Defining Islamic Extremism Down

Serwer picks up on a rhetorical sleight of hand:

Kristol isn't the first person to invoke "decent Muslims" whose decency is predicated on their opposition to religious freedom for other Muslims. Sarah Palin memorably asked "peaceful Muslims" to "refudiate" the project, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said that opposition to the community center "will not and should not insult any decent Muslim because decent Muslims should be as opposed to Islamic extremism as you and I are.” By this definition, "Islamic extremist" is a label that applies to the kind of Imam who helps the FBI reach out to the American Muslim community after 9/11 and says "[f]anaticism and terrorism have no place in Islam."