All Mosques are Too Close to Ground Zero

Reading Glen Greenwald's column today regarding Sunday's ugly anti-Muslim protest at the Park51 center, I was immediately reminded of an equally ugly islamophobic event that took place recently in Bridgeport, Connecticut (CT Post, August 6):

Why Did Swedish Prosecutors Break Their Own Policy in the Assange Case?

[a followup post on this story is available here]


The "why" of the quickly-withdrawn 'case' against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange seems clear enough--it has all the initial indicators of a fabricated attempt to defame him.  But the "how" of this attempt is murky.  Here's an admittedly rough translation of part of the Swedish Prosecution Authority FAQ on their actions to date regarding Assange (Google translation edited for clarity):

Why was Julian Assange's name published?

Prosecutors do not normally publish the names of arrested persons, and the Swedish Prosecution Authority was not the source [cause] of Assange's name [being published] in this case.  Assange's information reached - in a way that the authority does not know - a news service. The prosecutor's office merely confirmed the information.

If the above is true, why didn't the Authority simply issue a "no-comment / ongoing investigation" statement rather than confirming that Assange was indeed the subject of investigation?  If it is indeed the Prosecution Authority's policy not to release identities, the act of confirming an identity and making it public is no less a violation of policy than announcing Assange's name outright.   

And if the Prosecution Authority is being truthful that it did not leak Assange's name as part of a false smear effort, who did?

So far, the explanations offered by the Prosecution Authority do not even begin to explain an apparent failure to follow their own policies.  All this, needless to say, doesn't even touch on the remarkable flimsiness of the case, which was withdrawn within hours of being issued. 

Ron Paul on the Park51 Community Center

Ron Paul on the Park51 Community Center Demagogues:

 “It is repeatedly said that 64% of the people, after listening to the
political demagogues, don’t want the mosque to be built. What would we
do if 75% of the people insist that no more Catholic churches be built in New York City? The point being is that majorities can become
oppressors of minority rights as well as individual dictators.
Statistics of support is irrelevant when it comes to the purpose of
government in a free society—protecting liberty."

At least he's consistent, unlike the vast majority of fake conservatives parading around on this issue. And although Paul is halfway insane on some issues, he does show where there could be a lot of common ground between real, actual conservatives and real liberals--the common ground being a respect for the constitution (and also that the Bush Neocons were/are evil incarnate).

So, will big-government Republicans listen to Ron Paul, or will they continue to listen to the likes of Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich? 

 

Yeah, afraid you're probably right.