Giuliani Says Mosque 'Divisive'

The Wall Street Journal ^ | 08-20-10 | MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL

Posted on Friday, August 20, 2010 11:09:39 AM by GOP_Lady

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is characterizing the proposed mosque and Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero as "divisive," saying Thursday that the organizers' plans are breeding hate rather than healing wounds.

"All this is doing is creating more division, more anger, more hatred," Mr. Giuliani said during an interview on NBC's "Today" show.

"The reality is that right now, if you are a healer, you do not go forward with this project. If you're a warrior you do," declared Mr. Giuliani, the New York official most closely associated with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

The remarks put him squarely at odds with his successor, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the proposed mosque's most outspoken advocate.

Mr. Giuliani, a former U.S. attorney and a Republican candidate for president in 2008, said the organizers have "every right" to build the center two blocks from the site of the fallen Twin Towers.

"The question is, should they build it?" he said. "Are they displaying the sensitivity they claim by building it?"

To: GOP_Lady
He also took direct aim at the imam behind the center, Feisal Abdul Rauf, accusing him of "selling sensitivity" and questioning whether his motives are genuine.

Giuliani continues in the tradition of Republican New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (1933-45). One play from LaGuardia's playbook was to find the enemy's weak spot and drive a sledgehammer into it. Giuliani does it with the faint sound of regret. It's like watching a master assassin at work with the stiletto.

The former mayor praised Democratic Gov. David Paterson for proposing to meet with the project's organizers in hopes of finding an alternative location in Lower Manhattan that would be less controversial.

Another patented LaGuardia play. Pick an enemy, praise him, put him on the spot, and separate him from the rest of his herd. Paterson now has to tap-dance his way out of Giuliani's embrace. This is a death sentence in New York City's liberal Democratic organization, where Giuliani is considered the spawn of Satan -- almost as much as the arch-devil Reagan.

It's fun watching the pros at work.
14 posted on Friday, August 20, 2010 11:29:57 AM by Publius (Unless the Constitution is followed, it is simply a piece of paper.)