New Poll Shows Obama Ratings Down As Mosque Controversy Lingers

A new poll released Monday showed that the ongoing debate regarding Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s proposed mosque and cultural center two blocks from New York City’s Ground Zero is skewing the public’s opinion of President Barack Obama and how he has handled the situation.

Nine years after the September 11 attacks, public sentiment towards Islam remains relatively low with only 38 percent of voters having favorable opinions of Islam, the poll found. Fifty percent of voters, however, perceive mainstream Islam as a peaceful religion, rather than an ideology which encourages violence to non-Muslims.

Although the Quinnipiac University National Poll found that 70 percent of Americans believe that the Muslim group has the right to continue with building the Mosque, 63 percent of voters say it’s wrong to do so.

Controversy over the Mosque’s construction stirred up radical opposition among some Americans. Florida Pastor Terry Jones threatened to assemble a Quran burning rally during this weekend’s 9/11 anniversary, ultimately canceling it after receiving warnings from the White House and Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

The controversy has taken its toll on the public’s perception of President Barack Obama and how he has handled the mosque situation in New York. After publicly defending the mosque’s construction in last week’s press conference, the new poll shows American voters disapprove 44-31 percent of the way Obama is handling the situation.

“The proposed mosque near Ground Zero are taking a toll on President Barack Obama’s standing with American voters,” assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute Peter Brown said. “The fact that so many Americans think the President does not share their values might worry the White House.”

"Burn A Quran" Day Still On, Despite Petraeus Warning

A Florida pastor says he is now “weighing” plans to follow through with a scheduled “Burn A Quran” day on the anniversary of September 11 after Gen. David Petraeus warned that the event would endanger the lives of U.S. troops and would also be detrimental to U.S. efforts in the Afghanistan. 

Despite warnings and condemnation from top U.S. military and government officials, the Florida pastor said the proceedings will continue as scheduled.

“We have firmly made up our mind, but at the same time, we are definitely praying about it,” Terry Jones, pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainseville, Florida told CNN in an interview.

According to recent reports, Jones said in response to warnings from Petraeus and others that “it’d be tragical if because of this one person died. But at the same time, we do not feel responsible for that.” 

Known to the social media world as “International Burn A Koran Day,” the event has nearly 9,000 Facebook supporters.

“On September 11th, 2010, from 6pm - 9pm, we will burn the Koran on the property of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, FL in remembrance of the fallen victims of 9/11 and to stand against the evil of Islam. Islam is of the devil!” the page reads.

The Facebook page sparked the creation of dozens of other pages denouncing the event and the intentions of Jones. Additionally, the event has also ignited a series of protests in Kabul, Afghanistan where hundreds have gathered for two consecutive days burning American flags and effigies of the pastor and shouting “Death To America.”

OPINION: Wow! Newsweek and Globe Tabloid Agree: Obama Really Is a Muslim (*Critics Say)

So President Obama might just as well be one. A Muslim, that is. Why not? What’s the worst that can happen politically? Armageddon in November for Democrats? That’s already bubbling up nicely. Not getting elected in 2012? Who thinks that’s going to happen as things stand?

Newsweek’s black, red and white front page this week screamed “The making of a terrorist-coddling warmongering Wall Street-loving socialistic Godless Muslim President* (then in tiny print), who isn’t actually any of these things by Jonathan Alter.”

The Globe’s front page was the more tame: “Shocking Proof: Obama IS a Muslim! Revealed! His stunning confession to top government official, why he wants mosque at 9/11 site”. Inside, the lead was “Obama’s (then in red) Muslim Cover-Up! President is backing mosque at 9-11 site because he REALLY is follower of Islam - (then in tiny print) critics say.”

OK then. This is where we are. A respected news magazine and a (sometimes accurate) tabloid both decide to slime the President in the same week with the innuendo du jour - the horror of
being one of the world’s 1.4 billion Muslims, and to sell copies, of course.

Newsweek confines itself to slime on the cover. Jonathan Alter’s article is intelligent, informative and something the West Wing should read. Newsweek also contains the poll showing that 52% of Republicans think it’s “definitely true” or “probably true” that Obama “sympathizes with the goals of fundamentalists who want to impose Islamic law around the world”. Overall, 24% of respondents think Obama is a Muslim (he’s not, but he might as well be.) That’s up from 13% in June 2008. Worse for the President, 59% of Republicans believe the President favors “the interests of Muslims over other groups of Americans”.

The Globe goes to town with an “exclusive Special Report”. The smear is supported by a statement by Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who told Nile TV that President Obama told him in private that he’s a Muslim, sympathetic towards the Muslim agenda, and in time he would show the Muslim world how to deal with Israel. I guess President Obama is showing the Muslim world this week that the way to deal with Israel is through peace talks. (Here’s how the anti Islam blogs are playing it - warning, it’s gross.) The Globe also quotes a “D.C. insider”, “critics” and “a source”. Of course, nobody would go on the record.

Given that Politifact recently debunked the Obama as a Muslim myth, given that the President has personally testified to his Christian faith in his books and in April at an Easter prayer breakfast at the White House (funny thing for a Muslim to hold), given that he regularly consults with Christian spiritual advisors by phone, given all this - the fact is that none of it is taking hold with the American public.

So President Obama might as well be a Muslim.

One alternative is to be the Anti-Christ, which 24% of Republicans and 6% of Democrats think might just be the case. Yes, according to an online Harris poll taken in early March this year, over a quarter of those questioned think the President’s the Anti-Christ. Which Democrats, I wonder?
Obama could try being an atheist, but believing in no God is arguably more unpopular than believing in a “Muslim” God. This is a religious country. Anyway, why play into the hands of publicity hound Ann Coulter and her latest rant?

Perhaps the best reason for the President to just - well - be a Muslim is national security. Newsweek interviewed a Taliban operative called Zabihullah. He said “The more mosques you stop, the more Jihadis we will get”. “It’s providing us with more recruits, donations and popular support.”

A real Muslim president would wade further into the mosque mess than the hit and run support of President Obama. He would persuade Americans of the rightness of his beliefs, and explain the national security ramifications to them. At the same time, he would reach out to the Muslim world as a brother and as an American and explain how many Americans feel. Why didn’t the President do any of those things? Ah - maybe it would bust his “cover”.

All of which brings us back to the claim on the front of Newsweek and The Globe that Obama really is a Muslim - a secret Muslim. It’s a claim advanced on extreme websites like these, and it’s working. A full quarter of Americans think he’s a Muslim, and they don’t mean it in the warm and fuzzy “religion of peace” way. Obama’s denied it, he hasn’t made a pilgrimage to Mecca, he hasn’t fasted during Ramadan and nobody’s reported him praying five times a day all over the White House in corners. People must think he’s a liar.

But wait. If Obama was a Muslim he could, under some circumstances, practice Taqiyya, and deny his faith. He could live a secret life. A bit risky theologically, but what’s the leader of the free world to do? Tell the truth?

Who’s listening to the truth?

Newly Appointed “Special Representative to Muslim Communities” Discusses Outreach Plans

By Learned Foote- Talk Radio News Service

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently appointed Farah Pandith as Special Representative to Muslim Communities, a new position within the State Department. Pandith held a news briefing to discuss her role on Wednesday.

Born in India, Pandith grew up in Massachusetts, where she attended Milton Academy, Smith College, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

She has previously held several positions at various government departments, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Security Council, and—most recently—the European bureau of the State Department.

Pandith said that her new role will require her to “leverage my experience in Europe and in other parts of the world to think about how we can have the department work on Muslim engagement in a way that is out of the box, that is innovative, that is dynamic, that works with embassies so that we’re getting to know the next generation of thinkers.”

She declined to answer questions about controversial issues affecting Muslim communities, and said that her role is not to create policy. “What we want to do is build dialogue,” she explained.

She emphasized the nuance and diversity of Islam in the United States and the world, and said that no single engagement tactic would suit every community. “It isn’t just one thing from Washington that’s going to be shoved into everybody’s faces,” she said.

Pandith said she planned to visit multiple areas of the globe over the next few years, and would not deal only with regions where conflicts exist. However, she explained that since she just started her job, she has to “consult with my colleagues at the department to figure out the first few steps.”

Top Court: Ashcroft, Mueller Not Liable For Muslim Civil Rights Violations

By Jonathan Bronstein, Talk Radio News Service

Shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government allowed law enforcement officials to arrest people of “high interest” according to race, religion, or national origin, according to Javaid Iqbal, a Pakistani citizen who was placed in a maximum-security prison in early 2002.

Iqbal claimed that the government’s decision violated his civil rights and he sued former U.S. Attorney General John Aschcroft and Robert Mueller, then-Director of the FBI.

Today, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision written by Justice Kennedy, ruled against Iqbal.

Kennedy wrote that Iqbal’s initial filings did not provide enough information to automatically find Ashcroft and Mueller responsible for the abuses he suffered while being held.

The case will now return to the lower courts, where Iqbal may have a chance to substantiate his claim that he was subjected to harsh conditions on account of his religion and nationality, and that Ashcroft and Mueller were the “principle architects” of this plan.

Four Justices dissented, and in an opinion written by Justice Souter agreed with the lower courts' findings that Ashcroft and Mueller did violate his civil rights and could therefore be held responsible.