Damn, Donald Trump, is it really necessary to get your hand into every single pie (and no, I’m not talking about your romantic entanglements)? The multifaceted mogul is weighing in on the recent Ground Zero Mosque conversation … by trying to buy the property it’s slated to stand on.
The man best known these days for “The Apprentice” (and for somehow still having his hair) evidently offered to pay 25% more than the building’s buyer did (and that pricetag was $5 million).
“I am making this offer as a resident of New York and a citizen of the United States, not because I think the location is a spectacular one (because it is not), but because it will end a very serious, inflammatory and highly divisive situation that is destined, in my opinion, only to get worse,” he wrote.
So who the hell is Donald Trump to think that he can single-handedly solve this deeply polarizing issue? There are a hell of a lot of people in New York (and in the United States) … what gives him more credence than President Obama, Sarah Palin, or even Pamela Geller?
And it’s not like his famewhoring is any secret to either New Yorkers or Americans. It’s also common knowledge that the guy doesn’t exactly have the Midas Touch all the time.
An Atlantic City casino company founded by Trump recently emerged from bankruptcy protection for the third time and, according to The New York Times, Trump tried to avoid repaying a $40 million loan in 2008, saying the U.S. recession was a force majeure.
The Ground Zero Mosque is an interesting situation, with critics decrying the intent to build an Islamic community center a couple of (New York City) blocks from the former Twin Towers site and supporters claiming that it’s a legitimate attempt by the Muslim community to demonstrate that they are not violent killers and should not be held under a stigma created by extremists.
I can see both sides of the issue, but I choose to believe that this particular water glass is half full. There has been enough blood shed in the name of religion—all religions—to fill an ocean. Is it fair to Muslims that they should have to suffer more than others because the wounds are still fresh? I know I’d get frustrated being blamed at every turn for the Crusades or the Vatican’s silence during the Holocaust or whatever.
And, as many wise ZL commenters have pointed out, two blocks in New York City isn’t exactly as close as it sounds.
So fuck you, Donald Trump, for trying to turn this into more of a media circus than it already is. I mean, what are your plans, man? Religious representatives engaging in thumb wars on a television screen? A Jerry Springer-like series of debates?
Wherever you fall on the Ground Zero Mosque spectrum, American feelings are still unspeakably raw from 9/11. Why would you want to throw your big ass name around rubbing salt in open wounds?
Why don’t you take a page from this church?
New York City’s oldest Protestant church, the Collegiate Church of New York, has taken out a full-page advertisement to run in Friday’s edition of The New York Times calling for reconciliation and offering to facilitate talks on the issue.
Yeah, now that sounds refreshing. Not an answer, maybe, but perhaps respectful discourse is the best way to approach this.
Trump? You’re fired!
