Kevin: Well said. I’ve caught a bit of the cable and blog chatter about all this in the last 24 hours. I particularly like Paul Begala (CNN was on, sorry) praising Bloomberg’s new-found love of private property rights. This may be the first time I’ve heard any hint that either man cares one whit for private property rights (more on that from Megan McArdle). It’s good to know that all it takes to turn progressive meddlers toward Adam Smith is criticism of a mosque near Ground Zero. Perhaps if landlords in New York convert to Islam and threaten to become suicide bombers, we can finally get rid of rent control? But it is vexing that this has very little to do with property rights, and in the context of NR’s editorial, any mention of the issue is either a deliberate or a dumb red herring.
As for my personal views on the matter, I think putting the mosque there is a bad idea and understandably offensive. I think a wiser politician than Bloomberg would have figured out how to get it built a few blocks further away without any controversy. But, truth be told, I also suspect it’s not as big a deal as a lot of people are making it into, on either side of the question.
Update: A number of friendly readers take great exception to my “not as big a deal” line above. A few quick thoughts: I didn’t say it isn’t a big deal, I just said I didn’t think it is as big a deal as some are making it. I get a lot of email from folks telling me this is a sign of encroaching American Dhimmitude and surrender and whatnot. I don’t buy that. Nor do I buy the liberal line that this shows what a wonderful and tolerant country we are. I think Bloomberg et al. are acting more through cowardice and parochial groupthink than open-mindedness. I think that this is offensive, as I said. I don’t think this will be a P.R. coup around the world nor do I think it will a P.R. disaster. Rather, to the extent it has any impact at all, it will confirm to radical Muslims that we are weak. Moderate Muslims will probably interpret it many different ways. Some will agree with the radicals, some with Tom Friedman. Most, however, just won’t care.
I think NR’s editorial took exactly the right position: asking Muslim-Americans to think twice about a very bad idea.