Month: August 2010

Verbatim

Buck Banks

I had learned a few things on the campaign already, and knew that change always brought complications and chaos and sometimes a little entertainment. Drama was inevitable on a campaign and created almost out of thin air. Tempers were always flying, and feelings were always being hurt. There was no question that a running mate would add to the confusion and upset. There would be less time for fun. But I couldn’t have predicted just how serious it was going to get.

— Meghan McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), on Sarah Palin’s contributions to the losing presidential campaign from her new book, “Dirty Sexy Politics,” which will no doubt sell well because it has “sexy” and “politics” in the title.

Verbatim

Buck Banks

If you get (permission), you go and march. If you don’t — you have no right to. Go without permission, and you will be hit on the head with batons. That’s all there is to it.

— Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, quoted by Reuters, defending a recent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Verbatim

Buck Banks

He is a super-smart man, but he doesn’t know anything about commitment to marriage. He’s the last person I’d vote for for president of the United States. His life indicates he does not have a commitment to the character traits necessary to be a great president.

— Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), quoted in Tulsa World, poo-pooing the idea of Newt Gingrich running for president.

Does Arson at Mosque in Tennessee, Birthplace of the Klan, Signal a Rise in Tea Party Terrorism?

Jon Ponder

photo-vandalized-sign-murfreesboro-islamic-centerFour large pieces of construction equipment, including an excavation hauler, were destroyed by fire Friday night at the construction site of a mosque expansion in Mufreesboro, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville. Local officials are calling the attack arson, and federal officials, including the FBI, are investigating.

Displays of hatred against Muslims have been on the rise this summer, fueled by attack rhetoric from GOP-tea party leaders like Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Newt Gingrich, former N.Y. Gov. George Pataki and former Tea Party Express Chairman Mark Williams, who made headlines in July by issuing a racist rant in the form of a letter in which he used the term “colored people” a dozen times. After stepping down from TPE, Williams, who lives in Sacramento, announced he was going to work full time on preventing the construction of the Park 51 Islamic center in New York.

In fact, most of the GOP-tea bagger hate rhetoric this summer has been leveled at the so-called “Ground Zero mosque,” as the Park 51 center has been dubbed by Republicans and in the corporate media. The center is slated to be built in a long-abandoned building in a section of mostly derelict buildings situated a block west of New York City Hall and two blocks north of the World Trade Center plaza.

In addition to the anger over Park 51, attacks against Muslims and new mosque construction have taken place across the country:

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