As painful as this event was I don't like this talk of not having a Mosque near the site and I'm especially disappointed that a comedian can state what the media won't :"I don't think Osama bin Laden sent those planes to attack us because he hated our freedom. I think he did it because of our support for Israel, our ties with the Saudi family and our military bases in Saudi Arabia. You know why I think that? Because that's what he f###ing said! Are we a nation of 6-year-olds?"
~ David Cross

Some pundits said after 911 that those towers represented a big unfair finger to the rest of the world. Maybe. I hope 911 doesn't represent our peak as a nation but I'm starting to wonder given events after that.

Onion

Apparently not

David Cross is a douc** B*G

And let's not forget his exceptional performance in "Men In Black 2".

Ok..OK.. I retract "David Cross is a douch* b*g".

David Cross's stand up act is both douchey and baggery. [My apologies for the harsh language]

Mr. Herbold!

I liked David Cross as Tobias on "Arrested Development," but then I did come across an interview where he was just David Cross and I agree with Rob - highly unlikable.

As for confusing The Onion with "real news," that happened to me briefly the other day. While executing a quick search to learn what exactly Reggie Bush did to get in trouble, I saw this headline, "Reggie Bush Claims He Made $100,000 Through USC Work-Study Program." Very entertaining satire

'"Whenever I would show a clip and the sound wouldn't work, it was always Reggie who would sprint the 40 yards from the audio-visual center in 4.2 seconds flat," said history professor Niles Langford.'

No I do not confuse the Onion with real news but i do love the Onion. Satire doesn't work without a grain of truth. Wasn't really commenting on David Cross. Frankly I hate modern comedians but his quote makes sense to me in a country where something like 47% of Americans think Obama is a Muslim, and Saddam had something to do with 911.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Biostitute,

I agree with you whole-heartedly, Bio....but as for thinking Saddam had something to do with 9/11, that one I can understand why some people do think that....between the actions occurring at the time and the media's misrepresentation of things, it was confusing for many.

quote:

I think he did it because of our support for Israel, our ties with the Saudi family and our military bases in Saudi Arabia

And this has nothing to do with the Muslim religion? At least the kind that Saddam and his ilk believe in? I give two squirts about the mosque, but to say that this is just a freedom of religion issue is ludicrous. Have some sensitivity. I thought that is one of the main tenants of the "ultra peaceful" Muslim religion.
Bio and GESM2, you are way, way off on this.

The problem that I have with this, Rob....is that people in America continue to use Al-Queda (and other extremists and terrorists) interchangeably with the Muslim religion. I'm sorry, but you just can't hold extremist group actions against an entire religion. It's as bad as saying that all white people in existence tortured and terrorized other human beings simply because they were slaves.

Or because they wanted them to convert to Christianity.

Or that

Have you ever read Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali? I think it was a bestseller awhile back. It's an interesting read, but to this point, it's her position as a former Muslim that the "radicals" are not radicals at all, rather they are practicing the religion as it was intended to be practiced. It's true that most Muslims don't practice the religion to the fullest or however you want to say it, but, in her opinion, these extremest groups are not some kind of crazy cult - they are true Muslims.

I suppose the same could be said for the very small group of "radical" Christians who take the Bible word for word. Pillar of salt and all.

You said it, Mama "in her opinion"....
and Clam, Right on!

Agreed Clam. My point is that it is a hypocrisy of the Muslim nation to say they are a peaceful religion and still try to place their mosque in an obviously distasteful location. It is also a dangerous complacency in America if we believe this is a small group of radicals that can be mollified or forced into better behaviour.

Christians and other religions and races have no monopoly on abhorent behaviour, but we seem to bend over backwards to accomodate the Muslim Nation to show how grand we can be as a nation. If the "true" Muslims would work to actively ferrot out these radicals and not indirectly support their actions, it would go a long way towards gaining my trust as a "peaceful" religion.

I liken it more to the differences between Orthodox, Conservative and Reformed Judaism, but that's just me.

A lot of them do, Rob....but more often than not they're more concerned with the truth about their religion getting out for fear of persecution.

I don't know about anyone else, but I never said anything about a small group of radicals....nor did I say they could (or should) be forced into better behavior. What I said was extremist groups among the religion are causing people to lump them all together, and you just can't do that.

I will give you that the location could be perceived as disrespectful and why, but perhaps the intentions behind it weren't what everyone is assuming? I honestly don't know, I'm just bringing up possibilities here. Culture clashes leave a ton of room for miscommunications and depending on the perspective, it could've been viewed as more of an olive branch by the remainder of the religion rather than the intended slap in the face that many assume. Like I said, I don't know, I haven't researched the subject at all....just playing Devil's Advocate here and throwing out possibilities.