In what appeared to be an implicit endorsement of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s own endorsement of the Ground Zero mosque, the State Department published the entire text of the New York City mayor’s speech on its affiliate website, www.america.gov. I called the State Department to receive comment, and to ask whether the State Department had an official view on what Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called “a matter for New York City and the local community to decide.”
When reached by THE WEEKLY STANDARD, the State Department official, Joanne Moore, first denied that America.gov was part of the State Department’s website. When I read her this line, “Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State,” which is at the end of the text of Bloomberg’s speech, she said she did not know, and that she would get back to me.
