Ever since he suggested it is "unavoidable" – and desirable – for Britain to have Islamic courts ruling on Muslim family affairs, bashing the bishop has become a national sport. But this row shouldn't be just about the pitiful contortions of the head of a dying Church.

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A lazy, hazy myth has arisen out of the mists of New Hampshire and South Carolina. Across the pan-Atlantic press, the grizzled 71-year-old Vietnam vet, John McCain, is being billed as the Republican liberals can live with.

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In Britain, schools wriggle and writhe to get out of taking in problematic poor kids, narrowing their catchment areas and setting up bogus tests of academic skill or "faith". This means these kids pile up in the worst schools, where they become unteachable.

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British columnist Nick Cohen was always one of the most gifted—and unexpected—of pro-war polemicists.

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I couldn't help but quote most of this excellent rant. Oh boy it's good! Here we go:

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In a country the size of Western Europe, a war rages that has lasted eight years and cost four million lives. Rival militias inflict appalling suffering on the civilian population, and what passes for political leadership is powerless to stop it.

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