By John Romano
NEW YORK (YBH) – Today New York Times columnist extraordinaire Maureen Dowd called on former President Bush to speak up in favor of the Ground Zero mosque. Ms. Dowd is not the only Democrat operative to call on 43 to save 44 on an issue that pits Mr. Obama against a plurality of Americans. Foreign Policy magazine called on George W. Bush to step in on the mosque controversy no sooner than two weeks ago.
Blake Hounshell wrote at the time:
Much as Muslims around the world may have despised his foreign policy and his interrogation and detention policies, the former president spoke out repeatedly and eloquently against attacks on Muslims, and visited an Islamic center several days after 9/11 to send the message that Muslims were not the enemy. He may not have much standing in the Islamic community today, but he still retains a broad following on the right.
The Washington Post weighed in on the matter this morning with the following:
President Obama caused a stir with his speech at a White House iftar stating that Muslims had the same religious freedom as every other community in America. President Bush used to host White House iftars too. I believe, if he were President today, Bush would have given the same speech. I wish he would emerge from his ranch in Texas to give it now.
AOL News reached out to Mr. Bush and was told by his spokesman that “Bush would have no comment on the matter.”
Will Mr. Bush’s policy of silence stand? That may depend on what the Democrats do next. A good indicator will be whether or not Democrat-friendly networks like MSNBC and CNN have talking heads on tonight that call for Mr. Bush to speak out on the matter.
President Obama has taken heat from the media for condoning the mosque during a dinner marking the start of Ramadan, held at the White House. The project, which had a working title of “Cordoba House” before the media (this site included) dubbed the project the “Ground Zero mosque”, has been a source of pain and controversy since being approved by New York’s city council this summer.
Related posts:
- Oh, Now They’re Mexican: Obama Looks to Save Killer
- Obama and Bush not so Different After All
- Bush or Obama: Who Deserves the Credit for Killing Bin Laden?
- Birth Certificate Controversy Settled Once and For All
John Romano is the publisher and editor of Yes, But However!, a musician, a former political correspondent for BBC Radio London, and a serial web entrepreneur. Follow him on twitter: twitter.com/yesbuthowever or John Romano on Google+John Romano article archive.
