lower manhattan

Again we show how the current right has changed over the past couple of years, embracing the crazy conspiracy theories that come out of their base and hope to turn that into political capital. This time it involves the Ground Zero mosque:

Tuesday, Reps. Peter King (R-NY) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) called Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf -- best known for his work with multicultural Cordoba Initiative to build a mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan -- a "radical" and criticized the Obama Administration for including him on a Middle East speaking tour. That tour, which includes stops in Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is designed by the public diplomacy office to explain to Muslims abroad what it's like to be a Muslim in America.

But guess what? It turns out Rauf actually has a history of working with the U.S. government, and that relationship started under Bush:

If one were to hearken back to the halcyon days of the Bush Administration, one would remember that, when Bush adviser Karen Hughes was appointed Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, the Bush Administration saw improving America's standing among Muslims abroad as a part of its national security strategy. And, as such, Hughes set up listening tours, attended meetings and worked with interfaith groups that -- shocking, by today's Republican standards -- included actual Muslims.

One of those people was Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.

You can tell elections are getting closer. Instead of raising the terror level, we start to hear more about how the government is "uncovering terrorist plots":

The FBI has uncovered what officials consider a serious plot by jihadists to bomb the Holland Tunnel in hopes of causing a torrent of water to deluge lower Manhattan, the Daily News has learned. The terrorists sought to drown the Financial District as New Orleans was by Hurricane Katrina, sources said. They also wanted to attack subways and other tunnels.

Counterterrorism officials are alarmed by the "lone wolf" terror plot because they allegedly got a pledge of financial and tactical support from Jordanian associates of top terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi before he was killed in Iraq, a counterterrorism source told The News.

It's not clear, however, if any cash or assistance was delivered.

It is going to be interesting as cases like this and the one in Miami get to court. How much of a plan are these? Are they some idiots just playing jihadist or are there really substance to them?

Something else interesting to consider when you here this story is why the government choose to cut New York's homeland security funding? I thought they didn't have any targets that terrorists would want to hit. If this claim is true then heads need to roll in Homeland Security. It also further discredits Bush's continued claim of "we are fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here".