A reader points out that it is now a commonplace notion that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged. Well, America has been mugged.
MORE ON AL AZHAR: I’d missed a recent Smartertimes posting on al Azhar. As is often the case, Ira Stoll, who runs the site, is ahead of the curve. Take a look at the statements of what the New York Times has called the repository of moderate Islam, “the revered mosque, the distinguished university, the leading voice of the Sunni Muslim establishment.” Its leading sheikh is an unreconstructed anti-semite who endorses suicide bombings and believes that “there is not a single Egyptian that maintains the normalization [of relations with Israel] and whoever does so is a traitor to his religion and his nation.” This is the voice of moderation. Can you imagine what the extremists are like?
The Dish 