I think one reason this has become such a lightning rod issue is because most Americans don't trust Muslims, period. HELLO, GEORGE, WE DON'T TRUST THEM!! The President repeatedly referring to Islam as a "religion of peace" doesn't help matters, either. That is right out of the CAIR Play book, and we don't like that either...
I also believe a lot of the current explosive passion stems from Bush's inability/unwillingness to do much concrete about effectively closing our borders while allowing millions of illegal aliens to pour in, then not pro-actively trying to get them back out - all the while proposing "guest worker" plans, which is really amnesty dressed up in a tight skirt sprinkled with cheap perfume.
Americans - even his supporters (and I am one) - are really pissed about what is going on. We have just about had it up to *here* with our leaders sucking up to the rest of the world and giving away the (our) store all while the world continues to laugh up it's sleeve at us and screw us in every imaginable way.
The Harriet Myers Debacle should have clued this Administration that all as not well with the restless natives here in River City and we aren't happy with a lot of the direction things are going. This is jut one more long, painful nail in what we feel is a tighter domestic coffin. We pay our taxes, we try to support the best politicians we can - and we seem to get continually stiffed politicians, including Bush, who is either stone cold deaf or has the tinniest ear in Washington.
It's bad enough a huge part of this country is already hopelessly Liberal and doing everything it can to deep six our efforts. We have to fight on numerous fronts just to hold the country and our Constitution barely together against tall the enemies, foreign and domestic. Now, this shows up on our plate and Bush threatens to veto it? Who is he kidding? Where was he when McCain-Feingold and the Bridge To Nowhere and a hundred other outrages showed up on his desk and he looked the other way, and now this is the hill he has decided to die on??
Give me a break....