In an amazing display of how difficult it is to allay suspicions of terrorist ties to the Ground Zero mosque, David Asman, on Fox Business News, asked Imam Dawoud Kringle, who appears to be a Western convert, about terrorism. Imam Kringle, after saying that Islam doesn't support terrorism, was then asked by the host whether Hamas (on the US State Dept. Terrorist List) is a terrorist organization. He sat silent and contemplated how to not answer this question - which was an answer in itself.

Imam Kringle may - possibly - have some negative views about Hamas, but he may also fear for what may happen to him if he were to state his views. The other guest, Andrew McCarthy, who prosecuted the Blind Sheik for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, noted that Hamas is considered by some Muslims as a "resistance" movement rather than terrorists, so they can think Hamas people aren't terrorists (even though to say so on American television would cause a firestorm of controversy).

So the result of such nuanced beliefs is that an Imam can go on television and get away without a yes or no answer, defending Muslims with no realization of the inherent contradiction until a national broadcast camera is staring at them. And then they get tongue-tied when asked about Hamas. If Imam Kringle believes that Hamas isn't a terrorist organization (and I have no proof of this), he knows he can't say it on national television without possibly losing his job with the New York City Dept. of Corrections and greatly hurting the image of Islam in America.

Imam Kringle acted like someone who thought no one would be so politically incorrect to ask him such a basic question about Hamas. After all, Mayor Bloomberg wouldn't ask such a question. Apparently Fox New's David Asman doesn't "know" that people either are impolite to ask such questions because they aren't allowed to have their own opinion different from that of the Mayor. After all, that's the way it is in a statist regime, be they socialist or theocratic.

What was Imam Kringle thinking? That Fox was not going to ask him anything more controversial than, "Do you prefer Starbucks to Dunkin Donuts coffee?" Apparently so.
Even if you are Cicero, Clarence Darrow, Henry Clay and Bill Clinton all rolled into one, you can't give a nuanced answer that people won't see as a refusal to state your position and thus hide from giving an answer.

And Imam Kringle is no Bill Clinton.