Dick Cavett has never been less proud of his country

Yes, Dick Cavett is still among us, but get ready to hang your head because he's "genuinely ashamed of us." (Do you care?) Peter Wehner calls his GZM op-ed the "worst piece published by anyone. Anywhere. Ever." I dunno. The competition for that has been pretty stiff of late.

Mr. Cavett, try as he might, can't understand why anyone would object to the location of the proposed mosque, unless they hate Muslims:

A woman tells the news guy on the street, “I have absolutely no prejudice against the Muslim people. My cousin is married to one. I just don’t see why they have to be here.” A man complains that his opposition to the mosque is “painting me like I hate the whole Arab world.” (Perhaps he dislikes them all as individuals?)

But it's not that hard to understand. Charles Krauthammer explained it quite clearly a while back. (You've probably read this but I'm still catching up.) Dr. K:

Location matters. Especially this location. Ground Zero is the site of the greatest mass murder in American history -- perpetrated by Muslims of a particular Islamist orthodoxy in whose cause they died and in whose name they killed.

Of course that strain represents only a minority of Muslims. Islam is no more intrinsically Islamist than present-day Germany is Nazi -- yet despite contemporary Germany's innocence, no German of goodwill would even think of proposing a German cultural center at, say, Treblinka.

Which makes you wonder about the goodwill behind Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's proposal. This is a man who has called U.S. policy "an accessory to the crime" of 9/11 and, when recently asked whether Hamas is a terrorist organization, replied, "I'm not a politician. . . . The issue of terrorism is a very complex question."

America is a free country where you can build whatever you want -- but not anywhere. That's why we have zoning laws. No liquor store near a school, no strip malls where they offend local sensibilities, and, if your house doesn't meet community architectural codes, you cannot build at all.

These restrictions are for reasons of aesthetics. Others are for more profound reasons of common decency and respect for the sacred. No commercial tower over Gettysburg, no convent at Auschwitz -- and no mosque at Ground Zero.

Build it anywhere but there.

In short:

Ground Zero is the site of the most lethal attack of that worldwide movement, which consists entirely of Muslims, acts in the name of Islam and is deeply embedded within the Islamic world. These are regrettable facts, but facts they are. And that is why putting up a monument to Islam in this place is not just insensitive but provocative.

Related:
Ground Zero Mosque Rally
Protests, Rhetoric Feed Jihadists' Fire
Thousands Protest Ground Zero Mosque
Poll: 77% of “Mainstream Voters” Oppose Ground Zero Mosque, 68% of the “Political Class” Support it…
Mosque Planner Says Opposition Goes 'Beyond Islamophobia'
America — Compared to What?
Is America Islamophobic?

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