William Saletan has a good round-up and rebuttal of the campaign on the Right to prevent the construction of a Muslim community center and mosque in lower Manhattan, not far from the World Trade Center site. Maybe I’m naive, but it’s actually kind of shocking to hear high-profile pols like Gingrinch and Palin all but explicitly come out for the abrogation of First Amendment freedoms. The poll numbers on this issue aren’t encouraging either–it seems that a majority of Americans think that it’s okay to restirct someone’s religious freedom if it’s not your religion.
A Thinking Reed
"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal
A Thinking Reed 
I think Newt and Palin are far more interested in rabble-rousing than being genuinely opposed to the Park 51 community center. They know it’s a hot-button issue and they can drum up support cheaply at the expense of a fairly small minority of voters.
What saddens me is that they essentially count on voters not to think through the issue (Isn’t the 1st Amendment kind of important?) and just leap on the bandwagon.
Amen, preach it.