Other Overlooked Countries

While we're at it, Kosovo's prime minister, Agim Ceku (a name I can't spell from memory) writes on his country's potential future independence, though of course it's far from a sure thing. Another region of the world we should be paying far more attention to...

These two posts are making me want to write a larger piece on Russia in recent weeks; if I find the time, I'll get around to it.

A Brilliant Article and a Bold Act

Over at Slate (which I admit to reading only rarely anymore), the inestimable Christopher Hitchens destroys Muslim Rage Boy:

But how are we to know what will incite such rage? A caricature published in Copenhagen appears to do it. A crass remark from Josef Ratzinger (leader of an anti-war church) seems to have the same effect. A rumor from Guantanamo will convulse Peshawar, the Muslim press preaches that the Jews brought down the Twin Towers, and a single citation in a British honors list will cause the Iranian state-run press to repeat its claim that the British government—along with the Israelis, of course—paid Salman Rushdie to write The Satanic Verses to begin with. Exactly how is such a mentality to be placated?

We may have to put up with the Rage Boys of the world, but we ought not to do their work for them, and we must not cry before we have been hurt. In front of me is a copy of this week's Economist, which states that Rushdie's 1989 death warrant was "punishment for the book's unflattering depiction of the Prophet Muhammad." There is no direct depiction of the prophet in this work of fiction, and the reverie about his many wives occurs in the dream of a madman. Nobody in Ayatollah Khomeini's circle could possibly have read the book for him before he issued a fatwah, which made it dangerous to possess. Yet on that occasion, the bookstore chains of America pulled The Satanic Verses from their shelves, just as Borders shamefully pulled Free Inquiry (a magazine for which I write) after it reproduced the Danish cartoons. Rage Boy keenly looks forward to anger, while we worriedly anticipate trouble, and fret about etiquette, and prepare the next retreat. If taken to its logical conclusion, this would mean living at the pleasure of Rage Boy, and that I am not prepared to do.

Meanwhile, in Denmark, home of those hateful, racist, bigoted cartoonists (known elsewhere as people exercising their right to free speech), a group celebrating traditional midsummer festivities have burned Mohammed rather than the usual witch in effigy. All I can say is bravo! (I also hope that this is the beginning of a spinal-rehabilitation in Europe)

George Will Abuses Democrats

Today's WaPo has George Will viciously abusing Democrats on their collective economic policy (bad pun); Democratic candidates are rehashing the same old tripe they've been bemoaning for decades, hoping Americans are sufficiently fed up with the GOP to allow them to raise taxes. In addition to abusing their policy notions and setting the record straight on the economic health of the current administration (you wouldn't know the economy's been healthy and growing if you only listened to Democrats and the media), he rightly questions the underlying philosophy (all too infrequently critiqued):

When in the long human story have economic burdens and benefits been "spread evenly"? Does Obama think they should be, even though talents never are? What relationship of "fairness" does he envision between the value received by individuals and the value added by them?

Ouch. Fairness, when defined by the modern left is nefarious as well as a governmental concern. As the Gipper said, "the nine scariest words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help!'"

It's ironic: at a time when parts of the Continent may finally be moving away from their long-cherished and viciously destructive tax-strangled welfare states, Democrats want to implement exactly the sorts of policies that have rendered Old Europe's economies so sclerotic. Hillary as the anti-Thatcher?

Sarko Wins

France's Nicholas Sarkozy has resoundingly won today's French presidential election, defeating Socialist candidate Segolene Royal. Sarko's victory is on so many levels a good sign; it suggests the French are ready to swallow the tough tonic of economic reform. It also suggests that they're willing to deal with the thugs who dominate the suburbs. Closer to home, President Sarko will bring France closer to the US, as he's regularly decried anti-Americanism.