According to the Washington Times, Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Sufi imam spearheading a planned Islamic community center and mosque in New York City, is now a “mastermind”:

From an August 10 editorial:

The State Department is sending Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf - the mastermind of the Ground Zero Mosque - on a trip through the Middle East to foster “greater understanding” about Islam and Muslim communities in the United States.

And from an August 16 editorial:

The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, whose cause Ground Zero Mosque mastermind Feisal Abdul Rauf has supported, has backed the project. There are high-fives being exchanged in terrorist chat rooms.

On August 10, Fox News' Steve Doocy similarly referred to Rauf as “the mastermind behind the proposed Ground Zero mosque.”

It's obviously a nonsensical word to apply to this situation. I'm struggling to remember which Marvel Comics “mastermind” carried out a plot to ... build a community center, with fitness facilities and an interfaith dialogue program. (Actually, there was a Marvel villain named “Mastermind.” I'm told he “attempted to conquer the Earth.”)

On a more serious note, these are other individuals who have been dubbed “masterminds” by the Washington Times since last October:

• Ramzi Yousef, “the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York.”
• Ahmed Hashim Abed, “the suspected mastermind of the 2004 Fallujah atrocity that left the bodies of U.S. contractors hanging mutilated on a bridge.”

• Rashid Rauf, “considered the mastermind of a 2006 plot to bring down trans-Atlantic jets.”

• Abu Zubaydah, “the accused mastermind of the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa.”

• John Allen Muhammad, “the mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks that killed 10 people in Virginia, Maryland and the District.”

• Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, “the admitted Sept. 11 mastermind.”

• And of course, “al Qaeda mastermind” Osama bin Laden.

It's almost as if the Washington Times wants us to associate Rauf with scheming, murderous terrorists. But of course we don't need to analyze their vocabulary to know that's exactly what they're doing.