"The Great Islamophobic Crusade"

Report by Max Blumenthal for CBS that is well worth a read.

"Erupting so many years after the September 11th trauma, this spasm of anti-Muslim bigotry might seem oddly timed and unexpectedly spontaneous. But think again: it’s the fruit of an organized, long-term campaign by a tight confederation of right-wing activists and operatives who first focused on Islamophobia soon after the September 11th attacks, but only attained critical mass during the Obama era. It was then that embittered conservative forces, voted out of power in 2008, sought with remarkable success to leverage cultural resentment into political and partisan gain."

Considering the sheer dis-ingenuousness of the right-wing Park 51 debate, this should come as no surprise that the dramatized fear-mongering and contrived controversies have been for political gain, and will continue to be.