In most cities, including Washington, 13 stories constitute a very tall building. But in the environment of Lower Manhattan, Cordoba House will be just another structure—which is not exactly consistent with the view that it is a Towering Monument to Jihad. In short, people are overestimating the extent to which this building will interact with, or be noticeable from, the World Trade Center site.

Says blogger Daryl Lang:

Look at the photos. This neighborhood is not hallowed. The people who live and work here are not obsessed with 9/11. The blocks around Ground Zero are like every other hard-working neighborhood in New York, where Muslims are just another thread of the city fabric.

At this point the only argument against this project is fear, specifically fear of Muslims, and that’s a bigoted, cowardly and completely indefensible position.

Couldn't agree more.

By the way, guess what is hallowed?  The Constitution.  Lots of people died preserving that thing.

I echo what John Cole writes:

I’m honestly baffled by the entire “mosque at ground zero” nonsense. I find it completely insane. Aside from the fact that it is actually a community center in Manhattan and not a mosque at ground zero, I simply don’t understand why anyone outside of that three-four block radius of NYC gives two hoots in hell. Even if they were actually building a mosque at ground zero, and it was funded by Al Qaeda radicals and not some moderate group, I can’t think of one way in which it would have an impact on my life. Hell, if anything, it would make it easy for theFBI to keep track of Al Qaeda, because the Fox News camera live broadcasting 24/7 would have everyone on tape.