Just When You Thought…

That Obama had finally taken a stand on something, he steps back.

Ed Henry, Senior White House Correspondent Obama ‘not commenting on wisdom’ of controversial Islamic center

Panama City, Florida (CNN) — President Barack Obama told CNN Saturday that in defending the right of Muslims to build a community center and mosque near ground zero in a speech on Friday night, he was “not commenting on the wisdom” of the project.

Instead, Obama said he was trying to uphold the broader principle that the government should treat “everyone equal, regardless” of religion.

His comments were seen as step back from the support he appeared to give the controversial project during a White House dinner on Friday, though a spokesman for the administration quickly moved to clarify the president’s remarks.

“Just to be clear, the President is not backing off in any way from the comments he made last night,” White House spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement Saturday afternoon.

“It is not his role as President to pass judgment on every local project. But it is his responsibility to stand up for the Constitutional principle of religious freedom and equal treatment for all Americans,” Burton added.

Obama, speaking on Saturday after giving a speech on the Gulf Coast oil disaster in Panama City, Florida, told CNN he “was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there,” referring to the area near ground zero.

“I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding,” the president added. “In this country, we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion.”

In other words, you have these rights as long as you don’t expect the President to support you when you try to exercise them. Following the standard Obama pattern, since the people building Cordoba House, which isn’t a mosque, in lower Manhattan, but not at Ground Zero, have completed all of the legal steps necessary to do what they want, and have the right to do it guaranteed by the US Constitution, they should compromise and build it in Morocco so they don’t upset people who have absolutely no connection with New York or Ground Zero.

This is how the Obama administration, having come into office with a huge mandate and solid majorities in both houses of Congress, has managed to enact all of this garbage legislation.