I know that's Dowds position, too, I just have no idea how she got there, but since you seem to maybe you can help me understand. What particulars of his first statement did he reverse in his second? Here's the most widely quoted part of the first:

"Recently, attention has been focused on the construction of mosques in certain communities -– particularly New York. Now, we must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of Lower Manhattan. The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country. And the pain and the experience of suffering by those who lost loved ones is just unimaginable. So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. And Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.

"But let me be clear. As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. (Applause.) And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure. "

Here's the second again:

"I was not commenting, and I will not comment, on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That’s what our country is about. "

Please show me the conflicting portion(s) of those two statements, because I can't find them. I know much of the right dearly wanted to read the first as an endorsement of the mosque just as the much of the left wanted to read the second as a repudiation of it--I'm just not sure what basis either had for their respective interpretations of quite explicit terms. I mean, I think I remember this scene from one of my favorite films:

Prince Humperdinck: Surrender.
Westley: You mean you wish to surrender to me? Very well, I accept.

Irksome as it sometimes is, in the real world we have to content ourselves with what people actually said rather than what we wish or think they said.