Obama rebuts anti-Muslim rhetoric in first U.S. mosque visit

[Jefferson23]

(CNN)Seeking to rebut what he views as perilous election-year bombast about Muslims, President Barack Obama is at a mosque in Baltimore on Wednesday, his first visit to such a site in the United States.

"Muslim Americans keep up safe," Obama told the audience, crediting the contributions Muslims have made to communities. "They are our police. They are our fire fighters. They're in (the Department of) Homeland Security."

At the Islamic Society of Baltimore, a 47-year-old mosque with thousands of attendees, Obama heralded the contributions of Muslims to American society while issuing a forceful counterpoint to the language favored by some Republican presidential candidates like Donald Trump, according to White House officials.

"We've seen an alarming willingness on the part of some Republicans to try to marginalize law-abiding, patriotic Muslim Americans," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Tuesday. "It's just offensive to a lot of Americans who recognize that those kinds of cynical political tactics run directly contrary to the values that we hold dear in this country. And I think the President is looking forward to the opportunity to make that point."

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/03/politics/obama-mosque-visit-muslim-rhetoric/

[mwrguy]

1. I hope that some of the Islamophobes here read Obama's wise words.

[Jefferson23]

2. I don't know if you heard all of it, but Obama's speech was outstanding on all counts.

It's sad he needed to do it, since his message was nothing controversial, he
was asking people to remember their humanity.

I expect the GOP to blast him for it, but they are what they are, fear
mongering for votes.