A clean-shaven Jon Stewart returned from a long weekend last night to tackle the recent controversy over the building of a mosque at the World Trade Center site. Critics of the Islamic cultural center claim it would be built on hallowed ground, but it would actually be built several blocks away from Ground Zero on top of a former Burlington Coat Factory.

Stewart wondered: what distance from Ground Zero is it acceptable to build a mosque? He then showed clips of pundits saying everything from 5 blocks, to 20 blocks, to Woody Allen’s bulding on the “Upper West Side.”

“Woody Allen? That’s your go-to, out-of-touch, New York liberal Jew reference? What is it, 1976?” Stewart asked, adding “I’m right here!” before conceding that perhaps a mosque anywhere near Ground Zero was too close.

It turns out it’s also not OK to build mosques in Staten Island, Tennessee, Wisconsin, or California, as Stewart exemplified with clips of protests in each state.

“Why does everyone think America is divided?” Stewart asked. “It appears distrust of Muslims is the only thing that goes from ‘sea to shining sea.’”

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/11/stewart-takes-on-ground-z_n_678224.html?ref=fb&src=sp

Tags: Ground Zero, Islamic Community Center, John Stewart, Masjid, Mosque, The Daily Show