President Barack Obama

It wasn't long after President Barack Obama expressed his support for the right to construct a mosque two blocks away from the now-eerie site of the World Trade Center that Florida politicians began piling on. And, when all was said and done, only one leader from the Sunshine State said he thinks the chief executive is right.
At a state dinner Friday night honoring the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Obama raised the topic in a speech, saying he backed the creation of a mosque on a privately owned site 600 feet away from Ground Zero.

“The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country,” said Obama. “And the pain and the experience of suffering by those who lost loved ones is just unimaginable. So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. And Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.

“But let me be clear,” the president continued. “As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the founders must endure.”

The proposed construction has the approval of the New York City government, including the backing of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. However, numerous state and national officials and groups, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the Anti-Defamation League, have opposed the idea.

Opposition has also come from family members affected by the World Trade Center attacks. Debra Burlingame and Tim Sumner, the founders of 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America, blasted the president for his remarks.

“Muslims have worshipped in New York without incident both before and after the attacks of 9/11,” wrote Burlingame and Sumner. “This controversy is not about religious freedom. 9/11 was more than a ‘deeply traumatic event,’ it was an act of war. Building a 15-story mosque at Ground Zero is a deliberately provocative act that will precipitate more bloodshed in the name of Allah.”

Continued Burlingame and Sumner, “In a breathtakingly inappropriate setting, the president has chosen to declare our memories of 9/11 obsolete and the sanctity of Ground Zero finished. No one who has lived this history and felt the sting of our country’s loss that day can truly believe that putting our families through more wrenching heartache can be an act of peace.”

Obama’s support of building the mosque also resulted in a number of Florida politicians weighing in. One of the few in the state to back the president was Gov. Charlie Crist, in a CNN interview Saturday.

"We are a country in my view that stands for freedom of religion,” said Crist, who is running in the U.S. Senate election without party affiliation. "You know, respect for others. I know there are sensitivities and I understand that, but I think Mayor Bloomberg is right and I think the president is right."

Most of the Florida politicians who commented on the issue disagreed and took the president to task.

"We are a nation founded on strong principles of religious freedom,” said former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the overwhelming favorite to win the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate election. "However, we cannot be blind to the pain 9/11 caused our nation and the families of the victims. It is divisive and disrespectful to build a mosque next to the site where 3,000 innocent people were murdered at the hands of Islamic extremism. I strongly disagree with President Obama and Charlie Crist."