Replies

Well, I had to take a break for lunch, but let me respond to a few of these posts all at once, because now I have to go out and buy a picket fence.

As I said in my original post, I think Drudge (who has always disliked Bush) is trying to use Falwell to bash Bush once again. And no doubt 60 minutes has the same agenda. They may stack the interview to try to make Falwell to look like a fool. And they are the guys who do the cutting and pasting.

So, maybe Falwell has put his foot in his mouth again. He has clearly spoken the truth, but at a bad time in the run-up to election. The liberals would love to make Bush look like a dangerous fundamentalist-lover, which would make some voters hesitate to vote Republican in November.

But they tried it once before, with McCain and Bush's visit to Bob Jones University, and it backfired on them. I think most Americans will agree with Falwell, and it will make them think a bit more about what's already on their minds about the Islamic problem.

I agree that Bush should keep his distance from this kind of stuff. His job is to split the opposition, and that can best be done by the useful fiction that Islam isn't really, truly violent, but that it's only a few misled fanatics we have to worry about. It's not true, if we go by the historical record and the present behavior of most Muslims, but it's politically and strategically useful.

That doesn't mean that people like Falwell can't speak out. Jerry doesn't represent the government. Probably he will make himself unpopular again with this, but he's used to it. And it will serve the purpose of telling some home truths to the American people that Bush can't say from the White House.

I agree that Bush should keep his distance from this kind of stuff.

Agreed. It's OK for him to agree personally, but he can't let it blurr any judgements he has to make for all Americans, including the pagans. He's everyones president. It's a job.

It's not true, if we go by the historical record and the present behavior of most Muslims, but it's politically and strategically useful.

Aw, cut the political 'strategery;' when do we start the
Crusades?
;-)