Excerpt:
The controversy over a proposed mosque near New York's ground zero memorial hit Minnesota on Friday, with Gov. Tim Pawlenty trashing the idea and Rep. Keith Ellison, the nation's first Muslim congressman, slamming the governor.
"I know he wants to be president really bad, and I know he's trying to appeal to the most extreme elements of his party to do that," Ellison said, "but I hope he doesn't want to be president so bad that he's willing to dishonor the First Amendment and our heritage of religious tolerance."
In an interview with Real Clear Politics on Friday, Pawlenty suggested it would be unpatriotic to build a mosque near the site of the 2001 terrorist attack on New York City.