Rudy Ain’t No Saint

Beyond the Clash of Civilizations – NYTimes.com. On the one side were the radicals, who would use more and more demonstrative violence to underline the weakness of the powers-that-be in an attempt to mobilize the masses on their side, and who would finally find themselves isolated and ostracized by those same masses, as the failure of Egyptian and Algerian radicals had proven in the 1990s.  On the other side, a growing amount of Islamists were converting to the creed of pluralism and democracy, as was already then the case in Turkey. That change would not take place without turmoil within…

Guest Voices: Peter King’s Muslim hearings: more questions than answers – On Faith at washingtonpost.com. Approximately half-way through the King hearings today, I am struck by how nebulous the purpose of the hearings are. I am unclear as to why Rep. King has called them, and what goals they will serve

What a great idea for fighting for the rights of others. Don’t make it about them, make it about us. Normally I wouldn’t espouse this particular view, but it seems to work in this scenario. Non-Americans don’t have constitutional protections, so international scholars who are denied entry into the country have no legal standing. American scholars do have the ability to argue violation of the First Amendment. Good strategy. academic freedom, Freedom of Speech, war on terror[ism][ists]