Did President Barack Obama come out in favor of the building of a mosque just steps away from where Islamic extremists slaughtered almost 3,000 Americans on 9/11? To paraphrase former President Bill Clinton, it depends on what your definition of "right" is. At last night's White House event to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Mr. Obama said that he believes "Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country" and "that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances." After a major political backlash today which everyone (except the president) could see coming from the instant the words left his mouth, Mr. Obama is trying to distance himself from his own statements.

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Asked about his remarks at last night's festivities, President Obama claimed, "I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country is about. And I think it's very important as difficult as some of these issues are that we stay focused on who we are as a people and what our values are all about." (source)

It will be up to each individual to decide for themselves whether Mr. Obama supported the building of the mosque on Friday and backed away from that position on Saturday or, as he now claims, he never actually took a position on whether that mosque should be built on that site. But what is undeniable is that in his comments on Friday night before an audience which was decidedly in favor of the project, he said what he needed to say to receive an enthusiastic standing ovation from those assembled. Our Narcissist-In-Chief once again chose to garner instant gratification, praise and glory from a targeted group before thinking about and considering all of the people he is sworn to serve.

This is yet another instance of this president trying to bolster his own popularity with certain groups in certain moments (remember "the police acted stupidly?") instead of providing true leadership on the difficult issues we face.

No doubt Mr. Obama's original comments on the Ground Zero mosque and his subsequent backpedaling will have a negative political effect on his fellow Democrats running in November. But as long as he got to bask in the warmth of a "standing o" at yet another lavish White House event, I doubt he cares.