One wing of the Republican Party has taken the question of building a Muslim community center two blocks from the World Trade Center site and crudely tried to make it into a divisive political issue.
Newt Gingrich, now trying to elbow his way back into the national spotlight, portrayed the planned construction of Park51 as a deadly insult. The former House speaker said, inanely and offensively, "Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust museum in Washington. We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor."
Sarah Palin was somewhat milder, but still on the side of ostentatiously taking offense. "That feels like a stab in the heart collectively of Americans who still have that lingering pain from 9/11," she said. Presumably she was also including the families of the American Muslims who died in the attack.
Finally, a senior Republican has had the courage and good sense to say that American ideals apply in this case.
Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah knows his Constitution. He should, having been both chairman and ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and mentioned several times for the Supreme Court.
Stating the obvious, he told a Salt Lake City TV station that there's a huge "lack of support throughout the country for Islam to build a mosque there," adding the critical point, "but that should not make a difference if they decide to do it. I'd be the first to stand up for their rights."
Rights should not be hostage to public opinion, as Hatch, a Mormon and member of a religious minority, well knows. "I just think what's made this country great is we have religious freedom. That's not the only thing, but it's one of the most important things in the Constitution," he said.
Good for you, senator.
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