Funmurphys: the Blog

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Steyn on Europe:

It’s true that no other G8 member runs its democracy according to a document from the quill pen era. On the Continent, you’re hard pressed to find anything pre-Day-Glo Hi-Liter. The US Constitution is not only older than the French, German, Italian, Belgian and Spanish constitutions, it’s older than all of them put together. In political terms, the “Old World” and “New World” labels are misapplied. Americans are brash noisy novelty junkies when it comes to going into Starbucks and ordering a decaf hazelnut-pepperoni-Eurasian-milfoil macchiato, but not when it comes to the organizing principles of the state. Europeans have some fetching oil cathedrals and cobbled streets, but when it comes to political order they’re the novelty junkies with ADD.

Will Hutton insists that “all western democracies subscribe to a broad family of ideas that are liberal or leftist”. Given that New Hampshire, for example, has been a continuous democracy for two centuries longer than Germany, this seems a doubtful proposition. It would be more accurate to say that almost all European nations subscribe to a broad family of ideas that are statist. Or, as Hutton has it, “the European tradition is much more mindful that men and women are social animals and that individual liberty is only one of a spectrum of values that generate a good society.” Precisely. And it’s the willingness to subordinate individual liberty to what Hutton calls “the primacy of society” that’s blighted the Continent for over a century: Statism – or “the primacy of society” - is what Fascism, Nazism, Communism and European Union all have in common. The curse of the Continent is big ideas, each wacky notion a response to the last flop: the pre-war German middle classes put their hopes in Hitler as a bulwark against the Bolsheviks; likewise, the post-war German middle classes put their faith in European integration as a bulwark against a resurgence of Nazism.

McQ on drilling for oil:

The fact that Cuba has leased 59 areas within the Florida straits should finally drive home the fact that the policies we have followed since the 1980s are self-defeating. It is possible, given advances in technology, to safely drill offshore. If Katrina taught us nothing else, it should taught us that. And with Cuba planning on drilling in the Florida straits it should become equally clear that if we don't safely exploit those resources, someone will (and perhaps in not as environmentally friendly way as we might).

Jim Kouri on Patrick Kennedy:

This particular scandal has more to do with whom a story involving drug abuse is about. If the "perp" is a conservative -- such as Rush Limbaugh -- the ladies and gentlemen of the press have a million questions about Limbaugh's drug use and exposure to arrest and prosecution. If the "perp" is a liberal, then the story becomes the effects of Ambian, the types of drugs not to mix with Ambian, and should Americans beware of using prescription sleep medications such as Ambian.

Dirty Harry of Libertas on Hollywood's Politics -- It's Only Courageous When It's Liberal:

Again, that may well be true, but when other stars make fools of themselves and make divisive statements, I don’t recall this being blamed on any subsequent box office woes. They trash America, conservatives, and Christians with zeal and no one calls them heartless. So, why is Cruise being singled out? Simple: his religion.

Jeff Goldstein on Patrick Fitzgerald:

Personally, I’m not following along as closely as I should be—and I’ve been derelict in my reading of Tom Maguire’s recent posts on the subject—but then, I have trouble with the indictment of a man for charges stemming from an alleged lie (some insist it is but a failure of memory) that is meant to cover for the failure of a prolonged investigation to find evidence of the original accusations: that Ms Plame was “outed” by the White House to punish Joe Wilson for, uh, lying about what he told reporters (a fact that would soon be exposed, and one that falls under the category of inevitable discovery, as far as I’m concerned). Call it an avoidance response brought about by despair.

Finally, Al Qaida on Iraq:

At the same time, the Americans and the Government were able to absorb our painful blows, sustain them, compensate their losses with new replacements, and follow strategic plans which allowed them in the past few years to take control of Baghdad as well as other areas one after the other. That is why every year is worse than the previous year as far as the Mujahidin’s control and influence over Baghdad.