Was President Obama right to speak out on the Ground Zero mosque?

Over the weekend, President Obama generated an intense debate over remarks he made Friday evening defending Muslims' right to build a community center and mosque in lower Manhattan. (A recent Monitor editorial examines how we can get past this zero-sum debate.)

Monitor reporter Linda Feldmann notes that Obama's comments about the mosque are just the latest in a series of self-inflicted wounds for this White House.

A White House spokesman said Mr. Obama raised the issue, not for political reasons, but because he felt constitutional principles were at stake: “The president thinks that it’s his obligation to speak out when he thinks issues of the Constitution are – when issues of the Constitution arise. And so, in this case, he decided to state clearly how he feels about making sure that people are treated equally, that there is a fairness and that our bedrock principles are upheld.”

Regardless of your feelings about the ground zero mosque, do you think it was appropriate for the president of the United States to weigh in on the issue?

Share your thoughts below.