Andy Stepanian, Convicted Animal Rights Terrorist, Attacks Concerned Mosque Opponents as 'Handful of Fear Mongering Bigots'

It's Andy Stepanian, a convicted terrorist from the notorious SHAC 7. The New York Times reported on the group in 2006: "Six Animal Rights Advocates Are Convicted of Terrorism." Wikipedia has the full background on the organization, "Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty." The group advocates direct action, political violence, and attacks on "secondary and tertiary targets," including children's nursery schools. SHAC is an operation arm of the Animal Liberation Front.

Stepanian's essay is at Huffington Post, naturally (via Memeorandum and Weasel Zippers):

"Any educated individual understands that the Park 51 Islamic Interfaith Center is not a Mosque, nor is it an exclusively Muslim space..."

And:

"This perverse narrative and it's uneducated sloganeering needs to be countered with equally simplistic and strong speech, stating that we, as New Yorkers & Americans, embrace the religious freedoms of all groups; no matter how large or small their constituency is. We support their freedom to assemble and worship when they choose and wherever they choose to do so."

And:

We won't back down when a handful of fear mongering bigots try to tell us that Park 51 should not be built. We will not turn our backs on our Muslim neighbors. The Park 51 Center is about unity, reconciliation and peaceful coexistence ... the cornerstone of the spirit of New York.

Right.

Seriously. When you have to spice your argument with gratuitous ad hominems you've already lost the debate.

Besides, this is straight out of the left-wing terrorist handbook. So enlightened. Anyone who might deign to entertain a different opinion is "uneducated." So let's blow them up and kill their children.

I think folks on the ground have already got this all figured out: