So how long do you think this slug fest about the “mosque” near Ground Zero can go on?

The politicians have irritated people with their opinions on the issue, for not having an opinion and for fudging or retracting their utterances. All the while, radio and television talk shows have had a field day.

Who knew you could have the same ill-informed discussion so many times.

The truth — that the project isn’t a mosque, that it isn’t literally at Ground Zero, that the couple who are behind it are anything but terrorist-loving people, to cite a few facts — is not setting anybody free.

The plan to build an Islamic cultural center — more akin to a YMCA than a house of worship, though there will be a prayer room — has been on the drawing boards since last year. …

The organizers behind the cultural center have been under a microscope because of the controversy, and they’ve shown incredible tolerance and patience in the face of shocking bigotry.

If they had a sinister side, the world would now know. Instead, what’s come out is that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his wife, Daisy Khan, have long done important interfaith work in New York and been passionate advocates for this country abroad (done first at the behest of the Bush and then the Obama administration).

Can we be done with this ugliness?

Dayton Daily News