Rid the world of evil, or rid America of the threat of Islam?

In connection with the recent GoV discussion on what to do about Islam, Mr. Auster put up this entry in which an interesting discussion in its own right ensued.

While scanning the comments to the entry I ran across a statement from Auster as part of his reply to John L.'s perceptive comments which caught my attention, and I wrote an email to him regarding his statement and why it had got my attention. Mr. Auster posted part of our exchange under the thread.

But the entirety of our exchange got me thinking. I wonder how many of you were unaware that President Bush had actually (He really did, I'm not making this up) made such a ridiculous public statement following the events of 9/11? I can't be sure whether I picked up on the remark during his speech at the National Cathedral because, as I wrote to Mr. Auster, I'm not positive that that was the only time Bush said it (I'm inclined to believe that he made the statement on more than that single occasion, but I could be wrong). But the great likelihood is that I did pick up on it then since I was watching that speech live at home on that day. A statement like that, so blatantly idiotic, coming from the President on the heels of such an historic event, would most likely not have escaped me. But come to think of it, there isn't much good I have to say about any aspect of that whole memorial ceremony.