Obama: Ground Zero Mosque Remarks

Obama possesses a remarkable ability to screw up royally.

He digs himself a hole, stops digging, begins to climb out, and then does an about-face and begins digging deeper. Truly weird.

Such is the case with his stand regarding the mosque at Ground Zero.

During his remarks at the iftar meal he hosted at the White House on Friday, Obama was very clear.

It's funny. He actually said, "But let me be clear." And he was.

Obama declared his support for the mosque at Ground Zero. Period.

Then on Saturday, as Obama supposedly clarified what he said, he added to the confusion.

Video.


Transcript

ED HENRY, CNN: What do you think about the reaction to your speech about the mosque? What about the reaction to the speech?

OBAMA: Well, the, uh, you know, my intention, uh, was to simply let people know, uh, what I thought, uh, which was that, uh, in this country we treat everybody equally in accordance with the law, uh, regardless of race, regardless of religion.

Uh, I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making a decision, uh, to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right that people have, uh, that dates back to our founding. That's what our country's about. Uh, and uh, I think it's very important that, uh, you know, as difficult as some of these issues are, you know, we stay focused, uh, on who we are as a people and what our values are all about.

No, Obama did comment on the wisdom of putting a mosque at Ground Zero. He said he believes it's the right thing to do. It's what the Founders would want.

He went on and on about our values and the nation. Obama most definitely did comment that it was wise to put a mosque at Ground Zero.

Naturally, that didn't go over well with many Americans, so we get that lame statement about his refusal to comment on the decision.

What?

Come again?

Obama spokesman Bill Burton addressed the matter.

“Just to be clear, the president is not backing off in any way from the comments he made last night,” Burton said. “It is not his role as president to pass judgment on every local project. But it is his responsibility to stand up for the Constitutional principle of religious freedom and equal treatment for all Americans. What he said last night, and reaffirmed today, is that if a church, a synagogue or a Hindu temple can be built on a site, you simply cannot deny that right to those who want to build a mosque.”

White House officials later said that Obama was simply saying that since there was no local ordinance that would prevent construction of the mosque, he believed local officials made the right decision to allow it to go forward.

And Team Obama keeps digging.

Once again, Obama digs his own grave.

Naturally, rather than reporting the facts of what Obama said and getting him to be not only merely clear but really most sincerely clear, the New York Times attacks his critics.

But Mr. Obama’s attempt to clarify his remarks, less than 24 hours after his initial comments at a White House iftar, a Ramadan sunset dinner, pushed the president even deeper into the thorny debate about Islam, national identity and what it means to be an American — a move that is riskier for him than for his predecessors.

From the moment he took the oath of office, using his entire name, Barack Hussein Obama, as he swore to protect and defend the Constitution, Mr. Obama has personified the hopes of many Americans about tolerance and inclusion. He has devoted himself to reaching out to the Muslim world, vowing, as he did in Cairo last year, “a new beginning.”

But his “new beginning” has aroused nervousness in some, especially those who disagree with his counterterrorism policies, or those more comfortable with a vision of America as a white and largely Christian nation, and not the pluralistic melting pot Mr. Obama represents.

That really pisses me off.

Obama is a big boy. He should be able to take a stand and express his reasons for it. End of story. No need for the lib media to bring up "Barack Hussein Obama" and crap like that.

"Those more comfortable with a vision of America as a white and largely Christian nation"?!?

What is that?

Typical lib deflection and whining about racism that is a figment of the Left's warped imagination.

The subject is Obama's position on the mosque at Ground Zero.

He's the president. We don't need wishy washy, flippy floppy comments from him and his spokesmen.

Bottom line: Obama did comment about the mosque at Ground Zero before he didn't comment. Then he declared that he wouldn't as he did.

Obama's handling of this matter is so very uncool. He's made a complete fool of himself.

Worse, he's hurting a lot of people. He doesn't feel their pain. Time for vacation!