Mark Steyn: The curtain will come down on the peaceniks

National Post (Canada) ^ | 02/18/03 | Mark Steyn

[conservativemusician]

Try reading this article. You may find it informative.

[redhead]

"A bunch of idiots who think a. we wont dare drop bambs if they are there... b. they know what war is like."

Hope they remembered to bring helmets and flak jackets...

[Gritty]

The incomparable Steyn cuts through the bull, as usual!

[RepublicanHippy]

"Bush is a "puppet of Jewry" "

At the rally Saturday in Lansing I was carrying a sign with a picture of Bush, who, according to this article, is "a puppet of Jewry". Yet, as I climbed the steps to the Capitol, infiltrating enemy lines, I was given the Nazi salute by some 60's spawn. I laughed. He then got in my face and called me a Nazi. My point is, if GW is a "Jewry puppet" and I support Bush, then how can I also be a Nazi? Duh. Those people are really confused.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

Pokey, that is a wonderful Mark Styne! His "curtain" metaphor is perfect -- for the Hitler-Churchill comparison and all the other uses for today's dissenters who refuse to let reality invade their global view.

This brings to mind the question: where are all the academics from the Cold War days who supported the notion that Soviet Communism wasn't a bad model, that the Soviet system was efficient and working toward an appropriate "ideal"? All of those moral equivacators who felt that Ronald Reagan was the Evil Emperor and Rogue Cowboy... Why hasn't there been any real study by these academics (who now stand at the forefront of the peace movement and challenging the unilateralism of Bush [even after his alliance building and UN efforts]) of the utter failure and amorality of those Statist efforts of Communism as practiced by the Soviets, Chinese and even Cubans? I guess they'd hate to have those curtains pulled.

[MeekOneGOP]

"If there are 500,000 on that march, that is still less than the number of people whose deaths Saddam has been responsible for.

"If there are one million, that is still less than the number of people who died in the wars he started."

Thanks Pokey ! Steyn hitting upon my rant the last few days since Blair made that speech !:

Tony Blair: The price of my conviction

Excerpt:

But there are also consequences of 'stop the war'. There will be no march for the victims of Saddam, no protests about the thousands of children that die needlessly every year under his rule, no righteous anger over the torture chambers which if he is left in power, will remain in being.

I rejoice that we live in a country where peaceful protest is a natural part of our democratic process. But I ask the marchers to understand this.

I do not seek unpopularity as a badge of honour. But sometimes it is the price of leadership and the cost of conviction.

If there are 500,000 on the [Stop the War] march, that is still less than the number of people whose deaths Saddam has been responsible for. If there are one million, that is still less than the number of people who died in the wars he started.

So if the result of peace is Saddam staying in power, not disarmed, then I tell you there are consequences paid in blood for that decision too. But these victims will never be seen, never feature on our TV screens or inspire millions to take to the streets. But they will exist none the less.

President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of England walk out to address the media in Cross Hall at the White House Nov. 7. "We've got no better friend in the world than Great Britain," said the President during his remarks. White House photo by Paul Morse.

[ricpic]

Never forget the power of the Ostrich syndrome.

If only Saddam would disappear. Well, if we shut our eyes real tight....everythings black....no more scary guy. He's gone! And we're safe!! He's really really gone!!! And we're really really safe!!!!

BLAM.........................................................................................

[ST.LOUIE1]

One of Mark's BEST!

Thanks, King. : )

Thank you for the post, pokey. Good stuff.

[JohnHuang2]

You're welcome, my friend. Mark's a treasure.

[Dialup Llama]

>and whoever's putting together those "Osama" audio tapes

Steyn also thinks that this latest tape was not made by a living Osama speaking extemporaneously.

[A_perfect_lady]

BOOKMARK BUMP! Note to self: copy & paste at home.

[Reagan Man]

Thanks JH2.

One of Steyn's best.

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL ! Steyn has the 'peace protestors' pegged, doesn't he?...

You can believe all this if you want, just as Harold Pinter believed that the Iron Curtain was only there to prevent fleeing Westerners from swamping Warsaw Pact social services. But it depends on keeping reality at arm's length or beyond: You're metaphorically driving around with the curtains drawn. Perhaps that's why so many of the "peace" crowd get ever so touchy if you question their slogans. If you ask a guy with an "It's All About Oil" sign what he thinks of the recent contracts signed between Iraq and France's Total Fina Elf, he looks blank for a moment and then accuses you of wanting to crush dissent. It's not fair, you're trying to pull back his curtain.

[MeekOneGOP]

Mark Steyn: The curtain will come down on the peaceniks

Excerpt:

Hitler's problem was that he was over-invested in ideology. He'd invented a universal theory -- the wickedness of the international Jewish conspiracy -- and he persisted in fitting every square peg of cold hard reality into that theory's round hole. Thus, Churchill must be a "puppet of Jewry." As a general rule, when it's reality versus delusion, bet on reality. That held true in the Cold War. Moral equivalists like Harold Pinter insisted that America and the Soviet Union were both equally bad. But the traffic across the Berlin Wall was all one way. East German guards were not unduly overworked trying to keep people from getting in. The Eastern bloc collapsed because it was a lie, and the alternative wasn't.

Well, the Soviet Union's gone now so Pinter no longer has to observe the pox-on-both-their-houses niceties. Addressing the demonstrators on Saturday, he declared that the U.S. is "a country run by a bunch of criminals ... with Tony Blair as a hired Christian thug."

Got that? It's not Saddam who's the thug, it's Tony. It's not the Baathist killers from Tikrit who are the bunch of criminals, it's the Republican Party. It's not the million-man murderer of Baghdad who's the new Hitler, it's George W. Bush. It's not the Iraqi one-party state with its government-controlled media that "crushes dissent," it's the White House. It's not the Wahhabis who are the fundamentalists, it's Bush, Blair and the other Christians. It's not Osama bin Laden who's the terrorist, it's American foreign policy. Supporting the continued enslavement of the Iraqi people is "pacifist," but it's "racist" for America to disagree with the UN, even though it's Colin Powell and Condi Rice doing the disagreeing and the fellows they're disagreeing with are a bunch of white guys from Europe.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[toolbreaker]

Excellent Read!

Reasoned thought is so refreshing after being doused with rabid idiocy all weekend!

[Bahbah]

Thanks for the ping, MnM. I hate to miss a Steyn article and this one got by me.

[ohioWfan]

Rush said yesterday that he saw all this as the final, last-gasp of heavy, leftist-socialism worldwide.

Well, look at it this way, LS.

Most of these protestors were in college in the 1960's, that makes them somewhere between 55 and 65 now.

When we destroy Saddam and his brutal regime, and free the Iraqi people in the next month or so, they will be silenced for at least, say another 40 years, making them.......how old by then??

Yeah......I'd say Rush is right. :o)

[MeekOneGOP]

Thank you ! Steyn is on a roll lately !

[ohioWfan]

Give me some men who are Stouthearted Men, who will fight for the right they adore.
Start me with ten (two?) who are Stouthearted men, and I'll soon give you ten thousand more!

(Great article, and nice pic, Meek!......thanks for the Ping!)