NYC MAYOR BLOOMBERG'S OFFICE ABUSED POSITIONS TO HELP IMAM RAUF GAIN APPROVAL FOR MOSQUE

As this New York Post article tells, mayor Michael Bloomberg and his office staff, now rightfully looked upon in disgrace by many Americans, wrongfully used his standing to help the reprehensible imam Feisal Rauf to gain city approval for the mosque he wants to build at Ground Zero (via Jihad Watch and Atlas Shrugs):

Dozens of e-mails between Mayor Bloomberg's aides and developers of the proposed mosque near Ground Zero reveal a cordial, if not downright cozy, relationship and the length to which a top city staffer went to help the project -- even drafting a letter for the group soliciting support from the community board, and providing the fax number to send it.

In one exchange, Community Affairs Commissioner Nazli Parvizi penned the draft of a letter to be sent by Daisy Khan, a key sponsor of the project known alternately as Cordoba House or Park51, to the chairperson of Community Board 1, Julie Menin, as the panel prepared to vote on its recommendation on the project.

The letter drafted by Parvizi thanked Menin for being open-minded about the plan for a mosque and cultural center -- which by then had become a flashpoint issue around the nation.

Parvizi e-mailed the draft to Khan and her husband, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf -- ending with the salutation, "Best, Daisy," indicating that she actually was preparing Khan's letter to a city agency.

She also included the fax number and mailing address for CB1 -- which ultimately voted in favor of the project in May -- and offered further assistance.[...]

Opponents of the plan were furious.

"The mayor was touting, ironically, government not being involved in religion, and here you have the mayor's staffer assisting in a public-relations campaign on behalf of a mosque and Islamic center," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother was a pilot of one of the hijacked planes on 9/11.

"I think this is highly improper."

So do I. And for this, Bloomberg should practically be impeached. I would not be one bit surprised if Bloomberg himself fully approved of this, and had his staffers do the dirty work to avert attention from his own involvement; it's usually done that way in cases like these. In any case, it does not excuse Bloomberg's own disgraceful behavior in all this. He has shown utter contempt for the victims of 9-11, and the sooner he's out of office, the better.