Free Republic

Kevin Drum makes the appropriate observation about Sarah Palin: And speaking of politicians and sound bites, does it strike anyone else that Sarah Palin has basically become a social media version of Ann Coulter? That is, they're both conservatives whose schtick mostly depends on generating liberal apoplexy over their periodic word bombs, and who are both fading away because they're having problems coming up with new material that's fresh enough for anyone to care about? I didn't even know Coulter had yet another book out until I saw it at the bookstore today (in almost self-parody fashion, it's called Demonic),...

THE BUZZ Ambassador Franklin Graham was helping Muslims before helping Muslims was cool: Since when did that become a threat to U.S. interests? By Mindy Belz Franklin Graham was handing out shoeboxes to Bosnian Muslim children before most Americans knew where Bosnia was. Longstanding humanitarian work in Muslim countries, however, didn't stop members of the press from pouncing on the son of evangelist Billy Graham for planning to help people in Iraq. Mr. Graham, who heads the humanitarian organization Samaritan's Purse, told the website Beliefnet that his organization was "poised and ready" to move emergency supplies into Iraq once the...

With the exception of his unfortunate post-Sept. 11 call for a "crusade" against terrorism, President George Bush has fashioned his rhetoric about Islam carefully. The administration has scrupulously crafted numerous speeches that make clear that the United States is not making war on Islam, even as it hunts down Osama Bin Laden and invades Iraq. I believe him: Ever since he was the governor of Texas in the mid-1990s, Bush has been friendly to Muslims and to Islam and has pointedly referred to "churches, synagogues, and mosques" in speeches. But I wouldn't believe Bush if I were a Muslim in...