fascinating stuff…

A digest of last week’s prophetic and interpretive thought

“I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right that people have that dates back to our founding.” —Barack Obama

“We all know that they have the right to do it, but should they?” —Sarah Palin

“Where the ‘Ground Zero mosque’ is concerned, opposition is roughly proportional to distance, even in New York.” —Hendrik Hertzberg

“I believe that this is an important test of the separation of church and state—as important a test as we may see in our lifetimes—and it is critically important that we get it right.” —Michael Bloomberg

“Obviously my opinion is that I’m opposed to it.” —John McCain

“If you are a healer, you do not go forward with this project. If you’re a warrior, you do.” —Rudy Giuliani

“It’s a community center. They’re going to have a gym. They’re going to have point guards. Muslim point guards.” —Al Franken

“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.” —Newt Gingrich

“There is no valid comparison there.” —Pat Buchanan

“This is like a metastasized anti-Semitism.” —Daisy Khan

“We strengthen America by distinguishing, clearly and unequivocally, between our al-Qaida enemy and our Muslim neighbors.” —Jeff Merkley

“How is this opposition to the mosque being funded? How is this being ginned up?” —Nancy Pelosi

“It is a real affront to people who lost their lives…. Another site would be a better idea.” —Howard Dean

“The longer we have this feud, the more the terrorists are laughing.” —David Paterson