Obama, Courage and Lower Manhattan

Courage and Lower Manhattan

Posted on Aug 18, 2010

By Joe Conason

Nothing tests a president like standing up against a wave of fear and prejudice, even at potentially great cost to his own party and prospects. That is what Lyndon Baines Johnson did when he signed the civil rights acts he knew would forfeit the South to the Republicans for a generation or more.

And that is what Barack Obama has done by defending the right of American Muslims to build a community center and mosque in Lower Manhattan.

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As the son of a Kenyan Muslim and with an Arabic middle name, Obama obviously carries a heavy burden in this confrontation with opportunists and bigots. It would be difficult for any president to stare down opponents who are riding high on the current wave of anger and paranoia directed at a religious minority. It is far more difficult for this president, who has been subjected to scurrilous media campaigns questioning his own faith and even his citizenship.

Those hard circumstances emphasize his courage—and the cowardice of those who sidle away or remain silent now. The deepest responsibility falls upon George W. Bush, who could silence the worst excesses of his fellow Republicans and conservatives with a simple statement backing his successor. He knows that Obama is doing the right and lonely thing. His duty is clear, and he too must choose: either redemption or ignominy.

more:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/courage_and_lower_manhattan_20100818/#

But he did not seem to be too sure about the wisdom of the decision to do it.

Frankly, I'm sick of hearing "wisdom of the decision" waffling.

I think so. I saw several people both defending Obama and Dean, somehow. I defend Obama alone, because at least he didn't pressure the mosque to move.