http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2010/07/22/a-terrified-newt-gingrich-urges-america-to-abandon-its-principles/?cxntfid=blogs_jay_bookman_blog
More of the same spewing hate from the Republican Right Wing. They will do anything to cater to 'any segment' of the electorate ready to believe they will find influence in the voter's booth.
...One of the notable things about the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero (click title to entry - thank you) is something that has somehow gone largely unnoticed: In the neighborhood where it would sit, the opposition has been minimal. The local community board approved it overwhelmingly, and Ro Sheffe, chair of the board's financial district committee, tells me that "the vast majority of the people who live here are for it."
Why would that be? Partly because the group behind it already has a mosque in the area, which has caused no problems. Partly because New Yorkers are accustomed to religious and cultural diversity. And partly because the building would be open to the public--non-Muslims as well as Muslims.
The plan at this stage is for the prayer space to occupy only one floor of a 13-story building. The rest would house a swimming pool, a concert auditorium, a gymnasium, a child-care facility, a library, a culinary school and a restaurant. Scheffe says it will bear a strong resemblance to Manhattan's 92nd Street Y.
All this is welcome because the area has attracted a lot of new people, tripling the population in just 10 years. Having been a commercial area for centuries, Sheffe says, "It has none of the residential amenities that urban neighborhoods take for granted."...
