Smiley-Faced Deception

"We believe in America's possibilities," Mr. Malik told the crowd. "We didn't come to criticize our nation ... I want the American people to know that we love you."

The imam's Facebook page tells a different story - but only The Times bothered to look at it. While Mr. Malik's Facebook shows him dressed in Western clothing, he attended the ceremony dressed as a sheik. That seems more appropriate to the real imam Malik, because on his Web page he has written: "Democracy is not revelation, and democracy does not equal freedom, for in democracy you have apartheid, you have slavery, you have homosexuality, you have lesbianism, you have gambling, you have all of the vices that are against the spirit of truth; so no we don't want to democratize Islam, we want to Islamize democracy."

Which imam is telling the truth and which is practicing deception? One might debate whether apartheid (Jews and Christians), slavery (oppression of women) and homosexuality exist in Muslim countries, the claim of Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that homosexuals aren't present in his country notwithstanding.