There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over.

Newt Gingrich's quote on the proposed Ground Zero mosque is pretty much everything that's wrong with the right wing thinking right now. Their politics has shifted from the love of American freedom to the basic grade school philosophy of "Well he doesn't do it so why should I?" The reason that there aren't churches in Saudi Arabia is that they don't have religious freedom. We do. Is Newt seriously arguing that we should hold ourselves up to the Saudi standard and act accordingly?

The reason the Ground Zero mosque is important is two-fold. It's a reminder that the events of 9/11 were not just about hijacked planes but also about a hijacked faith. It's a reminder to most Americans that the violence that happened is not supported by all followers of Islam but it's also a reminder to Muslims that they need to combat the issues within their own faith and their own mosques. Every time someone walks out of their mosque, they'll see what can happen if they don't stand up to those people who try to pervert their beliefs.

Sadly, this is not the only example of school yard rules taking over. Rep. Anthony Weiner's tirade on the floor is becoming somewhat legendary but even though I agree with his stance, that we should simply pass this bill and not let politicizing amendments to muddy the waters, the fact of the matter is that if he hadn't gotten up and screamed about this, the 9/11 responders bill would not have gotten any attention whatsoever. It would have just been yet another bill that was shot down because the two parties were fighting over politics instead of trying to help the people. Then again, in a sign of Republicans finding a way to shoot themselves in the foot, Rep. Peter King's comment about procedure has now overshadowed the possibly legitimate right wing concern of the bill having a lack of safeguards to combat "abuse, waste, and fraud".

It's been like this for some time but American politics have officially become a gigantic embarrassment.