The National Republican Trust PAC has a new TV spot about the Cordoba House controversy,
and it’s a doozy of outright religious bigotry. "This is probably the
worst, most offensive political ad I've ever seen," wrote one young
Republican operative to Mark Silk, his former teacher. "It really embarrasses me." Embarrassing is right:

Silk
slams the ad but allows that being opposed to a mosque at the World
Trade Center site “does not necessarily make you a bigot.” I suppose
that’s true. But the opposition to other mosques in other places deserves no such caveat and makes the issue pretty clear: a lot of Americans are flatly anti-Islam.

The good news is that both NBC and CBS are refusing to air the NRTPAC ad. The sad news is that this kind of ugliness is effective enough for the ad to get made in the first place.

Steve Thorngate

The Century managing editor is also a church musician and songwriter.

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