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Mark Steyn: Democracies, Talk, Tyrannies Act
Orange County Register ^ | 09/30/2007 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 09/30/2007 6:12:03 AM PDT by goldstategop

Isn't it always? But enough about Iran, let's talk about me! The same university that shouted down an American anti-illegal-immigration activist and the same university culture that just deemed former Harvard honcho Larry Summers too misogynist to be permitted on campus is now congratulating itself over its commitment to "academic freedom." True, renowned Stanford psychology professor Philip Zimbardo is not happy. "They can have any fascist they want there," said professor Zimbardo, "but this seems egregious." But, hey, don't worry: He was protesting not Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presence at Columbia but Donald Rumsfeld's presence at the Hoover Institution....

Lots of prime ministers and diplomats accepted invitations to meet with Hitler, and generally the meetings went very well – except for one occasion when Lord Halifax, the British foreign secretary, was greeted by the little chap with the mustache, mistook him for the butler, and handed him his coat. But even that faux pas is a testament to how normal thugs can appear in social situations. Civilized nations like chit-chatting, having tea, holding debates, talking talking talking. Tyrannies like terrorizing people, torturing people, murdering people, doing doing doing. It's easier for the doers to pass themselves off as talkers then for the talkers to rouse themselves to do anything.

(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Philosophy; US: New York; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: academicfreedom; action; columbiauniversity; democracies; dissent; evil; good; iran; islamofascism; leebollinger; liberalism; mahmoudahmedinejad; marksteyn; orangecountyregister; selfcongratulation; talk; tyrannies; waronterror; westernnarcissism
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What happened at Columbia University last week is the ultimate instance of Western narcissism. We've reached the point that thugs and mass murderers deserve to be invited to university campus lecturns rather than God forbid - being arrested and killed as they ought to be. Mark Steyn wonders about to confront dangerous situations and deal with them as they really are. The narcissist who looks in the mirror never does.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

1 posted on 09/30/2007 6:12:06 AM PDT by goldstategop
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To: goldstategop
Posted link:

DEMOCRACIES TALK, TYRANNIES ACT

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

2 posted on 09/30/2007 6:15:51 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop

Got a link?


3 posted on 09/30/2007 6:16:02 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator (All work and no play makes Sidebar a dull Mod)
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To: goldstategop


4 posted on 09/30/2007 6:19:23 AM PDT by Diogenesis (Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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To: Diogenesis
I was going add Mark Steyn wonders about our will to confront dangerous situations. I agree with him we don't have the will. If we can't say NO to Ahmedinejad going to the premier intellectual outpost of American cum Western civilization, we certainly will NOT muster the courage to bomb Iran and put an end to his nuclear bomb ambitions.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

5 posted on 09/30/2007 6:23:26 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: Baynative
The Democratic Party is all about talk. It never gets anything done in Washington. Liberalism today is all about self-congratulation rather than real achievement.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

7 posted on 09/30/2007 6:33:11 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop

“These men understand the self-absorption of advanced democracies. The difference between Winston Churchill and Ward Churchill, another famous beneficiary of “academic freedom” who called the 9/11 dead “little Eichmanns,” is that for Sir Winston talking was a call to action while for poseurs like professor Churchill it’s a substitute for it.”

I flashed on this article, “Our Generational Mission - Al Gore has it wrong “
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1904020/posts

“Gore’s second reason is probably more telling and closer to the truth. He tells us how global warming can give meaning to our lives.”
“He explains how global warming can give us a moral imperative,...”
“But perhaps more important, should we go for the exhilaration of a generational mission just because it makes us feel good?”


8 posted on 09/30/2007 6:35:46 AM PDT by nuconvert ("Terrorism is not the enemy. It is a means to the ends of militant Islamism." MZJ)
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To: goldstategop
Culturally related thread: The Death of the Grown-up: How America’s Arrested Development Is Bringing Down Western Civilization
9 posted on 09/30/2007 7:12:25 AM PDT by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: goldstategop

“If we can’t say NO to Ahmedinejad going to the premier intellectual outpost of American cum Western civilization, we certainly will NOT muster the courage to bomb Iran and put an end to his nuclear bomb ambitions.”

i agree with allowing him to speak, the problem is there were no real protests against what he said in the numbers i would have liked to have seen... our campae are filled with appeasers in rosie colored glasses... dependent on others for all their needs and opinions.

teeman


10 posted on 09/30/2007 7:14:04 AM PDT by teeman8r
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To: goldstategop

MORE, AT "THE STUDY OF REVENGE".

11 posted on 09/30/2007 7:18:10 AM PDT by Leisler (Just be glad you're not getting all the Government you pay for.)
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To: goldstategop
"The pen is not mightier than the sword if your enemy is confident you will never use anything other than your pen. Sometimes it's not about "freedom of speech," but about freedom."

"The Democratic Party is all about talk. It never gets anything done in Washington. Liberalism today is all about self-congratulation rather than real achievement."

Actually, 'Diplomats' are all about talk, junkets and self congratulation. "How shall we untie this knot, Mr. Gordian?" Sometimes you just need to take the attitude that Indiana Jones took with the scimitar wielding Hassasin in Raiders.

12 posted on 09/30/2007 7:22:46 AM PDT by BwanaNdege (Actions have consequences. Truth ALWAYS matters.)
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To: BwanaNdege

13 posted on 09/30/2007 7:29:13 AM PDT by Diogenesis (Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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To: goldstategop
The other day, National Review's Jay Nordlinger was musing about our habit of referring to some benighted part of the world's "humanitarian needs" and wondered when we'd stopped using the term "human needs," which is, after all, what food, water and shelter are. And his readers wrote in to state the obvious: That "humanitarian" label gives top billing not to the distant, Third World victim but the generous Western donor – the "humanitarian" relief effort, the "humanitarian" organizations, the NGOs, the Western charities: It's about us, not them.

IMO, a clarifying insight, liberalism in a nutshell.

14 posted on 09/30/2007 7:33:10 AM PDT by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: Diogenesis

So true, Dio. Keep us focused.

Regards,

caddie


15 posted on 09/30/2007 7:46:38 AM PDT by caddie
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To: goldstategop

The Democrats actually seem jealous that Bush & the military might get ANY credit for doing. The Dem’s seem determined to bring the troops home in failure, and prop themselves up as brave heros who saved the over-stressed troops from further casualties. That is the real Democrat narrative - and why they are working so hard to bring reality back in line with it.


16 posted on 09/30/2007 7:50:20 AM PDT by ghost of nixon
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To: goldstategop
I was going add Mark Steyn wonders about our will to confront dangerous situations. I agree with him we don't have the will.

Rush Limbaugh made a great point about this last week. hillary and her media minions want to emphasize hillary's victimhood. This is how they will avoid dangerous confrontations with Republicans. If we Republicans dare to challenge her in any way, she and her media minions will shame us for attacking a girl. As a result, we the Republican 'enemies' will be silenced.

It all started during her debate with Rick Lazio, when he "invaded her space" by walking up to her. The press and hillary were traumatized, and as a result, the wussy phagish new yorkers voted for her out of sympathy.

If America in 2008 does the same stupid thing as new york did, namely voting for her into higher office out of sympathy for her victimhood, the terrorists will have us just where they want us. We Americans will be saying to the terrorists "Hey, you can't hit us, were a bunch of victimized girls (namely hillary the president)". This will be our way of dealing with a dangerous confrontation with the terrorists. In return, the terrorists will be laughing as they they slice the ragged knives through our dainty fragile necks.

17 posted on 09/30/2007 7:57:47 AM PDT by Vision Thing (Bin Laden - Ahmadinejad: Democrats '08)
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To: goldstategop
It's easier for the doers to pass themselves off as talkers then for the talkers to rouse themselves to do anything.

Bottom line. Per George Steponallofus, when he was pimping for bill clinton, "When the president speaks, it is action."

Puny posers like Bollinger have never actually done anything of value in their whole pampered lives, so when the day of reckoning comes for them they will be dumbfounded at the injustice of it all.

18 posted on 09/30/2007 7:59:15 AM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: metesky
IT'S ALL ABOUT ME. Its really all about them. Liberals think its about themselves - if its about other people, they're not really interested.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

19 posted on 09/30/2007 8:01:49 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop
"...Civilized nations like chit-chatting, having tea, holding debates, talking talking talking. Tyrannies like terrorizing people, torturing people, murdering people, doing doing doing. It's easier for the doers to pass themselves off as talkers then for the talkers to rouse themselves to do anything..."

Yes Burma is far away - but it is quite relevant here.

The delivery is no where close to Steyn's but the subject matter is the same...

Burma: Victory Through Diplomacy

20 posted on 09/30/2007 8:09:26 AM PDT by expatguy (Support Conservative Blogging - "An American Expat in Southeast Asia")
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