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Saturday, January 25, 2003
posted by gbarto at 2:09 PM:
Says Den Beste:Stardate 20030124.0351Especially because it's true.
(On Screen): The rhetoric just keeps getting stranger and stranger. I think there really must be something wrong with the water in Europe; have they all gone collectively insane over there?
Rumsfeld rejected the idea that (highly) vocal objections to an Iraq war by the governments of France and Germany was a major stumbling block to us in actually fighting one, and disparaged them as being "old Europe" while pointing out that many of the "new European" countries such as the Czech Republic were far more supportive of us.
Of course, that was like a red flag in front of a bull; to actually suggest that France and Germany are decadent, self-absorbed, decrepit, pretentious has-beens is simply intolerable.
Even though it's true.
Steve also gives three jeers to Bild, which wrote an editorial about American ingratitude. Here's what it said:
In an editorial, Bild reminded Rumsfeld of his German roots and the ideals of the French Revolution which inspired the United States' constitution.Here's Den Beste's response:
"Mister Rumsfeld, hundreds of thousands of your G.I.'s fell for 'old Europe' because they freed us from the tyranny of Hitler. You are sinning against your own heroes by disparaging 'old Europe'. Your G.I.'s died for the ideals of your place of origin," Bild wrote in an editorial.
Let's see; the US Constitution was written in 1787 and was largely based on principles discussed in the US as early as 1774, if not even earlier. Many of those ideals are in the Declaration of Independence written in 1776. So how, exactly, was this influenced by the ideals of the French Revolution, which took place in 1789?It is fast becoming apparent that in their drive to matter, Europe is fast heading into psychotic frenzy. What to make of this? A Dog's Life says that harsh criticism from Europe is:
Actually, historically speaking it was the other way around: the revolutionaries in France were in large part inspired by the American example, though only imperfectly. Not to put too fine a point on it, they screwed it up. The ideals of the French Revolution led to the guillotine, Napoleon, and 20 years of devastating war in Europe leaving behind more than a million dead. France is on its, what, fifth republic since then? Something like that? (And we're still working on our first. I guess we're falling behind.)
like getting mauled by a sheep.But there's more going on here. Europe has always viewed the United States as its troubled stepchild, of the same stock but just a bit touched in the head. But a funny thing happens in life: things die. Europe is dying because it has chosen to try to remain what it thinks it once was instead of adapting, changing and being reborn. Its courting of Iraq and its flourishing anti-American sentiment can be easily understood: It's the old man saying, "pah, Mr. Fancy-pants thinks he's so smart with his computer; in ten years no one will care about computers." It is the elderly man making a pass at the candy striper in the nursing home, thinking himself suave as he drools strained peas. Out of kindness, the US should do its best to make these sad nations feel loved and needed when possible. Out of compassion, however, it will have to make sure they don't have to live with the decisions they would make. They're no longer competent to do so.
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