Free Republic

It's a cliche to say that democratic states can't function properly without an informed electorate. But it’s absolutely true. And this is why, heading into the 2016 election year, I'm nervous about the future. With Donald Trump leading the Republican presidential contenders, even many Republican die-hards are shaking in their boots.But Trump isn't the cause, just the symptom. The deeper cause is a strain of anti-intellectualism that runs through the roots of American culture. And while this strain is found on both sides of the political spectrum (see some liberals on vaccines and chemtrails), it's mostly concentrated among religious conservatives...

Something possibly unprecedented has occurred in the battle with radical Islam. A leading Islamist organization has retracted its slurs against me and issued a public apology. This offers a small but important step in blocking the advance of Islamic extremism. The imbroglio began over two years ago, when George W. Bush nominated me for a position in the U.S. federal government. Leftists and Islamists opposed my appointment; one tactic they used was to try to get me to say things that would get me into trouble. And so it was that I was asked in April 2003 if I support...