Notice anything missing from the Pro Mosque demonstrators? Bongo drums? Check. Bells to ring? Check. Mass produced signs provided by the Commie-Socialist-Labor complex? Check. Trite, yet catchy chants? Check. American flags? [sound of crickets chirping] From the NY Post : Thousands of rowdy protestors with dueling agendas converged on Lower Manhattan today, using the spotlight of 9/11 as a showcase for the Ground Zero mosque debate. No arrests have been reported as of mid-afternoon. Those who claimed to be in favor of freedom of speech and freedom of religion initially appeared to outnumber those who came to decry the building the proposed mosque on Park Place, about two blocks north of the World Trade Center site. Scores of people rallied in favor of the mosque, with a crowd 15 to 20 deep listening to speakers including former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark before marching from City Hall to the Federal Building on Worth Street in an orderly fashion, with a heavy police presence on hand. They were noisy, but not violent. Beating drums and ringing bells, the crowd chanted: “Bigots go home.” The demonstrators also carried signs reading: “Tea Party Bigots funded by Corporate $” and “Our Grief is No excuse for bigotry and racism.” Nearby, several hundred anti-mosque protestors conducted their own rally, angrily confronting a New Jersey man who tried to argue with those in the crowd who held signs reading: “No Obama’s mosque.” “Obama has been a Christian his entire life,” Matthew Paternoster, 25, of Freehold, said. “I came here to show my support for freedom of religion. If you don’t like it, change the he Constitution.” About 25-30 people really didn’t like it — or him. “Would you build a Japanese cultural center at Pearl Harbor?” one asked. Others jeered and shouted. “That would be different,” Paternoster retorted, adding that Islam “is a religion of peace. Imam Rauf is a very moderate Muslim.” And may God bless this man: Earlier in the day, a firefighter, in full uniform, was livid, getting into a shouting match with pro-mosque demonstrators. “They are giving them a platform on the same block I’m being excluded from walking down the street in an FDNY uniform,” he said, refusing to give his name. A retired firefighter lieutenant from Brooklyn’s Engine 226 angrily flipped the bird to a pro-mosque demonstrator wearing a Mao cap. He was there on 9/11, in the North Tower, he said. “I don’t care if they build a mosque, but I don’t want to hear their Islamic prayers wafting over the grave site,” he fumed.
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In Keeping With Solemn Mood of The 9/11 Occasion – Pro Mosque Crowd Ring Bells, Bang Drums and Chant.
