Timeline of the "Ground Zero mosque" fear-mongering

[JHB]

Not surprisingly, wingnut bloggers, Rupert Murdoch, and Fox all figure prominently.


From Salon:
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/08/16/ground_zero_mosque_origins

In a story last week, the New York Times, which framed the project in a largely positive, noncontroversial light last December, argued that it was cursed from the start by "public relations missteps." But this isn't accurate. To a remarkable extent, a Salon review of the origins of the story found, the controversy was kicked up and driven by Pamela Geller, a right-wing, viciously anti-Muslim, conspiracy-mongering blogger, whose sinister portrayal of the project was embraced by Rupert Murdoch's New York Post.

Here's a timeline of how it all happened:


•Dec. 8, 2009: The Times publishes a lengthy front-page look at the Cordoba project. "We want to push back against the extremists," Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the lead organizer, is quoted as saying. Two Jewish leaders and two city officials, including the mayor's office, say they support the idea, as does the mother of a man killed on 9/11. An FBI spokesman says the imam has worked with the bureau. Besides a few third-tier right-wing blogs, including Pamela Geller's Atlas Shrugs site, no one much notices the Times story.
•Dec. 21, 2009: Conservative media personality Laura Ingraham interviews Abdul Rauf's wife, Daisy Khan, while guest-hosting "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox. In hindsight, the segment is remarkable for its cordiality. "I can't find many people who really have a problem with it," Ingraham says of the Cordoba project, adding at the end of the interview, "I like what you're trying to do."

Full article at link above

via Digby:

The Mainstreaming Of Crazy Just Went Nuclear
by digby


"We have a President who is literally paving the way for an Islamic state in America" Atlas Shrugs VLOG July 2009

This Salon chronology of the Cordoba House controversy shows that it really is a one woman freakshow, led by none of the than Pamela "Atlas Shrugs" Geller. I went back in my archives to find the first time I became aware of her, and it turns out it was in 2005. Here was what I posted:

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/when-psycho-pamela-geller-becomes.html

[JHB]

1. Self kicking because I can't top Rush blaming Hindus for Pearl Harbor

How can an honest guy compete with that? :shrug:

[mmonk]

2. You're doing fine.

:kick:

Here's a kick.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. The Republicans are giving Al Queada new fire to gain new recruits

just as we thought we'd captured most of the terorists the republicans come along and stimilate new recruits.

[JHB]

4. .

Self Kick for the morning crowd.
:kick:

[Scurrilous]

5. K & R

:thumbsup: