Profiles in Courage? Not Exactly!

(Initially written in August of 2010)

The furor rising over the Ground Zero Mosque gave President Obama an opportunity to have what in political circles has come to be known as a “Sister Souljah moment”. And … he blew it—big time.

To refresh our memories: It was the presidential campaign of 1992 and Bill Clinton was invited to speak at a meeting of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition a month after the Los Angeles riots (a dark period indeed for us Angeleno’s). It so happened that a Black rapper named Sister Souljah was quoted in an interview as saying “if black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people?”

When Bill Clinton spoke to the group with Jackson present the following night, he took her harmful words and responded in kind by separating himself from that sentiment: “If you took the words ’white’ and ‘black’ and reversed them, you might think David Duke gave that speech”. Jesse Jackson was not amused and wrongfully tried to defend the young rapper by stating that she “represents the feelings and hopes of a whole generation of people.

Bill Clinton has always exhibited a knack for being a political opportunist and seized on what turned out to be a defining moment of his campaign, hence the addition of “Sister Souljah moment” to the political lexicon.  Because of Clinton’s political skills, I’m not sure what his true beliefs were about race at the time.  But this moment stood out to help Clinton show the American people that he was willing to take on the left- wing establishment of the Democratic Party, and appealing to independents and disenchanted Republicans alike. While I’m no advocate of Clinton or his presidency, it was a courageous act that happens all too rarely in political circles.

Last Friday night, President Obama attended and stood before a large Muslim group gathering for a Ramadan dinner and spoke the words that may also be another reason for his dwindling approval ratings.  In true Obama fashion, he sought to speak down to Americans by lecturing all of us including the families of those firefighters and their children about religious tolerance at ground zero." "Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country," he said to applause.

By Saturday morning the president said, "I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque" near Ground Zero, he told reporters during a visit to the Gulf Coast. "I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding."

Too late Mr. President! You had your (Sister Souljah) moment to shine the previous night.  What a shame! He could have combined both quotes and said something to the effect of “Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country, but I need to comment on the wisdom of making that decision to put a mosque near Ground Zero." He could have looked them in the eye and meant it.  That would have been worthy of a “profile in courage” write- up.

Instead he waited until he was one thousand miles away the next day. He certainly would not have received applause and would have ruffled many feathers. But he would have spoken up for most Americans in this passionate matter.

There are even some of his apologists (who are getting scarcer by the day) who believe he exhibited courage by speaking up for the constitutional rights of all citizens –even those groups which may be unpopular. Hogwash! It was not courageous to tell Muslims what they wanted to hear in person...  then recant it the following day.  Even High school students can sign on to the 1st Amendment concept of religious freedom and the legal right to build a place of worship in American communities.

He could have taken a cue from the Clinton playbook and demonstrated real leadership by taking on a constituency that needed to hear about wisdom and sensitivity as it related to the still raw emotions of building a Mosque within spitting distance of the murder of three thousand Americans by Islamic radicals.

This issue is wrong on so many levels.  We are constantly reminded of how moderate this Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is... but he is on record stating how America could have been complicit in the attack on 9-11 because of our foreign policy.  He also refuses to convict Hamas as a terrorist group by simply stating “terrorism is a complicated issue”. Right! They must be “freedom fighters”. We have heard that before.

Since 9/11 Americans have been instructed to be sensitive to Muslims, especially those deemed to be moderate, and I think we have been extremely tolerant in light of many tainted incidents including the Fort Hood massacre, the Christmas bomber and the discussions of conducting jury trials for terrorists. It’s about time these “moderates” show their fellow Americans the same sensitivity and take the Mosque uptown.  Manhattan is a big place.

Even Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has gone against Mr. Obama. You know you are having a bad day when the names Gingrich, Palin and Reid are on the same side. In the midst of continuing poor economic news and mounting unemployment, President Obama picked a wrong time to pour gasoline on the fire of his Presidency.