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Ali Velshi Addresses “Growing Trend Of Misinformation” By Getting Personal

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CNN’s Ali Velshi weighed in on the big news story of August today – getting personal about the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ controversy.

Following comments he made yesterday, and responding to some of the social media reaction, he addressed the issue head on.

“I can see a growing trend of misinformation and prejudice,” he said, in reference to the Mosque story. “I am Kenyan-born. And unlike President Obama, who faces the same accusations from the same quarters, I am Muslim. He’s not.”

Velshi also opened the discussion. “That’s why this dialogue is so great,” he said. “We can agree or disagree and still respect so much about each other and our ideas.”

It doesn’t take more than a passing glance at Facebook or responses to his Twitter feed to see what types of responses Velshi has been dealing with in the last week related to the Mosque controversy. Today, however, the responses appear to be almost exclusively positive.

Here’s today’s XYZ at the end of Velshi’s 2pmET hour:

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  • Constantly

    wow dr evil got a good tan

  • NORBIT

    How long is it going to take to change the zeitgeist of future generations regarding these ridiculous, conceptually-derived, ephemeral, and fundamentally irrelevant Identities people are inculcated with?

    The science and accordant reasoning is there to explain all this, so why not promulgate it?!

  • writer

    Saying a Muslim is taking something “head on”. I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere, but decorum prevents me from making it.

  • writer

    Thumbs down? I said decorum prevents me from making a joke. Geeezz!

  • notsofast

    Ali,Tim McVeigh was not a Christian- he considered himself an Agnostic. Furthermore, he did not bomb the
    Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building because of religion, like your Muslim brothers attacked America ( OBL’s fatwa against America: “On that basis, and in compliance with God’s order, we issue the following fatwa to all Muslims: The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies — civilians and military — is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy mosque [Mecca] from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim “) , but rather because of his belief that the govt. was eroding civilian rights.

    “McVeigh composed two letters to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the first titled “Constitutional Defenders” and the second “ATF Read.” He denounced government agents as “fascist tyrants” and “storm troopers” and warned:

    ” ATF, all you tyrannical mother fuckers will swing in the wind one day for your treasonous actions against the Constitution of the United States. Remember the Nuremberg War Trials.”

    He particularly became radical after the Waco siege. In 1993, he drove to Waco, Texas during the Waco Siege to show his support. At the scene, he distributed pro-gun rights literature and bumper stickers, such as “When guns are outlawed, I will become an outlaw.”

    And Ali,don’t you remember what day McVeigh bombed that building? April 19, 1995- exactly two years after the Waco .

    Ali, the next time you want to make a comparison between two things, get your facts right!

  • lonestar77

    Mr. Velshi is worried about people not liking him cuz he’s a muslim? Dude, people don’t like you because you’re a media elitist. Check the surveys. There’s much more mistrust of you because of that as opposed to your religion.

  • felixw

    What a surprise…a CNN commentator coming out in favor of the Ground Zero Mosque. Who would have ever guessed?

  • dlauf87

    This guy is trying to make headlines just like Rick Sanchez does. CNN is boring.

  • alamo2

    A commentator speaks from the heart, and a bunch of anti-intellectual stooges make jokes because of your bigotry. You are worthless.

  • http://gordonbloyershow.com gordonbloyershow

    The misinformation comes from people like him.
    Everyone agrees that they have a right to build it. 68% believe it is not right to build it.
    It is just that simple.
    The Muslims have the option to do the right thing or try to shove it down the throats of the 911 victims.
    Let just see how much they want to reach out.

    The Mosque will never be built in that location. I win. They lose.

  • alamo2

    Gordo says: “I win. They lose.”

    I win? I win? Gordo, you’re one for the books! How do you come up with these things????

  • felixw

    alamo2 said:
    A commentator speaks from the heart, and a bunch of anti-intellectual stooges make jokes because of your bigotry. You are worthless.

    The bigotry comes from CNN, which consistently favors one side of all the major issues. When CNN starts giving air time to commentators who come out in favor of Nativity scenes in public places, I will reconsider my position. But somehow I doubt that that kind of “speaking from the heart” will ever happen on CNN.

  • VegasRudy

    Ali should explain why the ground zero mosque was known as the “Cordoba Project”. Muslims feel symbolism means a lot. Well, the history of Islam and Cordoba means a lot. Cordoba was one of Islam’s great achievements in in dominating a non-Arab country. It would be like Japan building a shrine in Manila and calling it the Bataan Project.

  • Raygun

    Cordoba was an intellectual paradise. I don’t know why right wingers keep bringing up the stupid Japan and Pearl Harbour comparison since that was an attack by the Japanese whereas 9/11 was NOT an attack by “Islam”, only by violent Muslim extremists.

  • jrd

    gordonbloyershow said:
    Everyone agrees that they have a right to build it. 68% believe it is not right to build it.

    Ditto.

  • Raygun

    notsofast said:
    Ali,Tim McVeigh was not a Christian- he considered himself an Agnostic. Furthermore, he did not bomb the
    Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building because of religion, like your Muslim brothers attacked America”!

    “Muslim brothers”? Fuck you. Osama Bin Laden represents Muslims as much as Timothy Mcveigh represents Republicans.

  • Latin2

    Steve, Ali is the one giving out MISINFORMATION.

    TIMOTHY MCVEIGH WAS AN AGNOSTIC…STEVEN AND ALI.

    It appears you are the ones giving out misinformation.

    In fact CNN DOCUMENTS that McVeigh was AN AGNOSTIC when reporting on his death on June 12, 2001;

    http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/06/11/mcveigh.03/index.html

    “McVeigh was baptized in the Catholic Church as a boy, but had stopped practicing and recently described himself as agnostic.”

    So STEVEN apparently Ali is either LYING or did not do his research and giving out MISINFORMATION.

  • TfT

    Probably both Latin, this is CNN we are talking about, the great protector of Saddam Hussein. Remember, they maintained an office in Iraq by lying about Saddam (as admitted to by Eason Jordan).

    Also: What the hell does this mean?

    “And unlike President Obama, who faces the same accusations from the same quarters, I am Muslim. He’s not.”

    What accusations and what quarters? Is Ali claiming he is equal to the President of the United States? Is Ali concerned about the percentage of people that think he is a Muslim? Why would he be ashamed or embarrassed by that? Who cares about Ali’s backgkround, other than is he a member of jourNOlist(?) (snicker).

    Really Ali, you just aren’t that important in the larger scheme of things; furthermore, you work for a network that has discredited ITSELF….just look at all the posts here who caught you in your big lie while relaying this story.

    Do your homework, report fairly or get off the air.

  • Latin2

    Raygun said:
    “Muslim brothers”? Fuck you. Osama Bin Laden represents Muslims as much as Timothy Mcveigh represents Republicans.

    Because McVeigh was a baptized as a Catholic that makes him a terrorist? That does not make sense. McVeigh was a Democrat as a child…so does that make him a terrorist because he was a Democrat as a child? If Ali wanted to make that point wellllll Obama was a Muslim when he was child, but then when he was adult was not.

    Anyone with a brain and did research knew McVeigh was an AGNOSTIC…and yes he was a Democrat as a child.

    McVeigh did not bomb the building in Okalhoma City because he was AGNOSTIC…he bombed the building because he was anti-government. He said he believed in “SCIENCE” not God.

    McVeigh did not scream “Long Live Science”! when he blew up the building, and definitely not “Long Live Christianity” because he was agnostic…not like the 19 bombers on 9/11 did when they screamed “ALLAH AKBAR”.

    Why do Liberals try to make a moral equivalence…and are lying at it?

  • Latin2

    .

    If only Ali and Steve had looked under the Google search engine what religion Timothy McVeigh was…guess what Ali and Steve….Timothy McVeigh…NOT CHRISTIAN.

    So Mr. Velshi…you owe the Christian religion an apology.

    .

  • Latin2

    .

    TIMOTHY MCVEIGH SAID “SCIENCE IS MY RELIGION”…doesn’t sound like a Christian terrorist to me, does it Steve and Mr. Ali Velshi

    So when are you going apologizes to Christians Mr. Velshi for spreading that falsehood and bigotry?

    Are you going to add that to your story Steve?

    Since your are writing about “MISINFORMATION” and want to write the truth…don’t you Steve?

    .

  • TfT

    So what you are saying Latin is that a better title for this article would be:

    Ali Velshi Addresses “Growing Trend Of Misinformation” By Giving Misinformation

  • Latin2

    TfT said:
    So what you are saying Latin is that a better title for this article would be:

    Ali Velshi Addresses “Growing Trend Of Misinformation” By Giving Misinformation

    lol…AND YOU WOULD CORRECT TFT.

  • notsofast

    Raygun said:
    Muslim brothers”? Fuck you. Osama Bin Laden represents Muslims as much as Timothy Mcveigh represents Republicans.

    FU Raygun, you Muslim POS retard!

  • alamo2

    notsofast said:
    FU Raygun, you Muslim POS retard!

    notsofast, please keep your bigotry to yourself. And if you are going to lose your temper, please do it someplace else.

  • in my humble opinion

    Mr. Velshi, you cannot have dialogue with ignorant people. You cannot have dialogue with bigots. If there is a god, he made us all. If there is a god, she would smite the lot of them who commented so rudely.
    Good luck in your efforts to bring sanity to this nation.
    .

  • Sue

    No point in trying to make Valshi understand. He is a committed BDDer and will never be able to see trees for the forest. Waste of time.

  • notsofast

    alamo2 said:
    notsofast, please keep your bigotry to yourself. And if you are going to lose your temper, please do it someplace else.

    FU, you lib POS cretin!

  • http://none pyrope

    “I can see a growing trend of misinformation and prejudice”

    Perhaps the real issue is no information. All I want to know is how much Bloomberg shook down Rauf to make the building permit become a reality and where the money is coming from to build the mosque.

    Other than that, the Muslims have a right to build their mosque, but its location smacks of an insult to the people who died in the 11 September 2001 attacks, and this mosque, whose Imam refuses to denounce Hammas, is rubbing a lot of salt into a lot of wounds. My takeaway is that Muslims just aren’t very sensitive to other people of other faiths…but, hell, we already knew that.

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