Menino Asks: "Mosque? WHAT Mosque?"

Kudos to 96.9 FM TALK's Eagan and Braude for asking Mayor Menino about his support for a taxpayer-subsidized mosque during an interview yesterday afternoon. While neither Jim nor Margery have been following this story as closely as we have, Mayor Menino knows even less about his position on the ISB mosque than they do!

When asked about why he supported giving $2 million in taxpayer-owned land to the terror-friendly folks running the Islamic Society of Boston for a mere $175k, Menino denied that he was even mayor when the deal went down. "That happened before me," Boston's four-term mayor told E&B. He claimed to know virtually nothing about the subject at all.

Really?

Then explain this from The New Republic:

In 2003 the city of Boston, through its development arm, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), agreed to transfer the ownership of this 1.9 acre parcel of city land to the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB). At a groundbreaking ceremony in 2002 in which Mayor Thomas Menino took part, Massachusetts politicians said the project would bring together Bostonians of all faiths. [emphasis added]

Or this, from the Boston Herald, as reported by Islam expert Daniel Pipes:

At the groundbreaking in November 2002, local politicians hailed the planned
construction of an Islamic Center by the Islamic Society of Boston as a bridge between Islam and Boston's other religions, the Boston Herald reported...Mayor Thomas M. Menino hailed the center for "creating a space for inter-faith dialog," and thereby bringing "both the Muslim community and the community at large closer together.[emphasis added]

Lessee....According to his official biography, Mayor Tom "Pimp My Ride" Menin-yo was elected to his first term on November 2, 1993. He spent nine years on the city council before that. The ISB groundbreaking was 2002, the transfer of city land, 2003. Then there's the ongoing lawsuit trying to uncover the facts of the ISB funding that his administration is fighting. In fact, city officials were in court trying to keep the lid on this story LAST week!

Anybody else see a problem here?

Hey-Massachusetts ACLU! We've got taxpayers subsidizing a religious facility. Any problem with you guys? (Guess they're too busy whining about bomb searches on the T.)

Hey--Boston city council members! Your constituents are getting ripped off for $1.8 million to help out the (ahem) problematic organization, the ISB. You see a problem here? Or is this just the church v. state equivalent of 103 parking tickets?

Hey--Boston Globe-Democrat! You folks are always denouncing the evil influence of religious (i.e. "Republican") voters on the political system. Well, we've got people who support executing homosexuals and wife beating getting a boost from the Boston city government. Do you see a problem here? Maybe you could publish a cartoon about it...er, probably not.

And finally...

Hey--Alzheimer's Association! You guys got the Mayor lined up for treatment? When you're handling a shovel at the groundbreaking of a $22 million mosque in your own city--after 9/11!--and don't even remember it? That's not a good sign.