york city, sho. sure people have feelings about this. we re debating it in a cleej yal manner. but when you get people like newt gingrich who thinks he can create a national hysteria, i think we should reject that. i think reverend faulkner, who i respect a lot, republicans and democrats should take a time out, blow the whistle and say shouldn t we now focus our attention on getting scott, mr. stringer hang on. scott stringer, i want you to see what sarah palin wrote on her facebook page. she asks a reasonable question. mr. president, should they or should they not build a mosque steps away from where radical islamists killed 3,000 people? please tell us your position. we all know they have the right to do so, but should that. and no, she adds, this is not above your pay grade. what s your answer to that
i got to tell you, i don t think the republicans have any idea where park place is or west 4th street is. gentlemen, hang on, hang on. let me just stick with this for one moment. mr. stringer, if indeed the intent of the mosque is to be a bridge builder, then wouldn t the hue and cry reaction i mean, there s a cnn poll that says seven in ten americans object to this. wouldn t the reaction to that data and this outcry be for the organizers to back off and say maybe we re mistaken in this regard? maybe it will be counter productive. listen, for me and many elected officials it would be easy for me to play to the crowd. but this is about religious freedom. this is about a community in lower manhattan that took the hit for the rest of the country, saying it s okay for this to proceed. that s what major bloomberg has said. the president of the united states had to weigh in because it has become a national issue. i think these republicans have
hysteria going back to where he was in power in 1994 when he divided this country, i think we should reject that. i think reverend faulkner, who i respect a lot, republicans and democrats should take a time out, blow the whistle and say shouldn t we now focus our attention on getting scott, mr. stringer hang on. scott stringer, i want you to see what sarah palin wrote on her facebook page. i think she will asks a reasonable question in asking the president to take a definitive stance. mr. president, should they or should they not build a mosque steps away from where radical islamists killed 3,000 people? please tell us your position. we all know they have the right to do so, but should they. and no, she adds, this is not above your pay grade. what s your answer to that question, scott stringer. the answer for sarah palin and newt gingrich and the radical right in the republican party is what s your plan to bring more security dollars to new york city? can i have a plan so that
absolutely. i think it s unfortunate that the republican strategy for the november elections is to put democrats with difficult races in a position of having to decide on what street corner in new york city a mosque is located. i got to tell you, i don t think the republicans have any idea where park place is or west 4th street is. hang on, let me stick with this for one moment. mr. stringer, if indeed the intent of the mosque is to be a bridge builder, then wouldn t the reaction i mean, there s a cnn poll that says seven in ten americans object to this. the reaction to that data and this outcry be for the organizers to back off and say maybe we re mistaken in this regard. maybe it will be counter productive. listen, for me and many elected officials it would be easy for me to play to the crowd. but this is about religious freedom. this is about a community in
gods, i ve been to your church. i respect the work, the great work that you do. mr. stringer, isn t a better analogy i know you took issue with what newt gingrich had to say about the holocaust. we all remember when pope john paul ii asked the carmelite nuns to retreat from proximity to auschwitz. was that the right thing for him to do? if so, isn t it equally correct for there to be a request that this mosque not move forward? there s no question that people have strong feelings on this issue. everyone can make a request and have a discussion about that. i m not suggesting that people who make that request like reverend faulkner are doing anything terrible. but when we start to demand property already occupied by a religious institution, that we should remove them or force them out, i then think it goes against everything we believe in this country in terms of religious freedom. that is the issue here. the notion that we will not recognize and be tolerant gives the terrorists th