The most memorable article in the New Yorker issue devoted to 9/11, “Ten Years Later,” is Paul Goldberger’s review of the new World Trade Center.

Goldberg dislikes the new buildings going up around Ground Zero, particularly the Freedom Tower, which he calls “not much more than a big version of a typical New York developer’s skyscraper.” But he likes the 9/11 memorial itself, designed by Michael Arad where the twin towers stood. “Arad figured out how to express the idea that what were once the largest solids in Manhattan are now a void, and he made the shape of this void into something monumental,” Goldberger writes.

It’s a sincere and eloquent review. And yet the fact that Goldberger prefers the memorial to the new commercial and residential structures around it neatly summarizes the posture the New Yorker itself has adopted toward 9/11.

The magazine is not only mournful about the past, but morose about the present and gloomy about the future. The dark cover is more optimistic than the appropriately stark “black on black” cover after 9/11–but only just, depicting the Twin Towers descending into the waters around Manhattan. The featured articles by Adam Gopnik (“Decline, Fall, Rinse, Repeat: Is America Going Down?”) and George Packer (“Coming Apart: After 9/11 transfixed America, the country’s problems were left to rot”) leave little room for new hope.

The “Talk of the Town” section is extended to make room for the reflections of a dozen authors–many of whom are still hung up on “Bush, Cheney, Halliburton, Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib, bin Laden” (Colum McCann), or blame America for the attacks. Author Lorrie Moore even attacks J.K. Rowling for creating a “gruesomely cheering” generation of “‘Harry Potter’ readers” that celebrated the killing of Osama bin Laden this past May.

The fear and loathing that drip from the pages of the New Yorker are a striking reversal of the “hope and change” with which the New York literary elite greeted the election of President Barack Obama. They are also a dramatic contrast to the reality of life in New York today, which seems almost as lively today as it did before 9/11–perhaps not quite as self-confident, but every bit as spontaneous, bizarre, steamy, stinky, and beautiful.

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With the story of the Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero continuing to dominate the news cycles, I have been doing a lot of media, and readers of my website AtlasShrugs.com are well aware of the campaign of destruction that the leftist/Islamic machine against freedom defenders. Monday night’s Ground Zero mosque segment on Eric Bolling’s Money Rocks on Fox perfectly illustrates this, and the perverse marriage of the left and the jihad.

The particularly vile (though typical for the unindicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked, Muslim Brotherhood front Council on American-Islamic Relations — CAIR) Ahmed Rehab did his usual Islamic supremacist jig, and he had the grotesque Bob Beckel as his water boy. Beckel is a famous failure: he was Walter Mondale’s campaign manager for his disastrous 1984 presidential campaign. I had been fortunate, up until Monday night, not to have to be in the same studio with that slob, but on this occasion I was not spared the abuse of Beckel’s presence.

I was the only female on the panel, and as we were prepping (getting miked, etc.) for the show, Beckel was regaling his victims (Bill Hemmer, David Webb and Bolling) with sordid tales of pole dancers and the like. It was grotesque and deliberate – and unwelcome: nobody was backslapping this pig, trust me. (more…)

Here’s an interesting illustration of the sad state of the main stream liberal media in 2010. It’s hard to say whether it’s corruption, intentional misrepresentation, or merely incompetence.

On Monday, the project Election Day Tea Party (of which I am a co-organizer) launched.  We issued a press release announcing our “List the Top 50 House Races” and our partnership with former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton.  Ambassador Bolton is participating as a volunteer citizen encouraging people to visit the site, where tea party activists can make the most difference in securing a victory.

Newsweek has reported this story incorrectly. Out of thin air, they made up a non-existent event, and claimed Ambassador Bolton would attend that event. Here’s what they said:

… and TPM’s Jillian Rayfield reports, [John Bolton]’s preparing for an Election Day Tea Party rally at Ground Zero.

The fact is, Ms. Rayfield’s article in TPM that day made no such claim. Newsweek either misread the article or intentionally misreported it. (more…)

On Sunday, August 8, the New York Times ran a front-page article by Laurie Goodstein entitled “Across Nation, Mosque Projects Meet Opposition.”   Three days prior to the publication of the story, Ms. Goodstein contacted ACT! for America president Brigitte Gabriel to get her comments for the story.

It was clear from the questions Ms. Goodstein asked that the newspaper was planning to re-frame the opposition to the mosque at Ground Zero into an “Americans are opposing mosques everywhere” narrative.

Such a narrative is an expression of the political left’s worldview that opposing the mosque at Ground Zero is motivated by bigotry and intolerance.  By recasting the debate as one where “opposition to mosques everywhere proves Muslims are being denied religious freedom,” rather than “Americans are concerned about the location of the mosque at Ground Zero,” the New York Times and its friends in the media are trying desperately to stem a growing and understandable tide of opposition to the Ground Zero mosque.

Of course, the Times’ narrative isn’t true.  It referred to three locations where so-called “mosque controversies” have occurred – hardly a battle “Across [the] Nation,” as the article headline states. There are approximately 100 mosques in New York and at least 2,500 mosques nationwide, virtually all of which encountered no opposition.  One pastor in Tennessee told us that plans for his church expansion received far more scrutiny from the local government than did the proposal for a mosque in the area.  But since when have the facts gotten in the way of a narrative the New York Times wants to peddle? (more…)

On Sunday I was honored to be a speaker at the rally against building the mosque at ground zero put on by the Coalition to Honor Ground Zero. As the rally concluded, thousands of the participants marched the one block from the rally site to the actual site of Ground Zero.

I noticed a man in black shirt with a phone camera aggressively questioning and haranguing a gentleman with the sign, “No Sharia Here.” He was very aggressive, disrespectful and condescending; apparently, he did not like the man’s answers about Shariah and pushed the point: “Why do you feel threatened? What are you afraid of? Why can’t you answer my questions?”

My instincts told me to document the scene, and I took out my camera. I originally thought he was a supporter of the mosque (they’d gathered in much smaller numbers a few blocks away), or some kind of fringe reporter for a small, even fringier leftist paper. When I challenged the man in the black shirt, asking him to tell me what media outlet he worked for, he refused to answer. He walked away.

But there was cameraman was standing nearby, watching the scene play out. When I asked, he said he worked for ABC News. I then asked if the man in the black shirt was with him. The ABC cameraman said, “yes.”
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Rancor among religions is one thing, but the questions surrounding the proposed mosque at Ground Zero are an entirely different sort of attack.

The land surrounding Ground Zero is a war memorial. The proposal of an Islamic mosque there is synonymous with a Nazi war memorial in downtown London. How would the world react to that proposal? Wouldn’t Western Europe just about leap off the map if that were proposed? Where is the outrage from our European “friends?”

Perhaps they are confused with the whole rosy picture of “peace” being painted by the Mainstream Media? Perhaps they believe the lie that this mosque is going to exist to “bring religions together.” Is that why they chose Ground Zero, the most hallowed ground in the country at the moment? (more…)

Politico reporter Abby Phillip began one piece yesterday by asserting “Republicans jumped Sunday on President Barack Obama’s defense of a proposed mosque […] Democrats meanwhile sought to change the subject.”  Judging by Politico’s and Phillip’s reporting, they intend to help the Democrats do it, turning the spotlight around on the GOP and their apparent issues with Islam.

For most of the day, Politico’s front page featured Ben Smith’s and Maggie Haberman’s “GOP takes harsher stance toward Islam” followed by Abby Phillip’s aforementioned “GOP keeps mosque flap alive.”  But it was Phillip’s other piece on Sunday highlighting the GOP that takes the cake: “Peter King flips on mosques.”

Riffing off a 2007 interview with Politico, Phillip develops the premise for this piece by contrasting New York Rep. Peter King’s (R) supposed 2007 position that “we have too many mosques in this country” with his current statement that “I support mosques, obviously.”  But of course, in order to create the basis for this piece, Phillip uses the same dishonest splicing of King’s 2007 statement that Politico’s Daniel W. Reilly used in 2007 to smear Rep. King. (more…)

Go ahead: write tomorrow’s headlines tonight:

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday backed construction of a proposed mosque and Muslim cultural center near the site of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York — a project opposed by U.S. conservatives and many New Yorkers.

“As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country,” Obama said to applause at an event attended by diplomats from Islamic countries and members of the U.S. Muslim community.

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As the battle over the Ground Zero mosque continues to rage in the streets — and on the sides of buses — in New York City, the MSM — taking its cue from the nasty little lifestyle-fascist mayor, Mike Bloomberg — has continued to frame the discussion as one of bigotry instead of cultural self-preservation.

Now comes a Muslim woman, living in Canada, to speak the truth, not only about the significance of the mosque, but the sniveling, accomodationist nature of the pathetic surrender-monkey-in chief known as Hizzoner:

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As the networks die, taking their news divisions along with them, their function is now less bringing the news to you than blocking the news they’d prefer you not see and hear about. They’ve all become Baghdad Bob, fingers in their ears, oblivious to the carnage going on just outside their doors while humming “Happy Days Are Here Again,” because, after all, it fits the narrative.

Their blocking extends even to the ads they choose not to run, such as the one below. While it’s not a First Amendment issue — companies are free to accept or reject advertisements — the decision not to air a Republican ad opposing the mega-mosque at Ground Zero speaks volumes about the level of political correctness at the nets:

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According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, the majority of New Yorkers are opposed to the building of an Islamic supremacist mosque at Ground Zero — as are, not coincidentally, the majority of Americans.

In New York City, where all power is centralized, all roads lead to the Mayor’s office. And Mayor Bloomberg is covertly pushing the Ground Zero mega mosque forward. Bloomberg controls the calendar, so why would he suddenly, last week, schedule a landmarks committee meeting for tomorrow and a landmarks commission meeting for next week, in the middle of July, when no one is around?  Boss Bloomberg, is the fix in? And if so, why?

More troubling is the media has paid scant attention to Bloomberg’s pernicious display of megalomaniacal governance. It is corruption when our elected officials ignore the will of the people, but it is far worse when our media, who are supposed to give voice to the voiceless, work in tandem with such corruption. Why is Bloomberg given a free pass by the free press while Governor Paterson is eviscerated daily, for sport?

Why isn’t the New York Times, the Daily News or the Post demanding to know why Mayor Bloomberg is trying to expedite the building of the Ground Zero mega mosque, when the majority of New Yorkers do not want it? Why isn’t the media demanding to know why the World Trade Center has not yet been rebuilt and why its reconstruction or replacement is not being given the same priority as the mega mosque? (more…)

We’ve always known that the Left is essentially fascist in both outlook and temperament — censor it! burn it! ban it! — and here’s the odious Bill Press to illustrate the truth of the proposition once again.

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*** Updated: Pamela Geller will be speaking at our event.. We are very happy and pleased that she will be attending! The TNTPC believes (CAIR) to be a hate group. We will not follow any request from them. Anthony Shreeve, convention organizer

I am one of the featured speakers at the Inaugural statewide Tea Party Convention in Tennessee’s beautiful Smoky Mountains this weekend. But look at this: the unindicted co-conspirator, terror-tied Muslim Brotherhood front group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is trying to get the good, decent Americans of the Tennessee Tea Party to crush free speech by dropping me from the Tea Party convention this weekend.

Why is CAIR starting this campaign now? This is all about the mosque that Muslims are planning to build near Ground Zero. I spoke the truth about this supremacist initiative on the Sean Hannity radio show last week, in a debate with Islamic apologist Michael Ghouse. Who won the debate? Well, you be the judge:

The next day I was scheduled to be on the Mike Huckabee Show on Fox News along with a representative from the mosque, but at the last minute they decided not to send anyone. They sent Huckabee a written statement, which he read to me on the air. And now CAIR sends around this press release full of lies and distortions, trying to intimidate the Tennessee Tea Partiers into canceling me. The CAIR press release starts this way:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on the organizers of the inaugural Tennessee Tea Party Convention to be held this weekend in Gatlinburg to drop an anti-Islam speaker who claims that ‘Hitler and the Nazis were inspired by Islam’ and that Islam ‘mandates’ lies and deception.

Sounds terrible, right? Except for one thing: it’s true. (more…)