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Shannyn Moore

Shannyn Moore

Posted: July 20, 2010 12:16 AM

"Refudiating" Palin's Racist Tweet

What's Your Reaction:

It feels strange weighing in on a house of worship thousands of miles away, well, at least for me. A proposed mosque two blocks from Ground Zero has Palin tweeting on a Sunday afternoon.

According to Politico:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's City Hall hit back at Palin, first tweeting "@SarahPalinUSA mind your business."

The aide, policy hand Andrea Batista Schlesinger, followed that up with:

"@SarahPalinUSA whose hearts? Racist hearts?"

Bloomberg has defended the plan for the mosque, arguing that blocking it would impinge on religious freedom


This is a local issue for New Yorkers. I'm weighing in on Sarah Palin. She's local for Alaskans.

For NYC, 9/11 was a day many Alaskans couldn't fathom. I'd never been there. My father didn't know about the terrorist attack for weeks because he was on the Koyukuk River hunting moose. Another hunter was informed after a military escort surrounded his small aircraft on his return to town. Last year I visited New York City and wept when I realized how terrifying it must have been. I had no context until I stood in the canyons of buildings.

Do you want to guess how many mosques are in Wasilla?

The "stab through the heart" of 9/11 was felt by many, including Muslims. This article tells of some victims that day:

Imagine being the family of Salman Hamdani. The 23-year-old New York City police cadet was a part-time ambulance driver, incoming medical student, and devout Muslim. When he disappeared on September 11, law enforcement officials came to his family, seeking him for questioning in relation to the terrorist attacks. They allegedly believed he was somehow involved. His whereabouts were undetermined for over six months, until his remains were finally identified. He was found near the North Tower, with his EMT medical bag beside him, presumably doing everything he could to help those in need. His family could finally rest, knowing that he died the hero they always knew him to be.


Imagine being Baraheen Ashrafi, nine months pregnant with her second child. Her husband, Mohammad Chowdhury, was a waiter at Windows of the World restaurant, on the top floors of Tower One. The morning of September 11, they prayed salaat-l-fajr (the pre-dawn prayer) together, and he went off to work. She never saw him again. Their son, Farqad, was born 48 hours after the attacks -- one of the first 9/11 orphans to be born.


I wonder why Palin can't think bigger than 140 characters. She makes up words. "Refudiate".

What about the thousands of Muslims who serve in our military? Does that yellow magnet on your car say "Support the Christian Troops"?

Maybe Sarah Palin's soon to be released little book of "Clever Sayings That Rock!" will include George Santayana's "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Almost 110,000 Japanese Americans were interned in 26 different camps after the Pearl Harbor attacks. 33,000 Japanese Americans served in the US Military during the same time.

I trust New Yorkers.

If we become a country willing to discriminate against people of faith, we will have become the extremism we fight.

 

Follow Shannyn Moore on Twitter: www.twitter.com/shannynmoore

 
 
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06:43 AM on 08/14/2010
Very informative and trustworthy blog. Please keep updating with great posts like this one. I have booked marked your site and am about to email it to a few friends of mine that I know would enjoy reading
www.yuregininsesi.com
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Robert Cortez
If I had all the answers I wouldnt be writing here
12:51 AM on 08/14/2010
If the same type of facility, in the same location, with the only difference being that it was a Christian Center, there would be no "controversy". The first amendment of the Constitution clearly states the government can't prohibit the Islamic Center based on nothing but it's religious affiliation.

More importantly in my opinion, is the message it sends to the world, especially the Muslim world. Allowing the Islamic Center to be built in that location is saying the we understand the difference between the extremists that attacked us on 9/11 and the majority of Muslims. We are saying in spite of what happened on that terrible day we will stand by our commitment to religious freedom and tolerance. We won't abandon our principles because of fear or hate.

While we all were impacted that day NYC bears the scars. I was proud of the city and people on that day, the days that followed, and to this day. This is their choice and I support them. I doubt Palin has ever even talked to a Muslim.
12:46 PM on 08/01/2010
Perhaps the one good thing I can say about Palin's existence is the speaking-out by those who support her. When you're trying to decide for whom to vote in a local election, (perhaps the school board or the small-town mayor), and a candidate is supportive of Palin, well then you really know who you have there on the ballot.
08:05 PM on 07/27/2010
We need more women in the pressure filled world of politics. But Sarah Palin just doesn't have what it takes.
12:19 AM on 07/26/2010
Thanks to Descartes, "I think, therefore I am:update I think, therefore Sarah Palin isn't. Bill Biggs
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SaraSH
Athi*est Scientist Independent Old Fashioned
01:28 AM on 07/25/2010
great article, as always Shannyn! Love your style.
05:43 AM on 07/26/2010
Make that "Shannyn Moore--a provincial girl from Homer". I lived in New Jersey at the time of 9/11, and I want you to know that we could see the dark smoke and smell the terrible smells from the WTC for three days. If you think that only New Yorkers were killed on that day, you are sadly mistaken! We lost neighbors from New Jersey, friends from Boston, and an acquaintance from California. This is NOT a New York-only decision to build the mosque. Every American has a right to voice their opinion about this mosque.
01:16 AM on 07/23/2010
There is really very little intelligent dialogue here. OleLady Squawking wants more laws; typical of liberals. I don't care if that was a joke, you people live for bullying others by using the government. Were you all beat up and picked on a lot when you were kids; is that it? Because I care about people, all people, and I do not understand how liberals can believe that big government is good for anybody? Read some History! Most mass murders were done by big Socialist or Communist governments. That's where we are heading. Enjoy your future kiddies.

Before you put your rude and "cute" little comments (that really aren't that clever) in another blog condemning "Faux" news, try watching Glenn Beck or Fox News. You might learn something. It is important to get your information from numerous sources if you really want the whole picture. Ask yourselves, do you really want to do the right thing or do you just like the label "Democrat" or "liberal", or even worse, "progressive" as an accessory, like a new necklace? Most of you are so ignorant but this is fun for you isn't it? You are destroying something that exists no where else in the world. People escape from everywhere to here for a reason and you want to destroy it. One day you will look back on your actions and be ashamed, I guarantee it.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
blindjester
English and ESL teacher
01:44 AM on 07/23/2010
That was a very complete "I h*te liberals" rant.

What's so cute is you really seem to think you're on to something.

At least you're a true believer. Confused and misled, but apparently sincere.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Lsharp03
FACTS. A Low Effort Thinker's kryptonite.
09:07 AM on 07/23/2010
You do realize that as soon as you invoke Glenn Beck in a defense, you cease to matter to those of us with an IQ beyond our shoe size.
12:32 PM on 07/23/2010
glen beck thinks that we should end drug prohibition! I agree with that.
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healthcarenow
RN 4 blue Arizona
11:25 PM on 07/22/2010
"If we become a country willing to discriminate against people of faith, we will have become the extremism we fight."...this is exactly the stuff Wailin Palin will never understand...she hasn't a clue or inclination to know. Palin is so transparent and hollow, it's as if she really doesn't exist, but her poison makes it's self known.
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Sam1jere
Open-minded, sports lover, Red
05:36 AM on 07/22/2010
Totally rhetorical, but why is Palin even given the time of day by media? Because that is what free speech and the rules of objectivity entail. Why then all this stereotyping of people, especially those who don't fit the stereotypical WASP crowd that supposedly founded this nation along puritanical lines? Because that same stereotyping is lazy thinking, and the easiest way to classify others, a trait common to us humans with our obsessive need to make people fit our categorizations of others.

Is there no contribution to American affairs from Muslims or other minorities and non-natives? Not a single positive they've made to the economy or other aspects of American life? Did all caucasians who came to America hate the Native Americans? Of course not. Some of America's topmost achievers, like Ben Carson, Condoleeza Rice, Steven Spielberg, all belong to foreign culture, some of which is totally (and radically removed from what Palin has lived all her life.

What does her own party stand for? Dividing society or uniting the nation to achieve the founding fathers' ideals? It is Palin who is actually anti everything American - the Dream, freedom of speech, democracy and the spiritual torch of the world. It is she who ought to do soul searching and ask what she truly is all about.

We've all drunk from wells we never dug, don't turn now Palin (and others of likemind) and poop in the same!
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healthcarenow
RN 4 blue Arizona
11:32 PM on 07/22/2010
well said...fanned
11:42 AM on 07/23/2010
Simple: because she advances the corporatist cause of distract, divide and conquer. In a country where 2/3 of all real economic gain in the last 30 years has accrued to the highest 1% by income, she and the dominant corporatist media keep the poor and ignorant either apathetic or actively fighting against their own interests (see "Tea Party"); the top 20% motivated to move up because they don't want to be holding the bag when the music stops, and everybody in between effectively completely disenfranchised. Throw in the industrial-military complex (folks, the military isn't in charge of that train; it's the big contractors) with their Likudnik perpetual-war foreign "policy," and the amazing thing isn't that we're going down the tubes; the truly amazing thing is that it's taking this long to do it.

Her own "party" is a fiction; it's one of two rump wings of what used to be proud American institutions that are now firmly and permanently attached to the corporate teat. The revolving door is going around so fast that the lift generated is threatening to put Washington, DC in orbit.
06:29 PM on 07/21/2010
A number of years ago, my son who was then 12 Years old came to me in great distress because his father, my ex. told him that he is not a good Jew because he didn't'want to go to synogogue with his father on the High Holidays. At that time, I gave him my definition of a "Good Jew". I told him that a Good Jew is a person who does good things, who doesn't knowingly hurt anyone, who is honest, kind, decent ant trustworthy, tolerant and has compassion for all people . I told my son that those qualities make a person a Good Jew, a Good Christian, a Good Muslim, a Good Buddhist, and in general, a GOOD PERSON. I told him that being a GOOD PERSON is what he has to strive for. I'm tired of hearing about being a Good Christian, or a GOOD JEW, etc. Being a GOOD PERSON is what matters. This is not a Christian nation. It is a nation of all kinds of people, those who practice a particular religion and those who don't. Maybe if more people practiced being a Good Person this country would be in better shape. My son had not forgotten my little speech.
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Seaniebhoy
04:38 PM on 07/22/2010
Good on ya
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healthcarenow
RN 4 blue Arizona
11:37 PM on 07/22/2010
good story, good point. fanned
03:42 PM on 07/21/2010
The title of this story is exponentially more racist than the tweet that it is describing. The word "Racist", like the words "hatred" and "outrage", is thrown around these days with such reckless abandon, the true depth of its meaning has become diluted. Palin's ignorant and ill advised tweet has a religious subtext, not a racial or ethnic one. The author, it seems, is implying a coextension between the Islamic faith and a particular race. There are millions of Arabs who are Christian, for example, just as I am sure there are millions of Muslims who are caucasian. My opinion here is presented with the utmost respect to the author and is meant to be a constructive criticism. I hope it is received as such.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
blindjester
English and ESL teacher
11:51 PM on 07/22/2010
Exponentially more racist? You think using an inaccurate shorthand for a religious group is worse--exponentially worse--than advocating discrimination against them?

But you make a good point. It's likely SP hates Iranian and Turkish and Indonesian Muslims just as much as Arab Muslims. She certainly hates their houses of worship.
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SaraSH
Athi*est Scientist Independent Old Fashioned
01:41 AM on 07/25/2010
U honestly think SP knows the difference between Arab muslims and other muslims? u've got to be kidding me.
12:54 PM on 07/21/2010
Political correctness is going to destroy this country, literally. Enough already! Anyone who views the proposed mosque construction as anything other than a slap in America's face is thinking too hard or just being naive. And frankly, I don't want to take the moral "high-road" and show the Muslim world we are more tolerant than they are. The fact that you would NEVER be allowed to build a Catholic church in the "Kingdom" (what a joke) of Saudi Arabia solidifies it for me. There are too many foolish ideologues in this country living in a fantasy world that's creating a potential for disaster.

By the way, Americans are the most charatible people on Earth. We are clearly not perfect, but we are still the best country in the world. I don't understand the folks who always make us out to be the "bad guy". Do you know how lucky you are to be American?
01:24 PM on 07/21/2010
You can't ignore the Article 1 of the Constitution. Soldiers die to defend it. Whether you like it or not. Fact is, the only thing stopping the erection of any church is zoning laws. Beyond that, you are simply being arrogant and obtuse.
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thegreatdaveo
Mr. Puppers says:
02:44 PM on 07/21/2010
Arrogant and obtuse is an understatement when you try to compare Saudi Arabia to the USA in regards to religious tolerance. There is no comparison. Our governments are completely different.
If at all possible, I believe it is always best to take the moral "high road." Why wouldn't you?
As far as being charitable, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development lists countries by the amount of money they give as a percentage of their gross national income. America finished 23rd (Sweden was #1).
12:16 PM on 07/22/2010
I never said I believed the federal government should or had the authority to stop the construction of this mosque. I believe we the people should, or at least the people of New York. If that means using zoning laws or whatever other legal means we have at our disposal, I think it should be done.
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JudgeMoonbox
09:38 PM on 07/21/2010
"Political correctness is going to destroy this country, literally."

When you hear someone say, "Political correctness," how often are they dismissive or defiant? 99% of the time? 999 times out of a thousand?

Why should we believe a movment that can't protect its own name is going to destroy the country?

"Anyone who views the proposed mosque construction as anything other than a slap in America's face is thinking too hard or just being naive."

Translation: anyone who doesn't believe this conspiracy theory is being naive. I reject that insult.
12:46 PM on 07/21/2010
Are we talking about Sarah Palin the quitter on twitter?? I thought that NYC was the devil's playground to all those out there in the "heart land?" So, why should Palin care where a mosque is built in the big city? I'll tell you what stabes me right through the heart and brain too......listening to Sarah Palin ramble on "refudiating everything." To quote Shakepeare, "to refudiate or not to refudiate that is the question?"
02:50 PM on 07/21/2010
I fine it utterlie indispicable that Ms. Palin would denegrigate the Moslims for wanting to expressitate their desadnessive stand on shrines in general and this one in its particularness. In a word, I refudiate her refudiation, so there! Nuff said. In fact, way too much said.
03:53 PM on 07/21/2010
Now I like to think that I know funny, and THAT is funny. Reminds me of Will Ferrell doing Jawj Dubya. Well done!
12:24 PM on 07/21/2010
Michael Bloomberg is right. Sarah Palin should "mind her own business". The problem is the media, TV and print, will not cooperate. If only her cult members are present when she speaks than it reaches a small number. Her audience increases with media reporting every time she hiccups. She is only relevant in her eyes and the uninformed viewers of FOX News.

I am constantly hearing that FOX outrates MSNBC, CNN, etc. This ranking is a false barometer. You need to add the ratings of the media programs together. Right now there is not an alternative for FOX. They have no competition. Other media who appear more "fair and balanced" do compete for their audiences.
02:11 PM on 08/01/2010
suz1941: If it is true that Fox has the larger audience, it is surely a barometer of the sorry state of education in this country. Even Palin got a high school diploma. (I won't even consider her further "education".)
03:54 PM on 08/01/2010
It is indeed sad. You still have to consider that these people are isolationist. They really don't want to learn which is equally sad.

Like all things Palin, I am beginning to wonder if she ever graduated from college. I think it is amazing that no one has stepped forward to say I was a friend of hers at so and so college. I also think it is interesting that not one person that I know of will say that they were a good friend of Sarah's in high school. The only group participation seems to be her basketball team and one member of that team didn't have anything positive to say. I think she has a problem with her own gender, ie the Katie Couric interview. She was intimadated by her, plus her lack of prep and firsthand knowledge, yelled loud and clear.
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Mr-Mikey
↑↑↓↓←→←→BA START
12:20 PM on 07/21/2010
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jaya Santhan 12 hours ago (12:26 AM)
11 Fans
As a Christian country we should inspire others through our actions and not through imposing our beliefs. There are many American soldiers that may not be religious or Christian.
---

Creative editing MINE.. I stopped there, because you went on a spiel about how as a christian you should..

This nation is not, has not been, and will never be a "Christian Nation" no matter how you people wish it to be. Ignorance of history is no excuse, it is a from of shoving your views upon others.

This country was founded people, who among other reasons, came here to escape religious persecutions so they had the FREEDOM to practice their religions. It was declared a country in 1776, by the "Representatives of the United States of America" and in 1797, 20 very short years later in the Treaty of Tripoli It was reaffirmed that we are not a christian nation.

So No matter what your personal beliefs are, park your "We are a christian nation" bunk somewhere else. You would be factually, historically, and spiritually wrong in that matter.

I don't take to kindly to other religions forcing theirs down my throat, I practice a live and let live kind of spirituality.. My beliefs are my own, and I don't feel the need to justify myself "As a christian" in what I say or do.
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thegreatdaveo
Mr. Puppers says:
02:47 PM on 07/21/2010
Several of our founding fathers were atheists. We were never intended to be a Christian nation, which is why they specifically forbid it in the Constitution. People (like $arah Palin) that say the founding fathers intended America to be a Christian nation are trying to spread their own intolerance of other religions.
02:13 PM on 08/01/2010
thegreatdaveo: Remember that Sarah doesn't read.