A reader writes:
I've read a lot of these posts suggesting that George Bush could calm down the anti-Islamic hysteria by speaking out much as he did in the months and years after September 11th, but I'm pretty doubtful. It seems to me that the angry right has already moved on from Bush. Maybe others have a better read on the pulse of conservatives than I do, but I imagine that if Bush spoke out in favor of the Cordoba house, thereby taking a public stance against Palin and the official FOX party line, he'd be strongly and quickly rebuked by the right. If Bush does support Cordoba house, or if he does oppose the recent rise of Islamophobia on the right (both big ifs to begin with), he'll never come out against them because it would be a huge public embarrassment to demonstrate how little clout he retains even among the religious right that used to worship him.