Free Republic

Against the background hum of the convention center, Dar Leaf settled into a club chair to explain the sacred mission of America’s sheriffs, his bright blue eyes and warm smile belying the intensity of the cause. “The sheriff is supposed to be protecting the public from evil,” the chief law enforcement officer for Barry County, Michigan, said during a break in the National Sheriffs’ Association 2023 conference in June. “When your government is evil or out of line, that’s what the sheriff is there for, protecting them from that.”

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Mohammed Shabir, the leading candidate to head a future Palestinian unity government, is close to both Hamas and Fatah and has made a point of keeping his views about Israel and politics to himself. The U.S.-educated university professor is a modest, soft-spoken intellectual who commands great respect and has the stature to bridge the differences between the rival factions, Palestinians said Monday. While believed to be sympathetic to Hamas, Shabir is not known to be a member. But it is his opinions about Israel that could determine whether Shabir can lead the Palestinians out of...