Monday, July 31, 2006

Gloomy Gusses

Well, The Corner is certainly a downer today. This is from Mona Charen:

Re John P's musings, I'm not exactly Mary Sunshine this morning either. I wonder about this: not just the question as to whether modern enlightened, liberal nations have the will to do what’s necessary to survive, but whether our people can transcend the Alice in Wonderland nature of the world we live in.

We (and this also includes Israelis, Brits, and a few others) would never dream of targeting civilians for any reason – not even in self-defense. In 2002, the Israelis used ground troops going house to house in Jenin rather than attack from the air — though it cost the lives of 23 of their men – in order to spare civilians.

Our enemies can not imagine not targeting civilians – ours – and when they can be used as human shields/propaganda fodder, theirs.

Our people are beheaded on videotape and the world ignores it. We fail to offer the full panoply of the Bill of Rights to the beheaders and the world groans at the inhumanity of it all.The United Nations Security Council condemns Israel for defending herself from naked aggression and manages to overlook Chechnya, the Chinese occupation of Tibet, every terrorist attack against Israel, the massacre in Rwanda, the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, Serbian acts in Bosnia, and pretty much the entire continent of Africa, which as Kofi Annan surely knows better than most, is a human rights cesspool.

As Jeane Kirkpatrick put it: “What happens in the Security Council more closely resembles a mugging than either a political debate or an effort at problem-solving.”

There are millions of Americans who are not deluded by this madness (and we draw our military recruits from their ranks), and yet you cannot escape the times you live in. Lack of self-confidence is eroding our civilization like dry rot. We are not as far gone as Europe – but the glide path is worrisome.

I have to agree with the part about the world turning their heads when atrocities are committed by Hezbollah and/or any other terrorist organization/dictator/etc. Why is that? Is it just cowardice? Hatred for the United States? What? Even Democrats in our own country behave this way. When was the last time you heard a Democrat call for "restraint" from the terrorists?

Rush sees things a little differently than those in the Corner, who seem to usually see the dark side of things. Here's his take.

I hate what's going on in the Middle East as much as anybody. However, it has to be done. Everyone with a shred of intelligence knows that Hezbollah seeks the destruction of Israel. That so many have risen up and declared that Israel should not be defending itself is ludicrous. I'm glad they're not listening. Bomb the hell out of them!