Wes Pruden of the Washington

Wes Pruden of the Washington Times weighs in on the debate over whether President Bush is overdoing it in his praise of the Muslim religion. Pruden agrees with Rocket Man that “President Bush has good and sufficient reasons of realpolitik” to distance himself from the sentiments of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson in this matter, and for not wanting “to concede the obvious, that the war on terrorism is a clash of civilizations.” But Pruden believes that Bush has gone too far in his courtship of “bad” Muslims such as “the representatives of oleaginous regimes whose state-owned television stations and newspapers call relentlessly for Muslims to kill Christians and Jews.” Thanks to my friend Craig Harrison for calling this piece to my attention.