only by their stupidity.  One such teabagger in California gathered people and their pets to protest the building of a mosque because she claimed that Muslims hate women, Christian songs, and dogs. But don’t worry folks. She’s not a racist because she worked with a “gay” without knowing and she didn’t even care when she found out. 
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/07/tpm_talks_to_organizer_of_anti-mosque_protest_they.php

And now Tim “The Tool” Pawlenty, has jumped into the fray.  In a recent appearance on “Hannity,” Tim tried to scare the public by saying the Ground Zero Mosque (er ... community center) was “quite quite” dangerous.  What’s dangerous, Tim, is someone running for President who is so willing to ignore the bill of rights for political gain.  He also took a stab at insulting the president by calling Obama’s discussion about the constitution and religious freedom “playing law professor.”  For those who can’t recall, Obama is a lawyer, a former constitutional law professor, and also, incidentally, the President – who is charged with upholding and defending our country’s constitution.  What Obama is doing when he talks about the Constitution is called the oath of office.  Well, we know Obama is doing his job, but what about Pawlenty?

Pawlenty has checked out. Oh, he’s still drawing a paycheck, but he’s too busy campaigning in Iowa for 2012 and making TV appearances to actually do his job. He can’t even be bothered to sign his name. You see, federal funding was awarded to every state that asked for it. But Tim cost the state of MN a million dollars because he didn’t have time to sign the letter. Watch the disgusted and stunned reactions of legislators when they hear the news! http://blip.tv/file/4018568

So, Tim didn’t have time to sign a million-dollar letter for his State, but, thankfully for Iowa, he did have time to make burgers at the Iowa State Fair! Don’t worry, Tim wasn’t just there to handle Iowa’s meat, his real intent was to place in the caucuses. And, he did! A whopping 1% - - placing him at a tie for 6th place out of 10 possible candidates.  I’m sure every Minnesotan agrees this was well-worth the million dollars in lost federal funding.

While Minnesotan’s struggle with a huge deficit, Pawlent’s cuts to healthcare in the state, and staggering unemployment , the governor is playing politics and practicing to be a TV celeb. That’s because Pawlenty has figured out what many failed politicians already know. If you stink at your job, you can always run for president, lose, and become independently wealthy from book deals and speaking gigs, and have your very own reality show. Just ask Sarah Palin!  Unfortunately for Pawlenty, he’s not cute or interesting enough for anyone to want to see the Tim “The Tool” Pawlenty show.

Sadly for Americans, there are too many tools like Pawlenty to contend with—politicians willing to ignore their responsibilities to their constituents and the constitution for the aggrandizement of their own power. In a country that takes pride in the rights of individuals, this pervasive narrow mindedness about people’s religious freedom is what is “quite quite” dangerous.

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