There's a sequence in "Bowling for Columbine" where Michael Moore gets reactions from several people to the NRA's decision to stick with their planned convention in Denver just weeks after the infamous school shooting. Being the master propagandist that he is, Moore juxtaposes footage of crying students with then-NRA president Charlton Heston intoning "From my cold, dead hands!" while he weilds a rifle at the convention podium. We get to see clips of the protest outside the convention, complete with speeches by parents of children killed at Columbine. Thanks to the way this part of the film is put together, a viewer can't help but conclude that the NRA, Heston in particular, is indifferent to the suffering of victims of gun violence.
Later, in an interview with "South Park" creator Matt Stone, Moore asks him about the NRA convention. Stone says something like, Yeah, sure, the NRA had the "right" to have their convention wherever and whenever, but c'mon.
That's kind of how I feel about the so-called "ground zero mosque" (which is neither a mosque or located at Ground Zero). Yes, there's been a mosque at the Pentagon for years and nobody's cared. Yes, this is a total sham of an issue designed to stir up a culture war in advance of the mid-term elections. And, yes, its founders have the right to build their center anywhere they want.
But... if it were me, I'd build it somewhere else.
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