Let's Get Ready To Wharrgarbl!

Headline: Owners of Park51 project apply for $5,000,000 in Federal redevelopment funds designed to encourage development in downtown Manhattan after 9/11.

Reaction: Wharrgarbl!

Examples of resulting wharrgarbl may be found in all the predictable places, like here, and here. And the outrage can really die down -- the chances of this money actually being awarded are low, low, low.

But for the record, I think we have better things to do with Federal money than this. Not out of any particular distaste for Islam on my part, but rather out of a particular dislike for Federal money being used to help build any house of worship, anywhere, whether directly or indirectly.

That, and the fact that we don't have a budget surplus with which to enjoy questions of which private projects deserve public support. Our government can't afford to be doing things like this right now, for anyone.