Tension grows between Calif. Muslims, FBI after informant infiltrates mosque

Article | First Things. Though popular with secularists and religious conservatives, anti-Sharia legislation does not defend against theocracy but calls into question our society’s fundamental commitments to meaningful religious liberty and meaningful access to the courts. These commitments have been relied on by generations of Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, and Jews, and to try to remove them for Muslims both is unjust to Muslims and sets a dangerous precedent for other religious groups.

John Bracken points me to this article on John McCain where he seems to be putting a lid on the racist rhetoric his campaign has been hinting at. Over at TPM they have video of the exchange and some analysis of what is going on now. Regardless of why, I’m glad McCain said what he said. Haroon seems to be a bit more bitter about this. I think he’s reading too much into it, but he is a smart guy, so who knows. Election 2008, McCain

How a couple in Alaska became the terrorists next door – latimes.com. To Rockwood, the plot involving targeted assassinations and bombs was a "pure fantasy" created by a government agent he thought was his friend, a common refrain in the nation's burgeoning number of "home-grown" terrorism plots prosecuted since the Sept. 11 attacks.