Architect's Rendering — Park51 Community Center, i.e., Ground Zero Victory Mosque

And don't forget: This is all about bridge-building!!

More at Pamela's, "Damn the Infidels! Full Steam Ahead! Ground Zero Mega Mosque."

Bob Beckel Goes Off on Pamela Geller: 'You Better Be Very Careful About Saying Who I Carry Water For'

He's a Democrat. They're assholes. It's understandable:

'Holy War: Should We Be Afraid of Islam?'

Christiane Amanpour announced an upcoming special report on ABC News:

And we just also wanted to give you a word about a special program next week. The plans to build that Islamic center near Ground Zero has unleashed an international debate, raising questions about America's uneasy relationship with Islam. So next Sunday, we're going to hear from all sides in this debate. It's called to be called "Holy War: Should We Be Afraid of Islam?" You can submit questions to on my Facebook page or at our Web site, abcnews.com/townhall.

And this coming Friday, Diane Sawyer anchors a special edition of "20/20," reporting on Islam and taking all the questions and answers.

Maybe this woman will submit a question. I saw her down by the Freedom Tower on September 11:

This is Sharia: Taliban Stone Woman to Death in Northwest Pakistan

This is "What Shariah Law Is All About." Imam Rauf — We've got your number:

Via Atlas Shrugs.

Ground Zero Imam's Group Trained New York Times Mosque Reporter

Surprise. Surprise.

At NewsBusters:

A New York Times reporter, who has co-authored several fawning articles on the Ground Zero mosque, previously attended a media training program run by the mosque's organizer, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, according to the group's website.

The journalist, Sharaf Mowjood, participated in an April, 2009 media training program led by Rauf's American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA), reported the Investigative Project on Terrorism on Sept. 20. Rauf founded ASMA in 1997, and currently serves as the group's CEO.

Mowjood's first article on the Ground Zero mosque - a glowing, 1,200-word piece titled "Muslim Prayers and Renewal Near Ground Zero" - was co-authored with Ralph Blumenthal in December, 2009. All eight of the sources cited in the piece said they approved of the Ground Zero project or lauded its leader Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.

Mowjood was also a contributing reporter to a similarly sympathetic piece on the mosque on Aug. 11, as well as a flattering front-page profile on Rauf that ran in the paper on Aug. 22.

And get this:

In addition to his ties with ASMA, Mowjood also held a government lobbying position at the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) up until at least March of 2008. CAIR, which calls itself a "grassroots civil rights and advocacy group," has come under fire in the past for its alleged ties to international terrorist organizations.

Excerpts from Mowjood's work could possibly pass as press releases for groups like CAIR or ASMA. His Times articles were extremely favorable toward Rauf and the Ground Zero mosque.

I'd be understated to say I'm bothered.

But what can you do but just keep fighting. I mean, wow.

Truths About the Political Left

Revealed by the debate over Ground Zero, via Dennis Mitzner:

The left’s contempt for the majority of Americans is an indication of its soul. The left has abandoned the principles of universal values at the expense of defending and tolerating the indefensible and the intolerable. It is now an insular mass movement which has become largely blind to its own failures.

RTWT.

Animation of the New World Trade Center

I recall seeing this video previously, although I'm just coming across it again after visiting JBW's crib. Note how an atheist remembers the fallen: "I won't pray for those lost in the attacks on 9/11 but my heart does go out to their families and loved ones." Actually, I doubt those folks want your prayers, JBW. People like this love America and have a deep, abiding faith in God — the fact that you don't is irrelevant to respecting the memory of the dead. Just bid your well wishes without the digs at religion. Sick bastard.

'Don Douglas Hearts Juses'

So "SASQUATCH ISRAEL" is really truly "SASQUATCH IS REAL." And there's even a website for that, on Facebook.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I'm dumb.

I stand by what I wrote, either way.

That said, the towering intellects at Sadly No! are all too ready to point out any discrepancies, throwing in a little snide dig at the "Juses" for good measure: "Don Douglas Hearts Juses."

Yes, I do.

But that begs the question: The brilliant leading lights at Sadly No! don't?

Actually, I'm not surprised.

Leftists hate moral clarity. And they hate Israel. We don't need a Sasquatch myth to figure that out. So, a hearty F*** You to the lot of you, assholes.

Nothing Lasts Forever But the Earth and Sky...

Kansas, "Dust in the Wind." Listened to it yesterday, during my afternoon drive time, on The Sound L.A.

I think we're more than dust actually. We're spirit as well, and that spirit endures. It's the physical presence that can be swept away in a moment, like on 9/11. I shared my New York trip with my students so I'm still thinking deeply about human meaning after the experiences of the weekend. More formalized thoughts on this later.

Socialists Say Yes to Ground Zero Mega Mosque

That shot, via The People's Cube, really cuts to the heart of a lot of this: If you hate America, if you're allied with the growing Islamist revolutionary movement, the Socialist Party USA's got your back:

The Left Hates the Right More Than It Hates Bigotry

Yep.

From Dennis Prager, "Islam and Moral Nuance":

This past Sunday, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof offered another example of the Left’s nuance-free attacks on Americans who have any moral reservations about the world of Islam today.

Kristof began his column with an attack on the “venomous and debased discourse about Islam” in America.

He gave one example: New Republic publisher Martin Peretz, a rather thoughtful lifelong liberal, who actually had the temerity to raise moral concerns about Islam in a recent article. Peretz asked, for example, “Is not western society, imperfect as it may be . . . immensely more liberal than the domains of Islam?”

He added: “This intense epidemic of [Islamic] slaughter has been going on for nearly a decade and a half . . . without protest, without anything. And it has been going for decades and centuries before that.”

Kristof ignored every issue raised by Peretz and quoted one sentence to cite Peretz’s article as an example of the “venomous and debased the discourse about Islam” permeating America. To the New York Times and the rest of the Left, the question here is not whether what Peretz wrote is true — because when it comes to the Right, the Left is concerned with finding bigotry, not truth.

“Nativists are back on the warpath,” Kristof went on to write.

Question: Can Kristof name any opponent of the Cordoba Center — or anyone else — who vocalizes any questions about the moral state of the contemporary Muslim world, whom he does not consider a nativist or bigot?

Kristof: “In America, bigoted comments about Islam often seem to come from people who have never visited a mosque and know few if any Muslims.”

Question: Would Kristof agree that those on the left who declare that “Islam is a religion of peace” and who claim to see no moral differences between the contemporary Muslim world and the contemporary Christian and Jewish and Buddhist worlds, also have “never visited a mosque and know few if any Muslims?”

Kristof: “In their ignorance, they mirror the anti-Semitism that I hear in Muslim countries from people who have never met a Jew.”

That is about as non-nuanced and unsophisticated a statement as one can make on this is or any issue. In many Muslim countries, the media are saturated with Protocols of the Elders of Zion–type Jew hatred, with popular TV shows depicting Jews as killing Muslim children for their blood, and calls for extermination of the Jewish state. Nowhere in America is there anything regarding Muslims remotely analogous to the anti-Semitism in the Muslim world.

Kristof: “One American university professor wrote to me that ‘every Muslim in the world’ believes that the proposed Manhattan Islamic center would symbolize triumph over America. That reminded me of Pakistanis who used to tell me that ‘every Jew’ knew of 9/11 in advance, so that none died in the World Trade Center.”

Here is the (nuanced) truth: Vast numbers of Muslims believe that Jews stayed away from the World Trade Center on 9/11. That is a lie — not one Jew on earth knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance. But it is not a lie that there are millions of Muslims who believe that a giant Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero would be a sign of Muslim victory.

The same day that Nicholas Kristof’s simplistic view of the mosque issue was published, AOL News reported on a demonstration against the mosque. It quoted a man named Ron Silverados, identified as “a 57-year-old road striper from Long Island”: “I’m tired of saying this but this isn’t a religious issue. . . . It is a moral issue.”

There was more moral nuance in the road striper’s comment than in all the liberal columns and editorials of the New York Times.

If the Left were primarily concerned with bigotry, it would be preoccupied with the most bigoted places on earth — many Islamic nations. But in general, the Left hates the Right more than it hates bigotry. And that leads to a world devoid of moral nuance.

RTWT.

Imam Rauf at Council on Foreign Relations

Richard Haass, President of Council on Foreign Relations, asks Imam Rauf, "why don't you undo" the damage you've done with your plans to build the victory mosque? Watch the Imam evade and prevaricate. He doesn't even entertain the notion of relocating the mosque, and thus shows once more that he has no interest in bridge-building. It's all a scam in the name of jihad (full video at the link):

O'Reilly picks it up from there:

Also, great discussion from this morning's Fox & Friends:

More at NYT (FWIW), "‘Everything Is on the Table,’ Imam Says of Plans." Turns out the Imam has conceded the possibility of a move, but of course this is in the context of once again attacking critics of the mosque as "radicals." Also at New York Post, "Ground Zero mosque imam 'saddened to the core'."

Spitting on the Lessons of 9/11

From Rich Trzupek, at FrontPage Mag:

In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, practically every American understood and agreed with a powerful two-word sentiment that summed up the nation’s attitude during those traumatic days: “never forget.” Nine years later, it’s clear that great swathes of the populace have indeed forgotten and the leftist media’s coverage of the anniversary this weekend was symptomatic of the Left’s selective memory when it comes to Islamic terrorism. Oh sure, they remembered the victims of al-Qaeda’s barbarous attacks who fell in New York, Washington and Shanksville, but that’s the easy part. There’s nothing controversial or dangerous about mourning the murdered. It’s quite another thing to point out that the murderous ideology that put thousands of Americans in their graves nine years ago is as potent, as dangerous and as evil a force today as it was on that fateful fall morning in 2001. Yet, from the mainstream media’s coverage through President Obama’s remarks, leftists used the 9th anniversary of the attacks as another excuse to try to conceal Islam’s sharp talons beneath cloaks of respectability and even impotence.

Speaking at the Pentagon on Saturday, the president called the Muslim fundamentalists who carried out the attacks nine years ago “a sorry band of men” who had perverted their religion. “We will not give in to their hatred,” Obama said. “As Americans, we will not or ever be at war with Islam.” He called for tolerance of Muslims, seemingly alluding in part to the controversies surrounding the proposed Ground Zero mosque and Florida pastor Terry Jones’ aborted plans to burn copies of the Qur’an. He said that only through tolerance can we keep alive the legacy of the men and women who fell on 9/11.

The speech thus essentially became another other opportunity for Obama to soothe Muslim leaders across the globe, although why any Muslim should need reassurances about this administration’s conciliatory attitude towards the “religion of peace” is anyone’s guess. Citizens of this county, on the other hand, could be forgiven for taking another sort of message away after listening to the president’s remarks. The Obama administration will bend itself into rhetorical knots in order to separate the violent actions of individual Muslims from the political/religious ideology that motivates them. Yet Americans are supposed to assume responsibility for the actions of any fellow citizen that might somehow offend Muslims. In other words, according to the leader of the free world, acts of terrorism committed in the name of Islam are mere anomalies that should in no way reflect upon Islam, but it’s our responsibility if hyper-sensitive Muslims are whipped into a frenzy by the mere prospect of an obscure preacher in Florida burning a few books.

More at the link.

'Bridge Building' and the WTC Mosque

From William McGurn, at WSJ:

No one walks the streets of Manhattan fearing a Methodist may blow up his office, hijack his flight, or kill his son fighting in Afghanistan. Unless you are Angelina Jolie or the dean of Yale Law School, this is not only true but obvious.

RTWT.

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:

Geert Wilders' Security Cordon at Ground Zero Rally

There was obviously so much more about it. Still, I noticed this, all through his speech. Geert Wilders had ultra-tight security. And this is above and beyond the massive NYPD presence for the event. El Marco has a new report, "Geert Wilders Warns America at 9/11 Remembrance Rally." And he writes of the photo below:

Mr. Wilders was surrounded by Dutch government security men due to Islamist and leftist threats against his life. The agent in the foreground holds a bullet proof shield with both hands, ready to open it quickly to defend against an assassin's attack. The stage area was completely surrounded by security agents.

Mr. Wilders is outspoken in opposing the islamization of the Netherlands and the West. He produced a short film called Fitna which features violent Koranic quotes juxtaposed with images of terrorist attacks. Theo van Gogh was stabbed to death in Amsterdam for making a similar film called Submission. Van Gogh’s partner in making the film, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, M.P., was advised by the Dutch government, that she would be safer living elsewhere. She moved to the relative safety of America, where she lives under 24 hour tight security. Pamela Geller is also under constant death threat, as is Robert Spencer, both of whom can be seen in the photo ...

The conditions under which these human rights activists live show clearly that islam is a violent totalitarian ideology which is destroying free speech in Europe. It takes left-wing political correctness (speech control) one step further by threatening the lives of those who speak out.

The text of the entire speech is at the link. Another brilliant passage:

A tolerant society is not a suicidal society. It must defend itself against the powers of darkness, the force of hatred and the blight of ignorance. It cannot tolerate the intolerant – and survive. This means that we must not give a free hand to those who want to subjugate us. An overwhelming majority of Americans is opposed to building this mosque.

Anti-American, Anti-Israel: Scenes From Ground Zero, September 11, 2010 — UPDATE: ''Don Douglas Hearts Juses'

I've responded to the rocket scientists at Sadly No!: "'Don Douglas Hearts Juses'."

**********

I didn't travel to New York to cover the America-bashing, anti-Israel left. I didn't even Google around to see if there were big antiwar demonstrations planned. I just wasn't thinking about it. I was too excited to see New York, to be in the city in body and spirit with my fellow Americans and patriots. I did see the big group of 9/11 truthers, of course. They stayed out and about throughout the day, right at Ground Zero. Those people are shocking to me. I can't fathom the scale of conspiracies these people concoct. I deal with it by documenting their exploits. Evil fringe crowd, and demented.

It turns out there were some large leftist mobilizations on 9/11. The most prominent was sponsored by Ramsey Clark's International Action Center (IAC): "Emergency Mobilization Against Racism and Anti-Muslim Bigotry." According to Discover the Networks, the IAC "serves as an umbrella foundation for a host of anti-war radical groups, and is staffed by members of the Workers World Party (WWP), a Marxist-Leninist vanguard that idolizes the former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and regards Fidel Castro as a hero of the common man." Weasel Zippers has a report, "In Keeping With Solemn Mood of The 9/11 Occasion – Pro Mosque Crowd Ring Bells, Bang Drums and Chant." Also, Politico cites the crowd at 2,000 people: "At Ground Zero, Sept. 11 Gets Political."

I became a bit claustrophobic during the SIOA rally, and took off after Geert Wilders spoke. I wanted to say hello to Pamela Geller, of course, but the police had blocked entry to the sidewalks surrounding the speakers' stand, so I ended up just cruising around again. At one point, back over by the Information Booth on Vesey, I came across an abandoned sign from the IAC's morning protest:

Flipping over the sign:

**************

REVISED

EDITED

**************

And here's a mosque protester I didn't see earlier in the day. she's observing the heated argument that just broke out on the corner. A policeman came over just after this to break up the crowd:

This is one block past Park Place, Murray Street, I think. I start walking down to West Broadway to try one more time at greeting Pamela. I came across this group of kids, with their signs attacking "racist fearmongering," sponsored by Stop Islamophobia.org, which is a front for the IAC neo-communist coalition:

Next I decided to walk up to this fellow below and I ask: "Hey, if I oppose the Ground Zero Mosque, are you going to call me a racist?" He says, "I don't even know you." And I say, "Right. And you don't know the other 82 percent of Americans who oppose the mosque, but you're calling them racists." He says, "No, no. We don't think everyone's racist." I begged to differ, and after making more lame excuses, he breaks out a protest flyer featuring pictures of Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer. He says, "This is who we're talking about. These people are racists." I tell him I know both Pamela and Robert, and they're not racists. He starts whining about alleged hate speech on their blogs, or something. By this time he's flustered, and another older guy with an Islamic skull cap comes over and picks up the debate, changing the subject to "U.S. imperialism," "war for oil," and all the tired old communist tropes. I told him I wasn't here to argue about it. I was simply challenging their claims of racism, and they ended up changing the subject when they realized they couldn't call me a racist to my face. That's how you handle these idiots. Call them out. Debunk their efforts to shut down debate. Throw it back in the faces and watch the mumbling begin:

By this time crowds from the SIOA rally start making their way up toward Church Street. I keep walking, but the cops wouldn't let me near the stage, and after taking a few more pics I started walking toward City Center to catch the subway back to my motel. I came across this guy over by City Hall, posing for pictures with the tourists. He's a black dude with an interesting New York accent. Pointing at left, he says, "That's Malcolm X's dawwtah," regaling me with his knowledge of American Muslim history. He was a friendly guy, but I didn't stick around long:

That was the last of these folks, but check out these videos c/o Ghost of a Flea. It's the same old same old, but each year these folks get even more brazen. Notice all the signage (not tea party-ish, at all). And of course the chants of "Allahu Akbar!":

Faith, Freedom, and Memory: Report From Ground Zero, September 11, 2010

The weather.

On the 9th anniversary of September 11, I kept thinking about the weather. It was clear and sunny today, with temperatures in the high 70s. It was a meteorological replica of September 11, 2001. So much natural beauty, and so many beautiful people out and about, living and enjoying the serenity and sunshine. Then the unthinkable. That's how it was nine years ago. It's amazing how the vagaries of nature can make an already intense experience all the more real. (Below I'm walking down Lexington from the Radisson Hotel to 42 Street and Grand Central Station. I'll take the subway to Lower Manhattan. It's a glorious morning.)

I came to New York to be here on this day, to be here --- in person and in solidarity --- for the families of the fallen. It's my first pilgrimage to New York for a 9/11 anniversary. I visited in August 2007, but it's been three years, and Ground Zero has changed tremendously. There's a feeling of attention, affirmation, and purpose that I hadn't felt in my previous visit. The construction largely explains it, but also the weekend atmosphere, with bustling crowds of visitors moving back and forth across the city streets, an hour or so after the official memorial ceremonies. It felt like a special day. And of course, New York has been in the news constantly, and the memory of those who died that day has been disrespected by the administration in Washington and by the left's Media-Industrial-Islamist-Complex. (By his own words, Imam Rauf is no moderate, but Amercans can't get a break from the lamestream press.)

I took hundreds of pictures. Most of what follows is chronological, with special attention to the day's highlights.

Arriving in Lower Manhattan, walking over to the WTC grounds from the City Center subway station, I came upon St. Paul's Chapel. What a perfect way to start the day's events. For eight months St. Paul's was a humanitarian command center following 9/11. As I walked inside, some folks were praying. Others were taking in the sights and significance of the location. Visitors certainly have a richly human record of those times, and my few minutes was entirely inadequate for the occasion. But I was deeply moved:

I felt as though this place was in God's hands. I knelt to pray. Nothing planned, I thanked God for giving comfort to the families and for keeping America strong during times of trouble. I thanked Him for his blessings upon our nation. I asked Him to extend his Goodness and Will as we work for peace in the world.

Walking down Fulton Street toward Ground Zero, I said hello to this couple of truthers. I had no idea how large a contingent these folks would have. More on them further down:

Here's the scene at Vesey and Church Streets. It's about 10:30am, or so. The crowds were pretty heavy and would grow throughout the day:

A pair of young Marines walking down Vesey Street, near the Information Booth on West Broadway. It's a sight for sore eyes to see U.S. servicemen sometimes, and these two were handsome and polite, so starkly different from the raving anti-Americans out in large numbers today:

This is One World Trade Center. It's really the Freedom Tower, now about one-third constructed. This was a kinda rush, thinking about this tower going up:

It will look like this upon completion:

High fencing with the large promotional banners obscures the view of the construction area, but walking down near the tower, there's an entry gate where one can get a good look:

Here's the display at the Information Booth:

Here's a neat before-and-after graphic of the grounds. The memorial pools, at the second diagram, are located at the footprints of the original towers:

Here's the Cordoba Center, on Park Place. The police had erected barricades in anticipation of the protest. Park 51 is at right:

That's an Amish market on the streetcorner. Kinda like a religious trainwreck over here:

One of the truthers challenged some mosque opponents lined up next to the barricades:

Taking a break, I enjoyed a wonderful two-beer breakfast with huevos rancheros on the side. Reminds me of home:

I watched some of the memorial service replay on the local news:

A beautiful mural outside the restaurant:

It's a little after noon by this time. I'm just cruising around a bit now, back and forth between WTC and Park Place. Here's a family waiting for the SIOA rally to begin:

Walking up to Church Street, there's a huge evangelical Christian wing working the street, attracting a lot of attention:

This guy wasn't going for the interfaith cooperation angle:

These folks, a bit further down the street, seemed pretty mellow, even accommodating (of radical Islam):

Continuing down Church, I learn of the Cross of Steel, found during the recovery after September 11. It will become a permanent exhibit at the 9/11 Memorial:

Getting back over to Vesey Street, I see a huge procession of 9/11 truthers. The MFM reports are starting to come in, and I'm watching cable news as well, and no reports so far on these freaks. No one disrespects those killed on 9/11 more than the truthers. Of course, they're allied with the neo-communist left (sounds weird, but I've covered it before, in Los Angeles). Where's the press coverage of the freaks, I say? The signs read, "WHERE IS OSAMA? TEN YEARS MOST WANTED!? MILITARY INCOMPETENCE? CIA ASSET? DEAD?", and "BIN LADEN WAS FRAMED":

The procession continues down Broadway:

The truthers head down into the financial district. They've got a loud chant and response: "9/11 --- TRUTH NOW!! ... 9//11 --- TRUTH NOW!!", and "WALL STREET WAR, WALL STEET WAR."

The procession headed back to Ground Zero. I continued on down to Wall Street to get pictures of the New York Stock Exchange. What a contrast. Pure hatred of Americans and "blood for high finance" extremism compared to the heart of American capitalism. I needed to see that fabulous flag after marching along with the truther creeps like that. Sheesh:

It's getting near-abouts 3:00pm pretty soon now, so I head back over to West Broadway and Park Place. A gentleman takes my photograph in front of the Mennonite choir down the way from the Helmsley Plaza:

The Mennonites are the sweetest people. I spoke with this young woman for a few minutes and I asked her if her group had a political agenda. She said, "Nope. Just spiritual." They came from Pennsylvania mostly, but she said some folks came Canada. Notice the traditional dress:

The ubiquitous repent wagon was circling around all day. I finally got close enough to get a decent picture:

Operation Save America. I'll check later, but I'm not sure if these folks are the same as Operation Rescue. Message is pretty much identical:

Behind St. Paul's, this gentleman below hangs a banner. Unequivocal:

A quiet man with a strong message (and he apparently never learned "i before e except after c"):

Okay, I make it back down to the SIOA rally, still a bit before start time. It's getting packed:

That's not to say there weren't a lot of flags, thanks to some entrepreneurial types:

I actually stayed just through Geert Wilders' talk. Here's Pamela:

She's got some nice photographs at Atlas Shrugs: "America Speaks! Historic 911 Rally Draws 40,000."

Geert Wilders gave an speech both fascinating and deeply felt. It was powerful.

Pamela posted the text: "Geert Wilders Speech at the 911 Rally of Remembrance." One of my favorite passages:

Friends, in honor of these victims, these heroes and their families, I believe that the words of Ronald Reagan, spoken in Normandy on the 40th anniversary of D-Day, resonate with new purpose on this hallowed spot. President Reagan said: “We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”

And, we, too, will always remember the victims of 9/11 and their loved ones who were left behind;

We, too, will always be proud of the heroes;

We will always defend liberty, democracy and human dignity;

In the name of freedom: No mosque here!

And you can watch it as well, at Blazing Cat Fur, "Geert Wilders At Ground Zero Mosque Demo." Added: See El Marco's coverage, "Geert Wilders Warns America at 9/11 Remembrance Rally."

The New York Times has some brief coverage, placed in the larger national context: "On Sept. 11 Anniversary, Rifts Amid Mourning." AP is spinning the day as one of dueling protests. Yeah, multiple demonstrations, but nothing like the Ground Zero Freedom Rally. (And no mention of the 9/11 truther freaks.) That said, London's Telegraph has a decent piece, "America's agony: September 11 anniversary marked by anger and controversy."

Thanks for reading. I'll have more thoughts later.

And a special thanks to my friend Norman Gersman for his awesome New York hospitality.