In what Karl Rove called a “Bush swoon by selected members of the left commentariat”, liberals have been begging the “Greedy, Lying, Human Rights Violating” former President to join them in full-throated support for the ground zero mosque.
While Bush’s former speechwriter Michael Gerson supports Obama’s position on the mosque, writing persuasively that the President has “no choice but the general path he took”, another key member of Bush’s inner circle has now weighed in.
Byron York at the Washington Examiner reports:
Karen Hughes, who for years was one of George W. Bush’s closest advisers, is calling on the organizers of the Ground Zero mosque to “locate their mosque elsewhere.” In an article for Sunday’s Washington Post, Hughes writes:
A mosque at the edge of Ground Zero would be much more than a house of worship; it would be a symbol, interpreted differently by different audiences. For some it would be the ultimate expression of the freedom of religion we enjoy in America; for others, a searing reminder of terrible deaths at the hands of murderers calling themselves Muslims. I suspect that the terrorists themselves might celebrate its presence as a twisted victory over our society’s freedoms. [Imam] Rauf and his congregation are certainly free to locate their mosque near Ground Zero. But I hope and pray that they will show uncommon courtesy and decide not to.
If one were to hearken back to the halcyon days of the Bush Administration, one would remember that, when Bush adviser Karen Hughes was appointed Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, the Bush Administration saw improving America’s standing among Muslims abroad as a part of its national security strategy. And, as such, Hughes set up listening tours, attended meetings and worked with interfaith groups that — shocking, by today’s Republican standards — included actual Muslims.One of those people was Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.
Contemporary press accounts indicate that Rauf and Hughes were part of the February 2006 U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar. He was part of a delegation that met with her in March 2006 and held a joint press conference. A letter to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in November 2007 indicates that contacts with Hughes and Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns had continued apace.
Nice Deb 