The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro in Tennessee officially opened today after a long legal battle with local residents who filed a lawsuit to prevent the mosque from being built. Residents claimed that Islam is not a religion but a “seditious cult” and that the Islamic center was set on imposing Sharia law. After a state judge shut down construction, a federal judge last month granted a request for an emergency order that would allow the center to open.

The Islamic center held its first prayer service today (photo courtesy of the Tennessean):

Aside from the legal battles, mosque officials also had to endure, as one local reporter put it, “vandalism, some racist comments and even a number of bomb threats.”

But the Islamophobic backlash failed to deter the local Muslim community and its allies. “There is no conflict in being a good Muslim and being a good American. There is no conflict being a good Jew and a good American. There is no conflict in being a good Christian and a good American,” said mosque Imam Ossama Bahloul, “Let this building be a sign of that.”

Reporter Bob Smietana said that between 400 and 500 were in attendance. “The new place is packed,” he said according to a live blog at the Tennesseean.

“Some people said this is something you can no do as a community. Well we did it,” Ossama Bahloul said.

New polls out today show President Obama comfortably leading Mitt Romney in the presidential race, but it looks like in the wake of Romney’s disastrous trip abroad last month (also known as “Romney Shambles“), Americans trust the president more on foreign policy and national security issues, particularly regarding Iran.

A Fox News poll released yesterday, which has Obama leading Romney 49 to 40 percent among registered voters, finds that more trust Obama over Romney to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Voters also prefer Obama over Romney on foreign policy 51 to 38 percent (an increase of two points for Obama since Fox’s last poll) and on national security 48 to 40 percent:

And a new Ipsos/Reuters poll similarly found a jump in support for Obama on foreign policy and handling terrorism. Fifty-one percent of those polled favor Obama to Romney’s 35 percent on foreign policy, a four point increase for Obama since Ipsos’s last poll. While Obama still leads Romney on national security 47 to 38 percent, that gap was closed slightly. However, on the so-called “war on terror,” Obama leads Romney 52 to 33 percent, a slight increase from the last poll:

Romney’s advisers dispute that his recent trip abroad has anything to do with his declining polling numbers. “The impact of the European trip is negligible,” an unnamed adviser said. “Mark my words, there will be another couple of polls next week that potentially say something different.”

The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin, recently under fire for making stuff up about realist foreign policy hand Robert Zoellick, has another whopper today. In a piece helpfully explaining to the Romney campaign “how to counterattack Obama” — an interesting exercise for a journalist actually covering a campaign to engage in, when you think about it — Rubin writes that President Obama “wanted to force a mosque on the ashes of Ground Zero.”

Here’s what the Washington Post reported at the time:

Speaking to reporters during a family vacation visit to Panama City, Fla., Obama reiterated the stand he took Friday night at a White House dinner observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. “In this country we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion,” Obama said.

But he went on to explain that he was not endorsing the construction of the Islamic center. “I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there,” he said. “I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding.”

There’s simply no way to square those remarks with Rubin’s claim that Obama “wanted to force a mosque on the ashes of Ground Zero.” It’s been clear for some time that Rubin enjoys a special dispensation from the Post’s editors with regard to her playing fast and loose with facts. But it’s worth asking how much of this sort of thing they, and the Post’s readers, should reasonably tolerate.

Last night on his Comedy Central show, Steven Colbert mocked Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) anti-Muslm charges that the U.S government is supposedly being infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood. “I admire” Bachmann’s campaign, Colbert said, adding, “Exhibit A: Did you know that the congressional cafeteria serves crescent rolls? That is nothing more than warm buttery jihad.” Colbert then ridiculed Newt Gingrich for praising McCarthyism to defend his support of Bachmann:

COLBERT: Yes it takes a brave man to randomly accuse someone of something horrible based on no evidence and then demand they refute the evidence that you don’t have. So tonight, I am accusing Newt Gingrich of being a baby eating werewolf.

Watch the clip:

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Colbert also interviewed Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), who has led the charge in Congress against Bachmann’s baseless witch-hunt. Ellison confirmed to Colbert that he is Muslim and has siblings. “So you are literally a Muslim brother,” Colbert joked, “You realize I just caught you. I caught you in a lie.” Watch the interview here:

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