Sunday, February 26, 2006
Uncivil War
BY THE ANTI-CIVILIZED
So I'm trying to find out what's going on in Iraq, and I find this AP report at Fox:
"Sectarian Attacks Surge Despite Curfew in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq--Violence began to recede..."
Attacks surge as violence recedes?
Note to Media: If its not too much to ask, could you not have your headline contradicted by the lede sentence? Thank you.
One is tempted to ask if the custodians of the Golden Dome published some cartoons the terrorists didn't like. But this is serious, and points up how these extremists are the enemies of all civilized or even semi-civilized peoples.
It does seem as if violence is receding and these vicious thugs will not get the civil war they so desire.
But I do know that the Nutty President, President Ahcouldabeenacontendah of Iran, blamed the Golden Dome attack on Israel and America.
This is a lie of Goebbel-esque and Hitler-esque proportions, despite the fact that the Left has drained Nazi comparisons of their moral weight by using them to mean "anything which even mildly annoys me".
And the use of the Big Lie tells me that it was probably Iran who was behind the bombing.
So I'm trying to find out what's going on in Iraq, and I find this AP report at Fox:
"Sectarian Attacks Surge Despite Curfew in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq--Violence began to recede..."
Attacks surge as violence recedes?
Note to Media: If its not too much to ask, could you not have your headline contradicted by the lede sentence? Thank you.
One is tempted to ask if the custodians of the Golden Dome published some cartoons the terrorists didn't like. But this is serious, and points up how these extremists are the enemies of all civilized or even semi-civilized peoples.
It does seem as if violence is receding and these vicious thugs will not get the civil war they so desire.
But I do know that the Nutty President, President Ahcouldabeenacontendah of Iran, blamed the Golden Dome attack on Israel and America.
This is a lie of Goebbel-esque and Hitler-esque proportions, despite the fact that the Left has drained Nazi comparisons of their moral weight by using them to mean "anything which even mildly annoys me".
And the use of the Big Lie tells me that it was probably Iran who was behind the bombing.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Terms in Contradiction
FOR EXAMPLE, GOV. GEORGE PATAKI ON C-SPAN'S "ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE"
*How come it was Harry Wittington who got shot...but David Gregory's head that exploded? And it was Wittington and Cheney who were terrified...yet it was David who soiled himself.
"Attention, Houskeeping; We need a wet-clean-up in Aisle Gregory. Houskeeping to Aisle Gregory. Again."
*But the real contradiction: orange vests over camouflage fatigues.
*After refusing to Sully themselves by actually visiting Gitmo, the UN released a report saying it should be shut down, which is bezactly ackwards; Gitmo should remain open and the UN should be shut down.
*Here's a contradiction from our continuing Hai Court Haiku series:
There once was a judge named Alito
Democrats tried to abort while in vitro
"He's pro-life!" they say
"Against the little guy" they bray,
Uh...do they come any littler than fetal?
*Larry Summers has been forced out at Harvard for exposing our Free-Thinking Academic Champions of Diversity and Tolerance to ideas that were diverse and intolerable.
Summers' first transgression was when he asked Prof. Cornel West to stop auditioning for American Idol and actually teach some classes. "The Brother Summers is holdin' me and my homies down with his prepatriarchialist narrative because he can't catch the groove of our Derridaist reading of neodialectic totality," said West, fluent in both Ebonics and Academese, and unintelligible in both.
Then there was Summers' penchant for saying the most wild, crazy, outlandish things, such as 'Maybe Israel shouldn't wiped off the map," and "Men and women may be kinda', you know, different." And "I'm not so sure about this whole 'ROTC=Hitler Youth!'- thing."
Of course, it wasn't the military who enacted "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"--it was Bill Clinton and the Congress. If the faculty had any integrity--and I emphasize the "if"--they would refuse to accept one dime of Congressional funding, not ban the ROTC from campus. Nor would they allow President Footnote to make commencement speeches.
I guess principle only goes so far.
But you've got to hand it to those hersterical Women's Studies profs. They've essentially gotten the University to declare their lifestyle an official course of study. It's the greatest scam ever invented, really. It would be as if the NASCAR-American Community forced the University to fund a Redneck Studies course and provide fishing tackle, beer and a houseboat for 'extended field research'.
You tried, Larry. But when you caved and offered $50 mil for Women's Studies as tribute, the writing was on the wall; "He can be rolled!"
Still, in the Winter of Their Discontent, you are the Summers of Their Discomfort. Some two centuries after Boston erupted over King George's Intolerable Acts, the Chablis-Brie-and-Nitzsche Monarchy of Harvard Yard have again decreed your act to be intolerable. But don't take it personally, Larry; they wouldn't allow John Harvard on campus today, either.
It was heartening however to see the counter-demonstration by some students on your behalf. At least some of the dogs are refusing to eat the academic dog-food.
As Mr. Buckley said, "I would rather be governed by the first 200 names in the Boston phone book, than by the Harvard Faculty." Me, I'd rather be governed even by the first dozen chimpanzees at the Boston Zoo than by the Harvard Faculty. At least the chimps don't claim to be related to Darwin.
And when the chimps fling their feces, they don't charge you $30K in tuition for the favor...and call it "education".
*HILLARY!in'08 just took a shot at vouchers, claiming that it would create schools where terrorism was promoted and race hate taught. You know; like Ward Churchill's "Ethnic Studies" class.
In other words, Miz Hillreh believes that she can be trusted to pick a private school for her daughter, but you unwashed rubes cannot. And don't even think about showing up at the Sidwell School with a voucher in your grubby little hands, plebe. "People nowadays just don't seem to know their place. Everywhere one turns, blacks and Hispanics are demanding vouchers simply because they want their children to be able to read, spell and count. We simply can't have that," said The World's Smartest Woman(tm).
Democrats run the public schools like a plantation.
And you know what I'm talkin' 'bout.
*How come it was Harry Wittington who got shot...but David Gregory's head that exploded? And it was Wittington and Cheney who were terrified...yet it was David who soiled himself.
"Attention, Houskeeping; We need a wet-clean-up in Aisle Gregory. Houskeeping to Aisle Gregory. Again."
*But the real contradiction: orange vests over camouflage fatigues.
*After refusing to Sully themselves by actually visiting Gitmo, the UN released a report saying it should be shut down, which is bezactly ackwards; Gitmo should remain open and the UN should be shut down.
*Here's a contradiction from our continuing Hai Court Haiku series:
There once was a judge named Alito
Democrats tried to abort while in vitro
"He's pro-life!" they say
"Against the little guy" they bray,
Uh...do they come any littler than fetal?
*Larry Summers has been forced out at Harvard for exposing our Free-Thinking Academic Champions of Diversity and Tolerance to ideas that were diverse and intolerable.
Summers' first transgression was when he asked Prof. Cornel West to stop auditioning for American Idol and actually teach some classes. "The Brother Summers is holdin' me and my homies down with his prepatriarchialist narrative because he can't catch the groove of our Derridaist reading of neodialectic totality," said West, fluent in both Ebonics and Academese, and unintelligible in both.
Then there was Summers' penchant for saying the most wild, crazy, outlandish things, such as 'Maybe Israel shouldn't wiped off the map," and "Men and women may be kinda', you know, different." And "I'm not so sure about this whole 'ROTC=Hitler Youth!'- thing."
Of course, it wasn't the military who enacted "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"--it was Bill Clinton and the Congress. If the faculty had any integrity--and I emphasize the "if"--they would refuse to accept one dime of Congressional funding, not ban the ROTC from campus. Nor would they allow President Footnote to make commencement speeches.
I guess principle only goes so far.
But you've got to hand it to those hersterical Women's Studies profs. They've essentially gotten the University to declare their lifestyle an official course of study. It's the greatest scam ever invented, really. It would be as if the NASCAR-American Community forced the University to fund a Redneck Studies course and provide fishing tackle, beer and a houseboat for 'extended field research'.
You tried, Larry. But when you caved and offered $50 mil for Women's Studies as tribute, the writing was on the wall; "He can be rolled!"
Still, in the Winter of Their Discontent, you are the Summers of Their Discomfort. Some two centuries after Boston erupted over King George's Intolerable Acts, the Chablis-Brie-and-Nitzsche Monarchy of Harvard Yard have again decreed your act to be intolerable. But don't take it personally, Larry; they wouldn't allow John Harvard on campus today, either.
It was heartening however to see the counter-demonstration by some students on your behalf. At least some of the dogs are refusing to eat the academic dog-food.
As Mr. Buckley said, "I would rather be governed by the first 200 names in the Boston phone book, than by the Harvard Faculty." Me, I'd rather be governed even by the first dozen chimpanzees at the Boston Zoo than by the Harvard Faculty. At least the chimps don't claim to be related to Darwin.
And when the chimps fling their feces, they don't charge you $30K in tuition for the favor...and call it "education".
*HILLARY!in'08 just took a shot at vouchers, claiming that it would create schools where terrorism was promoted and race hate taught. You know; like Ward Churchill's "Ethnic Studies" class.
In other words, Miz Hillreh believes that she can be trusted to pick a private school for her daughter, but you unwashed rubes cannot. And don't even think about showing up at the Sidwell School with a voucher in your grubby little hands, plebe. "People nowadays just don't seem to know their place. Everywhere one turns, blacks and Hispanics are demanding vouchers simply because they want their children to be able to read, spell and count. We simply can't have that," said The World's Smartest Woman(tm).
Democrats run the public schools like a plantation.
And you know what I'm talkin' 'bout.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Happy Washington's Birthday
EXCEPT YOU ALREADY MISSED IT
Because as most of you know, Washington was born not on Feb. 22, but on Feb. 11, 1732.
The Old Farmer's Almanac explains:
"During Washington's lifetime, people in Great Britain and America switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar (something most of Europe had done in 1582). As a result of this calendar reform, people born before 1752 were told to add 11 days to their birth dates. Those born between January 1 and March 25, as Washington was, also had to add one year to be in sync with the new calendar. By the time Washington became president in 1789, he celebrated his birthday on February 22 and listed his year of birth as 1732."
(Some London merchants also tried to avoid paying taxes for sales on those "missing" days.)
Nor is it actually "President's Day". Matthew Spalding explains:
"Although it was celebrated as early as 1778, and by the early 19th century was second only to the Fourth of July as a patriotic holiday, Congress did not officially recognize Washington's Birthday as a national holiday until 1870. The Monday Holiday Law in 1968--applied to executive branch departments and agencies by Richard Nixon's Executive Order 11582 in 1971--moved the holiday from February 22 to the third Monday in February. Section 6103 of Title 5, United States Code, currently designates that legal federal holiday as "Washington's Birthday." Contrary to popular opinion, no action by Congress or order by any President has changed "Washington's Birthday" to "President's Day.""
"Several times, legislators have introduced legislation to direct all federal government entities to refer to the holiday as George Washington's Birthday. Better yet: the President could issue an executive order that, in one stroke of the pen, would not only enforce the law, but also remind all Americans that this George W - George Washington, that is - still deserves to be "first in the hearts of his countrymen.""
Parahrasing, of course, the eulogy written by John Marshall and delivered by Gen. Henry Lee:
"[...] Moving in his own orbit he imparted heat and light to his most distant satellites; and, combining the physical and moral force of all within his sphere, with irresistible weight he took his course, commiserating folly, disdaining vice, dismaying treason, and invigorating despondency; until the auspicious hour arrived when, united with the intrepid forces of a potent and magnanimous ally, he brought to submission the since conqueror of India; thus finishing his long career of military glory with the luster corresponding to his great name, and in this, his last act of war, affixing the seal of fate to our nation’s birth.
To the horrid din of battle sweet peace succeeded; and our virtuous chief, mindful only of the common good, in a moment of tempting personal aggrandizement hushed the discontents of growing sedition, and surrendering his power into the hands from which he had received it, converted his sword into a plowshare, teaching an admiring world that to be truly great you must be truly good.
Were I to stop here the picture would be incomplete and the task imposed unfinished. Great as was our Washington in war, and as much as did that greatness contribute to produce the American republic, it is not in war alone his pre-eminence stands conspicuous. His various talents, combining all the capacities of a statesman with those of a soldier, fitted him alike to guide the councils and the armies of our nation. Scarcely had he rested from his martial toils, while his invaluable parental advice was still sounding in our ears, when he who had been our shield and our sword was called forth to act a less splendid but more important part.
Possessing a clear and penetrating mind, a strong and sound judgment, calmness and temper for deliberation, with invincible firmness and perseverance in resolutions maturely formed; drawing information from all; acting from himself with incorruptible integrity and unvarying patriotism; his own superiority and the public confidence alike marked him as the man designed by heaven to lead in the great political as well as military events which have distinguished the era of his life. [...]
First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to one in the humble and endearing scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting.
To his equals he was condescending; to his inferiors kind; and to the dear object of his affections exemplarily tender. Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand; the purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues."
Lincoln on Washington:
"Washington is the mightiest name on earth — long since mightiest in the cause of civil liberty; still mightiest in moral reformation. On that name, an eulogy is expected. It cannot be. To add brightness to the sun, or glory to the name of Washington, is alike impossible. Let none attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the name, and in its naked deathless splendor, leave it shining on."
We should be grateful to both Washington and Lincoln. Except today, they would be called FISA-criminals.
Washington's sentries used profiling to capture the British spy Major Andre. When they searched him without a warrant, they found the letters of the totally innocent American Benedict Arnold, thus violating Mr. Arnold's Right to collaborate with the enemy. Not only that, but Washington convened a miltary tribunal and promptly hanged Maj. Andre by the neck until dead, despite Hamilton's plea for mercy. If only there was an International Criminal Tribunal then, Maj. Andre would still be alive and in opening arguments today.
Likewise, Pres. Lincoln suspended habeus corpus, wiretapped the telegraph lines, opened mail and wisely threw seditious Democrat newspaper editors in jail.
Happy President's Day, Pinch!
UPDATE: I see that I have failed to present another part of the indictment against the criminal Washington. Let me recount the story as best I can from memory:
An encrypted letter in the care of a prostitute came into the hands of a friend of Gen. Nathaniel Greene. The friend was doubtless inspired by Adm. Poindexter's Total Information Awareness program and encouraged to rat out his neighbors. In any event, Greene gave the illegally-obtained letter to Washington.
When pressured, the woman admitted that the letter was the property of her john, the prominent "patriot" Dr. Benjamin Church. Worse, the woman was never read her Miranda Rights or given a lawyer. And she wouldn't have been subject to such brutal coercion if only the Founders understood that "Freedom of Expression" included prostitution. But I digress.
The letter was decoded and Church was found to be collaborating with the British for money. Based on evidence trumped-up by Scooter Libby, Church was tried, convicted and sentenced to exile by Justice Alito.
He disappeared at sea. Sure--that's what they always say. And in the West Indies no less--where Gitmo stands as a monument to oppression to this very day!!!
I think all right-thinking peoples of America can easily deduce the hand of Karl Rove in all this.
Sadly, in those days, there was no New York Times to warn traitors like Dr. Church that his priveleged communications with the enemy were compromised. Thank goodness we've solved that problem today!
The Times is right; if any one of us is unfree to collaborate with the enemy, then we're all unfree to collaborate with the enemy. What's this country coming to when we can't take calls from terrorists on the battlefield without some nosy, busybody President snooping in on the call? I don't know about you, but that's not the America I grew up in.
It's not too late, my fellow World Citizens...Impeach Washington Now!
First Washington--and Then Bush!
Because as most of you know, Washington was born not on Feb. 22, but on Feb. 11, 1732.
The Old Farmer's Almanac explains:
"During Washington's lifetime, people in Great Britain and America switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar (something most of Europe had done in 1582). As a result of this calendar reform, people born before 1752 were told to add 11 days to their birth dates. Those born between January 1 and March 25, as Washington was, also had to add one year to be in sync with the new calendar. By the time Washington became president in 1789, he celebrated his birthday on February 22 and listed his year of birth as 1732."
(Some London merchants also tried to avoid paying taxes for sales on those "missing" days.)
Nor is it actually "President's Day". Matthew Spalding explains:
"Although it was celebrated as early as 1778, and by the early 19th century was second only to the Fourth of July as a patriotic holiday, Congress did not officially recognize Washington's Birthday as a national holiday until 1870. The Monday Holiday Law in 1968--applied to executive branch departments and agencies by Richard Nixon's Executive Order 11582 in 1971--moved the holiday from February 22 to the third Monday in February. Section 6103 of Title 5, United States Code, currently designates that legal federal holiday as "Washington's Birthday." Contrary to popular opinion, no action by Congress or order by any President has changed "Washington's Birthday" to "President's Day.""
"Several times, legislators have introduced legislation to direct all federal government entities to refer to the holiday as George Washington's Birthday. Better yet: the President could issue an executive order that, in one stroke of the pen, would not only enforce the law, but also remind all Americans that this George W - George Washington, that is - still deserves to be "first in the hearts of his countrymen.""
Parahrasing, of course, the eulogy written by John Marshall and delivered by Gen. Henry Lee:
"[...] Moving in his own orbit he imparted heat and light to his most distant satellites; and, combining the physical and moral force of all within his sphere, with irresistible weight he took his course, commiserating folly, disdaining vice, dismaying treason, and invigorating despondency; until the auspicious hour arrived when, united with the intrepid forces of a potent and magnanimous ally, he brought to submission the since conqueror of India; thus finishing his long career of military glory with the luster corresponding to his great name, and in this, his last act of war, affixing the seal of fate to our nation’s birth.
To the horrid din of battle sweet peace succeeded; and our virtuous chief, mindful only of the common good, in a moment of tempting personal aggrandizement hushed the discontents of growing sedition, and surrendering his power into the hands from which he had received it, converted his sword into a plowshare, teaching an admiring world that to be truly great you must be truly good.
Were I to stop here the picture would be incomplete and the task imposed unfinished. Great as was our Washington in war, and as much as did that greatness contribute to produce the American republic, it is not in war alone his pre-eminence stands conspicuous. His various talents, combining all the capacities of a statesman with those of a soldier, fitted him alike to guide the councils and the armies of our nation. Scarcely had he rested from his martial toils, while his invaluable parental advice was still sounding in our ears, when he who had been our shield and our sword was called forth to act a less splendid but more important part.
Possessing a clear and penetrating mind, a strong and sound judgment, calmness and temper for deliberation, with invincible firmness and perseverance in resolutions maturely formed; drawing information from all; acting from himself with incorruptible integrity and unvarying patriotism; his own superiority and the public confidence alike marked him as the man designed by heaven to lead in the great political as well as military events which have distinguished the era of his life. [...]
First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to one in the humble and endearing scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting.
To his equals he was condescending; to his inferiors kind; and to the dear object of his affections exemplarily tender. Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand; the purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues."
Lincoln on Washington:
"Washington is the mightiest name on earth — long since mightiest in the cause of civil liberty; still mightiest in moral reformation. On that name, an eulogy is expected. It cannot be. To add brightness to the sun, or glory to the name of Washington, is alike impossible. Let none attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the name, and in its naked deathless splendor, leave it shining on."
We should be grateful to both Washington and Lincoln. Except today, they would be called FISA-criminals.
Washington's sentries used profiling to capture the British spy Major Andre. When they searched him without a warrant, they found the letters of the totally innocent American Benedict Arnold, thus violating Mr. Arnold's Right to collaborate with the enemy. Not only that, but Washington convened a miltary tribunal and promptly hanged Maj. Andre by the neck until dead, despite Hamilton's plea for mercy. If only there was an International Criminal Tribunal then, Maj. Andre would still be alive and in opening arguments today.
Likewise, Pres. Lincoln suspended habeus corpus, wiretapped the telegraph lines, opened mail and wisely threw seditious Democrat newspaper editors in jail.
Happy President's Day, Pinch!
UPDATE: I see that I have failed to present another part of the indictment against the criminal Washington. Let me recount the story as best I can from memory:
An encrypted letter in the care of a prostitute came into the hands of a friend of Gen. Nathaniel Greene. The friend was doubtless inspired by Adm. Poindexter's Total Information Awareness program and encouraged to rat out his neighbors. In any event, Greene gave the illegally-obtained letter to Washington.
When pressured, the woman admitted that the letter was the property of her john, the prominent "patriot" Dr. Benjamin Church. Worse, the woman was never read her Miranda Rights or given a lawyer. And she wouldn't have been subject to such brutal coercion if only the Founders understood that "Freedom of Expression" included prostitution. But I digress.
The letter was decoded and Church was found to be collaborating with the British for money. Based on evidence trumped-up by Scooter Libby, Church was tried, convicted and sentenced to exile by Justice Alito.
He disappeared at sea. Sure--that's what they always say. And in the West Indies no less--where Gitmo stands as a monument to oppression to this very day!!!
I think all right-thinking peoples of America can easily deduce the hand of Karl Rove in all this.
Sadly, in those days, there was no New York Times to warn traitors like Dr. Church that his priveleged communications with the enemy were compromised. Thank goodness we've solved that problem today!
The Times is right; if any one of us is unfree to collaborate with the enemy, then we're all unfree to collaborate with the enemy. What's this country coming to when we can't take calls from terrorists on the battlefield without some nosy, busybody President snooping in on the call? I don't know about you, but that's not the America I grew up in.
It's not too late, my fellow World Citizens...Impeach Washington Now!
First Washington--and Then Bush!
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Levon Sells Cartoon Balloons to Walloon Poltroons
"I Disapprove of What You Say, But I Will Defend to Your Death Your Right Not to Say It."
Muslims as a whole should not be gratuitously provoked; after all, we're counting on reasonable Muslims to reform their countries and societies. But these cartoons were not entirely gratuitous. They represent a pushback against such Islamist outrages as the London and Madrid bombings and the murder of Theo Van Gogh.
Van Gogh produced a provocative film--meant to provoke thought, not murder--that rightfully examined the "shameful mistreatment of Muslim women" by Muslim men in Europe. The details:
"He was murdered at 8:40 a.m. on November 2 in his hometown of Amsterdam while bicycling down a busy street to work. In the course of being shot repeatedly, Van Gogh beseeched his killer, "Don't do it. Don't do it. Have mercy. Have mercy!" Then the killer stabbed his chest with one knife and slit his throat with another, nearly decapitating van Gogh.
The presumed murderer, Mohammed Bouyeri, 26, a Dutch-born dual Moroccan-Dutch citizen, left a five-page note in both Arabic and Dutch attached to Van Gogh's body with a knife. In it he threatened jihad against the West in general, ("I surely know that you, Oh Europe, will be destroyed"), and specifically against five prominent Dutch political figures.
Police investigators quickly realized that the assassin was an Islamist whom they knew well and had been following until just two weeks earlier; they also placed him in the "Hofstadgroep" network and charged him and six of his associates with "conspiracy with a terrorist intent.""
The killer also shot a policeman. Riots ensued.
It must be said that Van Gogh was a crass anti-religious bigot, an equal-opportunity hater of all religions, who failed to notice until the end that all religions do not hate back equally. Yet that will never justify murder--the ultimate form of censorship.
It must also be said that Europe has gone a long way down a dark road, having absorbed and amplified many of the worst ideas of the '60's. Having abandoned much of its rich Christian heritage, even if one wished to live in a multi-cultural society, there is little culture left with which to 'mult'. History has and is proving that while faith can still exist under tyranny, Enlightenment-based liberal democracies cannot long exist without their Judeo-Christian foundations.
Still, Europe cannot allow its liberal traditions to die, or leave its citizens to perish on the streets.
I can have some sympathy for a cuturally conservative law-abiding Muslim who doesn't wish to have his beliefs ridiculed. But hearing opinions that we disagree with--even vehemently--is part of the price of admission in pluralist democracies. Here in America, ironically, we have a "civil liberties" group that trumpets that very sentiment...while trying to silence Christians in the public square.
But I can have no sympathy for thugs, terrorist sympathizers, radical imams or murdering dictators who seek to exploit the situation, those who, having censored Van Gogh and others from the face of the earth, now wish to censor those who have objected--a standard, incidentally, not even met by state-run Arab newspapers who regularly feature cartoons with the vilest kind of anti-Jewish blood libels.
If the issue is blasphemy, can there be any greater blasphemy than decapitating a helpless captive in cold-blooded murder...while screaming "God is great!"?
Before it is demanded that the West act like a battered housewife--"It's my fault for making him angry--he didn't really mean it."-- let me see some protests about that blasphemy first. By their violent reactions, some Muslims are only making the cartoonists' point.
(As always, much thoughtful analysis at Belmont Club.)
Muslims as a whole should not be gratuitously provoked; after all, we're counting on reasonable Muslims to reform their countries and societies. But these cartoons were not entirely gratuitous. They represent a pushback against such Islamist outrages as the London and Madrid bombings and the murder of Theo Van Gogh.
Van Gogh produced a provocative film--meant to provoke thought, not murder--that rightfully examined the "shameful mistreatment of Muslim women" by Muslim men in Europe. The details:
"He was murdered at 8:40 a.m. on November 2 in his hometown of Amsterdam while bicycling down a busy street to work. In the course of being shot repeatedly, Van Gogh beseeched his killer, "Don't do it. Don't do it. Have mercy. Have mercy!" Then the killer stabbed his chest with one knife and slit his throat with another, nearly decapitating van Gogh.
The presumed murderer, Mohammed Bouyeri, 26, a Dutch-born dual Moroccan-Dutch citizen, left a five-page note in both Arabic and Dutch attached to Van Gogh's body with a knife. In it he threatened jihad against the West in general, ("I surely know that you, Oh Europe, will be destroyed"), and specifically against five prominent Dutch political figures.
Police investigators quickly realized that the assassin was an Islamist whom they knew well and had been following until just two weeks earlier; they also placed him in the "Hofstadgroep" network and charged him and six of his associates with "conspiracy with a terrorist intent.""
The killer also shot a policeman. Riots ensued.
It must be said that Van Gogh was a crass anti-religious bigot, an equal-opportunity hater of all religions, who failed to notice until the end that all religions do not hate back equally. Yet that will never justify murder--the ultimate form of censorship.
It must also be said that Europe has gone a long way down a dark road, having absorbed and amplified many of the worst ideas of the '60's. Having abandoned much of its rich Christian heritage, even if one wished to live in a multi-cultural society, there is little culture left with which to 'mult'. History has and is proving that while faith can still exist under tyranny, Enlightenment-based liberal democracies cannot long exist without their Judeo-Christian foundations.
Still, Europe cannot allow its liberal traditions to die, or leave its citizens to perish on the streets.
I can have some sympathy for a cuturally conservative law-abiding Muslim who doesn't wish to have his beliefs ridiculed. But hearing opinions that we disagree with--even vehemently--is part of the price of admission in pluralist democracies. Here in America, ironically, we have a "civil liberties" group that trumpets that very sentiment...while trying to silence Christians in the public square.
But I can have no sympathy for thugs, terrorist sympathizers, radical imams or murdering dictators who seek to exploit the situation, those who, having censored Van Gogh and others from the face of the earth, now wish to censor those who have objected--a standard, incidentally, not even met by state-run Arab newspapers who regularly feature cartoons with the vilest kind of anti-Jewish blood libels.
If the issue is blasphemy, can there be any greater blasphemy than decapitating a helpless captive in cold-blooded murder...while screaming "God is great!"?
Before it is demanded that the West act like a battered housewife--"It's my fault for making him angry--he didn't really mean it."-- let me see some protests about that blasphemy first. By their violent reactions, some Muslims are only making the cartoonists' point.
(As always, much thoughtful analysis at Belmont Club.)
