From Friday night’s Fox News All-Stars.

On President Obama’s further defense of the Ground Zero mosque at his Friday press conference:

He had spoken earlier about the rule of law, about the First Amendment and about rights. But then he added this element [today]: Imagine the feelings of Muslim Americans. …
He was cleverly countering the argument that the opposition made about the feelings of the 9/11 families. There is a lot of emotion on that side of the argument and I think that by speaking about another set of Americans who have sensitivities, he was countering it in a way that I think was rhetorically effective.
I happen to think the argument about the sensitivity of the families of 9/11 is not one I would invoke. I think it has to stand on its merits. If the only people [killed] in the World Trade Center had been orphans who didn’t have any families, I would have the same position about the mosque. I think it’s a question of sanctity. I think it’s a question of respect for the memory of the dead and the way in which they died. That, I think, is the main issue.
But with the opposition [to the mosque] using sentiment [the feelings of the 9/11 families], the president was smart to counter it essentially with an argument of sentiment of his own. And … in that sense he really helped his side. Up until that argument, his was a cold and sort of constitutional one, which didn’t have a lot of appeal.