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1 Pingback by ChroniclesMagazine.org » “Family Values”: Illegal Aliens and Their Sex Crimes on 5 May 2007:

[...] Too bad we can’t ask her. R. Cort Kirkwood is the author of Real Men: Ten Courageous Americans to Know and Admire (Cumberland House). This article first appeared in the April 2007 issue of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. [...]
2 Comment by Allen Wilson on 6 May 2007:

If the muslims and others do try to re-establish the road to extinction in 2012 and succceed or come intolerably close to it, that could bring France to a watershed. It is to be seen whether the French – or at least the workers in France – will be willing to rebel and overthrow the establishment, and respond in greater measure to musselman violence than has been the case so far, paying back fanatic violence with greater, more terrible violence. The native welfare class would do well to consider that it is preferable to work for a living than to starve or be murdered by the muslims if and when they impose sharia and simultaneously destroy the welfare state. The social and politcal elite class must be brought down before this happens, no matter what.

The current state of affairs in France is a perfect case study of why it is that those on the dole must not be allowed to vote in any country. Perhaps government employees, or at least bureaucrats, should not be allowed to vote either, since they will vote to keep their positions and jobs to the detriment of the nation and those who actually make it run by working.
3 Comment by Allen Wilson on 6 May 2007:

The fact that so many Americans and Brits are silly enough to watch such insulting garbage as this and CSI and other similar shows illustrates how mindless moderns are on both sides of the pond. The only good thing is that many, in their ignorance and mindlessness, wont pick up on the propaganda cues in these shows and so the propaganda value will dissipate as the twisted moral messages of the episode they are watching goes right over their heads. Ignorance and mindlessness imposed by government education do sometimes have their ironic good side. If you teach children not to think, then when they grow up, they often will miss what it is you are trying to make them think via propaganda. They just wont get it.

A similar thing happened with that 1930’s movie, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’. It was nothing but a slick piece of Communist propaganda, but still to this day, you hear older people talk about what a great movie it was, and they dont know it was propaganda, they weren’t influenced in their political views by it, and so the movie failed completely in it’s real purpose, all because the propaganda was delivered in a too-subtle fashion. Modern TV shows like CSI and MI-5 are not nearly so subtle, but people are dumber nowadays.

On the other hand, it is worrisome what such TV shows as these will do to the minds of young children who’s parents are dumb enough to let them watch such tripe during their formative years. How will it affect their develpoment and worldview? Will it instill racial guilt and shame? What will seeing all those depictions of rotten corpses in coroner’s labs, often with close up views, even of the interior of the corpse, do to children in the long run?
4 Comment by Matt Weber on 6 May 2007:

No homophobe terrorists? Maybe that comes later.
5 Comment by bganon on 6 May 2007:

What interests me is how this relates to Kosovo.

Do we know what Sarkozy’s position on Kosovo is, who his secretary of state will be?

Will Frances position remain the same as it is now?
6 Comment by Aaron D. Wolf on 6 May 2007:

I don’t know—CSI Miami works pretty well as a comedy. Mr. (Allen) Wilson is right about that one being very propagandistic, though. Do most people notice the fact that nearly every case turns on fingerprints or some other evidence being found in a massive Homeland Security database?

I can’t agree on The Grapes of Wrath, however. My people were Arkys, and many of them rode that same path to California to pick fruit in order to stay alive—sort of a real-life version of Merle Haggard’s “Hungry Eyes.”

If only more of today’s Arkies would pay attention to Dr. Wilson’s point and realize that their imperial media sees them as the terrorists.
7 Comment by David Rolfe on 6 May 2007:

I am half-inclined to accept that the series is true-to-life. If MI5 are busying themselveswith pro-lifers etc, it would explain why they miss the real terrorist threats under their noses.

“How MI5 missed the links to the July 7 suicide bombers”

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2069464,00.html
8 Comment by Ronald Kyser on 6 May 2007:

It’s hard to see why Mr A Wilson finds ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ a failure. We had the pinkest president since James Buchanan in charge– though a different shade of pink– so, to borrow a baseball term, the film should be seen as an ‘insurance run’. The side which scored was already ahead.

‘Grapes’ did fail in Russia, however. FOF Joe Stalin used it to show his people how poor Americans could be. When they saw that the poorest of Americans had their own trucks, Joe pulled it before they started asking too many questions.
9 Comment by T. Chan on 6 May 2007:

As Mr. Peter Hitchens notes here, MI5 does get interesting in the later seasons, putting the spotlight on the danger posed by a strong centralized state itself to its citizens.
10 Comment by Brian Muza on 7 May 2007:

I am very gratified that Mr. Sarkozy has triumphed in the French elections. I concur that a whole-hearted paradigm shift must take place not only in France (though it’s perhaps most crucial and singularly instructive for the rest of Western Europe that it occur there) but throughout the Continent.

Can there be any more salient evidence of the truly diabolical run amok than the successive attempts at cultural and demographic suicide which Western ‘elites’ have prescribed over the course of the last century? Perhaps, God willing, Mr. Sarkozy’s victory signals at last a resolution to confront and destroy these poisonous orthodoxies. The next targets should be the European Union and a complete overhaul of attitudes in the Low Countries.

Hope springs eternal; we’re not dead yet…
11 Comment by Brian Muza on 7 May 2007:

Alas, the ‘conservative’ magazines have been undone; National Review has not been properly characterized as conservative for well-nigh thirty years or more.

But perhaps I should not lament the demise or heterodoxy of so many once-respectable publications. It is inevitable, given our fallen nature (I suppose), that we run the risk of being contaminated by our surroundings and having fallen in love with the sound of our own erudition. Such is the fate that’s befallen NRO, an alarmingly childish and increasingly irrelevant screed put together by people in Manhattan who never had the requisite credentials – philosophically or religiously – to claim a stake in the survival of Western civilization and the ‘Permanent Things’. There are more, unfortunately, on the road NRO has already trod. Most unfortunately of, undoubtedly, is that our moribund popular culture still considers NRO a reliable repository of conservative philosophy.

We must be thankful, therefore, for the continued success of Chronicles. Whereas I don’t always agree with some of its more ad hominem jabs, I can always rely on Chronicles and its writers to remain faithful to the preservation of all that is good and true in our culture. Thank God for this wonderful publication, and may its future be bright.
12 Comment by Danlor47 on 7 May 2007:

Don’t expect too much of the new President. It will be hard to change anything in the near future because France is profoundly divided.

But Mr. Sarkozy’s victory is the first and necessary step to a new balance in the European Union.
13 Comment by Robert on 7 May 2007:

Probably written by the same team that brought us that other stellar Brit series: Foyt’s War (sp?) in which I learned after two episodes that Americans were bad and communists were good.
14 Comment by Derek Copold on 7 May 2007:

MI-5 is still understated in its aims compared to American shows like Law & Order.
15 Comment by Ray on 7 May 2007:

Thank you for your column, there has been a big increase in crimes committed by illegal aliens but of course, many politicians and the mainstream media do not even report it or acknowledge that there is such a thing as “illegal immigration” anymore. They are post nation states, post countries. They are “citizens of the world”.

The fake or stolen social security numbers, visas, driver licenses and other forms of identity are tolerated if one has a Latino surname – that sounds unpleasant but it’s also true. How else can one explain it? Latinos believe they have some “right” to come to the USA by hook or crook and we must accept and adapt to them (Spanish language). Their chronically corrupt governments (like Mexico) fail to reform and actually encourage their peasants to “migrate” to the USA. They are trespassers, nothing more.
16 Comment by Bill Wilder on 7 May 2007:

That sounds like the gayest plotline on TV (including Will and Grace).
17 Comment by damon on 7 May 2007:

While it is at last heartening to see something other than the perennial ‘worst choice’ being elected in France over and over again, the two things that must happen in France, is to decrease the population of immigrants (legal and illegal) and to increase the population of people in France roughly described as Gauls. President-elect Sarkozy can do some things to directly affect the first but little to directly affect the second. France is still doomed, as is Europe, if the native Europeans simply do not get over the 2.1 demographic hump where the native birthrate halts the ongoing demographic collapse and slowly and painfully begins to reverse it over the next two generations. Only the French people can bring about this change, not one man. The iron law is that the future always belongs to the fertile. If you are not doing enough begetting, than the only other outcome is that you are dying off. I wish France stength and spine because they will need it for a long time to come. As goes France, so goes Europe.
18 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 7 May 2007:

Allen, you are right about the propaganda often misfiring these days. Before The War, many Southerners read UNCLE TOM’S CABIN and said “Ain’t it awful how that Yankee Legree mistreated his people.” Of course, that was not ignorance but simply innocence of propaganda and that they were the objects of unaccountable hate.
New site looks great.
19 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 7 May 2007:

All quiet on the Western Front

Just last night I had a distinct displeasure of catching a few glimpse of the “Peacemaker” a feature film, dealing with the Russian thugs who smuggled nuh’kular weapons to Serbian militants in Republika Srpska (today’s constituent portion of the Bosnian Federation).

Dr. Wilson’s remarks, in conjunction with the above toxins reminded me of a fairly successful Night of the Long Knives – where the decent, law-abiding SS troups killed of most of the sexually deviant SA – and therefore eliminated all competition in the Nazi power struggle. To make their victory even more pronounced they also helped ordinary Germans by eliminating the hated (racially inferior) Jews in the ensuing years.

Nobody could have said it better, Dr. Wilson’s observation is right on:

“There is nothing like observing the tried and true rules of winning a conflict. First, identify your problem clearly. Second, get your priorities straight. And third, know you enemy. Television is a pretty good reflection of the imperial mind-set. It is good to know who our rulers have in mind when they invoke the Terrorist threat—pro-life people, opponents of immigration, and environmentalists. It is not jihad. It is, Dear Reader, a vicious and dishonest caricature—of you and me.”
20 Comment by Sid Cundiff on 7 May 2007:

Neil Postman, in his book on the telly, called all all this “amusing ourselves to death”. He has inspired this observation:

Orwell wrote the better book, seen merely from an aesthetic point of view; yet Huxley was the better prophet of dystopia. Big Brother doesn’t watch us; we watch him. And that’s how we’re controlled. Soma for the eye.
21 Comment by Gwendal on 7 May 2007:

Yes it’ll be very hard for Sarkozy to change something. But what he’ll do, it’ll be in the first 100 days. So then you’ll know all about France changes.
I think he’s ready to be the french Margarett Thatcher. But i don’t know if french workers are as polites than british ones were !
I must tell you that all your medias said during 12 years that Chirac was a “conservative” president. In fact he was less conservative than Hillary !
So, for Sarkozy, the guy believes in Work and in the Market, so he’ll try to kill the 35 hours and the taxes to the companies. That’s strange in France, but it is.
The bad points is that,
- of course he’s not obsessed, but he is pro-european.
- He wants to stop to give the Gov. money to arabs boxing or rap music associations, but to give it to them trough a positive action form. Ok that’s better, but…. i’m not a fan of giving any money !
- For moral now… well he is communist (for gay unions ; thinking that abortion is “part of french identity” ; to make the law to licence a form of euthanasia…).
So… conservative ? In a way.
I voted for Le Pen (it’s clear when you saw what i wrote) and i hope that Philippe de Villiers will know how to launch a new National Front in the futur. Or i’ll immigrate to the US !
God bless Dixie !
22 Comment by John MacIsaac on 7 May 2007:

If someone of great wealth came to support and advertise for him, I think Ron Paul would have a real chance at the polls (if they are not all electronically rigged by now).
23 Comment by Matt Weber on 7 May 2007:

Well now, while we’re all riffing on the decline of Western society, I have to ask whether we really know the motive of the BBC in this. Are they actively trying to create propaganda, or merely trying to be inoffensive. Because, people, including Muslims, might get irate if there were a show that portrayed Muslims as the terrorist enemy each and every week. And when Muslims in particular get irate, people start hiding. On the other hand, you can always count on Westerners to hate themselves, so no risk there.

So, while I don’t expect the BBC to lead the vanguard against the self-destructive tendencies we Westerners have in any case, they might well just have their hands tied rather than any ideological motivation.
24 Pingback by Eunomia · Redesigned Site For Chronicles on 8 May 2007:

[...] Take a look at the newly redesigned Chronicles website, including Dr. Trifkovic on the recent French presidential election, Dr. Wilson’s latest, Dr. Fleming on the war, and the table of contents for the May issue. [...]
25 Comment by Chris Hewlett on 8 May 2007:

As a partial aside, Charlie Reese says we have nothing to fear from Islam. http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese356.html

So who’s right?
26 Comment by Bill Wilder on 8 May 2007:

Reese’s column is devoid of fact and he’s simply wrong, particularly his assertion of “living at peace” with Islam for a millenia and a half. Oh, if you’re an Englishmen, German, Pole, or Scandinavian I guess you’ve “lived at peace” with Islam since the Sultan never got that far north. But if you view the matter as “European”, Reese’s assertions are ludicrous lies (in Dr. Johnson’s construction of lie as “speaking falsely”). Hungarian, Bulgarians, Austrians, Slavs, Croats, Italians, Greeks, etc., would have quite a different view, having lived under the Ottoman yoke (except for Italy and Austria) for centuries, and the Austrians suffered invasion by the Turk. And that is to leave aside the violence suffered by Christians in the Middle East for centuries prior to the “Crusades.”

If Reese wishes to join the rest of the propagandistic orientalist/Arabist/Islamophiles (like Esposito, Juan Cole, etc.), he certainly may do so. But, just for sake of honesty and honor, he ought to be as open as them and admit he’s really a self-loathing leftist.

No one here has any truck with the neoconmen and their Marxist “Islamofacist” construction of a false war by the West on behalf of Zionism and universalist ideology, but that doesn’t mean Islam isn’t what it in fact is, a false, anti-Christ religion that has been violent and murderous from its inception.
27 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 8 May 2007:

In defense of Charley Reese, it might be said that he is an America Firster. Except to the extent we meddle with Islam and allow Islam into our homeland, it is no threat to America. The standpoint he is coming from, as I see it, is that it is not America’s business to become a tool for battles among foreign interests.
If they were not over here and we were not over there, it would not matter what the nature of Islam is.
28 Comment by Bill Wilder on 8 May 2007:

Perhaps, but if Reese is making the insulationalist argument (a good reformation of the old “isolationist” label), then he should pointedly say so. It ’s certainly true that before the US began aggressively intervening militarily in the ME (beginning with Reagan’s Lebanon intervention and accelerating out of control in the past 10 years), we were not a particular target of Muslim ire. If we returned to a noninterventionist policy, some of that conflict would defuse with time (at least as direct conflict, with the “clash of cultures” not being relevant if we’re separated from it, as you say). As is, though, his column is an apologia for Islam based on canards.

Given that the managerial elite are as intent on bringing Islamists here as in going and meddling in their business over there, we won’t be able to escape facing the nature of Islam, as it’s already here.
29 Comment by Chris Hewlett on 8 May 2007:

I have contemplated CR’s musings about the Israeli-Palistinian conflict as well. The neocon support of Israel has made him (CR) so mad that he – as evidenced by his writings – has gone the full distance as to JOIN the Palistinian cause. I’m not sure Dr. Wilson is correct about CR anymore. Joining the Palistinian cause is a strange thing for an America Firster to do. I can certainly fathom disappointment with Israel’s behavior, but siding with the Moslem’s???
30 Comment by TJF on 8 May 2007:

Charley Reese is a great guy but like many people he was picked a side in the Middle East and that distorts his otherwise sound judgment.

On the Grapes of Wrath, one has to distinguish between the story and the propaganda. As a story, it is, though too long, a wonderful film with excellent performances from everyone but Henry Fonda–to cold-blooded to be an Okie. John Carradine puts in one of his best performances, and Ford’s directing, though a bit heavier and more portentous than in some films, is sure. Those were, after all, tough times, not because of what people had done but because of stupid government policies–including a Homestead law that did not provide enough land for the drought cycle. Take a look at Meet John Doe, a clearer picture of the age, where people are hurting and come together to help–explicitly without government–and how they are manipulated by politicos. Ford, unlike Frank Capra, may have been a sentimental liberal in many respects, but he was no Commie
31 Comment by TJF on 8 May 2007:

Does anyone remember when Chirac was the darling of American conservatives, the French Thatcher?
32 Comment by Michael J. Keegan on 8 May 2007:

Dr. Fleming –

I was driving to work this morning when I heard this report. I shared your reaction to this news and thought: what’s the point?

It’s simply ridiculous: the msm either gets the facts wrong (as it turns out in this case) or simply chooses to contort reality to suit some prescribed ideology — or both!

It’s not even subtle anymore…I mean it is downright clumsy and awkward in its presentation that, even, to the untrained ear – one has to recognize something is wrong – seriously amiss…
33 Comment by Chris Ikaris on 8 May 2007:

According to WNBC-TV in New York City, one of the six men charged is Mohamad Shnewer, “a U.S. citizen born in Jordan.” It is comforting to know that the government’s naturalization process made Mr. Shnewer a “citizen.”

This story should also put a lie to the often repeated claim that “we are fighting them over there (Iraq), so we don’t have to fight them here.”

They are already here and have been for some time. Long enough here that they are being made “citizens.”

But don’t expect any of these facts to make one whit of difference to immigration or naturalization policy.

With new “citizens” like M. Shnewer living among us, who needs foreign terrorists?
34 Comment by Bill Wilder on 8 May 2007:

Before this devolves into vendetta, Dr. Fleming’s barb was directed at Americans and it did not refer to Albanians (or other peoples in Europe).
35 Comment by TJF on 8 May 2007:

I was very careful to say “Albanian Muslims” are the dumbest people in Europe. Scanderbeg, though temporarily a Muslim convert, returned to Christianity. He was at the least half Slavic/Serbian as everyone but dumb Albanian Muslims realize. Also, as Bill Wilder points out, I have used a rhetorical device familiar to educated Westerns, X is bad, Y is worse.

If Mr. Velo is a Muslim Albanian, then it is odd he is not incensed over my characterization of his people as narco-trafficking homicidal maniacs–or would that be regarded as a compliment? And if he is not a Muslim, then why does he always defend the Albanian Muslims who persecuted his Christian ancestors? This is common among Albanian-American Catholis, who, I conclude are more evil than stupid.

Finally, if people like Mr. Velo want to defend their compatriots who come here, abuse our hospitality, and plot murder and mayhem, I wonder what they might be stockpiling in their basement.
36 Comment by David Rolfe on 8 May 2007:

Patrick Moore, the astronomer, has turned his mind to the question of what is wrong with the BBC. In his opinion, the problem stems from the rise of women in the corporation He is in a position to know, having presented a BBC programme since 1957.

As much as I admire him – he is an old-style conservative of a kind now nearly extinct – I am not sure that he is completely correct about the BBC. The men are wimpish enough to ruin the organisation without any female help.

“The BBC is being ruined by women, says Patrick Moore”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1760061.ece
37 Comment by Chris Ikaris on 8 May 2007:

According to the complaint that has been filed, three of the accused terrorists – Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka and Shain Duka – are illegal aliens. What a surprise.

Can anyone in politics fail to notice that Monsieur Sarkozy was just elected President of France in large measure because of his opposition to illegal immigration, especially of the Muslim variety?

If there is an argument about who are the dumbest people then I nominate the leaders of the Republican Party, starting with Dubya (a.k.a. Dumbo) for their failure to face the reality of illegal immigration and Muslim immigration, especially illegal Muslim immigration!
38 Comment by Bill Wilder on 8 May 2007:

A great comment on the awful aesthetic in TV on both sides of the Atlantic by Sir Moore
“I was in hospital once and I watched a whole episode of EastEnders. I suppose it’s true to life. But so is diarrhoea – and I don’t want to see that on television.”

Since “reality” is the sum and substance of “art” these days (ok, not real “reality” as Dr. Wilson’s post points out in the first place, “muslim terrorists, no muslim terrorists here”), perhaps we should sit back in the recliner and pass the Pepto.
39 Pingback by Conservative Times » Dire Predictions on 8 May 2007:

[...] Meanwhile Mexico will gain effective control of Los Angeles, Denver, and Houston and demand transfer of massive amounts of wealth to Mexico in payment for past U.S. offenses and full U.S. benefits for all Mexicans. The U.S. Congress will comply. Elections will be suspended and the Congress will become self-perpetuating. The Supreme Court will agree that this is Constitutional, citing international agreement that human rights are supreme over national laws.” ~ Clyde N Wilson [...]
40 Comment by G.S. on 8 May 2007:

“…but he fails to understand that blood precedes religion.”

Hmmm.

“blood precedes religion.”

Apparently Abraham disagreed with you on that score, me bucko:

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/HEBREWS/GENABRAH.HTM
41 Comment by TJF on 8 May 2007:

Where to begin with poor Mr. Velo. The Greeks did not have exclusive sects nor where they particularly loyal as Greeks: Many very fine Greek towns supported the Persians out of fear or hatred to Athens. In Albania itself, the tribes are hardly capable of much national loyalty. Anybody remember the not-so-distant Albanian civil war when people from rival tribes and factions burned down each other’s hospitals? These people may be geographically European, but they have been turned into something a good deal more savage than their Turkish overlords ever were.

What Mr. Velo is describing is not the primitive loyalty of early Medieval Albanians, who intermarried freely with Greeks and Slavs and fought along with them against the Turks. Many of the best of them migrated to Italy–persecuted by the Turks and the renegade Albanians who sold out their people and their God for nothing better than the opportunity to loot, rape, and kill Christians.

No, we are dealng at all with tribal loyalty, which conservatives should respect, but with a virulent nationalist racism promoted by Muslim Albanians and their pseudo-Christian stooges. It is amusing to look at Albanian nationalist propaganda. First, there are their absurd maps on which they claim most of Sicily, along with northern Greece, Macedonia, and much of Montenegro–to say nothing of Kosovo. Then there are their hilarious race theories according to which they are the only pure race in Europe, when in fact one would be hard pressed to find a more mongrel race than the Albanians.

In Kosovo the virulent racism of the Albanians has led them to attack not only Serbs and Croats but also Gypsies, Turks, and Slavic Muslims. As one poor Muslim told a reporter, after being asked why his people were being attacked by their co-religionists: “Their only god is Albanian nationalism.

Poor Pellumbi Velo. Normally, I do not permit racist bigots to spew their venom on our website, but in this case it has been educational. Every word he utters reveals the character of his people and their religion–a sick parody of Islam, a religion stripped of its humanity and decency. He is one of the best reasons I know for deporting Muslims back to where they came from. The first step is to deport him from Chroniclesmagazine.org
42 Pingback by Eunomia · Fort Dix on 8 May 2007:

[...] My father’s family is from New Jersey, and my great-grandfather was at Fort Dix after being mobilised for WWI (he subsequently caught influenza, but fortunately survived), so I feel as if I have some more immediate connection to the story of the planned assault on Fort Dix by the six foreign Muslims (four Albanians, one Turk, one Jordanian). As Dr. Fleming points out, this was not exactly a band of cunning masterminds, and no wonder that it wasn’t. I will probably have more to say about this later, but it is worth remembering episodes like these after our government went out of its way to support the cause of Albanian Muslims. [...]
43 Comment by Bob Sale on 8 May 2007:

“If Mr. Velo is a Muslim Albanian, then it is odd he is not incensed over my characterization of his people as narco-trafficking homicidal maniacs … ”

That’s what I was thinking!

Excellent essay; even better ripostes (from TGF).
44 Comment by Bob Sale on 8 May 2007:

“(from TGF)”

Oops, meant TJF.

The other day Thomas Fleming called for at least some honesty, and today might be that day. Fleming lays it all out above, and earlier today Pat Buchanan set the Queen straight with a narrative of America’s founding that smacks of Howard Zinn and not Bill Bennett! But he tells the truth! They both do. Thank God for that.
45 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 8 May 2007:

I’m taking 10 to 1 odds that Sarkozy will sell out to the Establishment.
46 Comment by Robert on 8 May 2007:

Dear Mr. Trifkovic,

If , as Mr. Lantos says, “The United States’ principles are universal, and in this instance, the United States stands foursquare for the creation of an overwhelmingly Muslim country in the very heart of Europe.”

Then why would he favor attacks on Muslims in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. When,

” Lantos used his Congressional Human Rights Caucus to host a well-spoken young Kuwaiti woman identified only as “Nurse Nayirah”, who told of horrific abuses by Iraqi soldiers, including the killing of Kuwaiti babies by taking them out of their incubators and leaving them to die on the cold floor of the hospital. These alleged atrocities figured prominently in the rhetoric at the time about Iraqi abuses in Kuwait. This story later proved to be a complete fabrication. “Nurse Nariyah” was, in fact the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States, and had been coached on this story by the PR firm of Hill & Knowlton, who were paid $14 million by representatives of the Government of Kuwait to create a PR campaign to generate U.S. support for an invasion. Hill & Knowlton also provided free office space to the Congressional Human Rights Foundation (distinct from the similarly named caucus), of which Lantos was co-chair at the time.[11][12]”

Surely our leaders wouldn’t deceive us about matters concerning ” National Security ? “
47 Comment by TJF on 8 May 2007:

If I did not make it clear, I should say that George Kastrioti Skanderbeg is one of the great man of European history. As a hostage at the Ottoman court, he converted to Islam and became one of their greatest commanders. Returned to Albania, he renounced his allegiance and his false religion and he fought as an ally of the great Hungarian John Hunyadi. His descendants migrated to Italy, unable to live under the brutal and inhumane rule of the Turks and the Albanian renegades. Today’s Albanian Muslims and their false-Christian defenders, although they claim Skanderbeg as a national hero, are not worthy so much as to speak his name. Of course there are Albanians who have not fallen for either Islam or Albanian racist-nationalism, but they are not defending terrorism.
48 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 8 May 2007:

Granted Islam is evil and a threat, as Dr. Trifkovic has laid out with such great learning and pertinence. Perhaps I read my own idea into Charley’s column. That Islam is evil and a threat is a correct opinion that should be universal and always kept in view. But that does not automatically give us the right to expend our fellow citizens’ blood and treasure to save the Europeans from the Muslims, especially since they don’t seem inclined to save themselves. Or to save Israel from the Muslims; or to impose “democracy” on them; or for that matter to coerce “democracy” on China. That is the bad thinking I was trying to isolate, and the bad thinking that has turned the American Republic into the American Empire.
49 Pingback by Republican Riot » Balkan-Islamic Gratitude: Fort Dix and “Our Friends the Albanians” on 8 May 2007:

[...] Jatras also points out that “as usual, the FBI is focusing on the worm’s-eye view of who did what, rather than the big picture of how these creeps got entrenched in the US through our pro-KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) policy [which] helped create a haven for their operations. Even worse, KLA supporters in the United States have operated with virtual impunity, collecting money and weapons to support KLA operations not only in Kosovo, but in neighboring areas of southern Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and northern Greece.” [...]
50 Pingback by Political Mavens » Balkan-Islamic Gratitude: Fort Dix and Our Friends the Albanians on 8 May 2007:

[...] Jatras also points out that “as usual, the FBI is focusing on the worm’s-eye view of who did what, rather than the big picture of how these creeps got entrenched in the US through our pro-KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) policy [which] helped create a haven for their operations. Even worse, KLA supporters in the United States have operated with virtual impunity, collecting money and weapons to support KLA operations not only in Kosovo, but in neighboring areas of southern Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and northern Greece.” [...]
51 Pingback by Politeuma · Don’t Feed the Monkey on 8 May 2007:

[...] May 8, 2007 Do not ask me what to do with the horror we have created because I have no idea but this one little thought. Let us all, Democrats and Republicans, Liberals, Libertarians, and Conservatives, take a deep breath and for once in our lives tell the truth and demand the truth from our self-described leaders. If we cannot manage to force just one minute of truth from a politician, then I hope we all know better than to feed this political monkey by voting. ~ Thomas Fleming No comments Comments feed for this article Trackback linkhttp://luker.org/2007/05/08/dont-feed-the-monkey/trackback/ [...]
52 Pingback by Eunomia · Fruits Of Open Borders And Empire on 8 May 2007:

[...] Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 in politics, foreign policy by Daniel Larison In fact, grasping that they are Albanians and knowing that “ethnic Albanian” plus “Muslim from the former Yugoslavia” equals “Kosovo,” is the privilege of experts. It is but one of many Balkan equations that mainstream media editors are determined to keep hidden from their consumers. That there is nothing in the federal complaint about the “Yugoslav” suspects’ origins is almost certainly the result of political interference. ~Srdja Trifkovic [...]
53 Comment by mark on 8 May 2007:

I doubt the Serbs would want to see a “Greater Albania,” but is this worse than an independent Kosovo that is largely, if not totally, Muslim?
54 Comment by Nicholas G.P. Moses on 8 May 2007:

“Blood precedes religion.”

I think G.S. and T.J.F. must concede that for many an Albanian, it certainly does.
55 Comment by Nicholas G.P. Moses on 8 May 2007:

“I doubt the Serbs would want to see a “Greater Albania,” but is this worse than an independent Kosovo that is largely, if not totally, Muslim?”

I was under the impression that Kosovo was infrastructurally and resourcefully unfit for long-term survival as an independent nation.
56 Comment by Alexander on 9 May 2007:

Mr. Trifkovic has delivered a sober appraisal of this deeply
frustrating political game our country insists on getting
involved in. I whole heartedly agree with the author that
the press’s reluctance/ignorance to identify the thugs for
who they really are, speaks to a darker agenda which
our government excels in; the proverbial double standard. We forever seem to support the underdog
in any regional conflict only to have the underdog bite us
in the behind when political winds shift. Not so long ago
we supported an underdog in Afghanistan while the Red
Army occupied that country – that was Bin Laden. Now
we want to be Joe-Nation-Builder again, this time in the
heart of Europe. If Kosovo does indeed become a new
nation, the eventual political wind from that exercise, will come at us like a hurricane.
57 Comment by Alex on 9 May 2007:

Bravo Dr. Flemming. I have read Chronicles with interest and as a Greek we are familiar with the potential for Islamic terrorism among Albanians. Happily, most of the Albanians now settled in Greece have become Orthodox and are settling in as productive members of society. But Kosovo Albanians seem to be a breed apart in their viciousness. Further, Skanderbeg was a Byzantine nobleman, who may have been Albanian in blood, or Greek, or Slav, but he fought for Byzantine Orthodoxy, and the flag of Albanian is the Byzantine War Flag. Isnt it interesting that this flag so worshipped by Greek, Serbs, and Russians, should be used by unhistorical islamists in their pursuit of a nationhood?
58 Comment by Gwendal on 9 May 2007:

Chirac was too old to faces the reality, and in fact, he didn’t care. He just would to be peacefully president, to play with his mouth at the UN sometimes, but he knew that he won’t be obliged to solve the problems, and make some people angry (like the stykers or the muslims).
Sarkozy think about himself that he’s a small De Gaulle and that he could stay in french history like a savior, during 20 years at the power… so he’ll want to save and face the realities.
I’m just not sure that he really know the reality (about how France is divided beetween the may68 bourgeois-bohèmes (bobos (liberals)) who want “freedom” and less work, the arabs who are more and more violents and fanatics (and not more workers), and the other french who work to pay for the others and voted for Sarkozy and Le Pen.
59 Comment by David Rolfe on 9 May 2007:

“One of the suspects was born in Jordan, another in Turkey… [t]he rest are believed to be from the former Yugoslavia”

For reasons of consistency, shouldn’t that read “One of the suspects was born in the former Palestine Trans-Jordan, another in the former Byzantium.. the rest are believed to be from the former Yugoslavia”.

If nothing else, that kind of reporting would help to instill a sense of history in consumers of ‘news’.
60 Comment by Michael Kenny on 9 May 2007:

I agree with Clyde Wilson (no. and I wouldn’t advise anyone to take him up on the bet. Sarko is a superb con man. He presents himself as the candidate of change but is the candidate of Chirac’s party, which, in various incarnations, has dominated France since 1958. He presents himself as a “law and order” candidate, but if there is a law and order problem, then surely that’s the Interior Minister’s fault and until a few weeks ago, that was … Sarko!
Equally, the UMP deputies that will soon be elected will be precisely the same people who have spent the last year or so trying to knife Sarko. In addition, the French administration and economy, including the private sector, is still in the hands of the Grandes Ecoles/Freemason mafia that has dominated France more or less since the founding of the Third Republic in 1871. Sarko will not be able to get rid of those people, he will either work with them or bang his head against the wall.
To crown it all, an Ipsos poll shows that Sarko’s electorate is predominantely old. Thus, he does not represent a new beginning but the death throes of a dying system.
61 Trackback by Byzantine Sacred Art Blog on 9 May 2007:

Kosovo Albanian Jihadists Plot to Kill U.S. Servicemen in New Jersey…

Fort Dix Army base, target of a terror plot by four Kosovo Albanians, a Jordanian and a Turk. Over 4,000 Kosovo Albanians from Serbian province were sheltered here during 1999 U.S.-led NATO bombardment of Serbia. Kosovo Albanians in States: Kill……
62 Comment by Red Phillips on 9 May 2007:

It is nice to have the comments section back.
63 Comment by Bill Wilder on 9 May 2007:

Juan Cole takes the cake on reviewing this incident, blaming this attack and all Kosovar terrorism, on Milosevic! http://www.juancole.com/2007/05/ft.html#comments. I’ll bet that analysis tops the worst of what Dr. Trifkovic has seen.

Admittedly, I think Cole provides useful insights on the current ME situation, but his Islamophilia is simply boundless and his worldview is hopelessly compromised by his leftist self-loathing. That leftist worldview has been the enabling factor in the Muslim-oriented US policy in the Balkans.
64 Trackback by jackalope on 9 May 2007:

Every Once in a While We Glimpse Reallity…

Via Jihad Watch we read this article on the real meaning of the Fort Dix conspiracy. …
65 Comment by Bill Wilder on 9 May 2007:

Four more arrests in Britain in their 05 Subway attacks

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Britain-Terror-Arrests.html?hp
66 Comment by Bill Wilder on 9 May 2007:

With Dr. Wilson’s last comment, I wager there is full agreement (at least from me).
67 Comment by mark on 9 May 2007:

@Nicholas G.P. Moses
If that is correct, Kosovo for sure will become a feeding ground for anything radical and extremist (even more so as is currently the case). I think the Kosovan extremism will be much less if they become part of Albania, because Albania itselft is largely atheist.
68 Comment by Sid Cundiff on 9 May 2007:

Back in my days of schoolmastering, I was amazed at the number of my colleagues who swore they would never leave the United States, never mind that Rome is a lot closer to my town than Alaska or Hawaii. Their ideal vacation: Williamsburg? Jamestown? Shiloh battlefield? Nay, friends: Daytona and Las Vegas.

Gringos (Ricains to you French, Amis to you Germans, Yanks to you Brits, and D** Yankees to folk from my country) don’t know much about foreign matters. They know no foreign languages, can’t find Albania on a map; and when they travel abroad, they stay in the Hilton. I have in Rome a favorite hotel, a hotel that has offered me nothing but helpful and gracious service. One wouldn’t know it from the Gringo comments about this hotel posted on traveladvisor.com. Gringos and Gringas demand bacon&eggs for breakfast, a bad habit they share with the otherwise more cosmopolitan Brits and Irish; they become indignant upon finding their the hotel room isn’t the size of a Texas stadium, whine the management doesn’t turn on the air-conditioning in April and May (a complaint I’ve I’ve never from Mitteleuropäer), and have no idea how to use the gauze curtains to keep mosquitoes out. When not welcomed by hotel and restaurant staff with the grin of a village idiot, they claim an “unfriendly” mien. In fairness, the majority of such umbrage comes from from the Southwest and northeast corners of Gringoland. And Gringos also cannot possibly conceive why anyone would want to hate us.

Sunk so deep in the Egyptian Night, what else ought one expect from Gringos with respect to foreign events, be it in either Belfast or the Balkans?
69 Comment by Big M on 9 May 2007:

How long are people in this country, and Britain, going to fall for these cons? The federal government would have you believe that every person in a position of responsibility in every federal defense and intelligence agency in this country couldn’t find their own a** with both hands for two hours on 9/11 (but they were all promoted and received citations and other awards — sounds more like being recognized for a job well done, in my opinion), but every time you turn around, they’re claiming to have busted a “terror” ring? Exactly how stupid are Americans and Brits, anyway?

Al Qaeda is the wetdream brainchild of the CIA/Mossad/MI6. They get their local dupes all hot and bothered about something, and then they give them materials to carry out their project. (Remember those “terrorists” in Miami and Chicago? Remember the “terrorists” that carried out the first attack on the WTC back in 1993?) These poor suckers don’t know much of anything except that they’ve been made angry. They start to carry out their plans, and then, when they’re around a third of the way through, the authorities arrest them, and then some government or other solemnly proclaims to the world that they’ve thwarted another terrorist attack.

Can you guess why they need these people to be imprisoned in foreign countries, with no public access to them, and no access to attorneys, and only kangaroo courts, if anything? Because they can’t have these people publicly spilling the beans, and exposing the fact that the people that arrested them were in cahoots with the people that supplied them, or that they were one and the same!

And, of course, the government then uses their “bust” to claim how effective their anti-terror measures are, and to assure people with questions that their civil liberties still exist, but they just need to be kept in the closet forever, so that the government can deal with “terrorists.”

Do you know that in five and a half years, the Bush administration really only has obtained two convictions over 9/11 to show for all of its blustering about bringing the “terrorists” to justice? The vast majority of the people arrested that have been lucky enough to have their cases heard have either had all of the charges thrown out, or they have been convicted of minor charges. Exactly two people, last I heard, have been convicted of any direct complicity in 9/11. One, a Spanish conviction of a minor figure in the “conspiracy,” and an American conviction of Moussaoui, with no trial, no jury, and zero credibility.

I must ask again — exactly how stupid are Americans and Brits?
70 Comment by Sid Cundiff on 9 May 2007:

Sorry for the typos!
71 Comment by David Rolfe on 9 May 2007:

“I think the Kosovan extremism will be much less if they become part of Albania, because Albania itselft is largely atheist.”

It doesn’t follow, mark. The UK is largely irreligious, yet we have our home-grown jihadists.
72 Pingback by Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian Balkan Muslim Gratitude « on 9 May 2007:

[...] Therefore, says Chronicles Magazine foreign editor Trifkovic, “Hastily denying the group’s link to al-Qaeda and other global networks is a political necessity for the proponents of Kosovo’s independence, not necessarily the reality.” (Trifkovic can be reached for interviews at Trifkovic@netzero.net, and Jatras at JJatras@ssd.com.) [...]
73 Comment by Sean Scallon on 9 May 2007:

And who says the media doesn’t have “agendas”? Next week they’ll be calling them just plain old Europeans.
74 Comment by chris on 9 May 2007:

>The Yugos had their Balije (dumb muslim Slav) just
>like the Soviets had their Poles.

The statement that Albanians are the dumbest people in Europe is a statement of fact.

That the Soviets looked down on Poles means nothing as the last thing the Poles were was the dumbest people in the Soviet bloc.

It’s about statistics.
75 Comment by Slobodan Ninkovic on 9 May 2007:

Again, an event that makes you Dr Trifkovich happy. Bad Albanians, bad Muslims, poor Serbs.
In an imaginary war between Christianity and Islam you found one more excuse for cleaning up the “free societies” on non-Christian garbage.
Readers of this column, please, do not forget that this well-spoken British educated historian worked for Milosevic created chauvinistic state Republika Srpska. We from Balkans learned what damage this kind of people is able to do (well spoken educated people that support mass paranoia makers”
Look to the simple facts in this story. Four non-educated not adjusted men are planing to attack host country. They are not part of an organization and they did note have equipment before were offered by FBI informant.
Clash of civilization?
76 Comment by David Rolfe on 9 May 2007:

“Four non-educated not adjusted men are planing to attack host country. They are not part of an organization….. ”

That’s what was said about the London bombers – except that there were eight of them. We were asked to believe that a group of individuals carried out the bombings without any back-up and without telling a soul beforehand. That turned out to be untrue. (What a surprise!). Three people were arrested in March (two of them were about to bolt to Pakistan), and there were four more arrests today.
77 Comment by Robert Bruce on 9 May 2007:

Sarko very well could be a sellout from what I hear. He is going to be a main player in resurrecting the dead in the water new EU Constitution, helping Merkel along the way to the new Ultra marxist Europe. He sounds like a Neocon to me( Guy loves Bush, wants to be another poodle oops…. er partner, etc) Hopefully his wanting to deregulate the economy does not mean the massive outsourcing of jobs as it has meant in the states or the wholesale sell out of the French industrial base somewhere down the line. It will be sad to see France, which has suffered from a severely retarded economy for decades only to end up getting screwed over by the other extreme(Vampirical capitalism).
78 Comment by mark on 9 May 2007:

@David Rolfe
But Kosovans will not see themselves as immigrants when part of Albania. That is a big difference with say a 2nd generation Pakistani who has to integrate into British society, and is still a “foreigner.”

I mentioned atheism, because that will be a counterforce to Islam in Albania. There is no counterforce to Islam when Kosovo becomes independent.
79 Comment by Nicholas G.P. MOSES on 9 May 2007:

“Does anyone remember when Chirac was the darling of American conservatives, the French Thatcher?”

“I’m taking 10 to 1 odds that Sarkozy will sell out to the Establishment.”

All I know, Dr. Wilson, is that Ronald Reagan was and still is hailed by American and British conservatives as the saint of our country’s politics. There is no “selling out” to be done; it is simply that American conservatives’ opinions are a rather poor gauge of value.
80 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 9 May 2007:

Nobody in his right mind can be “happy” about this unfolding of the true face of Islam. But we should be glad that it was uncovered before lives were lost. If the media wishes to call this a sinking of the Bismarck – so be it. It’s their own funeral to keep the deception going for this long. Same way Paris was in flames, W 44th Street in NYC (home of the NYT) can equally be in flames for some other yet unspoken Jihadist goal. We never doubted that Islam would continue to undermine America – from within America.
The only questions was WHEN the American media would be forced to concede the ugly fact that Albanian Muslims (Kosovo or elsewhere) follow the same Jihadist doctrine. The structure (as established very cleverly by OBL) is such that every cell can function independently as long as it targets “infidels”. If you are a Jew or a Christian you are a target whether you like it or not. The media has done a supreme job hiding an awful lot of embarrassing moves by the prior administration (since, in my view, some portion of America needs to pander to Islam, if for no other reason, just to offset the Iran/Iraq nightmare). This way there is the “plausible deniability” – made famous in the times of Oliver North. If you can’t be caught with your hand in the cookie jar – you’re probably innocent. Hence no mention of Clinton’s failed perception of the world – who’d dare mention Clinton now and risk the wrath of Mr. Hillary Clinton who would use this as a good launching pad to plow into Giuliani et all. The issues are far too complex, but the sad fact remains that Muslims will follow Jihadist roadmap, here, there and everywhere. If the Germans fail to see how Munich is getting to be Istambulized, they will once it becomes too late. Let’s hope that America will have a little more sense, and call a spade – a spade. There is no cure for Jihad. All the weapons of the world can not eradicate what has been ingrained within the Muslim culture for the last 13 centuries. No nation under Islam has ever prospered. Just look at Somalia, Mogadishu, the rest of the sub-Saharan Africa – an absolute disaster. Kosovo is far too close to the heart of Europe. Being equally close to Bosnia which has already been working on expulsion of some 300+ mujahedins who married the local Bosnian women – Kosovo’s proximity presents a far greater danger. It is wrong to believe that Albanians are atheists – they were atheists during their pro-Mao period, but Islam was always a strong undercurrent in Albania proper while the Christian parts were proclaimed atheistic – I saw much of it first hand. Let’s not kid ourselves that Albania is atheist – there are no churches but there ARE MOSQUES. That is not atheist enough in my view.
81 Comment by Johan Dieckmann on 9 May 2007:

Thank you very much indeed for your highly informative article. Particularly revealing and myth shattering was its portion on “customs” and “traditions” of the people of Mexico pertaining to violence towards young girls. In my own mind, many pieces of a previous puzzle now fall into place. While I had known something about corruption of their police, of common drug use even by their peasants, and brutality of their criminals, I admit that I still had some vague illusions about their “strong family values”. I am afraid that many people in the U.S. still share this prejudice.

Johan
82 Comment by jeff bailey on 9 May 2007:

Well Dr Trifkovic, this is the biggest break you could have hoped for. Rush Limbaugh is talking about this all day long and he is citing Darko Trifunovic as a source, but not the Chronicles. This is why one shouldn’t be so negative about the administration policies and their supporters, because they are willing to learn if they feel that you are not apriori against them. That is my experience with them and what I have been trying to convey here with the writebacks all along. If I were you I would call Limbaugh and give him the real lowdown as is he is bound to run with it on account on how much he cannot stand the Clintons. I am sure Pat Buchanan would be happy to give you a good reference. There is no time to waste. This is it, the big break.
83 Comment by Boba on 9 May 2007:

Re: jeff bailey –

Big mistake by Rush Limbaugh not to contact Dr. Trifkovic! It shows that Limbaugh is either ignorant of Trifkovic’s expertize on the Balkans and Islam or that he simply opted for a source of a lesser quality. That does not diminish the fact that Dr. Trifkovic is an excellent analyst, worthy of advising Presidents – and readers around the world. I would say – listen to and read Trifkovic’s books and learn!

LISTEN AUDIOfile
http://www.serbianna.com/

Who is shielding Muslim Albanian identity of Fort Dix terrorists?
Rockford Institute expert on Balkan Islam explains why the US government avoids making public the identity of four Kosovo Albanian Muslims?

Also: http://www.serbianna.com/columns/borojevic/054.shtml
84 Comment by Charles Grote on 9 May 2007:

dumb–from Old Saxon ‘tumbe’, basically, not able to speak (well). –”If the shoe fits, wear it.” The pictures of these guys in question may well be adopted by Merriam Webster as examples in their next edition.
85 Comment by Spectacles on 10 May 2007:

I enjoy “Mark’s” allusions to a Greater Albania although in all good sense he is barking up the wrong tree with that little “gem”.
86 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 10 May 2007:

Let’s start off simple for all the visitors from other planets who came and gave us their 2 cents in regards to this article:

1. Was it not Jesus Christ who was accused, sentenced and crucified only on account of his prophesies and desire to help his fellow man?

Don’t bother answering – I’ll help you. Yes it was.

Was it not Dr. Trifkovic in his numerous articles for YEARS, not hours, days or weeks but YEARS, who has been showing us the inner workings of Islam?

Yes it was.

Was there not a brilliantly simple article by Mr. Scott Richert about “Jihad in Rockford” titled “lone wolf – or some theory close to it” where Mr. Richert shows that a wolf is a wolf by any other name and even if alone – the pack is not too far behind.

Yes it was.

In 1991, I went to the Wiesenthal Institute in Wien and asked point blank: “Wiviel Juden war in Albanien zwischen 1924 und 1939. The answer was: Ungefer 360 familien. My next question was: Wiviel Juden sind dah in Albanien heute? The answer was “six and thirty personen (36) – so much for Albanian atheism.

Sure they are all atheists when it comes to other religions but not to Islam. According to the CIA over 80% conservatively.

As far as this nuhk’ular scientist who claims that “Mr. Trifkovic must be happy” – I’d like to know what system of happiness is s/he using to determine somebody else’s happiness with such accuracy (Ptolomeic system has been long gone, and disposed of).

On the other hand the various Steven Schwartzes, various Suleymans, even the bicyclist (Velo) with all their pro-Muslim, pro-Albanian, pro-Arnautic views are nowhere to be seen. Joe diGuardi from the Bronx mafia pizza dollars? WHY?

Not convenient? Not the right time? Islam has showed us another face – a true face? All of the above?

Yes, all of the above.

I can see how CAIR would influence the distribution of the Sword of the Prophet from various public forums, I can even understang Suleyman and Velo, but who are all these other unknown names? These are not new topics – these have been in the public eye even in Duluth – what planet do you people live on?

Jihad is a real danger to real persons who are really non-Muslim. It’s that simple. Even a desperate act of a lone assassin is not necessarily “lone in principle” – as the Holly Qu’ran spells it out clearly – you must kill the infidels.

Would I make a pact with Satan himself to get rid of Islam?

Dr. Faustus did for Helen of Troy, I’d do it for getting the world rid of Islam.

Serbia has been dealt a lousy hand in this poker game and get’s used for spare change. Serbia is not the topic here, so dear Mr. Suleyman (whatever other name you used here) try to show us a little intelligence – at least fool us with thinking that you may possibly have some. In spite of the fact that I am Serbian born, I view the facts and proof. Today’s Interpol is dominated by Albanians in the following (approximate) numbers:

Italy – 85% wanted criminals are Albanians

Greece – 92% Albanian

Switzerland – 75% Albanian

Sweden – 72% Albanian

U.K. – 60% + Albanian

Even Ireland ranks high, but I lost the data.

Und so weiter, und so weiter.
There is no place for “bleeding heart liberals” anywhere within these pages. If you’re not going to see what is in front of you, turn the page in the Bible where it says: “Thou shalt not cast pearls in front of swine” – it’s that simple.

Albanians – atheists?

Certainly, as long as it is not Islam. Jews were cut down from some 1,000 to 1,200 to 36. Christian population is fleeing, or has fled. Buddhism is not really something they ever heard of. What does that leave us?

Alah?

Yes, you guessed it – Allah, along with Dar al Harb and Dar al Islam – translated into present Muslims and future Muslims. I am amazed that there is even a 10 year old child (make that a 10 year old retarded child) who is unaware of the Muslim mandate to convert (or kill) the “infidels” – kafiri – us – you and me.

Which true Christian can condone death? NONE. Yet Islam does – and practices it.

Is Dr. Trifkovic to blame for being right on target for over 10 years in espousing his profoundly clever views on Islam?

Hell, no.

I admit, my tenor was “ little intolerant”, only because I am convinced that the various Roberts, Toms, Dick and Harry are nobody else but Suleyman Schwartz or Velo or some other previously discredited turbanista. No sane person with an ounce of decency could post such garbage as I have seen it here, after such clear set of self-evident Jihadist presence.
87 Comment by TJF on 10 May 2007:

Although I do not want to stir up any more contempt against Albanians, who are prisoners of their own fantasy world, I do recall a flight from Amsterdam (or maybe Munich) to Chicago. I was studying a Serbian grammar and noticed that the man in the window seat was sneaking glances at my book. He ordered some water and proceeded, deliberately, to spill a little on my jacket, which gave him the opportunity he was looking for to ask a question:

“So why are you studying this crazy language?”

I explained that I often travelled in the Balkans. I guessed from his accent and looks that he was from Yugoslavia and probably a Serb, which proved to be the case. He was living in Germany and swore he would never go back to that GD place, where people were always killing each other over ethnicity and religion.

“But, you seem to think you know a little about my country and its peoples. ”
“A little.”

“Then tell me who those people are over there across the aisle.”

I looked and there was a large family, badly dressed, with their shoes off, blocking the aisle, talking loudly and acting in general as if they were a circus act.

“Oh,” I replied, “You mean the Albanians.”
“This calls for a drink.”

But, among Serbs, what doesn’t call for a drink. The shoeless Albanians remind of a joke popular in Serbia s a few years ago. A Serb gets on a plane and finds himself seated between two Albanians. He takes his shoes off to relax and decides to make the best of it. Getting up to go the bathroom, he asks the Albanians if he can get anything. “You could bring me a coke,” said one of them, and as the Serb was walking down the aisle, the Albanian spat in one of his shoes. As the plane was about to begin its descent, the Serb needed to go to the bathroom again and asked the Albanians if they wanted anything. This time the other one asked for a coke, and as soon as the Serb had turned his back, he spat in the other shoe. Soon they had to fasten their seatbelts and prepare for landing. The Serb put his feet into his shoes and immediately realized what had been done. With a disgusted look on his face, he cried out:

“We have been at each others’ throats for centuries. When it is ever going to end, this spitting in shoes and p-ssing in cokes?”
88 Comment by Bill Wilder on 10 May 2007:

It didn’t take a week for the media to switch to “Europeans” as Mr. Scallon predicted. From today’s Washington Post

“Most of the men arrested Tuesday were European rather than Middle Eastern. They hail from one of the most pro-American and secular parts of the Muslim world — the ethnic Albanian regions of Macedonia, where gratitude for U.S. assistance in Kosovo during the 1990s still runs high.”

There you go. They like us so much they want to kill us. Sound like Iraqis.
89 Comment by xenia on 10 May 2007:

The media is complicit. My experience in trying to get a pro-Serbian talk listed in the local public radio community event board yielded one assurance: people in the field delete items that they think will cause the public begin to question all the propaganda that has been handed to them. I had to go in and histrionically talk to the Program Director to get an interview with a local Serbian activist. To his credit, he was patient with me. When I came home to re-enter the information, I did in fact remember that I had previously entered it; because previously, in this case I had to add a venue-I was surprised that I had to re-add the venue as well.

There are operatives in the media erasing balanced news from ever getting to those journalists who might actually want to honour their profession.
90 Pingback by Kosovo Blowback Reaches America « tmq2 on 10 May 2007:

[...] The Mainstream Media spin: “Four of them were born in the former Yugoslavia” (The New York Times); “One of the suspects was born in Jordan, another in Turkey… [t]he rest are believed to be from the former Yugoslavia” (CNN); “Four of the men were born in the former Yugoslavia, one in Jordan and one in Turkey” (MSNBC); “One of the suspects was born in Turkey and four in the former Yugoslavia” (AP), und so weiter [and so on]… }} more… [...]
91 Comment by Sid Cundiff on 10 May 2007:

As an “Appalachian White”, I’ve had to endure the obloquy, opprobrium, denigration, and belittlement directed at this group, if not indeed at “Scots Irish” Southerners in general, or at least West Virginians. Never mind that this group, considered as a whole, is the source of all American music and dancing, be it Black or White; of much of the literature worth reading since 1930; and of all but three American soldiers worth mentioning (Washington, Lee, and George Marshall were Virginia Cavaliers).

What is more, both a Catholic and a so-called “Scots-Irish” (better: Border Briton/Backcountry), I’ve seen the deplorable importation into my county of that particular odium that is Ulster’s, an importation gone unnoticed by the media.

Indeed, I’ve been caught in the crossfire. Myself enthused by Fischer’s Albion’s Seed, my efforts to associate myself with a “Scots Irish” association in my country ran into the proverbial stone wall when I told them I was Catholic. My local chapter of the League of the South broke up when an Orangeman would-be led an exodus out because our chaplain was a Catholic, began prayers with the sign of the Trinity, and talked about Gibson’s film. (Folks should be allowed to pray in their own religious [a.k.a. “sectarian”] tradition – and the sight of hyper-Calvinists virtually in alliance with the ACLU is, at best, an ironic one.) I worry, perhaps without warrant, that the entire League is jeopardized by those who think it’s still a.D. 1690 – though I should add immediately that the League’s leadership is not anti-Catholic, and may even see Republican Ireland’s revolt as something of a model for Dixie. Certainly the Irish Republican flag is a model of inclusiveness.

Immigrant groups throughout American history have tried to get their new country involved in the issues of the old, from the Huguenots of 1700 to the Zionists today. Whatever the merits of such involvement, Ulster’s odium just isn’t the US of A’s, and Gringoland should stay out. Is the Balkans’?
92 Comment by Sid Cundiff on 10 May 2007:

The italics should end after “not”. I’m going blind.
93 Comment by Gigi N. Goode on 10 May 2007:

I know of a family from Albania back in the mid-1990s who had great problems with Muslim Albanian clans.

The family are Orthodox Christians who had flee in GREAT HASTE to Greece to get away from “WHITE SLAVER” muslim men who came into their hometown and wanted the families daughters, aged 9, 13 and 15.

The family was assisted by a Priest in Greece who happened to be related to them by marriage. Even the Greek government helped them get away from the Albanian mob. The threats to this family were proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by the Greek authorities.

The family eventually made it to the USA where they have more relatives. But you know what, they had to be very careful as they were afraid the Albanian Muslim mob with its evil clan system, could get even with them EVEN in the USA.

How do I know them, I am related to them by marriage.

And they have NO problems at all with their fellow Orthodox Serbs. IN fact, we ALL helped some Serbian refugees who came to the USA, from Croatia a few years ago.
94 Comment by Thomas Fleming on 10 May 2007:

Albanian Christians have suffered more from Albanian Muslims than any people in the Balkans.
95 Comment by Bill Wilder on 10 May 2007:

Today’s NY Times article with relatives contains a number who disavow serious religious affiliation in the family, with the Turk’s father stating that his son became militant leading to a rupture in their relationship. Who knows? It’s all easy to say now.

Of course, the voice of the NGO left is hardly neutral on the matter:

“Fred Abrahams of Human Rights Watch said, “Albanians on the whole are so very over-the-top pro-American that this news came as a shock.”
96 Comment by liria on 10 May 2007:

albanians are not terrorist and this you now sir
97 Comment by liria on 10 May 2007:

you are trying to say that all people in kosova are muslim but is not true, there are a lot of catolics ansd i am one of them .
98 Comment by Dragana Bishop on 10 May 2007:

Very good artical, as a Serbian I am impresed. One thing has to be made clear here: “muslim Albenians” are as far from any religion as one can be, and only reason they use any conection with the religion is to acctualy exploit the same for the purpose of political gain. The one and only purpose for them is to create “the Greater Albenia”. I am pleased to see that at least some of the “Gringos” are avare of Albenians and who they are , and we in Serbia have a “pleasure ” to live with them on daily basis.
“There is a reason why the Serbs encouraged and never destroyed Albanian mosques, the more islamic Albanians are precieved to be, the better for the Serbs.” this comment is particulary stupid, the Serbian people do have respect for the religin as well for the historic building, and that is why they keept mosques intact, as oposed to those Albenians who burned Ortodox churches builed in Kosovo around 1340 BC , at the same time when those dumb Albenians were part of who knows which state in the mid. east. Doctor Fleming hit the nerve, and P.Velo is typical example of Albenians ignorance, stupidity etc. Personaly, I would like to see all Albenians in one state, far away from us or any other civilised society. There is nothing we can learn from them, and they do not wish to learn, so the best is to let them live the life from middle ages……Shame it is not possible.
Good work Doctor Fleming.
P.S. Sorry about the splelling,
99 Comment by Dragana Bishop on 10 May 2007:

Oh, just looked at the above and there is a “time” error, it was not 1340 BC, should be After the Crist. And, plese do ignore my English grammar too.
Regards.
100 Comment by Tom on 10 May 2007:

Liria, you are a catolic? Don’t you mean catholic? I think you’re a muslim in disguise trying to infiltrate our discussion board. Begone you beggar!
101 Comment by Serb T. on 10 May 2007:

Kosovo Albanians are new teflon people of the world. Nothing sticks to them.
102 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 10 May 2007:

Sid, I have been fighting excess intolerant Calvinism in the League for over ten years.
103 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 10 May 2007:

P.S. It is NOT the Southern tradition.
104 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 10 May 2007:

The value and contribution Dr. Trifkovic has made remains priceless. For everything else there is Master Card. Mr. Richert, Dr. Fleming, Mr. Jatras have all contributed substantially to identifying the many dangers of Islam. Not only has Dr. Trifkovic demonstrated a profound knowledge of islam, but he managed to use that knowledge with such surgical accuracy that he is now able to predict (or foretell) many of the events that are coming to us from the Dar al Islam.

Dr. Trifkovic also devoted a considerable effort to the issues of immigration which this “Fort Dix incident” clearly documents. Take a little bit of a flexible standards, lack of vision (stupidity) towards islam, and the result is KABOOOOOM. Some American (British, Spanish, Dutch, Danish) person is blown to kingdom come. There is not one single element missing from Dr. Trifkovic’s article. It stands on its own merits – it’s coherent, non-contradictory, logical, accurate and above all truthful.

Look at this sad Suleyman Ninkovic, with nothing to say about the essence of an otherwise flawless analysis, it accuses Dr. Trifkovic of being (somehow) instrumental during the Milosevic’s reign, Republika Sprska formation etc.

Is that the best you have to say in regards to Muslim Albanians trying to blow up an American military base? Where do you see the connecting points?

I don’t know it for a fact but Dr. Trifkovic must have eaten one hard boiled egg sometime in his life – therefore he’s guilty of having destroyed a chicken embryo? – That’s the sense made by Pelumbista, Ilirista, Turbanista, Suleyman and other assorted apparitions of Jihadism which must be destroyed. One Albanian Catholic does not make good for the destruction and killings of thousands of people, hundreds of churches, a genocidal attitude towards both Jews and Christians in the region. This endemic attitude of the Death cult has always been present in Muslim teachings and now we see it first hand (again).

Aside from the present Muslim crime waves, for those who are not so intimately familiar with the history of the Balkans, I ask that you go to this site TOWER OF SKULLS (http://www.bannerofliberty.com/Serbs,BosniaKosovo/3-20-2006.1.html) where you will see a permanent signature of Muslim rule over Christians in the town of Nis – (Naisus – in Roman days, and the birth town of Constantine the first Roman emperor who accepted Christianity, founded city of Constaninopolis – later bastardized into Istanbul). But that aside Albanians (as much as other turbanistas are quite decent people).

Here are the “good Albanians” who are so good that Interpol wants to see them (from the Swiss to 20 most wanted): MORINA Drilon, REXHEPAJ Nazif, THERQAJ Ardian, GECAJ Ded, Spahiu Leonard, Hajredini Gentjan, MALAJ Arlind, LATIFI Lulzim, GURGUROVCI Ibrahim, ZYMERI Rrahim, AMETAJ Sabit, FRROKU Lek

If that is not enough try Austria’s most wanted at: http://www.bmi.gv.at/kriminalpolizei/
105 Comment by Red Phillips on 10 May 2007:

Dr. Wilson,

What is, in your opinion, the Southern religious tradition? The way I see it, initially there were a lot of Anglicans and Presbyterians. The Southern Presbyterians were Calvinists (some like Dabney and Jackson more so than others), but they weren’t “intolerant” Calvinists as those you refer to, who actually smack more of the Yankee Puritans.

The more modern Southern Tradition is clearly the revivalist denominations – Baptists > Methodists > Church of Christ, that at some point surpassed the Presbyterians and Anglicans/Episcopalians.

Much to the chagrin of some paleos, the Southern religious tradition is not Catholic either. (Except perhaps in Maryland.)

So it seems that what the correct tradition is largely depends on how far back you go. The current and more recent tradition is Baptist and Baptistic.
106 Comment by 1389 on 10 May 2007:

Thanks for the article, Srdja! You knocked it out of the park, as usual. I linked to your article from my blog; here’s the URL:

http://moblog1389.blogspot.com/2007/05/who-are-fort-dix-six.html
107 Comment by Milan Sydney on 10 May 2007:

i read the article and i am very pleased to finally see an American who understands how widly misinformed the American people are when it comes to Balkan politics. Firstly Serbs have been the victims of US political agenda for the last 20 years. Even now the US is supporting an independant KOSOVO but at the same time the government is well informed that the country is the gateway for terrorism, drug and human trafficking. Why does the government still support these inhumane scums, well because they would rather see the mass slaughter of Serbs from Kosovo rather than supressing Europe’s main terrorist breading ground!
108 Comment by Nicholas G.P. Moses on 10 May 2007:

“There are operatives in the media erasing balanced news from ever getting to those journalists who might actually want to honour their profession.”

I respect yourself and other honest journalists, but as a non-professional, I have to give my opinion that journalism, at least in this country and in the last hundred and fifty years, has never been an “honorable” profession, at least for mainstream publications. Obviously it is made worse by the fact that, as “generally accepted views” have become increasingly peculiar and even immoral, honest and thorough journalism has been increasingly relegated to niche or fringe publications. Even so, my brief tenure in the college of communications imparted to me a sense that the history of journalism was by and large so replete with sensationalism and propaganda that that can fairly be considered the general spirit of the profession as a whole.
109 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 10 May 2007:

Sid, you forgot Loosiana. The tradition (as opposed to the present diseased state due to the infusion of the Yankee brand of carnival tent evangelism throughout the 20th century), is orthodox Christian belief with mutual tolerance among denominations. I think of antebellum Charleston, where the Catholic Bishop England, the Lutheran Bachman, the Methodist Capers, the Baptist Furman, the Presbyterian Thornwell, and the Episcopalisn Miles got along fine. They even brought along the Yankee Unitarian who after a few years in Charleston became orthodox. They all understood that the republican public sphere was Christian but not denominational. Calvinists have never understood this, though, as you point out, the Scots Presbyterians do not attempt to dominate like the Yankee Puritans do (even after they become atheists).
110 Comment by Mediawatcher on 10 May 2007:

When Islamic Al-Taqiyya falls on the fertile ground of liberal propensity for lying and leftist self- loathing the result are media reports of “4 Europeans” and sanitized version of events.

Liberals and Leftists are useful idiots for Islamofascists. The other kind of idiots are more troubling.

The current Administration believes that Albanian Islamofascists can be used for Administration’s objectives. In reality, it is the other way around.

America’s siding with Albanian Islamofascists is perceived among Muslims as America’s weakness. Muslims have their own set of values. Not understanding this value system is fatal. Anything can be made to work for a while, even the wooden stove. But the end result is predictive.

False label of Islam (meaning “submission”) as “Religion of Peace” was the first sign of this grave miscalculation.
111 Comment by R. Brownfield on 10 May 2007:

In 2003, the Simon Wiesenthal Center awarded Sarkozy the Tolerance Prize, another medal of honor for this Sepharadic-French neoconservative waging war against anti-zionism.

Now French Muslim families are having children at record levels while an undetected nefarious cabal is reigning. Which group has been reinforcing a non-white immigration policy and has been plotting the death of the West?

Albeit a socialist, Royal’s foreign policy would not have drawn a bullseye on France’s future.
112 Trackback by Byzantine Sacred Art Blog on 11 May 2007:

Kosovo Albanian New Jersey Terror Plot: Balkan Experts…

Nebojsa Malic Unveils the Bias: Jihad in New Jersey — Balkans Blowback Excerpt from an article by Nebojsa Malic [...] It is now known that of the six suspects, three were in the US illegally. One was Jordanian, another……
113 Comment by Leon Haller on 11 May 2007:

My Balkan ethnographic sense is poor. Are Albanians members of the white race? Or are they just the miscegenated descendents of Turks? Culturally, of course, they are not European. But neither are Bosnians, most of whom, however, have looked white on television.
114 Comment by Leslie White on 11 May 2007:

We were fooled by Clinton & Co., the Serbs were the villains, the “poor” Kosovars (Albanian Moslems) were the victims. We can be grateful that since then we have learned that a Moslem is a Moslem no matter whether “Kosovar,” Albanian, Arab, or Pakistani, and that the Islamic striving for world conquest infects every one of them.
115 Comment by Bob Partisan on 11 May 2007:

A tip of the hat to Thomas Fleming for such a fine written article. In essence I believe you have been able to capture the Albanian mentality superbly. Although as it goes for any ethnic group it is important to note there are also good, decent and hardworking people. However in the case of the Albanians those good people make the minority.

You cant help but feel sorry for the Albanians, destroyed themselves communism only to be left vulnerable to radicam Islam (which usually preys on the mentally weak)

The questions begs, looking at the state in which Albania finds itself both politically and economically, can they really be given a chance to run another ‘country’, Kosovo?

It will be a catastrophe, one which was blessed by the US!
116 Comment by Rexxy on 11 May 2007:

You will not find one Albanian cheering for these idiot bafoons ….what these 4 have done or attempted to stupidly do will not have no affect for the other ten million Albanians in this world ..

the only ones cheering are the historic enemies of Albanians …

ps ….Thomas Fleming .. your article is exactly that -your article-

and your article is biased
117 Comment by Chuck Simmins on 11 May 2007:

It appears that the men in question arrived in the United States in 1984, as very small children. At that time, they would have been fleeing Communist Yugoslavia. Before the latest rounds of the Balkan Wars, they could have lived anywhere in the country, from Croatia to Kosovo. Where they came from has not been determined.

Their actions, however, do not reflect at all upon the Kosovo refugees accepted by the United States in the 1990’s. These men has already been in our country for a decade or more.
118 Comment by Rexxy on 11 May 2007:

Bob The Partisan ….HI

the author of this article falls into your lap …dont he ?
119 Comment by David Rolfe on 11 May 2007:

“You will not find one Albanian cheering for these idiot bafoons ….”

Perhaps not, rexxy. It must be embarassing to have Albanians attack the US, a nation which – along with the UK and others, – has been so helpful to them.

Attacks on the Serbs and Albanian Christians are another matter. (See this linked article).

http://www.lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-w13.html
120 Comment by Misha on 11 May 2007:

“Before the latest rounds of the Balkan Wars, they could have lived anywhere in the country, from Croatia to Kosovo. Where they came from has not been determined.”

Clearly you did not grow up in Croatia. I can assure you that Albanians are looked upon with as much apprehension and distaste all across the former Yugoslavia as they are in southern Serbia. Finding an Albanian in Yugoslavia outside of Montenegro or certain parts of southern Serbia is a very rare sight.

I wish I had the URL but I read an interesting article a few weeks back about Macedonia’s predicament. Due to the media-popularity of the Kosovo debates, Macedonia has been a media afterthought. Since the break-up of Yugoslavia, Albanians have adopted simliar nationalist tendencies in western Macedonia as we have seen in Kosovo to the point where they have virtually completely ethnically cleansed (not necessarily by direct violence) over 40% of Macedonian territory. Because this has received such minimal coverage, Macedonia is receiving minimal international support while violent outbursts continue to be a common occurance at public events such as sports matches. The true tragedy of it is that Macedonians are such a unique and small nation and that they don’t have a patron state such as Kosovars have Serbia. Because of this we could potentially see the eradication of the Macedonian nation within the next quarter century.
121 Comment by Slobodan Ninkovic on 11 May 2007:

Mr. Pavlovich do you really think that is not possible to be Serb and not to be chauvinist. Or if your not hate Muslims you are Suleyman.
Srdja Trifkovic was Republika Srpska spokesman, ask him. Off course he is not representing them now he has greater ideas.

“For a Christian the real task is to help our fellow humans who are trapped in Islam and to help them become free.”
Islam and the West: The threat, the defense. Srdja Trifkovic interview with Al Kresta on Ave Maria Radio – chronicles (magazine). 14 October 2004

What this means? Who is supposed to go into this war? Do you have someone of your own blood to send him in the crusade?

By the way, Trifkovic in his stories about Kosovo always forgets that Milosevic did for KLA same service that Bush did to Al Qaeda in Iraq. Taking of Albanian minority rights and shutting down provincial autonomy he pushed silent majority into resistance.
122 Comment by Mickey Droney on 11 May 2007:

Attention paleos: Please do not let your (well-deserved) dislike of neo-cons and their plots blind you to the evils of Islam. Islam in its modern incarnation is almost entirely evil and needs to be vanquished. Just because Bill Kristol and David Frum see Islam as evil, does not mean that it is good and should be tolerated. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend.
123 Comment by Mark Michaelsen on 11 May 2007:

Ladies & Gentlemen:

1. If you are going to continue to send me Chronicles, you should send it to Mark G. Michaelsen, 5002 Sheboygan Ave #226, Madison WI 53705.

2. I write a lot and I don’t always have an outlet. The Spectator has picked up more topical stuff. Where can I send stuff? I am always glad for assignments, too.

Mark G. Michaelsen
608.278.1386
124 Comment by Sasha on 11 May 2007:

Dear Mr. Fleming,

I’m absolutely thrilled to find that there are people like you inside the US. Due to the American politics here in Serbia, and trough out the world, i have though that all Americans are the same, but your article has brought me back the fate that there are people that are objective and actually care about the injustices happening in Kosovo.

Thank you for being honest and speaking out loud.

PS.
As a response to the previous comment, i would like to correct Mr.Misha, he said that no one knows how Muslims ended up in Kosovo. Well Serbian history teaches that during the second migration of Serbs to the North (in the 18th century), Sultan of the Ottoman empire(Serbia was one of the conquered countries for 500 years) placed Albanian cattle man in the empty Kosovo region. When Serbia was finally liberated, Serbs went back to Kosovo, but there were already too many Albanians there.

As a Christian minority in their own country they are constantly bullied by Kosovo Albanians. That is what the BBC and the CNN don’t report. They only report when Serbs react to these molestations.
125 Comment by C Bowen on 11 May 2007:

Mickey,

I will take your post in good faith: you are most confused.

Bill Kristol supports Islamic forces in Chechnya just as he did in Kosovo/Serbia.

David Frum thinks the mere exportation of ‘democracy’ to the Arab world will solve that problem and is a bit silent on the question of Islamic immigration into our fair lands.

No, Islam does not need to be ‘vanquished’, just “encouraged” home and left alone, meaning an end to the colonial project.
126 Comment by Misha on 11 May 2007:

Sasha,

You misunderstood me, I merely stated that hypothesizing that the aforementioned terrorists could have been from any part of the former Yugoslavia is statistically unlikely. The only significant pockets of Albanian population within the former Yugoslavia were always southeastern Montenegro, western Macedonia and southern Serbia.

Also to add on to what Sasha posted, it is interesting to see Kosovo demographics after the First World War as Serbs and Albanians were at almost equal numbers. It’s very disturbing to see how this demographic has been altered through illegal immigration and fervent nationalism over the past century.

I’ve often wondered how a western nation-state would react to an immigrant minority demanding territorial independence. Imagine a Mexican population demanding a part of Texas become independent from the United States. How would the world react to a “Texas Liberation Army”?
127 Comment by Mickey Droney on 11 May 2007:

Not, at all, confused. In fact, you make my point even better. I have heard Kristol argue both sides of that issue, which certainly is tricky when you are trying not to endorse Islamic terrorists on one hand or communist butchers on the other. But reducing the scope of the argument to Chechnya and Kosovo/Serbia is a naive mistake. Radical Islam is a world-wide problem. In trying to muddy the argument with nuances about certain types of Islam you are not seeing the forest for trees. All over the globe, radical Muslims are at war with their neighbors or even at war with other groups (and other sects of Islam) within their own countries.

There is no greater mistake than to think that you can push a problem like Islam accross the globe and hope that it goes away. Besides that, if we can’t even rid our country of “illegal” Mexicans and other immigrants, how can we “encourage” Muslims, many of whom are already “legal” citizens, to leave? Good luck with that.

Why do so many of you think that if we leave Muslims alone, that they will leave us alone? The history of world is the story of C-O-N-Q-U-E-S-T. If everyone minded their own business, kept to themselves, and stayed in their place of birth, how did white, Christian Europeans end up here?
128 Comment by TJF on 11 May 2007:

The discussion is getting a little out of hand, and that is mostly my fault. So far from being a Turkish import, Albanians are descendants from ancient inhabitants of the land. The ethno-history of Albania is very complicated. The territory now known as Albania was in ancient times settled by various peoples: Macedonians, who are essentially Greek, Illyrians (an Indo-European people), with admixtures of Dacians and other tribes. The Romans left their genes behind as did probably Goths, and later so did Slavs, Italians, and inevitably the Turks who conquered them. The language today reflects the mixture, though Illyrian dialects seem to predominate.

Albanian race theory is another matter. According to this fantasy–some of which has already appeared in the comments–Albanians are the only pure race in Europe, descended from ancient Illyrians, and with a blood-claim on the Illyrian homeland. They don’t hide their Nazist race theories. On the contrary, they can hardly keep quiet.

Albanians today represent the extreme version of the kidnap victim’s mentality. After submitting to the Turks, many become Muslims, who are now a very large majority. Even some Albanian Christians feel such strong race-identity that they feel kinship with Muslims whose ancestors spent their lives killing Christians. A similar attitude exists among some Bosnian Muslims. Naturally, not all Albanians are like this, not even Albanian Muslims, but too many are. Take the odious Jim Belushi, worst actor in the history of television. Jim raises money to help the genocide being perpetrated by Albanians in Kosovo.

Here is a link to an article by Julia Gorin, documenting some of Belushi’s antics: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/julia/gorin071805.php3I. I am told there is more. I have a friend with a tape of Mr. Belushi calling for slaughter. He has promised to send it to me.

As for ethnic jokes, I’m happy to hear or tell all sorts of ethnic jokes, including jokes at the expense of my people. If people don’t like it, they don’t have to listen, but I note that on the internet ethnic/race jokes come second only to jokes about sex. Everybody in the Balkans has a repertoire of jokes about everyone else, including their own people who live over the next hill. Albanians who profess to be shocked are lying. But that is a national trait of Albanian apologists.

When Albanians living in America quit defending and supporting terrorism and genocide, that will be the time to worry about their sensitivities. As it is, not one of the zanies writing in has even taken the trouble to deny what is being done.
129 Comment by G.S. on 11 May 2007:

Mr. Droney,

“In trying to muddy the argument with nuances about certain types of Islam you are not seeing the forest for trees.”

Although you are correct about our disinclination for overseas interventions, I do think you are mistaken regarding how paleos view Islam.

Nobody here is spouting the picture of democracy-loving “good Muslims” vs. Islamofascist “bad Muslims”. To the contrary, that is the *neoconservative* position.

The overwhelming majority of paleos regard Islam qua Islam as (at best) a fundamentally-problematic ideology or (at worst) a satanic movement.

I believe Mr. Bowen’s point revolves around the fact that most prominent neocons regard Muslims in the Balkans as allies & freedom-fighters — as “good Muslims”.

Put another way, you were mistaken in your first post: Bill Kristol and David Frum DO NOT regard Islam per se as evil.

Hence our antipathy toward neoconservativism is partly rooted in their refusal to recognize Islam qua Islam as a problem.

I’m curious whether you would argue that intervention in the Balkans really was a good idea after all — albeit intervening *against* K.L.A. forces rather than for them?

A la General Mackenzie’s article, “We Bombed The Wrong Side In Kosovo”?
130 Comment by Thomas Fleming on 11 May 2007:

Our anonymous Albanian reader, who lacks the courage to give his name, wants sources. He might start, for the ancient history, with JJ Wilkes’ Dalmatia (Cambridge UP). He says he wants to be left alone. Who has bothered him or any other Albanian? We wish to shed a little light on the terrorism, extortion, murder, and white-slavery being practiced by Kosovo Albanians. Even if truth about the Balkans were none of our business, the US intervention to give the Muslim terrorists a European base has made it our business, just as the plot to attack Ft. Dix has made it our business. If Albanians in the US do not wish to be scrutinized, they might consider going somewhere where violent crimes are tolerated, some place like Albania
But note the tone from Mr. anonymous with his warning against meddling. The next move will be to say he knows where I live or where my children go to school. These guys are always the same, cowards and bullies. No more from Mr. Anonymous until he supplies full identity including address, daytime telephone number, etc.
131 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 11 May 2007:

Sorry Suleyman Ninkovic, I have seen too many examples of various Pellumbistas, Turbanistas, Veloistas and similar Islam propagandists trying to inject confusion – exactly the way you tried and exactly as you failed. Dr. Trifkovic has provided a flawless view of an awkward situation where the media plays along with some “darker powers” and tries to avoid the key words of truth. The culprits are Albanian Muslims – it’s that simple. Since you found nothing wrong with the article itself, you chose to object on the grounds of things completely unrelated to the article. What is it that you intend to say? Debase the validity of the article? Agree with the media’s complicity.

Even the Interpol sites that I provided as sources list Albanian criminals as citizens of Serbia/Montenegro, or Yugoslavia. I understand that there could be one or two mistakes, here and there but this is an endemic recurrence that serves no truth and serves no man. If your derogatory remarks were aimed at the personality of Dr. Trifkovic, you can challenge him to a duel or you can get yourself in the same predicament as Dinesh did – (another numbskull who tried to get himself a scored point on account of Dr. Trifkovic’s perceived inaccuracy. There simply aren’t any. Your attempt to discredit a person behind an honest insightful analytical article is disgraceful as it is dishonest as is your (invented) used name. So what if Trifkovic ate a hard boiled egg or voted for the King Mombazu in the republic of Tonganzu? What is it to you? Do you get any point from trying to belittle such a good article? For Dr. Trifkovic this is nothing new. He’s been showing us, year after year, the danger of loose immigration laws – (EXACTLY APPLICALBE HERE), the probability of an anti-American sentiment from within America emanating from the Muslim community (EXACTLY APPLICABLE HERE). Between everything that is right, what exactly do you find objectionable? How qualified are you to make any pertinent remarks? What degree of knowledge or study do you have in regards to any portion of this article? From my end I can tell you (and this alleged Albanian Catholic) that there are no Christian Churches in the Northern Albania (within some 100km from Skoder (Skadar), in spite of Albanian claims that there are Christians there – maybe they now live in the caves that the landscape is dotted with – mosques they have – so they are not exactly atheists, but what happened to the churches? Vanished? I was there on a weekly basis throughout the early 1980’s, and from what I saw in other sources, nothing changed much in the meantime.
132 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 11 May 2007:

Isn’t it a cute coincidence that Pellumbi re-apperared here (let’s not say “has risen”) instead of Dr. Trifkovic’s collumn where he was a frequent obfuscator. Albanians as a nation came to Europe from the SouthEast corner of today’s Caspian Sea. The did have a small Christian presence prior to the 14th Century but their conversion rate to Islam was so predominant that even Turks adopted them as “their own” – At one time I worked as a translator/interpreter for the INS and saw a good number of Albanians with Turkish citizenship – of course they’ll go back to the “mother-ship”, I just wish they went sooner. From a linguistic point of view they are called Arnauts (among themselves also) which is a Turkish word meaning “stable boy” – the one who tends to horses. So Skanderbeg (whose both names were Greek more than Albanian – Georgiu Kastriyotis did fight Turks but that was an exception to the rule. It is with equal pride that during the WW2, many Albanians gladly joined the SS Waffen Skanderbeg division almost exclusively devoted to killing Christian Serbs in the region and under Albanian command. So with simple math you add it all up you have one improbable deed and some dozen or more inhuman acts. Sounds like Islam, smells like Islam, slithers like Islam – must be Islam.
133 Comment by Slobodan Ninkovic on 11 May 2007:

I did not made a thing in a few sentences that I wrote, including my name.
Do you think that is quoting someone an insult?
Simply I do not believe in judgment of someone that served Republika Srpska in time of the war.
134 Comment by Ronald Kyser on 11 May 2007:

Mr Cundiff wrote, “…this group, considered as a whole, is the source of all American music and dancing…”

Whoever is “the source of all American music and dancing”, at least for the last fifty years, owes the world a sincere apology.
135 Comment by Sheeraz Chishti on 12 May 2007:

Dear Sir/ Madam,

It will be great help if you will send the contact details of your office with the phone number and working mail because we are looking for placing some advertisement in your newspaper.

Thanking you,

Yours truly,

Sheeraz Chishti
India
136 Comment by David Rolfe on 12 May 2007:

It’s as if a person has been bitten by a savage dog which he trained to attack someone else. I can’t feel a great sense of outrage about this attempted attack, although it would have been better if the would-be perpetrators had gone after Bill Clinton, Tony Blair or Jamie Shea.
137 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 12 May 2007:

Boo-hoo, people with PhD degrees can’t be fooled by Albanian crybabies, in spite of all the massive evidence of their brutality constant presence as the world’s most wanted ethnic group within Interpol – can all of that be only a coincidence or is somehow connected to Islam? I can not speculate. There was a question as to where do Albanians come from. In spite of their rose colored views of being “ilyrians” and original inhabitants of the region – Albanians are a nomadic tribe of Semitic origin from the South Eastern part of the Caspian Sea, North of today’s Jordan, West of today’s Turkey. It was only with the 7th century movement of Islam that Albanians first saw Europen land under their feet. The ancient Roman empire made an effort not to integrate such undesirables into the empire as it left the far Eastern border just at the Caspian sea – today’s Turkmestan – Uzbekistan. Since the Albreader asked for data – here is more data. I know the Albanian reaction to this will be a denial, upon denial, but there will be no historica facts, maps, sources for the denial. Here is a map from the 6th century: http://www.euratlas.com/time/sea0600.htm
138 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 12 May 2007:

Albanian “European” origin: http://www.euratlas.com/time/sea0600.htm
139 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 12 May 2007:

The enless paradox is exactly contained in Ninkompoopovic’s view. Kosovo – an ancient Serbian land has no rights to belong to Serbia while Albanians in spite having their own state (unlike the Palestinians) DO HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASK FOR KOSOVO’S separation? And this same polici now DOES NOT apply the the substantial Serbian presence in Lika, Krajina, Republika Srpska? Isn’t that exactly the application of dual standards which have been used to reduce Serbian lands, decimate Serbian population, as a result of on-going anti-Christian propaganda which clearly shows where your priorities are.

So what if Dr. Trifkovic was helpful to some group of Serbs at some point, it is only natural that a person of Serbian origin would try to help and guide some other Serbians.

Where in the name of Jesus Harold Christ is the crime in that?

How does that invalidate any of the points made in this article?

Aside from being a constant threat to peace in Europe, the Muslim launching pad (today’s Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania) are a guaranteed source of Jihad in Europe (even in America – as this incident demonstrates) – isn’ t that a reason enough for concern?
140 Comment by Sid Cundiff on 12 May 2007:

With respect to his remark on American music and dancing, I invite Mr. Kyser to name names and designate compositions so as to support his claim. Does he mean Steve Reich “Octet”, “Music for Large Ensemble”, and “Music for 18 Musicians”? Does he mean John Adams “Common Tones in Simple Time” and “Fearful Symmetries”? Does he mean Balanchine and Graham?
141 Comment by Slobodan Ninkovic on 12 May 2007:

Trifkovic did not help Serbs; he was just cheerleading for Milosevic regime at one point. He still supports ideas behind disaster that Serbia was pushed by Sloba.
His interpretation of history, a least in Bosnian war case is purely Orwellian. Hand picking up facts from that are proving his agenda and twisting them sometimes.
We had a bunch of history like that in former Yugoslavia before war, behind Milosevic and behind his “opponents”. It does non bring anything to anyone.
In this case he is using group of paint ball guns trained Muslim idiots to continue his agenda necessity of a new big war for Christianity.
Mr. Pavlovich do you think that use of childish insults for my name proves something.
142 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 12 May 2007:

Indeed there is an ocassional Catholic or even an Othodox Christian Albanian (Mother Theresa was one – Catholic at onset) – however she spent most of her time in today’s Macedonia among the Eastern Orthodox Christians and it would be improbable that Eastern Orthodoxy left no influence on her subsequent life. Albanians, in the purest ethnical view belong to nomatic tribes of the Caspian Semitic people (not too different from the Azarbeijani, Iranians, Kurds, Eastern Turks. Within the Albanian language there is a lot more than a few Arabic words, Arabic mosques, etc. Georgiou Kastriotis (Skanderbeg) has been known to switch between Christianity and Islam several times and his ethnicity is unknown to this day. However the Waffen SS Skanderbeg is well documented and well known as an Albanian answer to (joining) Nazism, having murdered numerous Serbs, Gypsies, including priests and nuns. This is beyond rivalry and simple “animosity”. Islam only allowed a framework which condones killing of the kafiri “infidels”. So that Albanians are now “guilt free”, while pretending to be “victims”. Those same “victims” had been given their own university – in their own language, their own hospitals with their own doctors, etc. etc. What imaginary Serbian crimes are there in, or around Kosovo? The inflated Christiana Amanpour guestimates? From all those thousands of allegedly killed, the final count at one of the “mass graves of thousands” came down to 238 (two hunred thirty eight). Go figure, how well this propaganda works.
143 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 12 May 2007:

It certainly does help. See how you scaled down your animosity and hostility. At first Dr. Trifkovic was “a British educated intellectual” – as if there is something terribly wrong with the British educational system – I attended a good chunk of British schools and can’t find any serious flaws with them.

You failed to do any research by using these blanket statements groundlessly. “Dr. Trifkovic supports Milosevic’s regime” seems to be taken out of Carla Del Ponte’s workbook. There are some Serbs (and non-Serbs) who are convinced that Islam and Roman Catholicism have been detrimental to the greatly reduced number of Serbians in the region (“Oluja” – military action remains UNSANCTIONED anywhere, while the Serbian “attrocities” are getting greater by the hour. What exact 8000 Muslims did Serbians “kill” at Srebrenica (a predominantly Serbian village?

Views like yours are inaccurate as much as they are toxic and biased, ignoring the plainest of facts. So if it takes a “childish name calling” to get you to see some sense – than that’s what it takes. Dr. Trifkovic has been, by far, the most diligent follower of Islamic invasion – in spite of the fact that they have (not yet) landed on American shores. He deserves credit beyond these comments here. He’s been fair, balanced, objective and accurate. I, would not have the capacity for such a sustained mild effort in the face of such injustice towards a peaceful God-loving Christian nation. Similar examples from the past showed us how Poland was swallowed and partitioned, how Bulgaria was rewarded in WW1, how Albanians prospered with their SS Skanderbeg Waffen division. I don’t need to see yet another Cele Kula (the tower of skulls) to know who is the perpetrator.

“My eyes and my heart greeted the remains of those brave men whose cut-off heads made the cornerstone of the independence of their homeland. May the Serbs keep this monument! It will always teach their children the value of the independence of a people, showing them the real price their fathers had to pay for it.” from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull_Tower
144 Comment by Ronald Kyser on 12 May 2007:

This piece was about Albania and Albanians, and it is impolite of us posters to digress, so I will pass up Mr Cundiff’s invitation. Except to note that the only Albanian “musician” and “dancer” Americans could readily name, John Belushi, is as representative as any of what our aural landscape has become, and reinforces my point that this country needs to apologize to the world for its music industry.
145 Comment by liria on 12 May 2007:

i am not sure what you want to say but dont forgot one thing albanian are more europian than serbs .
146 Comment by albania on 12 May 2007:

averything that you say are lays and for Usa this is not important serb opinions because they now who wreally are albanians and who serbs. you killed thausands of people not only in kosova because its in your mentality to kill people and to say we are victims
147 Pingback by Definitionen av otacksamhet « Förnuftets kalla och oresonliga röst on 12 May 2007:

[...] Och därmed har du också definitionen av otacksamhet. Srdja Trifkovic tillägger: Having been assured ad nauseam over the years by successive U.S. administrations that Kosovo’s Albanians are not really serious about their Islam, that even when they desecrate Christian churches and joyously rip crosses from their cupolas they do it for nationalist rather than jihadist reasons, the powers-that-be are doing their utmost to ensure that the public remains anesthetized. Asking when and how Albanian “secularists” became Islamic radicals is a no-no. Being so audacious as to wonder what this transformation bodes for a new, independent Muslim state in the heart of Europe is simply not on. Asking questions about major KLA figures’ documented links to jihad terrorism (including to Osama bin Laden personally) is polizeilich verboten. In the meantime, cadres, cash and ordnance linked to jihadist outrages all over Europe have been traced back to Kosovo, including the bombings in Madrid (March 2004) and London (July 2005), and a rocket attack on the U.S. embassy in Athens last year. [...]
148 Comment by Mina Djuric on 12 May 2007:

Hilarious and undeniably true. I concur wholeheartedly that I obviously do not have an unbiased opinion regarding Albanian Muslims. However, having lived in many different countries in which there can be found Albanians (USA, Italy, France) it is not only Serbs who share the view that Albanian Muslims are, for the most part, a conflictive, dangerous peoples. An interesting fact — I read in a book that Albania is the first “truly atheist nation”, which, when put into context with the actions of these terrorists and of others in Albania and Kosovo, can be seen as true — what tenet of Islam allows for the mindframe with which, it seems, every Albanian is brought up ? The propagation of hate, a blatant disregard for religion (hence the burning of Orthodox churches), and an acceptance of the need to constantly create conflicts, be it over the current situation in Kosovo or something as trivial as a street fight in Queens (of which I have witnessed many). The Albanian Mob is now the biggest Mafia action on the East Coast, involving itself in drug trafficking and other illegal activities. This is not to say that all Albanians are like this — and yet, it seems to be ingrained in the culture, a certain acceptance of the aforementioned.

And as for Americans! There is nothing more to be said. Well done.
149 Comment by Allen Wilson on 13 May 2007:

Mr Wolf’s disagreement with my statement on
‘The Grapes of Wrath’ is understandable. My family were also Arkies who took that same path to California and picked fruit in the San Joaquin valley, and that time period is part of my family’s lore. It’s not the movie’s story itself, which is accurate and actually a good story. It’s some the details in the movie which made me see it as propaganda, and I hesitate to illustrate these details since I haven’t seen the movie in a long time.

TJF has said some things on the subject of this movie which I was going to say in response Mr Wolf. I agree that Ford was no Communist. It could be that the propaganda was already in the original novel by John Steinbeck and got translated into the movie by default. Perhaps it was actually the novel that failed at being propaganda, though it may have been a good novel.

I suppose even propaganda can sometimes be a great work of literature or cinema (but I dont think ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ is a great work of literature). I have heard that some movies made in Vichy France were really good movies, and ‘Alexander Nevsky’ was obviously propaganda but some say it was one of the greatest movies ever made.

I also agree with Dr Wilson that it is sometimes simply innocence and not realising that one is the target of unaccountable hatred that causes people to miss the point of propaganda. How else do we account for the movie ‘Deliverance’ not causing riots throughout the South when it came out?
150 Comment by Allen Wilson on 13 May 2007:

I think the Albanians are mainly of Illyrian descent, though of course they obviously have a lot of admixture. The Illyrians were Europeans, belonged to the Indo-European race, and were as indigenous to Europe as a people can be. As for the Turkish element in their blood, even much of this may be European, since it has been claimed that modern Turks are mostly descended from oppressed and brutalised Byzantines who converted to Islam over the course of time after the Turkish conquest of central Anatolia, and most of these people were descended from European settlers who arrived in Anatolia in late prehistory. The invasive Central Asian Turkish element was comparatively small in numbers. Racially, Modern Turks can be thought of much like modern Russians, who are European but sometimes can have a Turkic element from Central asian invaders, just as many white Americans have an admixture of American Indian blood.

The Byzantines were far more civilised and cultured, and much better in their behaviour and sense of honour than Turks historically have been, so perhaps this illustrates what can happen to the character of a people who convert to Islam. If modern Turkey is mostly European racially, then Turkey serves as a good indication of what will happen to the rest of Europe if it goes Muslim.

Conversely, great cultural changes such as happened in Anatolia can be reversed, and if the Turks eventually were to convert to Christianity, perhaps Anatolia would become a heartland of Europe itself, and once again a first line of defence against Asiatic hordes, just as it once was. The same could happen with Albania. Don’t laugh, after all, for centuries, Anatolia was a citadel of European Christianity while Spain was a Muslim controlled backwater, an enclave of Islamic occupation in Europe itself, but then who eventually spread Christianity over the New World?.
151 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 13 May 2007:

CHILD TRAFFICKING IN ALBANIA. MARCH, 2001.

http://www.savethechildren.it/2003/download/pubblicazioni/traffickingAlbania/traffickingAlbania.pdf

School bus hijacking in Athens, Greece, and countless others. What scularism is that? Even if I wanted to biased I couldn’t the simple facts are too abundant. There is not enough space to enumerate all the attrocities committed in the name of “Albanian secularism” – but it’s surprising that the targets are most often Eastern Orthodox Christians, while inside Albania proper, targets are other Albanians – probably those last 5 Christians that Mr. Moses mentioned earlier.
152 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 13 May 2007:

A young Albanian who hijacked a Greek public bus in May 1999

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a713624070~db=all
153 Comment by GJ Tryon on 13 May 2007:

Mr. Ninkovic’s belief, grounded though it may very well be in bitter personal experience, that our esteemed author’s former connection with the Milosevic government implicitly discredits everything he writes about the growing chaos in Kosovo begs a number of important questions: was the Milosevic government entirely culpable of alleged atrocities? (Tribunal verdict: No); was Milosevic himself entirely dishonorable in his pursuit of Serbian advantage or simply a good patriot? (Too early to tell); and finally, did Mr. Trifkovic ever undertake anything dishonorable in his capacity as Milosevic’s spokesman? (No evidence he ever did). But it will be up to Mr.Trifcovic himself to address and reject his former countryman’s unjust censure squarely and categorically, if he so deigns.
154 Comment by David Rolfe on 13 May 2007:

Srdja Trifkovic is one of a number of commentators from across the political spectrum who have warned us that we have been deceived about events in ‘the former Yugoslavia’. Most of these commentators have no links with Serbia and no obvious reason to be partisan. I find their version of events easier to believe than anything put out by the US and British governments, who did not hesitate to spin a web of deceipt about the threat allegedly posed by Saddam Hussein.
155 Comment by Trifkovic on 13 May 2007:

For the curious, re. Trifkovic-Milosevic-Karadzic “connection”:

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:Y7lZHzkxDV8J:www.chroniclesmagazine.org/News/Trifkovic/NewsST011703.html+trifkovic+apology&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

from January 17, 2003

Last Monday (January 13) a slanderous attack on me by one Stephen Schwartz was published by Frontpagemag.com. Calling me “the noted Islamophobe,” Schwartz claimed that I am closely identified with “the Russian ‘red-brown’ (Communazi) newspaper Pravda” and that I was “the main public advocate in the West for the regime of Slobodan Milosevic.”

Two days later, on January 15, David Horowitz published the following “Apology and Correction Regarding Serge Trifkovic” on FrontPageMagazine.com:

Frontpage regrets characterizations of Serge Trifkovic, author of The Sword of the Prophet, that were made in an article by Stephen Schwartz (CAIR’s Axis of Evil) to the effect that Trifkovic is an Islamophobe, is associated with Pravda or Antiwar.com, and “was the main advocate in the West for the regime of Slobodan Milosevic.” Serge Trifkovic is not associated with either Pravda or Antiwar.com. He was not a supporter of Slobodan Milsoevic. He is not an Islamophobe nor would Frontpage have given extensive space to a summary of his book if he were. Frontpage regrets any pain or injury this may have caused to Mr. Trifkovic. — David Horowitz.

Frontpage also published my “Reply”
http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=5547
which included, inter alia, the following:

… [T]he claim that I was “the main public advocate in the West for the regime of Slobodan Milosevic” is as unfunny as it is untrue. It is also hurtful to me personally in view of the many risks I have taken with my long and well documented position vis-a-vis Mr. Milosevic. Let us therefore leave rhetoric aside and look at a small segment of verbatim quotes from my extensive record of articles and interviews on the subject of the former Serbian president, starting 13 years ago and continuing until our time:

“Slobodan Milosevic is cynically exploiting the nationalist awakening to perpetuate Communist rule and his own power in the eastern half of Yugoslavia.” U.S. News & World Report, June 18, 1990

“Communist leader Slobodan Milosevic needs outside enemies to halt the erosion of his popularity… Yugoslavia could be well on its way to becoming the Lebanon of Europe.” U.S. News & World Report, November 12, 1990

“Demagogue and populist.” The Yugoslav Crisis and the United States. (Stanford: Hoover Institution, 1991)

“Trifkovic said he [was] critical of the authoritarian rule of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and has called for his removal from office and democratic reforms.” The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), Sunday, September 6, 1992, p. 6-B

“Trusting Milosevic is like giving a bloodbank to Count Drakula.” The Times (London), Thursday, November 23, 1995, p. 16

“Milosevic has used his newly-fangled international legitimacy [after Dayton] to stifle even further all political opposition and to reassert state control.” The Phoenix Gazette, Tuesday, March 19, 1996, p. B5

“Milosevic is afraid of having Mladic and Karadzic delivered to The Hague not because of the possibility of a Serb backlash in Serbia itself, but because those two know quite a lot about Milosevic’s own role in the early days of the Yugoslav war, in ‘91 and ‘92.” BBC World Service TV, Newsdesk (live) 10:25GMT, Wednesday, 29 May 1996

“For Mr. Milosevic, the very existence of any alternative to his own power is not legitimate. Even the current facade of multi-party system he allowed only under pressure, treating it as something odious and temporary.” The Phoenix Gazette, Wednesday, December 18, 1996, p. B4

“The sanctions had proved an absolute boon to Milosevic. He could blame them for the abysmal economic situation in the country, which was in fact due to the structural defects of an inefficient socialist economy—an economy he was unwilling to reform… Milosevic could observe with calm equanimity the exodus of about a quarter of a million predominantly young and well-educated urban Serbs. Those who had provided the backbone of political opposition to his government were emigrating, and he was staying.” Chronicles, June 1997

“An incorrigible communist and blunderer.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, Saturday, September 6, 1997

“Milosevic… manipulates these crises to preserve his power. With each new surrender he is temporarily converted by the West from the Beast of the Balkans into the Necessary Partner. This outcome would be awful for Serbia. The nation should lose its tyrant, not its borders.” The Times (London), Thursday, March 18, 1999

“Albright and Milosevic manipulate each other and deserve each other… He had always been a recycled Communist apparatchik who manipulated the thetoric of nationalism in order to extend his shelf life. And his behaviour had always been personally functional, but systematically, from the viewpoint of Serb interests, dysfunctional. That’s why Serbs are in such a dire predicament right now.” CNN, Friday, March 26, 1999.

“Milosevic [is] a misshapen tyrant who will not flap his wings as long as he can feed on the evr-shrinking innards of Inner Serbia.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, Monday, November 22, 1999, p. A15

“Serbia, thanks to Milosevic, acquired the image of the last bastion of communism in Europe.” Testimony to the Canadian House of Commons, February 17, 2000

“Milosevic in Serbia and President Franjo Tudjman in Croatia were both busy establishing a quasi-dictatorial post-communist regime, and they needed vulgar nationalism—for a time—to outbid the most vulgar nationalists.” The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World. Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 80

“Something has snapped in the minds of many Serbs. They can now visualize Serbia after Milosevic. They can visualize Serbia without sanctions and without the shame that he has brought upon his people… And once they lose their respect, they will loss fear. And once they lose fear, they may end up lynching him.” CNN Headline News, live, Saturday, September 30, 2000, 6:10 p.m. Eastern

“Like some crazed anti-Midas, in his 13 years of chaotically autocratic rule Milosevic destroyed everything he touched… [He] cared not a hoot for his people’s interests or dignity, and turned his country into a corrupt, mafia-infested basket case. Milosevic’s arrogance and low cunning were matched only by his utter inability to devise a coherent strategy of anything—including his own political survival… It will take Serbia decades to recover from this awful man.” ChroniclesExtra, April 14, 2001

The list goes on, but this small sample should suffice. Of course I opposed the misguided NATO intervention in the Balkans, and the systematic misrepresentation of the wars of Yugoslav succession. In doing so I was in good company on both Left and Right, and on both sides of the Atlantic-but that is a different story. [...]

I have met Karadzic during my many trips to the Balkans but I never “worked” for him. Yes, I was Plavsic’s consultant during her brief presidency (1998), when she was persona gratissima in Washington, where I accompanied her during her visit in May of that year. She was certainly not a “member of the Milosevic regime”—quite the contrary, she was his determined foe, which made it possible for me to help her, and made her attractive in the eyes of the U.S. Administration.
156 Comment by TRIFKOVIC on 13 May 2007:

Re Trifkovic-Milosevic-Karadzic “connection,” please see

http://www.frontpagemag.com/articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=5547

which has D. Horowitz’s apology to me personally:

Frontpage regrets characterizations of Serge Trifkovic… that were made in an article by Stephen Schwartz (CAIR’s Axis of Evil) to the effect that Trifkovic… “was the main advocate in the West for the regime of Slobodan Milosevic.” Serge Trifkovic… was not a supporter of Slobodan Milsoevic… Frontpage regrets any pain or injury this may have caused to Mr. Trifkovic.– David Horowitz

It also has my response to Schwartz (a self-avowed “Jew for Allah” whose Muslim name is Suleyman Ahmad) in which I state, inter alia:

[T]he claim that I was “the main public advocate in the West for the regime of Slobodan Milosevic” is as unfunny as it is untrue. It is also hurtful to me personally in view of the many risks I have taken with my long and well documented position vis-a-vis Mr. Milosevic. Let us therefore leave rhetoric aside and look at a small segment of verbatim quotes from my extensive record of articles and interviews on the subject of the former Serbian president, starting 13 years ago and continuing until our time:

“Slobodan Milosevic is cynically exploiting the nationalist awakening to perpetuate Communist rule and his own power in the eastern half of Yugoslavia.” U.S. News & World Report, June 18, 1990

“Communist leader Slobodan Milosevic needs outside enemies to halt the erosion of his popularity… Yugoslavia could be well on its way to becoming the Lebanon of Europe.” U.S. News & World Report, November 12, 1990

“Demagogue and populist.” The Yugoslav Crisis and the United States. Stanford: Hoover Institution, 1991

“Trifkovic said he [was] critical of the authoritarian rule of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and has called for his removal from office and democratic reforms.” The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), Sunday, September 6, 1992, p. 6-B

“[Trusting] Milosevic is like giving a bloodbank to Count Drakula.” The Times (London), Thursday, November 23, 1995, p. 16

“Milosevic has used his newly-fangled international legitimacy [after Dayton] to stifle even further all political opposition and to reassert state control.” The Phoenix Gazette, Tuesday, March 19, 1996, p. B5

“Milosevic is afraid of having Mladic and Karadzic delivered to The Hague not because of the possibility of a Serb backlash in Serbia itself, but because those two know quite a lot about Milosevic’s own role in the early days of the Yugoslav war, in ‘91 and ‘92.” BBC World Service TV, “Newsdesk” (live) 10:25GMT, Wednesday, 29 May 1996

“For Mr. Milosevic, the very existence of any alternative to his own power is not legitimate. Even the current façade of multi-party system he allowed only under pressure, treating it as something odious and temporary.” The Phoenix Gazette, Wednesday, December 18, 1996, p. B4

“The sanctions had proved an absolute boon to Milosevic. He could blame them for the abysmal economic situation in the country, which was in fact due to the structural defects of an inefficient socialist economy – an economy he was unwilling to reform… Milosevic could observe with calm equanimity the exodus of about a quarter of a million predominantly young and well-educated urban Serbs. Those who had provided the backbone of political opposition to his government were emigrating, and he was staying.” Chronicles, June 1997

“An incorrigible communist and blunderer.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Saturday, September 6, 1997

“Milosevic… manipulates these crises to preserve his power. With each new surrender he is temporarily converted by the West from the Beast of the Balkans into the Necessary Partner. This outcome would be awful for Serbia. The nation should lose its tyrant, not its borders.” The Times (London), Thursday, March 18, 1999

“Albright and Milosevic manipulate each other and deserve each other… He had always been a recycled Communist apparatchik who manipulated the thetoric of nationalism in order to extend his shelf life. And his behaviour had always been personally functional, but systematically, from the viewpoint of Serb interests, dysfunctional. That’s why Serbs are in such a dire predicament right now.”
CNN, Friday, March 26, 1999.

“Milosevic [is] a misshapen tyrant who will not flap his wings as long as he can feed on the evr-shrinking innards of Inner Serbia.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, Monday, November 22, 1999, p. A15

“Serbia, thanks to Milosevic, acquired the image of the last bastion of communism in Europe.” Testimony to the Canadian House of Commons, February 17, 2000

“Milosevic in Serbia and President Franjo Tudjman in Croatia were both busy establishing a quasi-dictatorial post-communist regime, and they needed vulgar nationalism – for a time – to outbid the most vulgar nationalists.” The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World. Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 80

“Something has snapped in the minds of many Serbs. They can now visualize Serbia after Milosevic. They can visualize Serbia without sanctions and without the shame that he has brought upon his people. . . And once they lose their respect, they will loss fear. And once they lose fear, they may end up lynching him.” CNN Headline News, live, Saturday, September 30, 2000, 6:10 p.m. Eastern

“Like some crazed anti-Midas, in his 13 years of chaotically autocratic rule Milosevic destroyed everything he touched… [He] cared not a hoot for his people’s interests or dignity, and turned his country into a corrupt, mafia-infested basket case. Milosevic’s arrogance and low cunning were matched only by his utter inability to devise a coherent strategy of anything – including his own political survival. . . It will take Serbia decades to recover from this awful man.” Chronicles Online, April 14, 2001

The list goes on, but this small sample should suffice. Of course I opposed the misguided NATO intervention in the Balkans, and the systematic misrepresentation of the wars of Yugoslav succession by the likes of Schwartz. In doing so I was in good company on both Left and Right, and on both sides of the Atlantic…

I have met Karadzic during my many trips to the Balkans but I never “worked” for him. Yes, I was Plavsic’s consultant during her brief presidency (1998), when she was persona gratissima in Washington, where I accompanied her during her visit in May of that year. She was certainly not a “member of the Milosevic regime” — quite the contrary, she was his determined foe, which made it possible for me to help her, and made her attractive in the eyes of the U.S. Administration.
157 Comment by Don Castella on 13 May 2007:

Your new website has removed a treasure trove of useful articles from public access. This is a very unfortunate development.
158 Comment by Lloyd A. Conway on 13 May 2007:

And they say it’s a small world. I was mobilized with my National Guard unit last fall for duty in Iraq, sent to Ft. Dix, and ordered pizza from the only place that delivered to our barracks. (Our choices were Chinese and the pizza parlor in question.) It was too easy – other soldiers told us that they’d be there in a snap, as they knew where the barracks was, etc. None of us thought a thing about it; we’re hip-deep in Iraq, but 5+ years after 9/11, our security, even on a military post used as the major staging area for Guard/Reserve units deploying to Iraq, is still virtually nil.
My solution? Order a “Pork-Lovers’ Special,” and serve it to them for their last meal before their execution. I hereby volunteer for firing-squad duty.
-Lloyd A. Conway
159 Comment by LLoyd A. Conway on 13 May 2007:

My oldest daughter was a victim of a likely illegal alien would-be rapist. I write “would be” because a pair of headlights spooked him. That’s what you get for taking a shortcut home from your after-school job, through the parking lot of an apartment building reputed to be full of illegals – you come within an eyelash of being raped in a parking lot within sight of your own back door. As it was, she – thank God – had only cuts and bruises to show for it.
Nothing came of the incident, either from the police, or from my searching for her assailant. Perhaps the open-borders crowd should be made to live next door to those whom they thrust upon the rest of us. Then let them preach.
160 Comment by IDLIR on 13 May 2007:

Mr Iliya Pavlovich

the bus hijacked from the albanian emigrant in greece was not related with any terrorism organisation.
the real reason was that this gentleman worked for a greek farmer for 6 months and he refused to give him his money, The albanian guy came from a very poor village of albania to make some money helping his family. in a very bad psychological condition he decided to hijack a public bus asking his money.
all the hostages was rescued

i dont understand why are you relating this story with the terrorism.
theres one and only reason mr Iliya Pavlovich to give albainians a bad name before the Decision Of the indipendence of KOSOVO.

well i am so sorry to inform you that thanks god albanians have proven long time ago the frienship to the american people.
NOmatter how hard sick nationalists like yourself try to spread antialbanian propaganda KOSOVO indipendence is already signed.
Theres nothing you can do.SErbian epoke is over.

Ps : Who supported the american goverment in the case of 4 chinese prisioners. named by chinese goverment as terrorists ?
ALBANIA was the only country that rescued american fereign politic from the diplomatica agravation with china.

So to me this is just an insulated case. They dont rapresent albanian people . They dont even claim anything in the name of albania. they are brainwashed form the fake islam predictions .
\prediod
161 Comment by George Ajjan on 13 May 2007:

Dr. Wilson,

Your best tidbit on this topic concerned last summer’s war in Lebanon – “soldiers are captured or taken prisoner, not kidnapped”. I’ve used that one several times – thanks for the rhetorical assist.
162 Comment by Jerome on 13 May 2007:

It is appalling that some one would expect to gain insight about the Albanian people from someone whose name ends with -Kovic. Let’s face it, nutrality is just a term for intolerant idealist. I have studied Albanian culture and have grown to love it for several reasons but the most improtant: their rich history of hospitality and support of other nations in times of need. if it wasn’t for the Albanians, I am referring here to Christ’s Athlete (do some reading to find out), many parts of Europe would have been speaking Turkish by now !!!
163 Comment by Alex Quinn on 13 May 2007:

I agree with Dr. Wilson’s thoughts; perhaps I may point further infelicities I have recently come across?
“…the most beautiful and utilizable of all the tongues of man.” Surely no educated man could use such a dreadful word as “utilizable.”

“In our country in our time it is stultifying, perhaps somewhat like what happened to Latin and Greek after the classical period.”
I am not quite sure what to make of this sentence. What is now stultifying: what has happened to English, or English itself? In the former case the sentence is ugly, and in the latter it is grammatically incorrect.

“It used to be an industry was something that made things. It did not cover buying and selling pieces of paper.” Dr. Wilson is confusing the signifier and signified.

‘Abortion is routinely described in the media as a “procedure.”’ Abortion is a procedure (a particularly gruesome one). So is bypass sugery.

“For them their opinion predefines reality.” Try saying “their arm is broken” and maybe you’ll understand.

Perhaps Dr. Wilson should spend less time seeking out examples of the debasement of English and more time improving his grasp of it.
164 Trackback by Adderall. on 13 May 2007:

Adderall….

Adderall….
165 Comment by David Rolfe on 14 May 2007:

No doubt it would be nice to gain an insight into the Albanian people, but it is of more interest to know what has been going on (and is going on) in the the ‘former Yugoslavia’ and, just as important, what my country’s government has been up to over there. Information is available from a range a sources – only a minority of informants have names endings in ‘-kovic’.

Here is a piece by Michael Meacher – a former Minister in the UK government.

“Less well known is evidence of the British government’s relationship with a wider Islamist terrorist network. During an interview on Fox TV this summer, the former US federal prosecutor John Loftus reported that British intelligence had used the al-Muhajiroun group in London to recruit Islamist militants with British passports for the war against the Serbs in Kosovo. Since July Scotland Yard has been interested in an alleged member of al-Muhajiroun, Haroon Rashid Aswat, who some sources have suggested could have been behind the London bombings.

According to Loftus, Aswat was detained in Pakistan after leaving Britain, but was released after 24 hours. He was subsequently returned to Britain from Zambia, but has been detained solely for extradition to the US, not for questioning about the London bombings. Loftus claimed that Aswat is a British-backed double agent, pursued by the police but protected by MI6.”

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1566919,00.html
166 Comment by jack bailey on 14 May 2007:

Really Mr Quinn, signifier and signified, my arm is broken. Dr Wison did not attach himself to the pedantic. I managed to get all his tropes and I suspect so did you. So why take him to task? Unless it is some personal thing or if you are a liberal, which is also a possibility. Obviously you enjoy frolicking in your own linguistic superiority. For the obvious one: one may be able to reduce a bypass to a procedure, but it does not qualify for a moral issue. But perhaps I am wrong, you might be aware of some bypass-for-choice movement lurking somewhere within the signified.
167 Comment by Christopher Kelleher on 14 May 2007:

Two additional examples from a weekend commencement speech here in New Hampshire by that loathsome embarrassment to the South, John Edwards:
1. Encouraging “transformational change” and
2. Asserting that the young graduates can “literally move mountains.” As far as I could tell, not one of those graduates had a bulldozer or front-end loader.
168 Comment by David Rolfe on 14 May 2007:

H W Fowler has given examples of mistakes in the published work of authors who are regarded as masters of their craft, so Dr Wilson is in good company. Grammatical mistakes are made by all of us, except perhaps by Alex Quinn. There’s is no point in getting upset about them They matter far less than the insidious changes identified by George Orwell more than fifty years ago, in his “Politics and the English Language”. That essay is a great help to those who want to keep their won language from being corrupted.
169 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 14 May 2007:

Mr. Quinn, I am not concerned about fine points of grammar. I am concerned about speech that lacks both substance and creativity because it has been cut free of its roots. Pedantry is part of the problem, not part of the solution.
170 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 14 May 2007:

School bus is not nearly as benign as it seems to be. If we all expressed our grievances by employing retribution of any kind (let alone hijacking a school-bus with children) the entire world would be a complete CHAOS. Where are the traces of humanity and civility among the people who are proponents of Islam? Nowhere. The Interpol alone has devoted half of its manpower to search for various Albanians. Granted Mother Theres was also Albanian, but shuch a strong propensity towards crime and such ample evidence on past (as well as) ongoing criminal activities only become that much more prominent when the idea of Islamic Jihad is introduced – Didn’t those numbskulls shout “Allahu Akbar”. If my brain operated at only 30% capacity I’d be a little concerned not to mention suspicious and puzzled with Albanian true motives.

What are those good traits that Albanians have exibite throughout history?

1. They shot Serbian women and children while crossing frozen mountains January 1916 in spite of King Zog’s (Albanian king) who decreed that Albanian treat Serbian refugees with kindness and even accept their paper money – FAT CHANCE.

2. The entire Kosovo region has been Serbian for hundreds of years (how else woule the names of the rivers, mountains and towns be so clearly Serbian, how else would there be such a presence of Easter Orthodox Serbian Christian monuments, cemetaries, etc.?)

3. Albanian willingness to side against Serbians (with Turks during the Ottoman empire, with Germans during WW2) clearly shows that their appetite for the land of the Serbian neighbors has been on the increase.

4. Albanian mafia is involved in a lot more than drug trafficking and whitle slavery – both highly profitable activites where money can be funneled towars Albanian sources in the West (politicians of all nations are equally susceptable to receiveing large amounts of money for their “views’ – voices).

5. Albanian Semitic Origin (ethnically Souther shores of the Caspian Sea – today’s Azarbeijan, Iran, Eastern Turkey) makes them unwelcome in among both Greeks and Serbs. Their lands were awarded to them by a congress (London 1912) as follows:
“Creating a new state Shortly after the defeat of Turkey by the Balkan allies, a conference of ambassadors of the Great Powers (Britain, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Italy) convened in London in December 1912 to settle the outstanding issues raised by the conflict. With support given to the Albanians by Austria-Hungary and Italy, the conference agreed to create an independent state of Albania. But, in drawing the borders of the new state, owing to strong pressure from Albania’s neighbours, the Great Powers largely ignored demographic realities and ceded the vast region of Kosova to Serbia, while, in the south, Greece was given the greater part of ‚ameria, a part of the old region of Epirus centred on the Thamis River. Many observers doubted whether the new state would be viable with about one-half of Albanian lands and population left outside its borders, especially since these lands were the most productive in food grains and livestock. On the other hand, a small community of about 35,000 ethnic Greeks was included within Albania’s borders. (However, Greece, which counted all Albanians of the Orthodox faith–20 percent of the population–as Greeks, claimed that the number of ethnic Greeks was considerably larger.) Thereafter, Kosova and the‚ cameria remained troublesome issues in Albanian-Greek and Albanian-Yugoslav relations. The Great Powers also appointed a German prince, Wilhelm Wied, as ruler of Albania. Wilhelm arrived in Albania in March 1914, but his unfamiliarity with Albania and its problems, compounded by complications arising from the outbreak of World War I, led him to depart from Albania six months later. The war plunged the country into a new crisis, as the armies of Austria-Hungary, France, Italy, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia invaded and occupied it. Left without any political leadership or authority, the country was in chaos, and its very fate hung in the balance. At the Paris Peace Conference after the war, the extinction of Albania was averted largely through the efforts of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who vetoed a plan by Britain, France, and Italy to partition Albania among its neighbours.”

XX. With friends like that – who need enemies?
171 Comment by TJF on 14 May 2007:

The Turkish ethnic mix is complicated. as it is in countries like Mexico or Hungary, by distinctions of class and region. I once calculated the bloodline of Mehmed the Conqeror, who turns out to be hardly Turkish at all. Today in the city I refuse to call anything but Constantinople, middle and upperclass Turks look and act very European. Many have fairer skins than people in the Balkans. On the other hand, one can see among the urban poor people who do not seem to have a drop of European blood, and I am told that peasants in central Anatolia are even more striking. The Turkish soldiers who invaded the Balkans 6 centuries ago would have been far more Turkish than their Sultans or their urban descendants today.

As for Albanians, there is no consensus on how Illyrian they are, but no part of the world that has been so fought over can maintain much ethnic or racial purity. The Albanian upperclasses during the Byzantine Empire deliberately forged marital alliances with Greeks and Slavs. The Albanian/Serb hostility is really the result of the Albanians’ conversion to Islam and even then, in the beginning, Slavic and Albanian Muslims worked together to raid, conquer, and oppress the Christians of Montenegro. My little history of Montenegro would tell you more than you want to know. At least that is what my wife says.
172 Comment by David Rolfe on 14 May 2007:

The promiscuous use of the prefix ‘pre-’ can be annoying. ‘Pre-warned’ and ‘pre-ordered’ are examples I have come across recently , ‘pre-owned’ is another – (no second-hand stuff for us).
173 Comment by Robert Reavis on 14 May 2007:

“Goodbye Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster and hello Metrosexuals and National Review pundits.”

“I am concerned about speech that lacks both substance and creativity because it has been cut free of its roots. Pedantry is part of the problem, not part of the solution.”

Dr. Wilson,
Your writing is full of roots –southern, agrarian, manners, music, and humor . I once asked my classics professor the name of the most modern author he had ever read. “Evelyn Waugh, he said, but I would not recommend him. There is much better English to read, beginning with Beowulf !!” Thanks rr
174 Comment by Dan Smith on 14 May 2007:

As Richard Mitchell pointed out, corrupt thought is contagious, and nothing could be more corrupting than television, where discourse has degenerated to repartee and taking the high ground assured by smart-ass irreverance. The pace requires answering without thought, resulting in catenations of cliches and jargon, which become nearly hypnotic when practiced by the experts of obfuscation. It is, of course, the language of power and sneering at it betrays exclusion, not superiority. Cleverness is Power, as they say, and the average Joe shows he has none as he gets tongue tied trying to regurgitate the appropriate cliche peppered with in-the-know jargon.
175 Comment by Theodore Van Oosbree on 14 May 2007:

If the speech and thought processes of Southerners are the gauge to measure proper English usage then give me the Midwest!
176 Comment by Caper on 14 May 2007:

I am thankful for having read this blog. The experience has disabused me of certain pro-Southern notions which I once adopted. At last, the truth comes out. Slightly more than one-half of my ancestors came to this country as speakers of German, Swiss-German, and Norwegian. Therefore English is not truly my “inherited” language. According to Dr. Wilson, it is not sufficient to learn standard English at home and in school. No, native tongue is determined by a grandfather clause going back several generations! Ergo, I probably should be deprived of the right to vote. Additionally, those of my ancestors who were here at the time of the Revolution should be posthumously pilloried for having miscegenated with the newcomers. Now I understand how bigoted WASPs once denied that Germans and Irishmen were white.

Forget the fact that many English words come from Old Norse via the Danelaw. Forget that a great part of our lexicon arrived with the Norman aristocracy, i.e. with folks who did not know English. Never mind the fact that one reason why English is so “utilizable” (yes, I must concur with Mr. Quinn that this is an ugly word) is the fact that it absorbs words from foreign languages so easily, usually without bothering to change the spelling. English apparently belongs only to those who have inherited it, and most non-Southern American dialects be damned.

I myself am a grammarian by trade, and I routinely correct split infinitives, dangling participles, and meaningless gibberish in the term papers of my college students. I agree with Dr. Wilson that poor English is highly “utilizable” to those who wish to corrupt discourse in our country (well, “countries” — I am not a Southerner). However, Dr. Wilson’s analysis is distorted, as is virtually everything he writes, by his own anachronisms. One is the persistent belief (or intimations of such a belief) that people whose ancestors came here generations ago somehow are still unassimilated, unassimilable foreigners (e.g. the Germans of the Midwest, and, so it would seem, the Italians and Slavs of the Northeast).

Another problem is his apparent belief that the meanings of metaphors are not supposed to change over time. What is so strange about a bill being “shot down”? What is “debased” about the use of a sports metaphor in political discourse? Are not political campaigns (“campaign” in this sense is a dead metaphor from the military, I believe) also called “races”? (Perhaps Dr. Wilson is simply venting his hatred against professional sports?) As with Dr. Wilson’s own grammatical errors, do we not understand what is being said?

Why am I still thankful for having read this blog? Hearing these Southerners and Southern “wannabes” (many from my own Midwest) pine about Dixie — and occasionally indulge in poor thinking while doing so — has made me appreciate my own homeland even more. I have heard that in Chesterton’s “The Napoleon of Notting Hill” one person who is proud of his locality provokes his opponents to do likewise. In my yearning for local pride, I once looked southward. Perhaps the South was not made up of the one-dimensional bigots I had heard about (yes, that last word is a preposition). Well, I found that the South had much more than bigots, but it still had bigotry in the mix (*just as the North did and does*!). I think that the stereotype of the “Yankee” is one of the weaknesses of the South. I did not grow up a “Yankee” in the “North” — I grew up a Midwesterner in the Midwest. I did not grow up caring all that much about the South, certainly not enough to define myself in opposition to it as the stereotypical Yankee of Southern thought seems to do. I am too confused about my identity as one born in Illinois of (carpetbagging?) Wisconsinite parents to care what a bunch of Southerners intent on repeating the Civil War think. Those Yankees who hate the South and those Southerners who hate the North really do deserve each other. Thank you for teaching me this. Had I simply stuck to admiring the South from afar instead of actually reading Southerners’ writings, I might never have come to appreciate the heritage of my own homeland — the heartland of America. Thank you and God bless.
177 Comment by Caper on 14 May 2007:

P.S. I agree with Mr. Van Oosbree. There is a reason why “American broadcast English” is based on the dialect of that part of the Midwest where I grew up (well, the part immediately to the south of where I grew up). See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American#Regional_home_of_
General_American
178 Comment by Robert Reavis on 14 May 2007:

Good heavens !! One would think after reading Capers , that respect for elders is something odd. I am an Okie which is more akin to teaching kids how to ride, shoot and speak the truth, than any secret, southern curtsy or damn yankee pedantry. I hate all this bombastic arm chair chivalry in defense of chimeras and fantoms of the mind. If I thought Capers and Wilson were anything but gentlemen and thoughtful citizens, I would quit reading. As it is, we have turned one into a bigot and the other into a calumniator when in fact most readers would feel right at home in eithers company. Cheers, I am out of here. rr
179 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 14 May 2007:

Midwesterners have many admirabnle virtues. Creativity in language is not one of them. This is why native Midwesterners like “country” (Southern) music.
180 Comment by Caper on 14 May 2007:

Thank you, Mr. Reavis, for my blood often needs to be cooled. I truly wish my confessor would forbid me to read blogs altogether. However, Dr. Wilson — and he is older than I am — seems to insult *my elders.* Namely, he casts aspersions on persons whose ancestors immigrated here . . . in the 19th century! Nor is this the first time. Frequently Dr. Wilson’s writings leave the impression that anyone who cannot identify an ancestor who was here at the time of the Revolution is somehow a lesser American for it. Today he seems ready to attribute the decline of English (outside of the South, of course) to the fact that folks like my elders moved here. Dr. Wilson was similarly displeased when a certain author ascribed the awful Black “dialect” to the influence of white “rednecks’” speech.

Now, were my grandfather or father alive, I would ask them to come here to defend their honor, and then the two combatants would be of similar age. Alas, they have gone to their eternal reward, and I alone remain. Additionally, were they alive, then I would have someone ready to hand who could tell me if I was indulging youthful passions, even to the point of calumny. If that is so, I apologize. Nevertheless, I have come to imitate Southerners: I tenaciously defend my heritage, lineage, and, yes, language when it comes under unjust assault. Good day.
181 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 14 May 2007:

It is no longer a question whether or not Albanians are louts – they are. In addition to which they (Albanians) went out of their way to prove their qualities (lack thereof) over the last 100 years (ever since they were granted statehood).

When there are such negative social dynamics, we see exactly what we see with Albanians:
1. School bus hijacked – never-mind it was a reasonable grievance, over lack of pay. Really?

2. Thousands of women sold to slavery – never-mind Islam condones it. A little conflicting with Christian views?

3. Major drug trafficking operations including dominance over Sicilian mafia in certain parts of Europe – never-mind.

4. Consistently most frequently wanted felons and criminals since the inception of Interpol throughout Europe – never-mind. OK, we won’t mind.

5. Never at friendly terms with any of their neighbors (NEVER-EVER) – never-mind. You can’t be friends with everybody especially if there are only two states you are bordering.

6. The few “brain-washed Albanians” caught in this Fort Dix plot – never-mind they were brain washed? Yeah, right.

7. The only ally Albania ever had was China while it was at odds with Stalin and Khruschev – it was an artificial alliance which lasted only during the rule of Mao. Today’s foreign relations of China proper are probably strongest with Serbia and the United States.

8. If I had a school-age daughter I would (probably) try to avoid sending her to school taught by convicted rapists.

That is about how much Albania and all things Albanians must be avoided. It is not only a matter of Serbian Christians loosing some small portion of their ancestral lands – it is another way that Islam creeps into Europe through a back-door. It is exactly why Turkey is not having an easy time getting accepted into the EU. Europe does not want any cannibals, criminals, rapists, drug traffickers, smugglers, etc. That’s the crux of the current events which only caught a few thousand remaining Serbians at God’s mercy for the next few decades, as I am convinced that this probably unavoidable injustice will be reversed.

Aside from all the above Albanians have always chosen wrong sides in every European conflict, while they wanted independence from Turkey – they equally became Turkish allies and suppliers of scalps. The very word ARNAUT – used by today’s Albanians referring to themselves is of Turkish origin and means “stable boy-cleaner” “horse watcher, trainer”. There was also that other power during WW2 where Albanians jumped at the opportunity to wear a swastika.

Europe already had some rather unpleasant (not to say bloody) encounters with Islam (all of Spain, good Southern half of France, much of Austro-Hungary – today’s Croatia, Serbia, Greece – and they are not looking to re-learn the same lesson, but they figure “ahh, it’s only a few thousand Serbs, this will satisfy their appetite, so they won’t come to our country’s front door”. Dead wrong. They will come, and they are coming.

Don’t rejoice quite yet. Stalinism didn’t last forever. Ancient Roman conquest of Gaul didn’t last forever. Nazi Germany didn’t last the promised thousand years.

Historical facts indicate the Albanian population of Kosovo tripled during the communist rule of Tito. Tito couldn’t forego the need to thumb his nose at the Russians as his loans from IMF depended on British, German, French and American say. This resulted in Willy Brandt and Konrad Adenauer before him, being fooled while trying to minimize German reparations to Yugoslavia. Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Harold Wilson equally being fooled by Tito’s alliance with (Nehru – the exception), Gamal Abdel Nasser, Jomo Kenyata, Kwame N’Krumah and similar characters of dubious background, with blood of their people on their hands. Tito’s other influence was to allow “slightly porous” borders with Albania as to thumb his nose at Enver Xoxcha the Maoist leader of Albania. He further announced that he would personally be a godfather to any family’s 10th child. For all of you learned American readers some of this may come as a surprise – but when it comes to Albania you simply learn that there is always some element of surprise and it can only go from bad to worse. These facts remain undisputed, and a matter of public knowledge and record. The danger or Islam is both real and imminent. Giving away a few hundred square miles in Southern Europe may not seem like huge concession to Islam but the repercussion will be seen and heard throughout Europe both, soon and fast.

That is the real story behind the “brain-washed few Albanians” planning the attack on Fort Dix. Therein is the danger of a society (entire Albania) not mature enough – neither politically nor socially to be a member of the United Nations and even remotely attempting to protect some “other” views, religions, nations. Nope, such a stand is mysteriously hidden within the present day Albanians regardless of where they live.

As requested by “David Rolfe” and “Jerome”, this is some small insight into Albanians NOT coming from a last name ending with KOVIC, however all the facts are a matter of public record at numerous sources – don’t take my word for it. Go to Albania – I’ve been there dozens of times.
182 Comment by Robert Reavis on 14 May 2007:

Mr. Capers,
Oh, don’t worry about it. This is my favorite blog. and fellows like you and Clyde Wilson are the reason. Compared to the rest of what is “out there”, it is like small rain falling on parched earth.

In matters of language never forget the story about Nathan Bedford Forrest, who responded in his own hand to a third request from one of his troops for a furlough —- ” I tote you twict, godam it , no!! rr
183 Comment by Caper on 14 May 2007:

Dr. Wilson, you never fail to astound me with your calm, pithy replies that obliterate long tirades. I am a fan of bluegrass, and often have lamented the fact that there is nothing comparable outside the South. I still have much to learn from at least one Southern gentleman . . .
184 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 14 May 2007:

It is no longer a question whether or not Albanians are louts – they are. In addition to which they (Albanians) went out of their way to prove their qualities (lack thereof) over the last 100 years (ever since they were granted statehood).

When there are such negative social dynamics, we see exactly what we see with Albanians:
1. School bus hijacked – never-mind it was a reasonable grievance, over lack of pay. Really?

2. Thousands of women sold to slavery – never-mind Islam condones it. A little conflicting with Christian views?

3. Major drug trafficking operations including dominance over Sicilian mafia in certain parts of Europe – never-mind.

4. Consistently most frequently wanted felons and criminals since the inception of Interpol throughout Europe – never-mind. OK, we won’t mind.

5. Never at friendly terms with any of their neighbors (NEVER-EVER) – never-mind. You can’t be friends with everybody especially if there are only two states you are bordering.

6. The few “brain-washed Albanians” caught in this Fort Dix plot – never-mind they were brain washed? Yeah, right.

7. The only ally Albania ever had was China while it was at odds with Stalin and Khruschev – it was an artificial alliance which lasted only during the rule of Mao. Today’s foreign relations of China proper are probably strongest with Serbia and the United States.

8. If I had a school-age daughter I would (probably) try to avoid sending her to school taught by convicted rapists.

That is about how much Albania and all things Albanians must be avoided. It is not only a matter of Serbian Christians loosing some small portion of their ancestral lands – it is another way that Islam creeps into Europe through a back-door. It is exactly why Turkey is not having an easy time getting accepted into the EU. Europe does not want any cannibals, criminals, rapists, drug traffickers, smugglers, etc. That’s the crux of the current events which only caught a few thousand remaining Serbians at God’s mercy for the next few decades, as I am convinced that this probably unavoidable injustice will be reversed.

Aside from all the above Albanians have always chosen wrong sides in every European conflict, while they wanted independence from Turkey – they equally became Turkish allies and suppliers of scalps. The very word ARNAUT – used by today’s Albanians referring to themselves is of Turkish origin and means “stable boy-cleaner” “horse watcher, trainer”. There was also that other power during WW2 where Albanians jumped at the opportunity to wear a swastika.

Europe already had some rather unpleasant (not to say bloody) encounters with Islam (all of Spain, good Southern half of France, much of Austro-Hungary – today’s Croatia, Serbia, Greece – and they are not looking to re-learn the same lesson, but they figure “ahh, it’s only a few thousand Serbs, this will satisfy their appetite, so they won’t come to our country’s front door”. Dead wrong. They will come, and they are coming.

Don’t rejoice quite yet. Stalinism didn’t last forever. Ancient Roman conquest of Gaul didn’t last forever. Nazi Germany didn’t last the promised thousand years.

Historical facts indicate the Albanian population of Kosovo tripled during the communist rule of Tito. Tito couldn’t forego the need to thumb his nose at the Russians as his loans from IMF depended on British, German, French and American say. This resulted in Willy Brandt and Konrad Adenauer before him, being fooled while trying to minimize German reparations to Yugoslavia. Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Harold Wilson equally being fooled by Tito’s alliance with (Nehru – the exception), Gamal Abdel Nasser, Jomo Kenyata, Kwame N’Krumah and similar characters of dubious background, with blood of their people on their hands. Tito’s other influence was to allow “slightly porous” borders with Albania as to thumb his nose at Enver Xoxcha the Maoist leader of Albania. He further announced that he would personally be a godfather to any family’s 10th child. For all of you learned American readers some of this may come as a surprise – but when it comes to Albania you simply learn that there is always some element of surprise and it can only go from bad to worse. These facts remain undisputed, and a matter of public knowledge and record. The danger or Islam is both real and imminent. Giving away a few hundred square miles in Southern Europe may not seem like huge concession to Islam but the repercussion will be seen and heard throughout Europe both, soon and fast.

That is the real story behind the “brain-washed few Albanians” planning the attack on Fort Dix. Therein is the danger of a society (entire Albania) not mature enough – neither politically nor socially to be a member of the United Nations and even remotely attempting to protect some “other” views, religions, nations. Nope, such a stand is mysteriously hidden within the present day Albanians regardless of where they live.

Indo-European yes, geographically closest to Azerbeijanis Eastern Turks, Kurds and Iranians (Persians). Here is a good guess who lived where in year 200 AD
http://www.euratlas.com/time/sea0200.htm
185 Comment by Caper on 14 May 2007:

Mr. Reavis: “I am an Okie which is more akin to teaching kids how to ride, shoot and speak the truth . . .”

Do you think that people casually allude to Herodotus on the NRO blog?
186 Comment by David Rolfe on 14 May 2007:

“As requested by “David Rolfe” and “Jerome”, this is some small insight into Albanians NOT coming from a last name ending with KOVIC….”

A request some small insight into Albanians NOT coming from a last name ending with KOVIC….”? From me? You misunderstood me,
“Iliya Pavlovich”.

I am happier to take the word of some someone with a last name ending in ‘-kovic’ than from from someone who name ends in ‘-lair’, or ‘-ush’.
187 Comment by Robert Reavis on 14 May 2007:

“Do you think that people casually allude to Herodotus on the NRO blog? ”

My classics professor told me a few months before his death, quoting a english poet, “T’is all in pieces” and then in his own words: ” the conservative movement in America has been taken over by kids.” As a young man I didn’t want to hear this truth, but as a middle age man I find it sad but fun because they are so silly that even a man of my mediocre talents can resist their phony, assinine, allurements crossdressed as conservative , fabians . Cheers rr
188 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 14 May 2007:

Sorry Rolfy,

I misunderstood your sentence “only a minority of informants have names endings in ‘-kovic’.” – that wasn’t ever written by you – it was some ghost or some other entity on your keyboard – certainly not you.

Of course, you know that there are many lies here, regardless of who has posted them and you’ll have the integrity and courage to identify them (enumarate them) with some degree of reliable sources outside of Islamofascist propaganda? – Of course you do – you just don’t feel like that right now. What exactly is untrue or inaccurate about this tragic Islamic conquest which is hitting us all over the head and we are playing a role of some dumbfounded good Samaritan who is stupid, blind and dim-witted?
189 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 14 May 2007:

Sorry Rolfy,

I misunderstood your sentence “only a minority of informants have names endings in ‘-kovic’.” – that wasn’t ever written by you – it was some ghost or some other entity on your keyboard – certainly not you.

Of course, you know that there are many lies here, regardless of who has posted them and you’ll have the integrity and courage to identify them (enumarate them) with some degree of reliable sources outside of Islamofascist propaganda? – Of course you do – you just don’t feel like that right now. What exactly is untrue or inaccurate about this tragic Islamic conquest which is hitting us all over the head and we are playing a role of some dumbfounded good Samaritan who is stupid, blind and dim-witted? Wasn’t it you that said: “I am happier to take the word of some someone with a last name ending in ‘-kovic’ than from from someone who name ends in ‘-lair’, or ‘-ush’.”?

Unless that was a provocation?
190 Comment by chris on 14 May 2007:

>It is sad to contemplate what the American Melted Pot and
>Deweyite education have done to the language of
>Shakespeare—which was also the language of the founders of
>America—the most beautiful and utilizable of all the tongues of
>man.

And how many languages do you speak that you can say this?
191 Comment by Frank B Lee on 14 May 2007:

The bending over backwards for gender neutrality can be amusing. I’m awaiting the replacement of “it” with “he” as the generic singular pronoun.

It would be especially amusing if we had developed separate pronouns (and perhaps tenses etc) for foreigners (which would have included slaves I suppose). As things are, I’m content with the scurrying about over our dreadfully sexist heritage. If there’s a gender neutral language, I’m glad it isn’t the foundation for the current global medium.

“Abortion is routinely described in the media as a “procedure.”” Murder is the appropriate term; no sophistry can justify such a thing. I’m just chiming in with the condemnation.

—

Caper, Amerindians certainly don’t view you as American. Also, have you ever met an FFV?

And of course a descendant of German speakers is going to be less likely than a man of English descent to identify with and continue the tradition of the English language. Btw, it’s not right to be “offended” when another comments on the stolid nature of the Germans, because it’s true =p

– proud redneck (who is not likely your elder so fire away)
192 Comment by Bowdler on 14 May 2007:

And of course a descendant of German speakers is going to be less likely than a man of English descent to identify with and continue the tradition of the English language.

Which, of course, is why we refer to the highest standard of the English language as “the Queen’s English,” since the Queen, clearly, is not the descendant of German speakers.

Oh, wait…
193 Comment by Ronald Neff on 14 May 2007:

On what page do you list the back issues and their contents?

—RNN
194 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 14 May 2007:

The little petty German princess with her jugged-ear heir that is now the Queen is not the Queen referred to in “the Queen’s English.”
195 Comment by Bowdler on 14 May 2007:

Of course, Dr. Wilson—though the phrase has grown beyond Shakespeare, and the fact that, when Prince Charles becomes king, it will be known once again as “the King’s English” simply proves the point.

The broader question signified by my little jab is that raised by Caper above. How long, exactly, does one’s family have to have spoken English in order to be able to identify with, and continue the tradition of, the English language? Presumably, even Dr. Wilson and Frank B. Lee have ancestors who did not speak English.
196 Comment by Nicholas G.P. MOSES on 14 May 2007:

“The little petty German princess with her jugged-ear heir that is now the Queen is not the Queen referred to in “the Queen’s English.””

As much as I disagree with parts of your column, I am grateful that there is at least one other Jacobite here.
197 Comment by Nebojsa Malic on 14 May 2007:

Let me point out for a moment something Dr. Fleming wrote a couple of comments ago: “The Albanian/Serb hostility is really the result of the Albanians’ conversion to Islam.”

Muslim Albanians became the fulcrum of Ottoman power in the region after the Serbs’s exodus from Kosovo in 1690 (and subsequently). As Serbia began the chain reaction of anti-Ottoman liberation movements in the 1800s, the Porte’s only allies in the Balkans were Albanians and Bosnian Muslims. Both were co-opted by Vienna after Austria-Hungary took over administration of Bosnia, Raska and Kosovo following the 1878 Treaty of Berlin. The League of Prizren argued for the formation of an Albanian entity within the Ottoman Empire, but was very pro-Ottoman in character.

Long story short, Albanian hatred of Serbs – as Christian “underpeople” – stems from the legacy of Islam and Ottoman rule, and was amplified by Austria-Hungary as part of its imperial agenda in the Balkans. This feeling was exploited by the Nazis, as well as the Communists, throughout the XX century, and most recently by NATO.

One may say that “the religion of Albanians is Albanianism,” as Albanians frequently do, but there is no escaping that Islam shaped “Albanianism,” particularly when it comes to Albanians’ relations to their Christian neighbors.
198 Comment by avni shala on 14 May 2007:

as always this is propaganda,you can not make responsible a whole country and/or people based on four people…
199 Comment by Michael Ezzo on 14 May 2007:

Hey, here in Japan you can even get cancer insurance. (And perhaps insurance for one’s dog as well). Nicholas, you can add a third (me) Jacobite to the list. But as for language corruption, might not creativity be one of the causes, rather than the solution? I would guess that in schools people are being told to replace perfectly clear and precise English vocabulary with new ways to express the same thing, under the mistaken assumption that the old ways are dull and worn out. One of the results of this creativity occurs when formerly rare words (of limited context) suddenly become fahionable to use, broadly, as if we’re very comfortable with them. “Paradigm” was one of those (about ten years ago). Then there is the phenomenon whereby people suddenly change the meaning of a word for no reason. “Agenda” and “issue” come to mind. And there are surely more to come……
200 Comment by Jerome on 14 May 2007:

I would like to dismiss my presence from this webpage but with due respect Mr. Pavlovich I would like to say that I am stunned with your inconsistent protrayal of facts. There is a world of evidence that speaks to the contrary.

Let me remind you of a saying by Rudolf Ludwig Karl Virchow, one of the greatest German pathologists, and anthropologists about Albanians:”Voila la race vraiment superieure de ces contrees.” (Further interpretation provided upon request.) Which begs the question is it Albanians or Serbians that define your passinate anger toward such a people!!

Correct me if I am wrong but was it the Albanians that assassinated King Alexander and Queen Draga of Serbia? (No need for answers here!) How about Karageorge (“Black George”) murdered in 1817 by by his rival Milos Obrenovich, who had him killed with an axe and sent his head to the Sultan in Constantinople? Was that a favor to the Turks? I am not certain but I am starting to think that you might be reading some French History here! (Well that’s another subject for discussion…)

….Here is another trustworthy statement:”In 3200 BC, there were many, many languages spoken besides Sumerian and Egyptian, but they were not fortunate enough to have a writing system. These languages are just as old. To take one interesting case, the Albanian language (spoken north of Greece) was not written down until about the 15th century AD, yet Ptolemy mentions the people in the first century BC.* The linguistic and archaeological evidence suggests that Albanians were a distinct people for even longer than that. So Albanian has probably existed for several millennia, but has only been written down for 500 years. With a twist of fate, Albanian might be considered very “old” and Greek pretty “new”.
Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Linguistic PhD

Not cencerned with the fluff here, – just gathering some evidence to dispute the lack of historicity in the formentioned comments.
How about a dose of the Massacre in Scutari? In which the bayonets pierce the inoccent children while in their fetuses? Let’s not marginalize what is happening as a result of human depravity. You as well as any other human being are capable of dishonoring our Creator by performing barbaric acts. It is by God’s (Christ’s if you desire spesifics!) grace that we are what we are and lets allow ouselves to bring a part of our American dream to all Serbians and Albanians alike…

Jerome…
201 Comment by Spectacles on 14 May 2007:

One can say the same of Serbs, Avni. You can’t judge them all based on the actions of a few, but oh does the West try and try and try and try and it won’t stop trying until they get a good reality check.
202 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 15 May 2007:

Dear Avni,

Neither you, nor I are any good in mathematics. Let’s try to find a more accurate number of Albanian criminals by using unbiased and international sources – agreed? Good. Here we go.

Albanian criminals exceeding the modest number of four, according to the Austrian Interpol: MORINA Drilon, REXHEPAJ Nazif, THERQAJ Ardian, GECAJ Ded, Spahiu Leonard, Hajredini Gentjan, MALAJ Arlind, LATIFI Lulzim, GURGUROVCI Ibrahim, ZYMERI Rrahim, AMETAJ Sabit, FRROKU Lek

Of the 11.398 recruits listed for the Division, 9.275 were ascertained to be suitable to draft in the Waffen SS. Of those suitable to be drafted, 6.491 Albanian were chosen and inducted into the Skanderbeg Division. To this Albanian core were added veteran German troops primarily Reichdeutsche from Austria and Volkdeutcshe officers, NCOs, and enlisted men, transferred from the 7th SS Mountain Division “Prinz Eugen” which was stationed in Bosnia-Hercegovina. The Kosovo Albanian 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS “Skanderbeg” consisted in total of 8.500 – 9.000 men of all ranks. The 6.491 Shqiptar recruits were assembled at depots in Kosovo where the formation and the training of the division began.

And yes, there are those four you mentioned as well. My math is often poor, but it seems to me we have counted over 10,000 Albanians with Serbian blood on their hands – wouldn’t you say?

I am not entirely sure that all the above can be called “propaganda” and it seems to include well over 10,000 people (as opposed to your count showing 4 people).
203 Comment by David Rolfe on 15 May 2007:

Iliya Pavlovich

“only a minority of informants have names endings in ‘-kovic’.” – that wasn’t ever written by you – it was some ghost or some other entity on your keyboard – certainly not you.”

I was merely referring to the well-known fact that that there are a number of non-Serbs among those who have tried to open the eyes of Westerners to what has being going on in Serbia. I think that it was John Laughland, writing in The Spectator, who first alerted me to the fact that the wool was being pulled over our eyes. Then there were Diana Johnstone, Eve-Anne Prentice and others.
204 Comment by MAKEDON on 15 May 2007:

I come from a right wing Greek town on the border region, 200 years ago our people were slaughtered in Albania itself, those that fought and survived moved South. The historical accounts given by my family complement NGL Hammonds book Epiros. We came from the heartland of modern Albania, where Greeks lived, called Mati, the fertile valley.

Greeks also built a few great cities, this is in ancient times, and a major Mycenaen city has been uncovered in Albania as well.

During the last 100 years Greeks have been persecuted in Albania, and Greeks are still denied their rights, threats and intimidation are still employed.

The Greek government does not take a hard line, they betrayed the people when national borders were established and betrayed them again to communist crimes.

The word is getting out.

Thanks for Chronicles
205 Comment by Jerome White on 15 May 2007:

I would like to dismiss my presence from this webpage but with due respect Mr. Pavlovich I would like to say that I am stunned with your inconsistent protrayal of facts. There is a world of evidence that speaks to the contrary.

Let me remind you of a saying by Rudolf Ludwig Karl Virchow, one of the greatest German pathologists, and anthropologists about Albanians:”Voila la race vraiment superieure de ces contrees.” (Further interpretation provided upon request.) Which begs the question is it Albanians or Serbians that define your passinate anger toward such a people!!

Correct me if I am wrong but was it the Albanians that assassinated King Alexander and Queen Draga of Serbia? (No need for answers here!) How about Karageorge (“Black George”) murdered in 1817 by by his rival Milos Obrenovich, who had him killed with an axe and sent his head to the Sultan in Constantinople? Was that a favor to the Turks? I am not certain but I am starting to think that you might be reading some French History here! (Well that’s another subject for discussion…)

….Here is another trustworthy statement:”In 3200 BC, there were many, many languages spoken besides Sumerian and Egyptian, but they were not fortunate enough to have a writing system. These languages are just as old. To take one interesting case, the Albanian language (spoken north of Greece) was not written down until about the 15th century AD, yet Ptolemy mentions the people in the first century BC.* The linguistic and archaeological evidence suggests that Albanians were a distinct people for even longer than that. So Albanian has probably existed for several millennia, but has only been written down for 500 years. With a twist of fate, Albanian might be considered very “old” and Greek pretty “new”.
Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Linguistic PhD

Not cencerned with the fluff here, – just gathering some evidence to dispute the lack of historicity in the formentioned comments.
How about a dose of the Massacre in Scutari? In which the bayonets pierce the inoccent children while in their fetuses? Let’s not marginalize what is happening as a result of human depravity. You as well as any other human being are capable of dishonoring our Creator by performing barbaric acts. It is by God’s (Christ’s if you desire spesifics!) grace that we are what we are and lets allow ouselves to bring a part of our American dream to all Serbians and Albanians alike…

Jerome
206 Comment by Rexxy on 15 May 2007:

what a circus show of misinformation from serbian rapist ….

and now the grek with the name of Makedon shows up to put the the lid on the pot , the balkan Alliance of early 1900’s is alive and still wants to rape the native people of the balkans
207 Comment by Rexxy on 15 May 2007:

*you Serbian killed how many people in the balkan in the last decade or so ..??

*you damaged how many Catholic Churches ??

*You raped your own slavic cousins ?

*You gave Iraq services and parts ?

*you danced on 9-11 ?
208 Comment by Bob Partisan on 15 May 2007:

Rexxy, answer me one question. Knowing that your a man of blatant honestly I only hope your answer will be in character.

Which ethnic group in the Balkans has suffered the most in terms of population loss (that is genocide, ethnic cleansing, whatever you want to call it), loss of property, loss of basic human rights and forced into conversion in the past 100 years?

Since 1907 to today. It’s not that hard.
209 Comment by Rexxy on 15 May 2007:

The native people of the Balkans of course ….
210 Comment by Bob Partisan on 15 May 2007:

You refuse to answer because it works against your anti-Serbian agenda.

Sorry Rexxy, the PR deal with Rudder Finn Inc (a public relations firm which was hired for services with the governments of Bosnia and Croatia in the early 90’s, and Kosovar Albanians in 1999 worth millions of dollars – which noeone really bothered to investigate)expired a few years ago, noone really believes in the Albanian sob stories anymore. The fog of war is slowly and surely starting to lift.
211 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 15 May 2007:

Thank you for dismissing your presence from the page Jerome, pro-Albanian propaganda has done a good job on a lot more people than you alone. Yes, there are some sources that would ascribe some humane values to this group of murderers. The recent history (about 100 years or so) does not have any of those flowery views you manufactured so cutely. I don’t know how many times you have been to Albania proper (I know-I have), in addition to which my experiences with the INS document processing where I equally noticed Islamic, Albanian, German, Irish, French, Austrian and many other nationals. German documents are considered incomplete unless they state the religion (Lutheran in most Northern Germans, Roman Catholic in most Southern Germans) Albanian applicant’s passports most times were issued by TURKEY. Their birth places were often IVONGOROD – a bastardization of town in Montenegro by the name of Ivangrad. They kept inventing names for any town where they had even the most modest presence – no need to Islamicize any of the Turkish words. The consistency of their depravity (not so inconsistent with Islam) has been a topic by Dr. Trifkovic – this time they attempted an attack on a host country that offered them a refuge – that in itself should be enough of a factor in getting some clue as to what this ethnic group holds high within their own VALUE SYSTEM. I know I have my own VALUE SYSTEM. maybe even you have one, but Albanian’s value system in the last few hundred years has been rather peculiar (at best).

I thank you for bowing out and offering your wisdom (and sources) to some pro Islamic pro Albanian media source. The media (in most countries) has been rather non-discriminative when it comes to small issues (such as truth, consistencey, etc.).

I hope you don’t get forced to go back on your word and re-enter this discussion which would be very much along the Islamofascist VALUE SYSTEM – basically doing what you feel, when you get to feel it irrespective of any morality, truth, and those bothersome little details, like encroaching on freedoms and lives of others.

No wonder this country “is going down the tubes” under the assumption that there are more persons, even larger groups with such warped liberal thinking – refusing to see a forest from the tree. We desperately needed this Fort Dix incident, but there are those shameless aplogists who invoke the name of our Lord while they turn a blind eye to an obvious criminal delict – or even a long history of criminality contained within one group (race, ethnic group, or definded by some other means). Isn’t it laughable how the word Mafia was forcibly excluded from NYC speach in the 1970s? It was not considered acceptable that the Italian origin be connected to anything that sounds like Mafia. Organized crime was a newly adopted euphemism. You belong to that breed. Stay there please. Changing a few words here and there exactly brought us collectively into this nightmare. We pander to Islam on account of some miserable oil, fossil fuel or possibly some of our officials having a financial interest at some Texas based oil refinery businesses, resulting in such silly pronouncements “Islam is a religion of peace” – “It is the radical Islamists that America is pursuing over there”. Granted your statements are not as idiotic as the two I just quoted, but they are not too far removed from the biased essence of Polyanic blindness and political need to pander to Islam, King Faisal or some other source of oil.
212 Comment by Rexxy on 15 May 2007:

I like your name Bob ….

the “Partisan” part of it remind me of all the Yugoslavian Albanian Partisans that were killed by Serbian…besides the 10,000 that only Albania sent up north to aid .

and I am not anti-serbian …I am anti-wrong

…………….
and you are using this biased article by whatever his name is to do your own little serbian propogandovich ….you might as well ..uh ?…opportunity is here for you …. grasp it …grasp it while you can …its not like the grasping of hay that you usually been getting in the last few decades….its also a good day for serbian smokescreen as well …the winds are just right ..

oh how easy it is for you to forget the last havoc you unleashed in the balkans ….

let alone the past ones of many years ago ….
213 Comment by Chris Hewlett on 15 May 2007:

Some of these discussions seem to be like the American Chestnut tree – after surviving for a while they are attacked by uni-cellular viruses and perish. I think it’s time to shut this one down.
214 Trackback by University Update on 15 May 2007:

Race, Crime, and the Media…

…
215 Comment by Brock Townsend on 15 May 2007:

Just excellent.
216 Comment by Chuck on 15 May 2007:

A difficult article to digest, but vastly important nonetheless.

According to the interpretation of pending congressional legislation, churches that preach against immorality will be charged with hate crimes a la carte.
217 Comment by Jerry Cline on 15 May 2007:

The New Century Foundation’s “Color of Crime” provides a great deal of information of this topic. For instance, FBI’s uniform crime provide no separate perpetrator category for Hispanics but allow for “other race” or “unknown race” categories for victims. Presumeably, most hispanic perpetrators are thrown into the “white” perpetrator category, which grossly inflates the white rate of criminal activity considering other surveys and statistics on the subject. I once called a local t.v. station to ask why, when describing a criminal on the loose, they did not inform us of his race? Prior to calling the t.v. station, I contacted the police department and was provided the criminal’s race (black) in seconds. The t.v. station’s response? The criminal’s race was not “relevant” to the story.

The news media does not report news – it “provides” it.
218 Comment by tersa on 15 May 2007:

As an african american who has been the victim of black on black crime, watched her mother as she was coerced into sex by black men, watched her own grandfather lewdly laugh when her mother cringed on the couch like a dog, ( and later found out that her Grandfather physically, emotionally, sexually abused her mother) herself grew up sexually abused, raped, and demoralised, (and that in just the sexual realm) who had since she was before four encountered groups of young black boys and had nightmares about it until she was in the late teens, I have a more than visceral sympathy for the victims of black on white hate crimes. But I have a sympathy for the underreported black on black rape, murder and abuse; as well. I have a sympathy for my good friend R was as a white runaway teenager was raped by two black guys in a New York city Railroad station. I have the sympathy of puerto rican woman and men who have been raped, by members of their own race and by members outside their race. I have the sympathy for a famous reggae session performer who was raped by a merchant marine in jamaica by some type of european, (I don’t recall which). You grow up in a group home in New York and you hear some things, you live in the world trying to escape this darkness and you hear more things.
Yes, the left has an agenda, and the agenda it has tends to polarize people into groups with competing grievances, so that we have the parody of human beings fighting each other so that the state can recognize their human dignity, (which Christ died to prove the worth of so why do we need the state’s recognition).

I think it is good to put a light on this story, but also to be careful that you don’t create the polarizing effects that you are (hopefully) trying to deflect. Human beings are capable of incredible monstrosities toward each other, and the events you wrote about above are nothing less than demonic; no matter who carries them out.

Going through what I went through I could never accept the ideal of the negro as a human being without ability to commit wrongs. Yet I have been put in the strange place of trying to defend the idea that as human beings we are just as capable of atrocities…but I have, because I lived in a group home with many types of people, of european descent, mestizo descent have heard about the white on white, mestizo on mestizo; black on black abuse perpretratred on mere children; So that I have an very unhealthy perception of the human race as a whole. Yes I’ve seen how african americans mis-use the black equality movement to abuse not only whites, but blacks themselves, jsut as viciously. Therefore I have developed an incredible distrust of human beings…that makes it hard for me to even function well in intimate relationships with them, and makes me vulnerable to being emotionally abused not only by blacks, but by whites, mestizo’s as well, but these are PEOPLE, HUMAN BEINGS who learned abusive ways to try and control their environment for the benefit of themselves irregardless of the well being of their targets. The colour , the race doesn’t matter…but we must address the crime… the trangression… the falleness of human nature to address this demonic influence in the behaviour of mankind.

I believe the Orthodox Church is the best institution on the earth to confront this.
219 Comment by Nano84 on 15 May 2007:

Most of the people in EU know that what Serbs did towards Albanians during the war is unacceptable. The fact is that the Albanians had to do something to protect themselves because first of all Albanians were in their country. No matter what anyone says Kosova was part of Albania if you go back just 50 years ago. What about Srebrenica what do you call that. I bet if there was no evidence servians would be more then happy to deny it. Children womens husbands fathers were killed in Kosova during the war.
220 Comment by Bob Sale on 15 May 2007:

“Yes, the left has an agenda, and the agenda it has tends to polarize people into groups with competing grievances …”

Indeed, even when it has nothing to do with the issue at hand!

On any given day you can tune in to the leftist Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman (whose war reporting has actually been mostly stellar) and find her pointing to her guests’ minority status for no reason other than that they’re not white.

For example, last week she ran a bit on Lt. Ehren Watada (who’s being tried for refusing to serve in Iraq) and had as a guest, Senator Daniel Akada (D-HI), who Amy Goodman introduced as, “The first senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry and the Senate’s only Chinese American member.”

Well bloody good for him, but what the hell has his race got to do with why he was on the show? He was there to talk about the war, for crying out loud!

Alas, leave it to a died-in-the-wool leftist racist like Amy Goodman to make an issue out of it!
221 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 15 May 2007:

It is next to impossible to overstate the imminent danger of Islamic expansion in Europe. I know that my optimism rooted in the vastness of the two oceans is foolish but evidence of Islam coming to bite “them .n. the .ss, is well deserved. It is (to me) sickening to hear wordings like Clean Air Act. It is nothing but a translation for “we forbid smoking” – since we need the huge tax dollars from the tobacco industry, and we can’t let every smoker sue the big tobacco so we’ll mokey our way around with words.

That exact type of PC thinking and speaking has prevented this nation from seeing the obvious. I can’t help it that I have been to Albania many times and remain convinced that their alleged atheism is a thin veil for deeply rooted Islam. Having Islam in your roots gives you a license to do anything to anybody – with impunity.

Even in a simple clear-cut case like this, I am pretty sure there will be some voices claiming that some small number of (“radical Islamists”) are giving a bad name to the whole nation. I strongly disagree with any such watering down of the real facts – there has been too many cases of lone assassins, lone church burners, lone wolves (to use the term from Mr. Scott Richert), to be able to believe that any of it can be sustained.

Thank you Dr. Fleming. It takes a keen eye to see through the smoke screen thrown around us by Islam, CAIR and our own government which at times seems comatose – just as many of our readers seem to be – yet I have high hopes for all of Christianity, if they (the rest of the readers of Chronicles) were so firmly convinced that the liberal anarchy which seems pervasive is the right way they would never read Chronicles. The fact that Chronicles are being mentioned, quoted and followed, indicates that there is some little hope that the more astute thinking (logically followed by astute actions) is in order.
222 Comment by David on 15 May 2007:

An excellent article by R. Cort Kirkwood. There has been no national coverage of the Knoxville murders, with one exception. Several weeks ago, Geraldo Rivera had a segment on his Sunday night Fox News Channel show concerning this horrific crime.

It was four minutes long, with a brief interview with the parents of the victims. Rivera mentioned that some people wonder why it isn’t being called a hate crime, but reports that Tennessee doesn’t have a hate crime statute. Rivera quoted the Knox County DA as saying that the heinious nature of the crime will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

Overall, it was a good report within the time allowed. I watch the “Legal News” shows, and no other has had a word about the murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. Many of them are still talking about Anna Nicole Smith and Paris Hilton.
223 Comment by robert reavis on 15 May 2007:

Thank you Scott for this tribute. We all pray for sinners, now and at the hour of death. This is no time to settle old scores but in all honesty, I can’t read such obituaries without thinking about that little man , Mr. Frum, categorizing any and all war critics as either America haters, anti-semites or handwringers. The heavy lifting in matters of life and death are always done by men like Lt. Bacevich. Lightweights like Mr. Frum are simply a background noise and earthly contrast by which we can judge real heroic Americans like the Lieutenant and his family. May God reward him with His presence and final resting place forever. rr
224 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 15 May 2007:

May the good Lord grant the entire family peace and consolation that such a death is usually watched over and the young man had passed onto the better world than ours. His will be, the Kingdom of Heaven, where deeds are valued more than words. May the soil he’s covered with be light on his remains. Thanks for bringing this “unimportant single death” to light, and to life. In a strange way this young man’s death gives more impetus to life in its form that is by definition more just and closer to God’s watchful eye.
225 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 15 May 2007:

It’s time for the webmaster to end this collumn. Albanian propagandists are invoking their rights granted to them by the Nazi Italy and Germany – that’s the only answer to the question what was Albania/Kosovo 50 years ago. It was struggling to get rid of the Nazi evidence and Nazi uniforms your fathers and cousins wore a few yaers prior – that’s what it was. The constant propensity towards their only two neighbors (Greeks and Serbs) is filled with such hatred that any discussion becomes quickly a monologue filled with lies, misdirection and folly. Thank God, that there is a sentence: Deeds speak louder than words.

With all the millions of Albanians that were killed by the evil Serbians how is it possible that the population of Kosovar Albanians would double from 1.3 million to nearly 3 million today? Granted a lot of them go back and forth to Albania proper over the porous borders, but the numbers alone do not entirely make sense.

Among the “8000 Muslims killed by Serbians” in Srebrenica, I think that only about 386 were identified with some degree of certainty – where did the 7.5 thousand dead bodies go? Unless that number was also “slightly inflated” by the Islamofascist propaganda.
226 Comment by TJF on 15 May 2007:

” No matter what anyone says Kosova was part of Albania if you go back just 50 years ago. ”

The person who said this is either an utter fool or a bare-faced liar. Who could possibly think that all Americans are so stupid that they cannot look up a fact in an encyclopedia. To confine the matter only to the 20th century, Serbia liberated Kosovo from the Turks and their Muslim allies in 1912 and it became part of what was later known as Yugoslavia after WWI.

When the conversation descends to this level, it is time to end it.
227 Comment by R. Cort Kirkwood on 15 May 2007:

A very interesting, and telling, commentary.

In Martin Scorcese’s crime film, “The Departed,” the Matt Damon character utters an amusing line (going from memory here):

“Sigmund Freud said the Irish are the only people impervious to psychoanalysis.”

Now that Ireland has been globalized, and neutered, as Mr. Trifkovic says, one wonders if that is still true.
228 Comment by Mike Morris on 15 May 2007:

“Midwesterners have many admirable virtues. Creativity in language is not one of them. This is why native Midwesterners like “country” (Southern) music.”

Dr. Wilson, how exactly do you draw the line between South and Midwest? The richest vein of American traditional music, and the source of country music, is the upper South which more or less bleeds right into the lower Midwest in Missouri, Indiana and southern Illinois. Further north, WLS out of Chicago was a crucial medium in the spread of this music across the nation. I have a record of Ohio bluegrass, played by transplanted Southerners . . . I could go on and on. I just don’t see why pride in your own regional heritage has to involve knocking someone else’s . . . .
229 Comment by Mike Morris on 15 May 2007:

“The demographic freefall is in full swing among former Protestants and former Catholics alike, likely to halve the country’s already ageing population in the next four decades.”

Not quite so gloomy after all, and while Irish birthrates certainly aren’t they used to be, Ireland is no longer exporting it’s young population either (and remember, many of those immigrants are returning Irish http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/03/19/going_full_circle/).

“Ireland’s birthrate of 15.3 births per thousand residents in 2004 was the highest in Europe.” http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/25/news/youth.php

“Irish birth and marriage rates rising” http://www.irishhealth.com/index.html?level=4&id=4857
“Ireland has highest fertility rate in EU”
http://www.irishhealth.com/index.html?level=4&id=3506
(granted, these numbers are a few years old).

“Ireland’s population (pdf) expected to grow
to 5 million by 2026″
http://www.iol.ie/~discover/facts.htm

“ESRI reports rise in Ireland’s birth rate”
http://dev.rte.ie/news/2005/0503/esri.html

And I’m told by a friend who visited Ireland last year that informal singing and storytelling is alive and well in the west of the island. Maybe Mr. Trifkovic needs to get out of Dublin . . . .
230 Comment by Mike Morris on 15 May 2007:

Disappearing posts, where do they go?
231 Comment by Trifkovic on 15 May 2007:

Some can be found on
http://www.herwig.com/images/ProductImages/posts.jpg
232 Comment by MAKEDON on 15 May 2007:

I just wanted to thank Chronicles for their work, it is much appreciated.

Addressing some of the comments on the other thread and some basic information
on Albanian crime.

Greece has over 500,000 illegal Albanians, many are ethnic Greeks, but more than half are not. The exact numbers unknown ?

Crime in Greece has exploded over the last
15 years. Not only is crime far greater, the types of crimes committed by Albanians are
very rare, unheard of type of crimes, very violent. Gang activity is very strong, involved in everything, guns, drugs, women, smuggling cigarettes, etc. The jails are full of Albanians. Big money is also corrupting the state, many have gone to jail, police, border patrol, etc.

The Greek government does not take a hard line, it should, the people are not happy about it, Italy and the rest of Europe need to wake up as well. I don’t know what it will take. People have a right to security.

The Mexico-USA situation is very similar
to the Albania-Greek situation. Many of the same issues, just change the names of the players.

Regards Friends
233 Comment by Sean Scallon on 16 May 2007:

Vecnaja pamjat, Everlasting memory for Lt. Andrew Bachevich in the repose of the Lord.

Why must the good die so senslessly sometimes? The foolish would blame God but in the end it is ourselves that can make the world so senseless and only us who can bring sense to it.
234 Comment by Gwendal on 16 May 2007:

Plenty Albanians are involved also in murders in France, where we “welcomed” (not me) thousands of them from Kosovo during a war that i still don’t understand…
235 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 16 May 2007:

Mr. Morris, you establish my point. The music in the Midwest is made by transplanted folks from the upper South. True, Southerners settled the Midwest. Then later, after it was safe, the Yankees and Germans came and took over and have been the dominant group ever since, despising the Southern-derived “Hoosiers.” Indiana literature was founded by Edward Eggleston from Virginia; Illinois’ best writer, James Jones, came from “Little Egypt”; Nebraska’s best writer, Willa Cather, was of Virginia family. etc. etc. etc.
236 Comment by Trifkovic on 16 May 2007:

BIRTH RATES in Ireland are higher than in some other, demographically moribund EU countries (Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Greece), but they are below the replacement fertility rate of roughly 2.1 births per woman – and continuously sliding, from 1.91 in 2000 to 1.87 in 2005 (CIA 2006 Factbook). The effect of this trend will be fully apparent in 20 years, with ever diminishing numbers of child-bearing Irish women having ever fewer babies. CRIME http://www.irlgov.ie/crimecouncil/ and HARD DRUGS are now ubiquitous all over the island.
237 Comment by Michael Walsh on 16 May 2007:

Post-Modern Ireland is a reality in the far West as well as in Dublin.

As the son of Irish immigrants from the Connemara Gaeltacht, with many relatives in the West, it is painful to see a traditional culture that has expired.

The number of native Irish speakers in Gaeltacht districts now numbers in the thousands. Catholicism is despised by the young. One gets the distinct impression on visits that the past is despised. Instead most embrace a false Euro-sophistication which is indifferent to any cultural or religious expression that doesn’t derive from a pop-culture source. And of course anti-Americanism is de rigeuer.

Not the Ireland of Pearse, De Valera or Collins.
238 Comment by Novalis on 16 May 2007:

Dr. Trifkovic gets it very, very correct. I add:

1. Huxley’s Brave New World, not Orwell’s 1984, was the correct prophecy (though Orwell’s magisterial review of Mein Kampf confirms Huxley).

2. Islam feeds on decadent cultures.
239 Comment by Jameel Daughenbaugh on 16 May 2007:

Another sad ending to a valuable life. I feel that we as Americans dont really have anyone to vote for as a valuable leader, Who will bring back core values, And as Human beings on both side of the spectrum continue to die, Most of us here go through life as nothing has happened.
Have we become so complacent with our modern day technology and our visa card that we have forgot about all the death and sadness in the world?
Are we a country for the people and by the people? To make the choice for our government? Now i am a converted Muslim about 17 yrs ago, And do i think we should cut and run,NO WAY. To be honest we are in a mess. If we cut and run trust me it will be used against us in the long run. And it will be worse for us in the future.
It will be a major victory for the extremist elements of islaam. They already feel that as the west is too in love with the world and fear death. this will only prove it too them, That they can do anything to us and we will not stay the course if it gets too hot for us.
But as the war goes on, we are not only bringing the dead home, i Only fear the same thing is happening with what happened to my father, He was in Vietnam, Did 2 tours and he would never talk about it, so i use to talk to my grandfather who was raised in Rockford Illinois who died 2 years ago and also a Veteran of Korea who was injured by a shell, and was never given a Purple Heart even though we tried.
But as to continue my father came back from naam in 72, He was a Marine. And my father came back and became a heroin addict, He was also diagnosed with PTSD, but never took nothing from the Government for that. Such as Pay, he was a roofer by trade, and good at it. But i was Raised by my great grandparents and never knew the extent of my fathers mental illness. He was on numerous anxiety medicines etc. and had bad nightmares.
Until 1998 they found my father dead, On a street in Rockford called Auburn street laying in a dump Heep with a needle in his arm. another Casualty of a War, Even though it was 25 yrs earlier the phsychological thoughts were still their. he was a good kid. Grandfather would say, played basketball for East high school. Honor role student, but wanted to be marine like so many of his for- fathers to keep the name going in the service of Their country,
So i hear that so many of our soldiers are coming back,
With Anxiety and Panic issues and disorders that we must Remember they are casualties too, And so our there families. too Me it does not matter if we are in a just war or not. the problem is we are their now, What do we do? We as Americans should do what we can. For our troops send gifts send letters and thanks. But all people are suffering from this. the Iraqis the Americans and all of our families, So i ask the One God to forgive all of us for our sins. and forgive those who have died. and keep their families safe and guide them all, Ameen. Abu Yaqub Jameel ibn Fritz Daughenbaugh
240 Comment by Mike Morris on 16 May 2007:

Birthrates do not only go in one direction, and anyway your prediction that Ireland’s population will be halved in four decades is not supported by any numbers I have seen.

Culture is never static, either. I do not know any Irish who despise their past, but perhaps we move in different circles.

Ultimately, this endless gloom is self-defeating; if there’s nothing left to save, why bother trying?
241 Comment by Mike Morris on 16 May 2007:

There is no clear divide between the two, that was my point. In fact, it may be more useful to look at a trans-regional backcountry culture that spanned parts of Pennsylvania, down into the southern highlands, across to the Ozarks and out to the southern plains. You may want to extend this culture region all the way to California and you’ll find yourself in Kern County or the Sacramento Valley. You can define this as Southern culture, but it certainly wasn’t Tidewater society. It is neither Yankee nor Southern aristocrat, and the primary population sources were Scotch-Irish, German and English, with influences coming in from a number of other sources.
242 Comment by robert reavis on 16 May 2007:

“But what can be said for the conservative movement today, as one witnesses the Wall Street Journal battle to save the $400,000-a-year tax-free sinecure of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, imperiled because Wolfie parked his World Bank squeeze over at State at a fatter salary than Condi Rice’s?”

Pat knows the answer to his own question. Absolutely nothing !!
As Hilaire Belloc said of his own MP experience ” They are all members of the same clubs, own stock in the same companies, speak for the same owners, and on occassion, even try to commit adultery with the same women.” ( or perhaps nowadays it’s men ) The duopoly is complete. Exhibits 1- 16, the most recent round of smoke and mirrors called, “The Republican and Democratic debates.” rr
243 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 16 May 2007:

It was a culture made in the Piedmont South in the mingling of Tidewater and Scots-Irish.
244 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 16 May 2007:

In spite of the fact that which finds generalizing rather unappealing or even inaccurate, some generalities do stand the test of time. Here are some, which remain undisputed.

Without an extensive knowledge of history we can all, easily conclude that the British Empire was rather strongly inclined towards forming a substantial number of colonies at the time of their colonial peak (all of North America, India, Australia, etc. etc.)

Both Spain and Portugal competed (and conflicted each other) substantialy in Africa and South America during the period of their respective conquests.

The Ancient Roman Empire was equally expansionistic. So was Persia, so was Alexander’s Macedonia. No need to mention Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s CCCP.

After the above “more pedestrian” examples of expansionism we have a very different methodology found only in Islam. The Ottomans expanded by most brutal means. American slavery pales by comparison to what the Islamists did to the indigenous people they conquered – that (ANTI)-social aspect is what makes the danger of Islam so serious and so hard to underestimate.

There are frequent Islamic apologists who like to use the idiotic line “oh well, this was an act of a lone “brain-washed” Islamic radical” – the rest of us are not like that. That is exactly what we get served by the media’s brain washing campaign aimed at the American public at large. To begin with, American long term memory is next to non-existent, and the little which does exist is often laced with unhealthy dose of liberalism cloaked in “freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion”. Wrong on all three accounts. Islam is a cult – not a religion. The acts of Muslims from the Balkans (Albanians and Bosniaks) have been documented over a good few centuries and they can no longer be “acts of lone deranged (Salt Lake City shopping mall shooter). This euphemistic sugarcoating is making the bitter pill of truth – easier to swallow – for the masses, but as long as there are acute and astute observers like Dr. Trifkovic, Dr. Fleming, Mr. Jatras and a few others, the truth will be easier to disclose – no matter how “unsuitable” it may seem to our current (or future) powers.
245 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 16 May 2007:

In spite of the fact that which finds generalizing rather unappealing or even inaccurate, some generalities do stand the test of time. Here are some, which remain undisputed.

Without an extensive knowledge of history we can all, easily conclude that the British Empire was rather strongly inclined towards forming a substantial number of colonies at the time of their colonial peak (all of North America, India, Australia, etc. etc.)

Both Spain and Portugal competed (and conflicted each other) substantialy in Africa and South America during the period of their respective conquests.

The Ancient Roman Empire was equally expansionistic. So was Persia, so was Alexander’s Macedonia. No need to mention Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s CCCP.

After the above “more pedestrian” examples of expansionism we have a very different methodology found only in Islam. The Ottomans expanded by most brutal means. American slavery pales by comparison to what the Islamists did to the indigenous people they conquered – that (ANTI)-social aspect is what makes the danger of Islam so serious and so hard to underestimate.

There are frequent Islamic apologists who like to use the idiotic line “oh well, this was an act of a lone “brain-washed” Islamic radical” – the rest of us are not like that. That is exactly what we get served by the media’s brain washing campaign aimed at the American public at large. To begin with, American long term memory is next to non-existent, and the little which does exist is often laced with unhealthy dose of liberalism cloaked in “freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion”. Wrong on all three accounts. Islam is a cult – not a religion. The acts of Muslims from the Balkans (Albanians and Bosniaks) have been documented over a good few centuries and they can no longer be “acts of lone deranged (Salt Lake City shopping mall shooter). This euphemistic sugarcoating is making the bitter pill of truth – easier to swallow – for the masses, but as long as there are acute and astute observers like Dr. Trifkovic, Dr. Fleming, Mr. Jatras and a few others, the truth will be easier to disclose – no matter how “unsuitable” it may seem to our current (or future) powers.
246 Comment by MAKEDON on 16 May 2007:

The British press has actually done a far better good job than most reporting on the Albanians as the organized crime lords of Europe on the street level. Europe’s prisons are full of them.

Vice, drugs, guns, smuggling, they are the
street soldiers of the RUIM, Russian Ukranian
Israeli Mafia, AKA, Oligarchs.

Just a few links. Use Google, or better.
http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/scraper.htm

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=JH120244B&news_headline=albanian_sex_slave_gang_jailed

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/crimedebate/story/0,,963207,00.html
247 Comment by Red Phillips on 16 May 2007:

“The duopoly is complete. Exhibits 1- 16, the most recent round of smoke and mirrors called, “The Republican and Democratic debates.””

Well with one (Paul) and possibly two (Gravel) exceptions.

I hope someone at Chronicles will comment of Giuliani’s shameful grandstanding at last night’s debate.
248 Comment by robert reavis on 16 May 2007:

Mr. Phillips,
I agree entirely but look how the duopoly is treating Rep. Paul. The formula is 1) pretend he doesn’t exist 2) If he persists in existing, then plant a partisan audience and design him as a kook at the first opportunity ! ( although he was only quoting from the 9-11 report which evidently “America’s Mayor” has never read)
3) If he should rally a crowd of supporters, then take the advice of Bob Dole (when Buchanan won New Hampshire ) and do it the “hard way.” –Calumny, character assassination, unlimited funding for attack ads, fear, anything but allowing the candidate to continue to campaign on issues that ordinary americans might really care about. Cheers rr
249 Comment by Grumpy Old Man on 16 May 2007:

Generally sound. It might be worthwhile to keep a minimal presence in the UN, for two reasons. First, some of the specialized agencies, like the World Health Organization, do important things (warning against epidemics). Second, withdrawal would deprive us of a veto, and all kinds of nasty things could be adopted. When Russia walked out of the UN, the US was able to get a veto-proof majority for the defense of South Korea. I’d kick the UN out of New York (how about Ndjamena, Chad, for the new HQ?), cut the funding way back, but maintain a minimal presence to block mischief.

All of this, of course, is a pipe dream with our current pair of parties.
250 Comment by Grumpy Old Man on 16 May 2007:

The notion that one’s ancestry past a generation or two affects one’s speech or writing, or one’s devotion to good diction and clear expression, displays a charming and provocative political incorrectness, but for all that I doubt it’s true.

I’d attribute the degeneration of expression to other things, among them the following:

* People read less great literature than they used to. Even most practicing Christians are ignorant of the Bible and are likely to read graceless modern translations. Instead of the classics, insipid politically correct literature proliferates in our schools.

* Children no longer are expected to memorize poetry and great oratory. Instead they watch Japanese cartoons.

* Mass media deliberately vulgarize the language to appeal to the greatest number, “like a cigarette should.”

* The professoriat rewards obscurity rather than clarity and grace in writing, and set their turgid example for the slackers we parents entrust to them.

If one were to conduct a blind test of college student writing, I doubt Mr. Wilson could separate 10 Sons of the Confederacy from 10 third-generation formerly hyphenated Americans.

Just ask that Polish interloper, Joseph Conrad.
251 Comment by Dan McCulloch on 16 May 2007:

Dr. TrifKovic,

You said,

“sectarianism is dead because the assumptions necessary for the “sects’” very existence are dead.”

You detailed what that means above the quote, and below it you go into demographics, but the only reasons you offer for ‘why’ this has happened, in this and your other linked article, are “economic prosperity” and “global subculture.”

I am interested in the question of ‘why.’ It doesn’t seem to me that economic prosperity must of necessity bring with it cultural disintegration, even if it is linked to demographic decline. And the attraction of global subculture is something that itself needs explaining.

It seems to me that of all the western European countries, Ireland was in the strongest position to maintain its identity up until the mid-nineties. Then, as you noted, change came with breathtaking speed. Why does an otherwise healthy society throw down its heritage ovenight for leftism?
252 Comment by Robert M. Peters on 16 May 2007:

All reviews are, at their best and this is one of them, a warped and distorted image of the art which they attempt to capture. This review of A Winter’s Bone: A Novel gives such light, as bent as it might be from the source of the Daniel Woodrell’s intellectual heart, that brings faint images from the pages of other Southern writers such as Flannery O’Conner; for always in the very midst of the fall, in its darkest corner, is the candle of Redemption. Only those who know that they are fallen also understand the need of Redemption. This has been the subtle signature of Southern literature.
253 Comment by Trifkovic on 17 May 2007:

“WHY” is indeed the key. If Ireland, why not Poland, Slovakia, Serbia… I’ve tried to tackle this in my “Europe and America: Identity of Decrepitude” http://www.trifkovic.mysite.com/2_column_page_3.html – but is there a cure? Most unlikely, short of a life-altering catastrophic event, e.g. rapid and drastic global economic meltdown. Amidst such collapse all ideological “propositions” would be recognized as empty abstracts. Communities linked to their native soil and bonded by kinship, memory, language, faith, and myth could be revived, and hostile alien ghettos expelled or otherwise neutralized. And in adversity the eyes of men would be lifted, once again, to Heaven.
254 Comment by Bill Wilder on 17 May 2007:

The response to Guiliani’s demagoguery of Rep. Paul just shows the “GOP base” are mostly a pack of slavering, ignorant buffoons, responding like Pavlov’s dog to the cynical Rovian ploys used by all major candidates. The war bloodthirst among “rank and file Republicans” (alleged conservatives) is physically sickening.
255 Trackback by University Update on 17 May 2007:

Giuliani Would Make a Worse President Than Bush…

…
256 Comment by robert reavis on 17 May 2007:

Exhibit #17 in reference to whether Rep. Ron Paul should exist.

Party Verdict : He should not !! rr

By JIM DAVENPORT
The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The chairman of the Michigan Republican Party said Wednesday that he will try to bar Ron Paul from future GOP presidential debates because of remarks the Texas congressman made that suggested the Sept. 11 attacks were the fault of U.S. foreign policy.

Michigan party chairman Saul Anuzis said he will circulate a petition among Republican National Committee members to ban Paul from more debates. At a GOP candidates’ debate Tuesday night, Paul drew attacks from all sides, most forcefully from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, when he linked the terror attacks to U.S. bombings “
257 Comment by Charles Bowen on 17 May 2007:

Mr. Wilder, the GOP base in South Carolina. Myths of conservative South Carolina die hard.

Expect a good show in New Hampshire in a couple of weeks.

Tactically speaking, this is an interesting piece from Mr.Buchanan as he is not going to make it easy for paleos to build a bridge to Bloomerg/Hagel!
258 Comment by Brock Townsend on 17 May 2007:

Paul has excellent numbers in the ABC, FOX and MSNBC debate polls.
I’m sure some would have him hit, if they knew they would get away with it.
259 Comment by TJF on 17 May 2007:

Actually, Conrad never mastered English and his best prose, though it received help and correction from people like Ford Maddox Ford, is hardly a model.

Living half my life in the Midwest and half in the South, I have observed the difference between simple country people in the South who, despite grammatical lapses, use English as a native language, and third or fourth generation Scandinavians who simply have not mastered the language because they nevery grew up in a family where it was spoken competently. This has nothing to do with any innate superiority or inferiority of the two groups but is the effect of a Melting Pot that dissolved the culture the immigrants brought with them but never fully caused them to assimilate. Hence the continued rancor, even among the Irish, against the old WASP establisment and its folkways. Mass immigration simply does not work. One of the Midwest’s finest writers, Ole Rolvaag, knew this and urged his fellow Norwegians not to abandon their culture and language.

Speaking of Rolvaag, my good friend and comrade-in-arms Dr. Wilson has somewhat overstated his case against Midwestern culture.

Edward Eggleston is pretty small beer when Midwestern literature is concerned and by his own account something of a namby-pamby. Booth Tarkington is the best writer from Indiana, and though he had Southern roots on one side, his mother’s family were Yankees. His father supported the Union, and Tarkington all his life was drawn to the Northeast. Of the best Midwestern writers, e..g., Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Ole Rolvaag, Glenway Westcott, none has shown much in the way of Southern roots.

Ours was a mixed country, too mixed to draw any definite lines. What can we say of the South’s best ante-bellum poet, Timrod, the grandson of–gasp–a German immigrant. Naturally, immigrants living in ethnic enclaves rarely mastered English effectively and they often passed their incapacity down to their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, yea down to our own generation. Many Midwesterners, as a result, continue to speak a clumsy English that is really like a second language, although they have no first language. Of course, there are–though a smaller number–Midwesterners who speak a clear and effective English, certainly better than most contemporary Southerners.

There is nothing inherently defective about Germans or Italians or people who have the misfortune to be born north of the Ohio River. In fact, the cultural frontier ran through the middle of the Middle West. When the great Southern state of Kentucky went Republican in 1862, Illinois and Indiana, dominated by down state and mid-state voters, repudiated the War Party. After the War, the Midwest gave every indication of being the next cultural center of the US. It failed, but that, I believe, was the result of the political and cultural consolidation that took place nationally between 1865 and 1940. Southern culture goes back to Jamestown–settled 400 years ago, while the Midwest barely got going until the 19th century. Making fun of this poor cultureless people is blaming the victim.

I am second to none in my preference for the South above all regions, but I cannot help pointing out that the South has given us, in addition to Faulkner and Percy, such politicians as Clinton, Gore, Edwards, Jimmie Carter and, though he is not himself Southern, Newt Gingrich. It is the South that has made a religious cult out of football, and the South that spawned vermin like Pat Robertson. And yes, it is the South that has given us the treacly filth they miscall country music today. Nashville has become Tinpan Alley with steel guitars (and few enough of them). If we are to blame Midwesterners for what they have allowed themselves to turn into, Southerners also have a good deal of explaining to do. And, after 140 years, we cannot blame our failings on the War lest we fall into the same pattern as blacks who blame everything on slavery.

To me it makes more sense to encourage the foolish local pride that inspires people to accomplish more than they think themselves capable of. B.L. Gildersleeve, a great scholar and Confederate veteran, disliked Yankees and despised Vermont, but Vermont’s local patriotism charmed him. Midwesterners, for 140 years, have invited Southern hatred. You cannot mention the South up here without being called a bigot, and while other ethnic jokes are forbidden, the onair “personalities” love to ridicule the Rockford suburbs known as Parkinsaw with one incest joke after another. I’d also like to remind my Midwestern friends that their noble ancestors raped and looted their way across the South–Northeastern regiments were much better behaved.

Still, there is much to praise in the Middle West. Some of the good qualities are, indeed, shared with the South but not all. Let each region restore itself and keep to itself. I only wish Clyde Wilson would not let the cat out of the bag. If he keeps this style up, the Midwest will be sending an even bigger invasion of locusts, I mean snowbirds.
260 Comment by Michael Walsh on 17 May 2007:

Unfortunately, the cultural situation in Ireland is quite dire indeed, have a look at Mary Kenny’s book “Goodbye to Catholic Ireland” for a review of the current situation.

TrifKovic’s analysis is not overstated.

Perhaps Irish religious identity was linked to the nationalist struggle with Britain and once removed the currents of Post-modernism did their work, together with the subversive effects of economic prosperity. Yes a bleak prognosis.
261 Comment by Sean Scallon on 17 May 2007:

What ended the “Troubles” was the fact that the IRA and the UDF members hardly went to church anymore. They basically became criminal gangs fighting each other small sections of turf in Belfast. There was no point to it anymore unlike 30 years ago.

Certainly unfettered economic growth and materialism is one reason for Irish culture decline. But we also must face the fact that the Church pedofile scandals from the 1990s onward took their toll as well. The Church was a centrafugal force within Irish society. Destroy it, and destroy Irish culture, it’s as simple as that. What would happen to an Orthodox nation if its nation church had a similar kind of scandal? It’s the same thing. They did it to themselves.
262 Comment by Mike Morris on 17 May 2007:

Thank you for this. The author deserves more attention, though I did read a favorable review of The Better Way in the LA Times of all places.

I would only question your assertion that the Ozarks are the “western outpost of Appalachia.” The region has it’s own distinctive geography and culture, though of course it is closely related to Appalachia culturally and demographically, just as are parts of Texas.
263 Comment by Alain Gray on 17 May 2007:

What Don said is correct. Old material from the autodidact blog should at least be archived somewhere.
264 Comment by Michael Walsh on 17 May 2007:

Even before the catastrophic paedophile scandals, in the early 1990s, Bishop Casey of Galway was revealed to have been involved in a long term relationship with a woman and they had a child together.

This was a turning point for Catholicism in Ireland. The repercussions were immediate. It seemed as if this was the moment long awaited, Mass attendance and other public religious expression declined precipitiously. The Church was looked upon as a den of hypocrites. There has been no recovery.

In the early 20th century a somewhat similar situation occurred in Boston when it was revealed that a nephew priest (appointed to a high position in the Boston Archdiocese) of the legendary Cardinal O’Connell was secretly married and had been carrying on in that status for some time. However, the scandal did not rock the faith of Boston Catholics. Yes an anecdote but I think instructive in outlining the effects of modernity/post-modernity.
265 Comment by James Kabala on 17 May 2007:

Do the Irish count as true English speakers in Dr. Wilson’s book? To be sure, their remote ancestors did not speak English, but in many parts of Ireland English has been the dominant language for several centuries now. The Highland Scots whose descendants make up much of the population of the South also spoke Gaelic in pre-modern times, and if we go back far enough in time that is true of the Lowland Scots as well, yet I suspect not Dr. Wilson would not hesitate to count them as natural English speakers. We might also mention the Welsh, the national ancestry of Thomas Jefferson’s paternal line, but also non-English speakers until the late medieval/early modern period and in many areas not until much later.
I admit to a personal interest in Dr. Wilson’s answer to this question, although half my ancestors were not Irish but Polish, and even my Irish ancestors came mainly from County Kerry, which was a Gaelic-speaking area well into the Nineteenth Century, so I may be a lost cause no matter what.

“If one were to conduct a blind test of college student writing, I doubt Mr. Wilson could separate 10 Sons of the Confederacy from 10 third-generation formerly hyphenated Americans.”

This is almost surely true, even if TJF is right that Grumpy Old Man’s specific example of Conrad is wrong. (I have not read enough Conrad to make a judgment either way.)
266 Comment by Red Phillips on 17 May 2007:

Rudy’s character was revealed by his shameless demagoguery in the SC GOP debate. What a liar. He’s never heard of “blowback.” Yeah right.
267 Comment by Michael Hill on 17 May 2007:

Hillary or Rudy? What a choice. I pray that Americans–not just Southerners–will re-examine secession as an option to the coming tyranny. After all, when the ship he’s on is sinking, a prudent man starts looking for a lifeboat. The USS American Empire is going down. It’s just a matter of time.

Michael Hill
268 Comment by Bede on 17 May 2007:

I imagine we shall see more energetic regionalist movements. As the third-world invasion reveals the treachery in D.C., as judicial tyrants continue to legislate more globalism and secularism, and as the American Empire bankrupts us, more people will begin to realize that we have a federal government that has all but declared war upon Middle America.
269 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 17 May 2007:

It is not that the South Carolina GOP are idiots—it’s that they are bought and paid for.
270 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 17 May 2007:

I thank Dr. Fleming for clarifying a great many matters. I am as guilty as anyone, but I have to say that this whole discussion is an example of our penchant for the tangential. My piece was about the degradation of American speech, which hardly anybody has discussed. The bit about Yankees was an aside, and, as I clearly stated, merely speculation. Have a nice day and remember to press 1 for English.
271 Comment by Red Phillips on 17 May 2007:

“The war bloodthirst among “rank and file Republicans” (alleged conservatives) is physically sickening.”

I agree. Sickening. I used to try and take up for them a little. They are just misguided, and have a left over Cold War mentality. But there are some of these clowns who really think we should just declare war on all of Islam and start killing people. The more the merrier.
272 Comment by Harry Wisniewski on 17 May 2007:

Dear Dr. Fleming,

Reading the books at a quicker pace is welcomed – it requires more discipline on our behalf and will keep interest sustained. Having a readling list a few books out would also be helpful. This will allow for searching the books at resellers or libraries with leisure and avoid, if at all possible, having to print and read dozens of web pages a night.

I suggest that we read the erudite Thomas Molnar.

Best regards,

Harry Wisniewski
273 Comment by Allen Wilson on 17 May 2007:

A whole book could be written about the valleygirlesque, conformist, dull, colourless pan-American speech of modern American pop-’culture’. Younger people increasingly conform to this characterless speech, with it’s dull accent and empty dialect, thinking that they are ridding themselves of an unpleasant accent and sounding better, when in fact they cant see that they are just trading their native accent and dialect for an artificial one, every bit as thick and heavy as those of the Southern backwoods, Northern Michigan, or Boston. Of course the South is the biggest victim of this evil, but the every part of the empire is under attack from it. I have heard that the native dialect and accent of New England is caving in under the assualt, and this is as regrettable as the decline of Southern speech.

Personally, I prefer thick local accents to dull conformity. I remember two girls I used to know when I was younger, who originally were from – of all places, yes, it’s true – Rockford Illinois. They had lived in Arkansas most of their lives. They were both attractive, but the younger one was particularly beautiful. She also had the thickest accent, virtually unchanged since she had left Rockford as a child. Listening to her speak was almost erotic.
Likewise, setting aside that irritating valley girl speech which was never anything but an artificial construct even in the valley, a real Southern California accent, one of the softest of Yankee accents, which also has similarities to Southern accents, is quite pleasing in a girl. The modern pan-American, valleygirlesque accent of conformity is not, because it’s too dull and lacks real character.

As go the local dialects of the English language, so goes the entire English language. The decline of regionalism is the decline of language itself, just as it is also the decline of culture and civilisation. How could it not be?
274 Comment by Grumpy Old Man on 18 May 2007:

This piece is a good reminder of an unsavory era, that of the Wall Street perp wals, in the man’s career. This kind of abuse of power is distasteful in itself, and may be a key to understanding the man’s character.

The good news is none of the Republican candidates can possibly get the nomination. The bad news is that one of them will.
275 Comment by Grumpy Old Man on 18 May 2007:

Perp “walk,” that should be.
276 Comment by Frank B Lee on 18 May 2007:

If total war was acceptable against the South, why should it not be acceptable against a foreign state?

In both cases the war brings money and power.

I can’t speak for the whole of South Carolina, but I meet sane, grounded folks here all of the time. I’ll leave the analysing to the analysists, but I doubt any other state under the union is truly more conservative.

What kind of a man goes to a debate among such connivers anyway?
277 Comment by CyberDoodlle on 18 May 2007:

I wonder if RG mentored Mike Nifong!
278 Comment by Roger Devlin on 18 May 2007:

Two perhaps tangential inquiries: 1) who were the noble restoration wits, and are you employing the epithet “noble” ironically?; and 2) what is your opinion of Dryden as a translator, and of the significance of this aspect of his activity? The translations get even more neglected in college literature surveys than the rest of Dryden, but they must be relevant to his “neoclassicism” in some sense. (Partly I ask because I happen to know Dryden ONLY through his translations.)
279 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 18 May 2007:

Guilty as charged. As a “self-appointed” American, educated in Europe (mainly UK – thank God they do speak English there without having to press 1 for English). However, I continue to struggle with American English which (in words of Bernards Shaw) is the common language dividing the two people (the English and the Americans). I tend to produce run-on sentences, I make poor use of “that” as opposed to “which”, etc. etc. My hearing (and reading) of English is an entirely different story. After having completed NYU – Drama Shakespeare is my daily bible to this day, but I fail to absorb the consistent good usage of it (the proper English language). Yes, my most serious impediment is the media, unrestrained coinage of non-existent words and nebulous dual meanings – (pre-owned, preventative, etc.) – so by all accounts, I am doing far less damage to this noble language than I could if I were more glued to any TV program (TV is banished in my home). Thank you for the wonderful, insightful summary.

No, I don’t want a blindfold, just a cigarette.

Shoot straight – don’t make a mess of me.
280 Comment by Nicholas G.P. MOSES on 18 May 2007:

“Hillary or Rudy? What a choice. I pray that Americans–not just Southerners–will re-examine secession as an option to the coming tyranny.”

I have a feeling secession is a moot point at this stage. The way I see it is this: Giuliani is less divisive and less incompetent. Hillary, on the other hand, is not only polarizing but so bad at managerial and executive tasks as to ruin everything she tries to run. Frankly, if she wants to ruin Washington, I say let her. Among the presidential hopefuls, she’s probably the ripest for removal from office by a coup d’état; I would bet two to one that a Clinton presidency ends in such. We have been overdue for a real military government since at least 1964.

On the other hand, perhaps that is the logic behind the Clinton and Bush policies of keeping U.S. troops engaged in silly and costly wars across the globe: keep them from protecting the homeland from the White House. I must remember that Hillary supported the Iraq invasion all along.
281 Comment by Harry Wisniewski on 18 May 2007:

Dear Dr. Fleming,

Suggested reading: Thomas Molnar.

Harry
282 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 18 May 2007:

I wonder if this is the same Vuk Jeremic who was a prominent OTPOR member during the final years of Slobodan Milosevic.

There was one Vuk Jeremic, who did benefit from the Soros foundation’s “seminars” held in Budapest, Temisoara and elsewhere “teaching” the ways of “passive resistance”, aside from which they provided computers, printed posters, buttons etc. etc.

At that time I had been their money channeling operator in the United States having assisted in collecting money from the sale of the famous Otpor T-shirts.

http://www.metropolismag.com/html/content_1100/ob.htm

I did have some second thoughts abou the whole operations, but I was compelled to help in some fashion – in spite of the geographical distance. Oh well, the road to Hell is indeed paved with good intentions.
283 Comment by R. Cort Kirkwood on 18 May 2007:

When I wrote editorials at The Washington Times during the Milken affair, a Wall Street bigshot came to the paper to denounce Milken.

Apparently, he was on a one-man crusade to discredit Milken.

I asked him one simple question: Please explain what laws Milken broke, and what he did wrong, either legally or morally. He couldn’t answer.

My suspicion is that this individual was less concerned that Milken had done something wrong than that Milken was making more money, as PCR says above: “His earnings and those of his upstart firm, Drexel Burnham Lambert, aroused envy and hatred among the Wall Street hotshots.”
284 Comment by Michael Kenny on 18 May 2007:

I always suspect that when Dr Trifkovic starts talking about Ireland, he is simply using us to beat out on his political drum an air that is in no way Irish!

The excesses of the Celtic Tiger are nothing more than the most natural reaction in the world to the poverty that went before. The famine of the 1840s, aggravated by liberal economic, “market forces”, theory reduced the population from 8 million to 2 million in only six years. A million and a half died, the rest emigrated. Poverty and emigration continued down into the 1960s. In the 1950s Ireland of my childhood, there was still lots of horse-drawn traffic in the streets. I can still remember the first time I saw a supermarket, took a shower, travelled by plane, left the country, watched television and a quirky little thing which has stayed with me, the newspaper cut up for toilet paper! Nobody wants to go back to that. Ireland is not a human zoo for the entertainment of the Irish-Americans, who, from their shamrock-spangled dream world, spend a great deal of time trying to hold Ireland back, even to the point of funding terrorism.

EU membership has liberated Ireland like nothing that has happened since 1169 and Ireland is the jewel in the EU’s crown. The proof that EU membership works to the advantage of small, poor countries (like Serbia!). The modern Irish are like starving people who have stumbled into a banquet. They are gorging themselves and even making a bit of a fool of themselves in the process, but once they’ve made up for lost time, things will settle down.
285 Comment by Tony on 18 May 2007:

I never thought I would miss Tito.
286 Comment by Boba on 18 May 2007:

Serbia has never had so many traitors in its history! It is hard to name one Serbian politician, except for Dr. Kostunica, that would rather resign than to serve Serbia’s adversary!
Let us hope that Mr. Jeremic will soon be forced to step down!! In fact, he should step down now!
287 Comment by Nebojsa Malic on 18 May 2007:

Resign? He should never have been appointed in the first place!

If Dr. Trifkovic’s information is accurate (and I have no reason to believe otherwise), then he is a draft-dodger, and can – and should! – be arrested and indicted for that. Even though I personally oppose the draft, the “democrats” always talk about the rule of law. Let’s see how they walk the walk.
288 Comment by Bill Wilder on 18 May 2007:

For what it’s worth, James Dobson announced in an editorial this week that he would not vote for Guiliani and would not vote if he were the GOP nominee. Given Dobson’s influence among the Religious Right, that announcement is a blow to Guiliani (particularly, since by putting it in writing, it’s not something Dobson can retract later with any integrity).

I can Clinton getting the nomination, but not Guiliani. No offense to anyone, but midwest Methodist liberal woman from New York is more likely to get the nod than an NYC Italian. Swap Rudy’ red power tie for a white one, and he’d fit right in with the Sopranos. Too mobster looking for the heartland, no matter how much Faux News tries to spin it. And in the end, the Baptists and other Southern Fundamentalists won’t go for him.

Just my inkling, Rudy is this cycle’s Howard Dean and he will be finished by New Hampshire.
289 Comment by Trifkovic on 18 May 2007:

TO BE PRECISE, Vuk Jeremic is formally not a draft dodger — although he is physically fit for service, and although he has never served — because Boris Tadic, as Defense Minister of Serbia-Montenegro, in 2004 formally recognized Jeremic’s tenure at the Ministry (as his “Advisor on Euro-Atlantic Affairs”) as a special assignment that satisfied the requirements of military service. (I kid you not!)
290 Comment by Marco Jovic on 18 May 2007:

How could Dr. Kostunica ever allow the foreign office to go to Tadic’s gang… incredible.
291 Comment by Nebojsa Malic on 18 May 2007:

Wait… wait… can someone get military service credit for being an adviser to the Minister of Defense? I thought that would violate the whole “military under civilian control” doctrine so dear to NATOcrats.

Oh yes, now I get it. Laws, rules and principles don’t apply to “democrats,” only to “nationalists.” Anything Jeremic does is golden, and anything, say, Nikolic does is evil. The times we live in…

I mean, for crying out loud, *I* would make a better FM than Jeremic by several orders of magnitude, and anyone’s who’s read my stuff over the years knows diplomacy isn’t my strong suite.
292 Comment by Simeon Petkovic on 18 May 2007:

Only alternative to choosing a foreign minister ready to give away Kosovo would be to choose a minister of internal affairs capable to keep it inside Serbia. It is said that all deals between the political parties lead directly only to increasing wealth of the leaders involved, disrespecting any damage for the state or community. Everything is just a matter of price. And it is even sadder that the Serbian voters accept those deals, too.
With such players, it shall be a miracle if in the Kosovo game Serbia gains even mere stalemate draw… and does anyone in the world need such outcome?
293 Comment by Trifkovic on 18 May 2007:

A BETTER FM? ANY ONE randomly chosen Serb would do a better job (let alone Mr. Malic). It’s a no-brainer: the likelihood is infinitesimally small that a randomly chosen person — from the streets of Surdulica or Subotica — would combine mendacity, venality, duplicity and ruthlessness the way Mr. Jeremic does.
294 Comment by Mike Morris on 18 May 2007:

Thank you, Mr. Kenny.
295 Comment by Bill Wilder on 18 May 2007:

Unfortunately, the “nationalists” seem to play into the hands of Western propagandists with party names like “Radical Party.” I’m sure it has a different connotation in Serbia, but to an American (I’m just a bland, Anglo-American), “radical” conjures up unfavorable associations.

Of course, having read Dr. Trifkovic for years, I have an understanding of the “real deal”, as we’d say. Given that the entire Western Alliance launched an illegal war against Serbia, I’ve never had any reason for optimism that the US and its allies would do justice towards the Serbs. Propaganda prevails. Doubtless, I can read about this knave in the NY Times or Washington Post and learn that he is a “Western-educated” “pro-American” “democrat”–proving that those words mean nothing now, if ever they did.
296 Comment by R. Brownfield on 18 May 2007:

Congressman Ron Paul is the most constitutionally sound presidential candidate:

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/html/Issues_fx.html

Rudolph Giuliani, if elected as president, would eviscerate the Constitution and mislead the country into a police state. His autocratic record as mayor, criminal family history and dysfunctional family life indicate this:

http://zephyr.unr.edu/?q=node/21
297 Comment by Trifkovic on 18 May 2007:

To Mr. Wilder: Indeed, in Europe Radicals are not “radical,” Liberals are (generally) not “liberal,” Conservatives are (definitely) not “conservative,” and even Socialists are (hardly ever) “socialist.” Who is real, then? Well, in Istanbul (still in Europe, just) and at all points east, across the Bosphorus, we have tens of millions of PM Rejep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party voters, supporters, sympathizers and activists who are dubbed “post-Islamist” by our mainstream media — but who are red-in-tooth-and-claw Muslims of the tested and true Ottoman sort.
298 Comment by Leon Haller on 18 May 2007:

Excellent article! There is only one practical response: whites must UNITE AS A RACE, and FIGHT AS A RACE … for our honor and our survival!!! This is WAR!!! When will we acknowledge it as such?
299 Comment by Lee on 18 May 2007:

If there isn’t a Ron Paul to vote for, I will vote for a third party candidate. I’m beyond tired of beign pandered and lied to.
300 Comment by R. Brownfield on 18 May 2007:

Ron Paul is the most constitutionally sound presidential candidate. His platform says it all:

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/html/Issues_fx.html

Rudy’s autocratic record as mayor of New York is not at all contestable. Amadou Diallo’s death as collateral damage is just one example of Rudy’s leadership in crisis:

http://www.courttv.com/archive/national/diallo/031599_ctv.html
301 Comment by Zoran on 18 May 2007:

I’m “sure” PM Kostunica won’t move a finger to disrupt an agreement that he made with Pres Tadic…then, I have a bridge that I’d love to sell to you. And, trusting that Dr Trifkovic is correct and that he has far superior sources of information than I, or most of us readers, I am absolutely certain that something is being done…who and/or how, stay tuned, I’m sure. Besides the implication that Vuk is not a patriot, I think that his biggest fault lies in the fact that he’s an idiot, and that’s something that he can’t change about himself. Either way, “Nikolic” will happen to him.
302 Comment by Spectacles on 18 May 2007:

I was going to say something along the lines of a few of the above posters but since those have been said, I’ll settle for the fact that he looks like the fat, incompetent, idiotic cop from the new Movie Hot Fuzz.
303 Comment by Chris Ikaris on 19 May 2007:

If nothing else the Rudy/Ron exchange proved how dangerous a Guiliani presidency would be. Guiliani is a demagogue. This is not surprising since he has always made false claims.

Indeed, his claim to fame outside of New York City is based on a false premise because far from being the hero on 9/11, he helped to make the 9/11 attacks possible! His policy of indifference and ’sanctuary’ to illegal aliens while mayor of New York City helped make 9/11 happen since at least three of the 9/11 hijackers were in the country illegally at that time.

If anyone should be thrown out of the debates it is Guiliani precisely because he is such an outrageous demagogue. If only people outside of NYC knew the truth about this man.
304 Comment by Brian Muza on 19 May 2007:

Rep. Ron Paul is correct – to an extent. Certainly it is not beyond the pale to speculate that our foreign policies and actions in the Middle East could be considered provocative, but provocative of what, exactly? I’m quite tired of being told that when the U.S. strikes a murdering thug, the ‘Arab Street’ seeks vengence. Are these people that stupid? Do they – among the poorest, most backward and most mistreated by their own kinsmen – really believe it’s better to kill on behalf of tyrants who have only murdered or enslaved them for decades? If so, then we should be prepared to unleash a much more aggressive attack, for these people will have revealed themselves to be little more than savages.

Which reminds me: if what Ron Paul suggested was considered too controversial, how about making a truly controversial proposal, to wit: stop all Muslim Middle Easterners (Arabs, Persians, Berbers) and all who practice Islam of whatever national origin from entering the U.S. or Europe; then round up all who practice Islam within the U.S. and Europe and repatriate them en masse, with a sufficiently generous stipend per family to help defray their inconveniences.

We will need to make a prudent judgment that Islam (whose holy writ is replete with ‘divine’ license for rape and mass murder) is incompatible – indeed, antithetical – to classical Liberalism and the survival of Western tradition and Christendom. Containment may very possibly be the most humane, least costly, and certainly least deadly of all possible options. How, precisely, would this be immoral? Why not give this a try?
305 Comment by jack bailey on 19 May 2007:

Well, I am sorry that Kostunica did not offer the position of the “Minister of the Foreign Affairs” to either Dr. Trifkovic or Mr. Malic, but such is politics! However, I fail to see how Mr. Jeremic, whatever his failings may be, can trump the official policy of the new government. I suppose that this is an informal way that the two are telling Mr Jeremic to behave, since he might have been indoctrinated by the Harvard Serbophobes due to being susceptible to robotic thinking on account of his wealthy family’s communist past! Rest assured, if Serbia does lose Kosovo, it won’t be because of Mr. Jeremic, alias the “Manchurian Candidate”. After all, how can he be any worse than the previous foreign minister, Mr. Draskovic, with such misguided pronouncements as “Kosovo is the Serbian Jerusalem”. (The Moslem members of the security council may have plenty trouble with stuff like that). That is not to say that Leon Koen does not have a point and that Mr. Jeremic is not the best of candidates, but again such is politics. On another aspect of the Serbian politics that was touched upon: that some politicians and media are financially supported by the West and that this is bad. There are politicians who are not, but they are financially supported by Milosevic’s tycoons, individuals who were able to appropriate huge wealth during his reign and are now exerting a decisive influence from behind the scenes. Shouldn’t that be just as bad? As to the most important aspect of the Kosovo soap opera: If Kosovo stays in Serbia and when this victory is hijacked by those who do not believe in democracy, how did the country gain anything? What good is it, if the country continues to be disfunctional, with an unworkable electoral system, a broken judiciary and capitalism for only a chosen few? It is obvious that the current political establishment does not believe in democracy, not really. They are most likely to interpret the victory with Kosovo as a mandate to do nothing about the sad state of social and economic conditions in the country. Instead, they will continue to exort the myth of their own righteousness and nationalist political correctness. The problem is, that the rightist parties, the force that should counter these effects, to demand capitalism and some form of internationalism, does not exist. The rightists, (or what would be equal to the conservatives in the US) trace their origins to pre WW2 royalists in Serbia but they hardly exist as they were almost completely wiped out by Tito. After Tito’s death, to this day the right still has not been able to revive itself to the point where it can be a significant force. Therefore, there is no political dialogue between the right and the left, only the dialogue between the different shades of the left and the nationalist left, which means there is very little meaningful dialogue in the public sphere on any topic. It will take a long time for such a rightist political force to get revived and for it to be strong enough to counterbalance the overwelmingly leftist polity that now exists. Right now there is very little difference between the Radicals and the DPS and paradoxically to the Western observer, even the Democratic party and LDS are just as leftist as the first two. They are all still leftists! They all believe in some form of socialism and look at capitalism that is being imposed in Serbia as some temporary aberration. There is a great deal of nepotism and corruption within the political establishment and in reality none of them are really interested in establishing a functioning democracy. Instead, they are interested in a cleptocracy. So let everything stay the way it was after WW2, in the 60s and 70s, the heydays of an earlier cleptocracy, while we change the name of the game a little! If Serbia retains Kosovo and the political establishment claims a victory, this will be interperted by themselves as a vindication of all their policies across the board whether economic or nationalist. Unfortunately, the little criticism of this mentality that does appear on occasion comes from people like Mrs. Pesic and Srdja Popovic or the journalist Lukovic, but they are only the lonely voices in the wilderness, voices that are about to get tarred and feathered out of the country for being trecherous. It is unfortunate that Dr. Trifkovic and Mr. Malic never write about this or about how a functioning democracy should be organized in Serbia. It’s also unfortunate that they never write in defense of a few voices who criticize the present political establishment as a whole and the establishment’s reverence of the past and of the failed leftist and nationalist policies. Why imply that these critics are traitors? They are not traitors, the points that these critics are making are valid. How else will any type of rigtist movement ever happen in Serbia if a few people in the country that are somewhat on the right (I am definitely not talking about the NGOs) are being discounted by the two premier English speaking pundits, gentlemen who have a great deal of insight into what a democratic society should be like? Frankly, despite some great articles by both Dr. Trifkovic and Mr. Malic, I am always surprised anew at the relish and pettiness with which they go after some fairly marginal figure like Mr. Jeremic from time to time, as if this will make a difference in the big picture. It does not. Furthermore, where is the merit in mimicking the narrative of the Radicals and using their playbook, while using some nefarious subliminal message there somewhere in reference to Mr Jeremic? At times like these, I almost get the impression that the Radical Party will get back in power again because the language to counter them does not exist even in the writings of Dr. Trifkovic and Mr. Malic, knowing full well that if the Radicals do get in power again, they will repeat the mess of the 90s, the mess which was completely avoidable. Maybe things need to get worse again before they can get better. However, it is one thing to try to rescue Serbs from the misconceptions of the Serbophobes as the two authors do, but at some point one has to face up to the reality of what that country is like after the catastrophic years of self-inflicting misery of Milosevic, socialists, former communists and especially the radical lumpenproletariat. The real question is how the country should be transformed. Why does it seem that the bogaboo of the Radicals has to be revived again and again as a way to shut people up and why is doing this so persuasive? Perhaps some of these critics are right: perhaps the only way to change that country is by bringing in the “missionaries”. (whether Mr. Antonic, the sociologist from the magazine “New Serbian Thought” likes it or not). Yes, Kosovo should stay within Serbia in some form, however the Russian help in the international arena should not be used as a pretext to preserve a social order in Serbia that is inherently unjust and an economic system that is dedicated to permanent failure, while the society as a whole is being under the imminent threat of the Radicals forever.
306 Comment by e sutherland on 19 May 2007:

And just where does Jack Bailey, who is such a critic of the Serbian political system hail from?
It has to be purer than pure.
It certainly cannot be here in Britain where our politicians are generally considered as the lowest form of life in the country, having irreversibly transformed it into an increasingly overpopulated living hell in the last 10 years.
Tony Blair is not only a war criminal (and his deputy about to assume power has supported all his policies in these matters) but he has instituted a repressive, eaves-dropping and snooping society where basic freedom has become a distant memory. Babies are fined £80 for dropping potato crisps. 300 cameras watch each of us in a course of the day – there are now five million of them and they are soon to be given voices to chivy our sins and check our ‘gait’ .
As for the majority of our members of parliament: How low can they sink?
Having used their power to vote themselves massive pay increases, expense accounts the size of lottery wins and ‘gold plated’ pensions we now have them putting through legislation to circumvent the freedom of information act so that they are above such a law allowing them to line their pockets with little or no public scutiny.
Serbia for all its failings cannot be worse than that!
As for the US – a few ultra wealthy families take it in turns to buy the presidency. The senate and the congress – with few exceptions - are corrupt and crooked, and little more than double dealers with nothing but contempt for the public’s view once elected.
Seeing the standard of these two mighty and noble political institutions and with the disgraceful self serving politicians within them, anyone pointing a finger at Serbia does so with either ignorance or malice.
Those of us outside Serbia should clean up our own backyards before preaching to the Serbs about how they should govern themselves !
Even the obviously appalling Mr Jeremic cannot be much worse than ‘Condi’ Rice or Blair’s little lap dog Margaret Beckett who makes most of us Brits cringe in shame.
Best wishes to all in Serbia, and if your politicians betray you and steal from you, take heart – you have just joined the great and the good: western democracy, Britain and America.
E Sutherland
307 Comment by C Bowen on 19 May 2007:

Go, Pat, Go!

The GOP Establishment was outplayed by the Guiliani-Murdoch operation and now the whole fraud is coming apart, and no, an actor is going to bail them out this time.
308 Comment by C Bowen on 19 May 2007:

should be “isn’t going to bail them out this time.”
309 Comment by robert reavis on 19 May 2007:

If Pat were running, they would not be holding public debates. He spanked’em good and made poor Bob Dole look like.. Well, like poor Bob Dole, and so they never invited him back. In fact last time around they changed the rules to keep Buchanan’s Brigades and Nader’s Raiders completely away from the old homestead while all the inlaws tried to bury Ma and Pa at night. Now the whole bloody play has turned so incestuous as to be beyond any Christian’s ability or patience, except to hoot and holler for some honest fellow with absolutley no chance, like Ron Paul. The lesser of two evils is still evil (Romni, McCain, Giulliani, Clinton, Obama, et. al ) and therefore unworthy of any serious consideration for faithful Christians or honest sceptics who still considers themselves creatures of some sort, made in some image other than their own. Cheers rr
310 Comment by P.LLOYD on 19 May 2007:

If JFK was writing “Profiles In Courage” today,there’s no doubt in my mind he would include Ron Paul. Rep.Paul had the guts to simply tell what most Americans don’t want to hear-the truth. The war propaganda machine from the White House to the RNC and Fox News Channel will probably succeed unfortunately in banning Mr.Paul from the debates. We must abandon this childish,simplistic notion that these Arab terrorists hate us simply because the United States of America exists. Get real! Our constant interference in other nation’s internal affairs has simply come to bite us back. They leave us alone when we mind our own business. Go figure.
311 Comment by Rade on 19 May 2007:

1 – Mr Jeremic autobiography:

http://web.archive.org/web/20001211183000/www.ossi.org/organizacija/clan.asp?clanID=37

2 – Foreign Ministers of major countries:

EC: Javier Solana ( born 1942)
Russia: Sergej Lavrov (1950)
USA: Condoleezza Rice (1954)
Italy: Massimo D’Alema (1949)
Germany: Frank-Walter Steinmeier (1956)
France: Michel Barnier (1951)
China : Li Zhaoxing (1940)
Austria : Ursula PLASSNIK (1956)

SERBIA: Vuk Jeremic (1975)
312 Comment by Rick Oliver on 19 May 2007:

According to Ron Paul’s campaign website, he’ll be at the June 5th debate in New Hampshire hosted by CNN. Hopefully, he’ll have a nice 1 minute packaged answer for the inevitable question about the Fox News debate controversy. He could really score some points there if he gets the “blowback” point across clearly.
313 Comment by violette on 19 May 2007:

Interesting how everyone that hates Serbia is wanting democracy there in 15 years. How long is western world working on democracy? Unfortunately their democracy is working great for rich and powerful and we expect those to know what it means to be poor-so they make our laws and they convince those that are hungry that they realy are not.

Consider what rich and powerful have done to Serbia in last 15 years. Consider that west is fighting terrorists accross the globe but the only onse that can not fight terror in their own country are Serbs because West said so-their way was lets demonize Serbs so when everyone hates them they will fall apart and serbs will simple vanish as nation. If west knew Serbs just little better, their troubled history w/Ottoman empire and all wars since they would think twice.
314 Comment by Charles Bowen on 19 May 2007:

Philip;

I am 100% behind Ron Paul. My encouragement for Mr.Buchanan is that of all the issues he has going in this horse race (Duncan Hunter/trade, Tancredo/immigration and sister) he has thrown down on foreign policy and declared Once more unto the breach.

Dr. Paul is polling 4th in NH according to Zogby so they will have to give him more time. Secondly, Paul signed up an old Buchanan 96 aid to run his pro-life out reach in NH.

We are a little more to the right up this way and lets just enjoy the moment, the gang is back. Ha!
315 Comment by Ibn Iblis on 19 May 2007:

It’s disingenuous to say that OBL and the mujahedin, though they were our allies in Afghanistan, were our friends. They didn’t like us then; they used us to topple someone they simply hated more. It takes a pretty profound lack of historical perspective to say that the reasons they attack us are rooted in our policies.

Two words:

Barbary Wars.

Thomas Jefferson fought jihad too. Can’t blame Bush or Iraq or even Israel for that.

And before Jefferson there was jihad. Had the Muslims not been defeated by Martel at Tours, the Arabian fleet might have sailed without a naval combat into the mouth of the Thames…Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet (Gibbon).

Twice – at Tours and at the gates of Vienna – the Muslims were stopped from trampling all of Europe. The Crusades were the cause of jihad. 450 years of it, which swallowed up two-thirds of Christendom. They destroyed India, then one of the three great civilizations of all time, slaughtering tens of millions and carting off millions more as slaves. Hindu Kush = Hindu Slaughter.

If our foreign policy has anything to do with today’s jihad, it was in Afghanistan when we help show them they were strong enough to topple a superpower. Once Russia left Afghanistan, they figured they could beat us too. And our policy of allowing foreign Muslims to roam free within our borders. If Afghanistan and the recent Ft Dix jihad have shown us anything, it is that our policies have only foolishly aided and abetted those who already hated us, which is very distinct from what Ron Paul said.
316 Comment by Tito Perdue on 20 May 2007:

“I welcome other suggestions. Jane Austen? Hume’s History? Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes? Livy and Terence? A new novel by my friend Tito Perdue?”

I vote for Tito. Aeschylus is all right, too.

Tito
317 Comment by Milence on 20 May 2007:

Somebody should wrtie and circulate a petition asking Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) if he is taking dope or alcoholic beverage in order to be able to sleep at night. Any sane and Christ living person on Earth would not allow a pure anti-christian stronghold in the heart of Europe, a christian continent.
318 Comment by Bob Sale on 20 May 2007:

Paul Wolfowitz endorses Ron Paul (sort of):

“There are a lot of things that are different now [that the U.S. occupies Iraq], and one that has gone by almost unnoticed – but it’s huge – is that … we can now remove almost all of our forces from Saudi Arabia. Their presence there over the last 12 years has been a source of enormous difficulty for a friendly government. It’s been a huge recruiting device for al-Qaeda.

“In fact if you look at bin Laden, one of his principle grievances was the presence of so-called crusader forces on the holy land, Mecca and Medina. I think just lifting that burden from the Saudis is itself going to open the door to other positive things.

“I don’t want to speak in messianic terms. It’s not going to change things overnight, but it’s a huge improvement.” – Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz Vanity Fair May, 9th 2003
319 Comment by Dirk on 20 May 2007:

Kojen’s resignation and recent rejection of high position within Ministry for Kosovo is serious warning and must ring the bells. It is obvious that whatever Kojen have done publicly to keep Kosovo in Serbia, Jeremic was doing opposite in conspiracy. If not, why would Tadic hide it from one of his former advisors?
320 Comment by Tankosic on 20 May 2007:

There is a general convention that the post of FM goes to those who have spent at least 20 years serving their country abroad.

The only person I know of who is qualified enough is Dr. Vladeta Yankovich. I wouldn’t object to seeing Dr. Leon Kojen in the role of FM, either — or even you, Dr. Trifkovich.

Yeremich is not only green (32 yrs old, 0 yrs. diplomatic experience, 4 courses in Public Admin and 50 pages of text!), but seems to be ‘dragging quite a few tails.’

I was convinced Drashkovich was definitely the worst possible choice after that travesty with Svilanovich. The appointment of Yeremich proves me wrong.

This is by no means a surprise. The current president of Serbia was once the country’s telecom minister and then he took over as the Minister of Defence. He has a B.A. in PSYCHOLOGY. Go figure.

The post of FM is the position of highest priority and importance. This is especially true when we talk about Serbia. This guy is a joke.

I wish more ministers, directors and secretaries would follow in Mr. Kojen’s steps. I don’t understand how Dr. Koshtunitsa could’ve let this one slide.

Something ought to be done and fast.
321 Comment by Simon Newman on 20 May 2007:

It’s unfortunate that Ron Paul was technically incorrect on the specifics – Al Qaeda’s primary stated reason for 9/11 was not US actions against Iraq, but the stationing of US troops in Saudi Arabia, principally to defend Arabia and its oil against Iraq. His broader point was of course correct.
322 Comment by Simon Newman on 20 May 2007:

I think Kenny’s point about Ireland gorging at the EU banquet is correct. I’m not sure that this applies to the Protestant part (ca 60%) of Northern Ireland though, at least not yet. Ulster Unionists, mostly Protestant, have traditionally been highly Eurosceptic and I doubt they’ll all be embracing Cultural Marxism just yet. The test will come when there’s a referendum voting majority for Irish Unification, and the Westminster government tries to implement it, as required by the Good Friday agreement. Whether the bulk of Unionists will acquiesce or fight, I don’t know, but I don’t think acquiescence is at all a sure thing.
323 Pingback by News | Serbian Unity Congress » The Jeremic Dossier, Chronicles Magazine on 21 May 2007:

[...] As our regular readers may recall, last December I wrote that the belief in some Western capitals that Kosovo can be detached from Serbia with Belgrade’s agreement [...]
324 Comment by TJF on 21 May 2007:

Thank you all for the helpful responses. I shall, within a few days, post a reading list for the next few months. I’ll also have a second part appended to the original piece on Dryden. Thomas Molnar, a good friend for many years and a contributor to Chronicles, is an excellent choice. Although his health is not good and he probably does not use a computer, I’ll try to persuade him to answer a few questions.

Now for a few answers. The “noble” wits I had in mind were people like John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset, and Sir Charles Sedley. All three were Frenchified libertines, poets of some merit, and Rochester at least aspired to the role of aesthetic dictator. One of the great literary feuds of the age was between Dryden and some of the wits who parodied him in a farce.

Dryden is the greatest imitator of the classics in the English language. I say “imitator” because he did not wish to provide a trot but to create a parallel work, say, to the Aeneid or Juvenal’s satires, in English. He was very conscious of his shortcomings, some of which derive from the nature of English, and some critics have thought his most artful verse can be found in his translations of Ovid, a poet whose limitations he acknowledged. When I used to teach the Aeneid in translation, I usually had my students read Dryden’s translation. Classicists were appalled, because of Dryden’s supposed inaccuracies. I always answered that those who wish to gain an accurate impression of Vergil can do only one thing, read him in Latin. Here is the beginning from an etext:

Arms, and the man I sing, who, forc’d by fate,
And haughty Juno’s unrelenting hate,
Expell’d and exil’d, left the Trojan shore.
Long labors, both by sea and land, he bore,
And in the doubtful war, before he won
The Latian realm, and built the destin’d town;
His banish’d gods restor’d to rites divine,
And settled sure succession in his line,
From whence the race of Alban fathers come,
And the long glories of majestic Rome.

The fine last line translates only “atque altae moenia Romae,” but the Latin has a resonance for the Roman that is not captured by “the walls of high Rome.”

Finally, I should warn all readers that although I have been a lover of 17th century English literature and taught a course on English neoclassicism at Chapel Hill (long ago), I am very far from being a specialist. I read relatively little secondary stuff and have concentrated on literary texts, published letters, contemporary historians, and modern interpretors of the history.
325 Comment by TJF on 21 May 2007:

PS It is confusing to lump Byron in with people whom he disliked. On the other hand, after attacking Scott, he responded warmly to Scott’s courtesy. As a friend of Shelley, with whom he shared an admiration for the Greeks, as a liberal nationalist in politics, and as a poet who wrote all too much about his own feelings, he is correctly put into a historical category which he often transcended. Often a bad man, he was rarely petty. His role in the Greek independence movement is far more significant than is often realized.
326 Comment by Nebojsa Malic on 21 May 2007:

@ “Jack Bailey”:
Why don’t I write about a way Serbia could become democratic? Because I despise democracy! Look at the two countries that always boast about it – the US and the UK. What has “democracy” brought them? Near-unlimited government, Bush and Blair, a chronic collapse of society. No, sir, democracy is shaping up to be one of the tree great totalitarian deceptions of the 20th century, next to fascism and communism.

Furthermore, I find it hard to believe that anyone can claim to be on the “right” with a straight face after mentioning Vesna Pesic, Srdja Popovic and Petar Lukovic as positive voices. I would sooner call them examples of everything that is wrong in Serbia these days.

You are right in that the political spectrum in Serbia goes from hard left (LDP) to soft left (Radicals). How can it not? The royalists were either killed or exiled by Tito, and have melted away in America and Australia since. Unlike their Croatian counterparts, who worked for decades to resurrect the NDH, the Serb emigres had no idea to work towards, as their last point of departure was the 1941 Yugoslavia. Hardly something to hang a cause on. Communists were replaced by the socialist Milosevic, who was replaced by the “democratic” DOS – all firmly anchored in the modern model of omnipotent state. They’ve just coated it in different flavors, but it’s all the same manure underneath.
327 Comment by Red Phillips on 21 May 2007:

Simon, actually he was correct. We had troops stationed in SA (at Prince Sultan Air Base) to enforce the southern no-fly zone. But he wasn’t saying that Iraq was the only reason. Our support of Israel is another. Troops in SA was another. He was just making the broader suggestion that our intervention is a cause of their anger, which is certainly true.
328 Comment by Ibn Iblis on 21 May 2007:

It should also be noted that in Bin Laden’s letter to America, while he notes that our policies are partially to blame for his attack against us, he also notes that it’s our freedoms he hates as well; our culture, which is un-Islamic and thus allows all sorts of things that he despises.

He first calls us to Islam, and then runs through a laundry list of oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you, such as fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling’s, and trading with interest [...] You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator.

So, I agree absolutely that there should be a discussion about how our policies permit jihadists to attack us, because I firmly believe they are only capable of attacking us if we permit them – wittingly or not. But to say that our policies are the reason they hate us, which in turn is the reason they attack us, is extremely short-sighted and someone with the education and resources (advisors, etc) available to Ron Paul should know better.
329 Comment by TJF on 21 May 2007:

Historians of modern Greece paint a picture of a mature and sobre Byron, who spent much of his own fortune buying weapons and subsidizing Greek troops, and used his reputation to lure others to contribute. He also appears to have given up his swaggering manner and become rather mild, a peace-maker among the warring Greek leaders. The uprising gave him a sense of purpose beyond himself. Even in the third Canto of Don Juan (written 5 years before his death) the intensity of his love for Greece inspires some of his best verse:

The mountains look on Marathon—
And Marathon looks on the sea;
And musing there an hour alone,
I dream’d that Greece might yet be free
For, standing on the Persians’ grave,
I could not deem myself a slave.
330 Comment by Friedrich von Hardenberg on 21 May 2007:

“Dryden is the greatest imitator of the classics in the English language.”

Another: Ezra Pound, “Homage to Sextus Propertius”, and “Canto I”
331 Comment by Friedrich von Hardenberg on 21 May 2007:

How ’bout Aeschylus, Oresteia. If it’s done done, would you then post your remarks? Thanks.
332 Comment by Michael Morow on 22 May 2007:

Mr. Roberts, this is one of the finest pieces you have yet turned in. Giuliani’s active misuse of power has been blatant, appalling, grandly calculating. Note too that Leona Helmsley’s prosecution was fueled by Guiliani’s exploitation of nothing more than public dislike of her cheezy image from ads, aided and abetted by Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes. And this during a year when she actually, by other accountants’ mistakes, overpaid her federal taxes.
333 Comment by Lee on 22 May 2007:

I appreciate the return of the booklog. And I’ve just finished “All for Love”. I think Molnar is a good choice; I’ve only read one of his books but it was interesting and thought provoking.
I don’t understand choosing “Before the Dawn:…”. I’ve read half of it so far and it reads like most scientismist works including all evolutionary works. Evolution is never defined, nor prooved; it is merely assumed. It mixes a lot of trivia with a little genetics and hangs it on a scaffold of evolution. All the comments mentioning evolution seem gratuitous: that is there is no predictive aspect to it and you could make the basic statement, leave the evolution comment out and it would not make any difference. Its basic argument is evolution’s seeming only one. Namely, here’s our argument and since you don’t have one or one that our philosophy allows, then we must be right. A better choice, it seems to me, if science is of interest, would be Feynmann’s (even though an atheist, yet one of Americas great and original scientists) essay on science and his essay on cult cargo science.
334 Comment by TJF on 22 May 2007:

To Novalis (clever reverse for a pseudonym!): I agree on Pound. Bizarre as he often is–and nothing is more bizarre than the homage to Propertius–he helped to revive the whole concept of imitation as opposed to translation. I am happy to do a discussion of the Oresteia, on which I have lectured many times. I am currently revising my 1972 dissertation on the lyric meters of Aeschylus for publication in a monograph series.

I’ll try to figure out a good way of putting up a Booklog schedule. Perhaps it could be a button on the Booklog page. For now, I am going to move on (after we finish with Dryden’s two plays) to Nicholas Wade’s Before the Dawn, then Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, then Gregory the Great’s Magna Moralia aka Commentary on the Book of Job–only conveniently available on the web, then Aeschylus’ Oresteia, which is for my money the greatest dramatic work we know of, though a work quite alien to Anglo-American sensibilities.
335 Comment by Mace Price: The Despised Redneck of Barstow on 22 May 2007:

Gentlemen: The unprecedented exchange between an arrogant, demanding don Rudolfo Giuliani and the direct veracity of Ron Paul was in essence presaged by the televised, Feb 2005 dialogue cum confrontation I watched on NBC’s venerable Meet The Press. This between Patrick J. Buchanan—and The Decider’s favorite author, none other than Arch Zionist Natan Shcharansky…In the ensuing argument Mr. Shcharansky was reduced to stammering and stuttering in effect about the absolute priority of Israel’s existence. all the while under Mr. Buchanan’s command of facts regarding the Realpolitik motives for the September 11 attacks, as a verbal assault. By the end of the program and Tim Russert’s classic sign off, Scharansky, like don Rudolfo, had come out second best…Then what I considered the most seminal and forthcoming public moments to date, i.e. an unprecedented objection to the disastrous AIPAC designed unqualified pro-Israeli US Foreign Policy in the Middle East…was forgotten…But not by me in any case…I hope to have the privilege of commenting here again.
336 Comment by Lee on 22 May 2007:

Because they think they can control it. Because they think that, having the wolf by the ears, they can hang on forever. Because they believe that, all the others being just renters, they can dispossess them on a whim. Because they know that they know more than we do and therefor we should listen and follow. Because they know, like Lincoln and the Soviet Nomenklatura, that there will always be a cadre of people whom they can arm and deputize to bully their neighbors — at least for a while; the reaction will set in, always unkown, but in the past it has included such organizations as the Resistance, La Cosa Nostra, and the KKK.
337 Comment by Fred Breisch Jr. on 22 May 2007:

Lee,

Well stated and I fear absoulutely correct — because of their hubris. Keep at them Pat and thank goodness for Chronicles.
338 Comment by TJF on 22 May 2007:

I would like to discuss “Before the Dawn”, though briefly, for two reasons; first, because it is a readable summary of what in general scientists in the field of human evolution are thinking these days and contains some thought-provoking theories about language, intelligence, and even race; secondly, because the logical leaps and unproved assumptions are a startling disclosure of how really irrational scientists are. It is simply not true that studying physics or biology makes one a more rational thinker. We’ll do perhaps two weeks, in which we skim over a few main points. I used to study evolutionary theory in some detail, and this is an opportunity to return to the subject.
339 Comment by Chuck on 22 May 2007:

An important list of “inconvenient truths.”

Thanks!
340 Comment by robert reavis on 22 May 2007:

“The poet Edgar Lee Masters, in his biography of Lincoln, wrote that the Civil War was a brutal and unnecessary conflict carried out mainly for the benefit of Big Business. The sanctification of that war into a holy crusade is an example, Masters said, of “that refusal of the truth that is written all over the American character.”

Substitute the word “immigration debate” for civil war, think about Iraq for “holy crusade” and the presidential biography could read “Bush” instead of Lincoln. rr
341 Comment by Sid Cundiff on 22 May 2007:

Clyde, you are so right! Historical myth – by which I mean “lies”– has afflicted other nations, yet not to the degree that it has afflicted British and American people. In contrast, and to their credit, the Germans have shifted from the belief in 1922 that the Germans were “stabbed in the back” by the Social Democratic signatories of the Versailles Treaty, to the “Fischer Thesis” of 1960, to the Historikerstreit of the 1980s. Even better, the French have fiercely debated the French Revolution from the moment it started up to this very day. Ditto the Spanish re: the Spanish Civil War. And find me an Italian who isn’t a cynic about the events of 1870.

Now consider the myriad of myths held as true by Brits and Gringos:

That Richard III of England was a wicked hunchback,
– that the Spanish Inquisition toasted the toes of thousands,
– that the Anglican Church exists for some other reason than that Henry VIII wanted a divorce,
– that Charles I was just Lucius Tarquinius Superbus recycled,
– that James II of England was a evil Papist hatching one Popish Plot after another,
– that the “Glorious Revolution” brought religious and political freedom, along with peace and fiscal security (especially to Ireland!)
– that the same was “glorious” (i.e. unbloody),
– that the value of a product is determined by how much labor goes into making it,
– that in 1914 German soldiers were eating Belgian children,
– that the Lusitania wasn’t carrying munitions to use against Germans, and thus only carried innocent civilians, who were never warned of the possible danger by the German government,
– that the only thing wrong with the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 was that it didn’t hang the Kaiser,
– that Fascism, Naziism and Francoism are all the same,
– that the Spanish Republicans were great friends of justice, democracy, and human rights,
– that the strategic bombing campaign of Air Marshal Arthur Harris was just, effective, and shortened World War II,
– that the Blacks brought to Jamestown in 1619 were slaves, or were enslaved at once,
– that the Pilgrims were the first English settlers in America,
– that the American War for Secession From the British Empire was a “revolution”,
– that Africans did not sell Africans into slavery and did not sell them to New England ship masters,
– that Slavery and Jim Crow only existed in the South,
– that the US constitution of 1787 stripped the states of all sovereignty and made the Federal Government sole sovereign and sole judge of its own powers, and that Webster sincerely believed this,
– that the Federal Government made the states, and made them to be franchises of the Federal Government,
– that states didn’t make The Federal Government as their agent, answerable to them,
– that the Constitution means what the Supreme Court says it means,
– that the Constitution forbids states secession,
– that the 10th Amendment is fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm,
– that George Washington was the first president of the US [he was the 13th],
– that Al Hamilton and Nicholas Biddle were really swell economists,
– that U.S. won the War of 1812,
– that “American blood [was] shed on American soil” by the Mexican government in 1845,
– that the majority of Southerners before 1863 owned slaves,
– that Robert E. Lee thought slavery was just peachy,
– that there were no Black slave holders,
– that Lincoln’s War Against Southern Secession was a “Civil War”,
– that the same was fought over slavery, not tariffs,
– that Lincoln thought Blacks were really groovy,
– that Lincoln opposed slavery,
– that the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves, and had that purpose,
– that Reconstruction was a really awesome expression of justice & peace & love,
– that the “robber barons” were robbers,
– that the Spanish sank the Maine,
– the Federal Reserve has stabilized the currency in a way that gold didn’t, and has actually increased the dollar’s value (in a way gold didn’t),
– that the Germans started World War I,
– that the US acted as an impartial neutral in World War I until April 1917,
– that World War I was a great crusade by The Righteous Nation to make the world safe for democracy, led by St. Woodrow,
– that what happened in 1929 was a “depression”,
- that the programs of Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt were different,
– that these programs didn’t turn the Recession of 1929 into the Depression of 1931 and didn’t prolonged the same,
– that the New Deal saved the country from the Great Depression,
– that there was less unemployment in the US in 1937 than in 1933,
– that World War II ended the Great Depression,
– that Germans – one and all – were and are cold-blooded killers,
– that Pius XII stoked the ovens at Auschwitz,
– that the A-bombs are what brought the Japanese to surrender, and not the belated promise to protect the Emperor,
– that the Black family is better off as an institution today than in 1950,
– that The Great Society programs significantly lowered the rate of poverty,
– that The Reverend Louis Farrakhan has talked to the late Reverend Elijah Muhammad on an alien space ship,
– that Alice Walker is just as good Homer,
– that Marcel Duchamp’s “Great Glass” is just as good as the Sistine Chapel,
– that Brittany Spears is better than Josquin des Prez,
– that today more American children than ever have an opportunity for an excellent education,
– Marie Antoinette said“Let them eat cake”,
– that Washington had a wrath against cherry trees,
– that one should never wash out a teapot with soap and water,
– and that if you step on a crack then you’ll break your mother’s back

ARE all believed by certain souls with the ardent fervor of little children in the Tooth Fairy, are held to be the True and Everlasting Gospel by the Cultural Marxists mountebanks who sit in the chairs of our Potemkin universities, are propagated by the “mainstream” press and hireling lawyers, – AND are not only lacking in authentication, confirmation, verification, and substantiation, but are demonstrably, patently, and utterly FALSE.
342 Comment by Michael Hill on 22 May 2007:

Another gem from Clyde Wilson. Thanks. It’s good to have you on our side.
343 Pingback by Eunomia · Bush Is Right–He Is Like Lincoln! on 22 May 2007:

[...] George W. Bush is thought to be a kindly Christian driven reluctantly to war. He is actually a theologically-confused power-seeker who embraces violent measures readily. ~Clyde Wilson [...]
344 Comment by Clyde Wilson on 22 May 2007:

Sid, I knew that Germans bayonetted Belgian babies, but I never heard that they ate them.
345 Comment by Sid Cundiff on 22 May 2007:

re: Belgian babies: Clyde, your memory is definitely far better than mine.
346 Comment by Michael Hill on 22 May 2007:

I once saw a bumper sticker in Alabama that read “I wish we’d have picked our own cotton.” I fear my grandson may see one someday that says “I wish we done our own landscaping.” Are we about to make the same mistake for a second time by allowing huge numbers of non-white, non-Western people to settle among us? It sure looks like it.
347 Comment by Robert M. Peters on 22 May 2007:

The problem is that jingoistic politicians like Rudy Giuliani can still move even South Carolinians, the South’s Southerners, with the pugnacious utterances based on this (these) myth(s). It is time that we Southerns quit being the willing Janissary of the empire which conquered us and which is now seeking to eliminate our heritage and culture from the face of the earth and that we begin to take seriously that the Almighty has entrusted us to be the stewards of the last vestiges of the republic, not because we Southerners deserve God’s favor, but precisely because in the last remnants of our once vital Faith, we understand, as Flannery O’Conner said, that we are fallen and in need of Grace – thus, in paradox, we must rise up in humility and boldly proclaim the republic, not only for ourselves but for all Americans who yearn for it, remembering that even this fragile republic is a mere but precious foreshadowing of that Kingdom which is not of this world.
348 Pingback by Politeuma · Déjà vu on 22 May 2007:

[...] George W. Bush is thought to be a kindly Christian driven reluctantly to war. He is actually a theologically-confused power-seeker who embraces violent measures readily. ~ Clyde Wilson No comments Comments feed for this article Trackback linkhttp://luker.org/2007/05/22/deja-vu/trackback/ [...]
349 Comment by Robert M. Peters on 22 May 2007:

The German playwright, Bertold Brecht, after having fallen out with the regime to which he had fled after having left the United States, told the Communist bosses of East Germany that since they so disliked the German people that they kept them in a cage – behind the wall – they, the bosses, should simply select a new people.

Well, our elites are doing just that! They are selecting through both “legal” and illegal” immigration a new people which have no objective correlative to American traditions and our deep roots in the West and in Christianity.
350 Comment by David Rolfe on 23 May 2007:

Sid Cunliff

If you want a reliable guide to British history, I can recommend
“1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England, comprising all the parts you can remember, including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates” W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman.
351 Comment by David Rolfe on 23 May 2007:

I’m sorry that I got your name wrong, Mr Cundiff. I should be the last person to make a mistake like that, as the same thing happens to my name often enough.
352 Comment by Robert Scott on 23 May 2007:

Mr. Peters’ post reminds me of two of Longshank’s (Edward I) lines in the movie “Braveheart”: “The trouble with Scotland is that it’s full of Scots”, and “If we can’t get them out, we’ll breed them out” (invoking ‘Prima Nocte’).

Despite the constant lip service payed to the ‘American Way’, I think the ruling classes are so disconnected from their own traditions and culture that they are unaware of the consequences of massive immigration. Their only guide is their own lust for power and wealth.
353 Comment by TJF on 23 May 2007:

Let us stick to Dryden this week.
354 Comment by Sid Cundiff on 23 May 2007:

Mr. Rolfe: No offense taken. My name’s been spelled worse. And thanks for the book recommendation!
355 Comment by David Rolfe on 23 May 2007:

Although, as you say, marxist mountebank deceivers have been making a good job of deceiving us, they have to share the blame with others.

Recently I read a review of book about Germany in the aftermath of the second war. The author estimates that some three million Germans died unnecessarily after the official end of hostilities. Not all the deaths were down to the soviets.

The reviewer made the point that “This unhappy story has long been cloaked in silence since telling it suited no one. Not the Allies, because it placed them near the moral nadir of the Nazis; nor the Germans, because they did not wish to be accused of whitewashing Hitler by highlighting what was, by any standard, a war crime.”
356 Comment by Sid Cundiff on 23 May 2007:

Bush II’s legacy will be Nixon’s: the ostensible legitimization of his Cultural Marxists enemies. And don’t think the party of the Frankfurter Schüler will be an improvement. The ‘Publikans brought us Iraq, the Dimmykrats Waco, where Christians were slaughtered, and slaughtered because they were Christians. Expect the Colosseum soon to be back in business. Bush uses whips; his successor, Nurse Ratched, scorpions. High time indeed that the Playwright write “exeunt omnes” for both parties.
357 Comment by Mace Price: The Despised Redneck of Barstow on 23 May 2007:

…It is a fiendish example of the Devil’s work that is Politics, that I, as an anomalous, working class American asshole could prefer an order of sonofabitches as eager and willing to steal the sweat off of my back as my so called “Liberators” to prevail in terms of my benefit, and that of my progenitors…Veratis parit Odum…and I say a child is a child, and an exploitive dignified scoundrel, is to my chagrin a Realist…someone tell me if I’m wrong….because I’m just gettting started.
358 Comment by Mace Price: The Despised Redneck of Barstow on 23 May 2007:

…Who is accustomed to hearing any intelligence from beneath the well known division of labor?
359 Comment by VictorK on 23 May 2007:

Why do critics of the Iraq debacle so often proceed from an implicit assumption that appeasement ought to be America’s policy in the Middle East?

I can accept, or at any rate respect, almost all of the other premises that underly their (and Mr Roberts’) conclusion that President Bush’s intervention in Iraq was wrong, is failing and will prove unsustainable; but I cannot ,accept the view that attacks on America can be accounted for by American policy towards muslims, with the implication that that policy must change if such attacks are to be ended.

The US, as a sovereign, independent nation-state, is entitled to adopt whatever policy towards muslims – and anyone else for that matter – that is most conducive to the national interest (an interest that I like to think also takes into account national honour). Support for Israel and support for traditional rulers in the Middle East may enrage muslims across the world, but that is not necessarily a reason for condemning US policy in either respect. Neither should it be allowed to operate as an ‘explanation’ for attacks on the US (possessing as it does as much causal significance and explanatory force as the claim that Jewish misdeeds were the ‘explanation’ of German retribution in the form of the holocaust: such a line concedes far, far too much).

Of course, it shouldn’t be the objective of any responsible government to make enemies needlessly, but it would be politics at its most irresponsible and unscrupulous to shape foreign policy with a view to anything other than the national interest. The rage and hatred of muslims – who we anyway know to be a preternaturally sensitive group, a fault fatally compounded by childish sub-rationality when it comes to dealing with the West in general and the US in particular – the rage and hatred of muslims I say is no basis for re-considering US policy towards muslims or towards Israel. To adapt an adage: is it it good for the Americans is – or ought to be – the principal consideration of the US government in formulating and executing foreign and domestic policy, let that policy be what it may. The US involvement in Iraq – as Paul Roberts trenchantly demonstrates – fails this test, but it’s a pity that he, like so many paleos, makes the error of also bringing in as a criterion for judging American foreign policy the likes and dislikes, the rage and enmity, of the muslim world. No Western state should ever attach the slightest weight to the feelings and wishes of that particular constituency, least of all the leading Western government. George Bush can be soundly critiqued without reaching for arguments from appeasement. This is the one chink in the paleocons’ argumentative armour that the neos have been able to make some telling thrusts to in the past (unsurprisingly: appeasement is an aceptable policy for a Finland in the shadow of a superpower, not for a superpower dealing with a terrorist rabble). how about making it good in future?
360 Comment by TJF on 23 May 2007:

The introduction to Dryden has been expanded to include discussions of both plays. All that remains to be done is a brief conclusion.
361 Comment by J. Stevens on 23 May 2007:

With Ron Paul in charge the Republican Party can enter a new era. If they elect Guiliani or whoever, they will not make it against Clinton in 2008.

I agree with Paul, maybe now I’m unamerican or a coward, but the foreign policy of the US has failed, as it has been failing for the last 50 years, if not longer.

And if you see things trough the prospective of the terrorists, it might not be so strange that they attacked us.

We are ALL potential terrorists you know, what IF China started bombing our cities on a daily basis, even monthly or yearly, it doesn’t matter… the only thing you have done wrong is happen to live in that city, we have absolutely no defense against it, loved ones start to die untill you’re practically the only one left… then a priest comes to you and tells you you can get revenge AND you will be greatly rewarded in heaven What do you have to lose, you get some sort of revenge and you feel like your act is a feat for your homecountry and religion.

JUST TRY to look at it this way. It would be a seriously wrong foreign policy by China isn’t it… well, we do the same thing for real to other countries.
362 Comment by Andrea Thorn on 23 May 2007:

Hello, my name is Angela, and I am a former Bushite. I’ve been sober since the second debate.

I am not a political person.

All this time I supported our President. I never thought we should go to Iraq, but thought that since we were there we should play it out until the end.

I was always bothered by a statement I heard an Iraqi make – that they were fighting our occupation. I thought “Gosh! IF they would just quit blowing each other up for a month or two we could pack up and leave.”

Then I heard Ron Paul say that we’re building bases there, and how would we feel if CHina was building a base in the Gulf Of Mexico.

He tossed out a couple of references to history, and sudddenly a light went on.

Ron Paul is right.

Then I started reading about him, and what he says. While I don’t agree with him on everything, he makes much more sense than any other politician I have ever heard.

Go Ron Go.
363 Pingback by Volunteer Voters » In A Nutshell on 23 May 2007:

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364 Comment by Robert M. Peters on 23 May 2007:

Mr. Scott,

You may indeed be correct. Perhaps it is not at all malice with forethought; but is rather malice with no thought.
365 Comment by Robert M. Peters on 23 May 2007:

I have often wondered where President Bush found his historical model for the quaint notion of a preemptive attack on Iraq. It would seem, in my limited knowledge, that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is the chronologically nearest such preemptive attack, an attack in large part made because of a U.S. oil embargo. However, in the distant year of 1941, such an attack was labeled infamous at the highest levels of our government; and thereupon based, Americans were mobilized to fight and win WWII. What shift has taken place in the moral bearings of us Americans which allows, yea, even beckons us to do precisely that which engendered such righteous indignation some sixty-six years ago?
366 Comment by James Kabala on 23 May 2007:

Sid Cuniff: Unfortunately, most Americans these days don’t know enough about most of the events you mention to have any opinion at all about them, even a poorly informed one.
367 Pingback by Eunomia · Meanwhile, In The Land Of Glorious Democratic Peace… on 23 May 2007:

[...] Via Srdja Trifkovic [...]
368 Comment by James Kabala on 23 May 2007:

I know this thread, since it is no longer on the front page, is probably not being read any more, but I thought my original remarks were too flippant and snarky and I wanted to provide a more thoughtful response to Dr. Wilson and Dr. Fleming’s intriguing and thought-provoking but, in my opinion, flawed thesis.
I just don’t think the common grammatical horrors of the present day – e.g., “between you and I,” “irregardless,” dangling participles, and the various examples corrected by Dr. Wilson – can be attributed to the non-English roots of most modern-day Americans, in part because the parallels in other languages – using “ich” or “io” or “yo” in an object position, for example – would also be incorrect. (An exception is the double negative, which is correct in many Continental languages, but of course it was once correct in English as well.) Furthermore, even the dumbest and most error-prone native American English speaker, regardless of his ethnic background, is generally able to grasp a lot of complex points of English grammar, including most irregular forms; I’ve never known any native English speaker over the age of reason who committed extreme solecisms like “goed” or “doed” or “sheeps” or “mouses.”
I understand the argument that parents who learned English as a second language will be unable to truly pass the language along to their children, and then those children won’t be able to pass the language along to their children, and so on ad infinitum, but I think the people in the communities where they live (especially teachers, who I hope people here recognize are not always bad) are also important. These people clearly have an impact on accent (hence, for example, Irish-Americans in Boston and Charleston speak with New England and Southern accents, respectively, not brogues), so I think they must have an effect on grammar and syntax as well.
That is just my two cents.
369 Comment by Robert M. Peters on 23 May 2007:

Mr. Trifkovic,

I was born and bred in the backwaters of history – in the uplands of north-central Louisiana. Although I have studied history and have lived in Central Europe as an adult, my perspective of the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Russian sphere of influence therein remains quite limited and colored by the glasses fitted on me by the propaganda of the Cold War.

I have, however, had, over my lifetime, the privilege of gaining friends from those regions who continue to shed a different light on the region(s) and its (their) politics, thus altering my perspective. The message which you are bringing seems to corroborate what my friends have been telling me over the years. I enjoy reading your articles and learn much from them.

Thank you.
370 Comment by Boba on 23 May 2007:

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act!”
George Orwell
371 Comment by Michael Ezzo on 23 May 2007:

Mr. Peters brings up an excellent question, and while
I’ve probably only cleared by a hair or two the qualification of holding the bathrobe of Srdja Trifkovic, I think one answer is that
using the military for “cakewalk” victories in foreign
lands is a way to re-assert the
American dominance that we lost during the decades when our
government was literally giving the Japanese and
others the chance to whip us economically.
Of course in order for it work we have to
actually WIN those cakewalks. But I’m constantly reminded
of that cynical comment made by Madeline Albright (“What’s
the point of all that military if we can’t use it?”).
372 Comment by Peter on 24 May 2007:

If we would like to tell plain and simple, Mr. Boris Tadic is Serbian Gaius Baltar and Mr.Jeremic is his Number 6. Their symbiotic connection is almost perversive.
373 Comment by Simon Newman on 24 May 2007:

Most Brits like me are annoyed about the murder of Alexander Litvinenko because it took place in Britain – in London – which makes it an attack on Britain. It doesn’t help that he had just become a British citizen, either. Britain, like any state, needs to respond to the murder of its citizens within its territory.

I agree of course that the extradition situation is a travesty, a product partly of the 1998 Human Rights Act which has entrenched hypocrisy as the highest good.
374 Comment by David Rolfe on 24 May 2007:

Another headache for the British government. They have to go through with the extradition request while knowing full well that Putin will not comply with it, and that it will cause an unwelcome increase in tension with Russia.

It would be good if diplomatic fall-out from this affair encourages Putin to dig in his heels over Kosovo, but that is probably too much to hope for.
375 Comment by Kevin Riley O'Keeffe on 24 May 2007:

On March 17, 2003, I switched my party registration from Republican to Democrat, in protest of the then-impending invasion of Iraq. I’ve been thinking of switching back to Republican in order to vote for Ron Paul, but I just can’t associate myself with a party that appears set to nominate a neo-”conservative” thug like Giuliani. And Romney’s almost as bad. If either of those two get the GOP nomination, I hope the Republicans lose in a historically massive landslide.
376 Comment by Nebojsa Malic on 24 May 2007:

Mr. Newman,

While I fully agree that “Britain, like any state, needs to respond to the murder of its citizens within its territory,” would that same right not apply to Russia, and for that matter, Serbia? Britain has been one of the leaders of the pack that says it doesn’t.
377 Pingback by ChroniclesMagazine.org » Still Sorry After All These Years on 24 May 2007:

[...] This article first appeared in the May 2007 issue of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. [...]
378 Comment by John Sheffield on 24 May 2007:

Excellent points, Professor Wilson.
379 Comment by Thomas Peter Allen on 24 May 2007:

I am sure you know it, but you have certainly hit the nail on the head with your criticisms of such sham gestures by our political “leaders,” a point made all the more manifest here in Macon, Georgia where the African-American mayor (a recent convert to Islam after a visit to the Middle East, Mr. Richert) just weeks ago issued his own apology for the city’s role in utilizing and perpetuating the South’s “peculiar institution” so long ago. Not that I (or any other Chronicles reader, I suspect) agree with their political worldview, but would it not be refreshing if our political betters actually spent their time in the halls of power really trying to do things like stamp out poverty and low wages and expensive healthcare instead of on such matters which do nothing — except perhaps laying the groundwork for reparations — to help real people with real problems today? Of course, as I suspect you suspect, this is all really about power — Georgia’s own “battle” (surrender?) over its flag (where the replacement flag still bore the Confederate battle flag, albeit in smaller form, and yet those demanding change were placated) is a testament to that. I just hope and trust you will continue to be there with trenchant analysis exposing the flaws in the flood of ideas and opinions on this subject to come. Thank you for your good work.
380 Comment by Thomas Peter Allen on 24 May 2007:

There is an error in my earlier post, for which I apologize. Our mayor’s conversion to Islam came after a visit to Africa. I am not sure that minor inaccuracy matters, but I was inaccurate.
381 Comment by Bill Wilder on 24 May 2007:

According to the BBC, not only is “white racism” on the rise in the South, if you prosecute blacks for committing crimes against whites (which Mr. Cortwood addressed in another column) that’s just another sign of racist persecution of blacks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/6685441.stm

So, not only are whites guilty of racism, the only way they can expiate this “sin” is to allow themselves to be criminally victimized by blacks. Any wonder why our forefathers kicked the Limeys back to “Cool Brittania”?
382 Comment by Nebojsa Malic on 24 May 2007:

I have to disagree with you there, Peter. Gaius Baltar has more intellect and integrity, and Number Six is much better looking.
383 Comment by Srdja Trifkovic on 24 May 2007:

The possibility of a homoerotic component in the symbiosis, while prima facie unlikely, should not be excluded altogether.
384 Comment by Chuck on 24 May 2007:

The eternal “legacy” of slavery is all the more absurd given that better than 75% of white Southerners did not own slaves and fought the WBTS for entirely different ideological reasons (primarily local autonomy and self-rule). For what else would back-woodsmen and subsistence farmers come out like hornets to fight the Yanks???

As Joseph Stromberg has pointed out, Southerners began deserting the Confederate cause when Richmond became as centralized and bureacratic as Washington, DC. For the majority of Southerners, slavery was a peripheral issue at best.

Incidentally, what about the black slaveholders, of which there were more than a few? Shall we hunt down their descendants and make them pay, too?
385 Comment by TJF on 24 May 2007:

How do we treat so-called blacks who have more white than black ancestors, especially (as is often the case) when the white ancestors own slaves? I used to correspond with a black political activist who tended the graves of his slave-ancestors and played the bagpipes to honor his Scottish forebears. Isn’t love and respect (as opposed to hate and race-baiting) a better way of looking at our ethnic past?
386 Comment by Bill Wilder on 24 May 2007:

“Isn’t love and respect (as opposed to hate and race-baiting) a better way of looking at our ethnic past?”

Ah, another example of how quaintly archaic Chronicles is in this post-modern, post-Christian age. Love? Respect? What’s them, homey?
387 Comment by Red Phillips on 24 May 2007:

Mr. Allen,

Glad to see there is a fellow Chronicles reader in Macon. I’m a Georgia native but recently moved to Macon. E-mail me at redphillipsmd(at)yahoo(dot)com.

At least our Mayor will be gone after this term.
388 Comment by Wade Smith on 24 May 2007:

Samuel has two mommies.
An interesting modification of the baby with no known father born to an unmarried mother we have come to know so well.
Pretty scary stuff, one wonders what will be attempted if the ’science’ gets much further along in the creating-morphing-cutting-sucking-stapling-terminating that is required for mortals to manage life. I guess stoicism and the acceptance of one’s lot is just so twentieth century. Or maybe nineteenth century. I’m trying to imagine what Calvin Coolidge (the last stoical President) would have said if his VP’s daughter was in the same circumstances. The whole Cheney situation is just pathetic, with a parent and grandparents like this where is Samuel going to end up? The only slight humor I can find is that the first Executive branch lesbian baby is Republican.
389 Comment by Bill Wilder on 24 May 2007:

“The only slight humor I can find is that the first Executive branch lesbian baby is Republican.”

That’s funny.

Almost as funny as
“Babies in our society are not potential adult human beings. They are merely toys to be played with by morally retarded freaks.”

Of course, that fact is also funny in a deeply pathetic and repugnant way.
390 Comment by Mickey Droney on 24 May 2007:

I would like to voice my agreement with VictorK. It reminds me of the Kipling quote from his poem “If.” If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.” Just because Arabs and other Middle Easterners lost their heads (literally and figuratively) centuries ago when they discovered Islam, it does not mean that correct actions need be consented to by these madmen. I can disagree with the war and how it is being waged, etc., but I do not see the benefit in seeking the consent of people who cut throats, strap bombs to children and mutilate the genitals of women. If that is who you would like to please, then leave me out. Doing the right thing, not the easy, politically expedient, or monetarily beneficial thing, was why I thought paleos existed in the first place. Bye the way, what torture is Paul Craig Roberts speaking of?
391 Comment by Rick Oliver on 24 May 2007:

If this one made you cry, then try Sobran’s take from December which will make you laugh: “Yes, It’s a Cheney —
Or Something” http://www.sobran.com/columns/2006/061211.shtml
392 Comment by Justin Soutar on 24 May 2007:

Excellent article on Republicans, Mr. Roberts. Like Angela, I am a former diehard “Bushite” or neoconservative, but the steadfast opposition of Pope John Paul II to the war in Iraq set me thinking and launched me on a long, open-minded journey of discovery. I am not sure that President Bush consciously lied to us about Saddam Hussein, but he was certainly fed vicious propaganda by the shadowy, short-lived Office of Special Plans within our government.

I also take comfort in the fact that these neocon Republicans are not real Republicans, just as terrorists are not real Muslims. The true spirit of the party lives on in Pat Buchanan and tens of millions of millions of other Americans.
393 Comment by Justin Soutar on 24 May 2007:

Mr. Roberts, this is an excellent article on neocon Republicans. Like Angela, I am a former diehard “Bushite” or neoconservative, but the steadfast opposition of Pope John Paul II to the war in Iraq set me thinking and launched me on a long, open-minded journey of discovery. I am not sure that President Bush consciously lied to us about Saddam Hussein, but he was certainly fed vicious propaganda by the shadowy, short-lived Office of Special Plans within our government.

I also take comfort in the fact that these neocon Republicans are not real Republicans, just as terrorists are not real Muslims. The true spirit of the party lives on in Pat Buchanan and millions of other Americans.
394 Comment by John Sheffield on 24 May 2007:

With their incessant haranguing demanding apologies for slavery, the fraudulently named “civil rights advocates” manifest their moral decadency and gross immaturity. Apologies are due only from those who are guilty of the comdemned sin, not from their innocent descendents. “Vengeance” is a term given several meanings. Some morally good, some not. For example, St. Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theoligica, II-II, Q. 158, Art. 1, Reply to Objection 3, states “It is unlawful to desire vengeance considered as evil to the man who is to be punished, but it is praiseworthy to desire vengeance as a corrective of vice and for the good of justice; and to this the sensitive appetite can tend, in so far as it is moved thereto by the reason; and when revenge is taken in accordance with the order of judgment, it is God’s work, since he who has power to punish ‘is God’s minister,’ as stated in Rm. 13:4.” One of the sinful forms of vengeance is to punish someone for the sin of another. A second sinful form is to punish in excess of what is due. Those who agitate for apologies from those not responsible for a wicked act are themselves committing evil. But, what may even be worse, the same agitators obstinately refuse to commit that magnificently beautiful act known as “forgiveness.” For as the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “. . .this outpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have trespassed against us. Love, like the Body of Christ, is indivisible; we cannot love the God we cannot see if we do not love the brother or sister we do see. In refusing to forgive our brothers and sisters, our hearts are closed and their hardness makes them imprvious to the Father’s merciful love;” (paragraph 2840)
395 Pingback by ChroniclesMagazine.org » Was George Will Wrong? on 24 May 2007:

[...] This article first appeared in the May 2007 issue of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. [...]
396 Comment by Harry Wisniewski on 24 May 2007:

The ability to pro-create is a gift from God, not a “right” that modern technology can bestow on those who should not otherwise be conceiving.
397 Comment by Robert M. Peters on 24 May 2007:

That which is not blessed by God is evil. God does not bless what He does not sanction. These acts are not sanctioned by God; hence, they are not blessed by God; thus, they are at their core and in their manifestation evil.
398 Comment by Robert M. Peters on 24 May 2007:

Only I, the individual who has committed a trespass against another, i.e. violated that another’s life, liberty or property, can ask THAT individual for forgiveness. The men and women involved in the institution of slavery – slaves, owners, traders, bankers, textile manufacturers, investors and politicians – in these United States are all long since dead. There is no one left with the moral need or the moral authority to ask forgiveness or to grant forgiveness for a trespass.

Crime one commits only against the state. Slavery was not a crime in America or the United States when it was practiced. Therefore, no crime known as “slavery” has been committed by anyone.

Sin, and this is, I believe the crux of the matter, can be committed only against God and against no other. If God considers slavery to be a sin, then the sinner, i.e. the one involved in enslaving another, must repent to God and to Him alone. All slave owners in the American context are dead. Their opportunity to repent is over, for they are dead; and no other can repent for them, unless one embraces a particular heresy. The great blasphemy is that a secular theology has been created in that the state or its entitled group claims to be able to do what only God can do – be sinned against and forgive sin; thus, when Baptists, legislatures, or well-meaners go to this new god for forgiveness; they commit a heinous blasphemy against the Ontological Absolute, thinking all the while that they are doing the “Christian” or the “moral” thing.
399 Comment by Greg Taylor on 24 May 2007:

All of which brings up the demise of National Review as the intellectual standard bearer for the “conservative movement”. Mr. Sobrans article, “Pensees” for the 30th anniversary issue of NR was one of the finest essays ever written for a journal of opinion. You won’t find writing like that in NR now – just the plainitve bleats of milquetoast sheep – like Rich Lowry and David Frum.
400 Comment by robert reavis on 24 May 2007:

How good it is to see Mr. Sobran still recognizing and offering the same timeless truths in his later years, that he defended in the spirit of his youth. Mr. Will has not changed much either; he has always been a kind of conservative shill with no chin, although to his credit he does know something about one American tradition, the sport of baseball. Hard to imagine him ever actually playing the game or busting out of a dugout in righteous indignation, like George Brett in the Billy Martin pine tar scandal, but as Sobran quickly noticed years ago, George Will is “just not that kinda guy.” On the other hand, Little George does keep his shoes polished, has probably been a kind of inspiration for the next generation of kids like, Tucker Carlson, and never met a smirk he didn’t like. Sobran, being a man of some character, is just the opposite. As Chesterton said, The saint is a medicine usually mistaken for poison. They will usually be found restoring the world to sanity by exaggerating some truth the world is neglecting. With slippery lizards like Mr. Will it is otherwise. It is a shallow and worldly consolation, mistaken for honor that they most admire. The Everlasting Man is not in their imagination, understanding or practice. Good for Joe Sobran in calling the little weasel by name.
401 Comment by Steve Berg on 24 May 2007:

Coming from a long line of serfs, as do most others of the West, I find it sadly hilarious that slavery is viewed as an exclusively evil institution. At least slaves had some economic value and were not wasted as were serfs who apparently just grew out of the ground like mushrooms. As Chronicles has reported, most of the really nasty and dangerous work done both north and south of the Mason-Dixon line was done by the cheap and expendable Irish immigrants and their close descendants. I mention this in my political science classes, that there is no one in the room who does not have ancestors who were slaves or worse. Where do we all sign up for reparations?
402 Comment by James Newland on 25 May 2007:

While I cherish civilization and civilized behavior as much as the next guy, there are some men who nevertheless need to be punched right in the mouth, full force. George Will is one of those. Perhaps if that had happened at an earlier age, the pencil-necked little snot wouldn’t have turned out the way he did.

I have a two word wish for Mr. Will’s future: biker bar.
403 Comment by W. James on 25 May 2007:

To his credit, Mr. Fleming has learned to master his moral outrage rather than the other way around, which has made him an even better writer.

What can I say except, thank you for telling the truth, for having the guts to say what needs to be said no matter how impolitic.

“Procreational cannon fodder” is a phrase that I will long remember, so too the equivalence of “Know thyself” and “Do not try to be a god.”

Well done.
404 Comment by Ronald Kyser on 25 May 2007:

What Miss Cheney and Miss Heather Allan Poe have done is equivalent to having deliberately taken Thalidomide, which also is meant to make the mother feel better (and which, tellingly, is still a legal treatment– for lepers.) The difference is that a child is almost certainly better off missing a limb than missing a father.

Like Miss Poe, Frau Birnbaum is driven by envy of a natural male prerogative, having children late in life. But that fraction of a percent of men who sire children after fifty have been winnowed by one of the most brutal and fickle forces of nature, namely, female taste, and thus will pass on gifts that may balance their often early exit. (A notable case is Pres. Tyler, whose grandson still lives.) Birnbaum, by the way, was the original surname of George Burns, who also drew laughs for his attempt to defy age, although in his case that was on purpose.
405 Comment by Michael Ezzo on 25 May 2007:

Attacking a foreign country that didn’t provoke us constitutes doing the right thing? How does one arrive at that logic? Is it right to side with Israel against Palestine, only to further infuriate the Muslims toward terrorism? Why? Why does Israel get a homeland but Palestine doesn’t? Is contributing to the death of thousands of innocent Iraqui children by sanctions, also doing the right thing? Kill children (who probably already suffered enough) to punish Saddam Hussein? Such immoral actions cannot be the right thing.
406 Pingback by ChroniclesMagazine.org » YOUR LAND IS THEIR LAND, PART 2: May 2007 on 25 May 2007:

[...] Herbert Arthur Scott Trask on Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone: A Novel [...]
407 Pingback by Conservative Times » Amnesty Not Removed on 25 May 2007:

[...] N.B. Jim Webb voted in favor of amnesty. I think we are beginning to see what kind of senator he will be. [...]
408 Comment by Lee on 25 May 2007:

The thing that will resolve this escalating adventurism is a universal draft. It is not sustainable with a volunteer military.
409 Comment by Stewart on 25 May 2007:

Last week, actually the week before, I returned from Iraq. For about four months I was there as a journalist. First, we never had enough troops in Iraq — although, in my opinion, enough troops would not have turned Iraq around. Second, the military today hates the idea of a draft. Both are good reasons for bringing back the draft, but this time without all those wimpy outs for the middle and upper classes. We need a larger military — just imagine if we were battling a powerful opponent — and the military is terrified that it will have to deal with people who refuse to simply go along with the career enterprise that our military has become. Oh yeah, it would also be great to watch all the chickenhawks squirm when they realize that they or their kids might be sent to fight a war!
410 Comment by Red Phillips on 25 May 2007:

Why Congress caved to Bush? Simple. Because they are a bunch of wuss bags.

The Democrats are as fearful of attacks on their patriotism as Republicans are of being called racists.
411 Comment by Mark on 25 May 2007:

Good article. I’ve read your articles here and always like them. I’ve noticed that you always say Deep North as opposed to Deep South, that always seems wrong. It would be better if you said Far North which makes it sound like you are going up, to the North Pole.
412 Comment by Daniel J on 25 May 2007:

The simple truth is “our” government does not operate in “our” interest. This justifies a military coup and mass lynchings in the D.C. area in my opinion.
413 Pingback by OrthodoxyToday.org Blog » Blog Archive » Imitation of Life on 25 May 2007:

[...] Imitation of Life Chronicles of Culture | Thomas Fleming | May 24m 2007 [...]
414 Comment by Michael Morow on 25 May 2007:

Much truth here, and elegantly stated — but also elegantly complicated.

They caved because they are simply opportunistic whores who believe in nothing.
415 Comment by Kathleen on 26 May 2007:

“The ability to pro-create is a gift from God, not a “right” that modern technology can bestow on those who should not otherwise be conceiving.”

So, given the reality here, your choices are:
a) Mary Cheney’s baby is a gift from your god, or
b) your god is impotent and likely non-existent.
Which is it?
416 Comment by David Collins on 26 May 2007:

Leon, I think tersa’s post was a better response. “…the Orthodox Church is the best institution on the earth to confront this.” I would add the Roman Catholic Church as well : )
417 Comment by Simon Newman on 26 May 2007:

Mr Malic:
“would that same right not apply to Russia, and for that matter, Serbia? Britain has been one of the leaders of the pack that says it doesn’t”

We are in full agreement – the same right does apply to Russia and to Serbia. Britain – the British government – has treated Serbia disgracefully, and I am ashamed of the crimes we – Britain, America and NATO – have committed against Serbs in the name of transnational progressivism. Being of Ulster Protestant heritage myself I know well what it’s like for your folk to be cast as the villain, with all crimes against them held to be justified.

However that does not change the fact that Russia should not kill anyone on British territory, and certainly not a British citizen. Britain should not kill anyone on Russian territory either, and to my knowledge has not done so.
418 Comment by Simon Newman on 26 May 2007:

The treatment of this General Dragomir Milosevic sounds like a usual piece of hypocrisy; presumably the US officers commanding (eg) the assaults on Fallujah are not being treated like war criminals. There seems to be a strong anti-Slav, anti-Orthodox bias in Western elites’ attitudes to war. No one cares about eg the Croatian massacre of Serbs in Krajina. The history of WW2 seems to have been rewritten so that in the popular mind the Nazis persecuted Muslims, rather than the historical truth – that the Nazis were favourable to Muslims and recruited Muslim SS to massacre Slavs.
419 Comment by hugh ashmead on 26 May 2007:

yet another example of orwellian reality we have to face every day.
420 Pingback by Race, Crime, and the Media | Alternative News Sources on 26 May 2007:

[...] Race, Crime, and the Media [...]
421 Comment by Big M on 26 May 2007:

I’m confused about part of this paragraph:

With Democratic contenders reciting the mantra, “All options are on the table,” and Iran defying U.N. sanctions, pursuing nuclear enrichment and detaining U.S. citizens, Bush has a blank check to launch a third war.

I’m not sure what sanctions he’s referring to, frankly, but as far as enriching uranium, both the U.S. and Iran signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Any nation that signed that treaty has the right to enrich uranium for domestic purposes, and the UN inspectors have found zero evidence that Iran is trying to build or acquire nuclear weapons. Iran’s nuclear program is the most heavily inspected nuclear program on Earth. The U.S. is demanding that Iran give up its inalienable rights under the treaty, which is the law of the land according to the Constitution, or risk being bombed, and even possibly nuked. The same stale, globally-exposed lies that were used to justify the invasion of Iraq are being trotted out to justify attacking Iran. And there are still millions of slack-jawed, drooling idiots in this country that believe them. In fact, huge numbers of these same idiots still believe that Iraq had WMD after 1995. The only WMD that Saddam Hussein ever had were sold to him by the United States after Ronald Reagan was elected, to use in the eight-year war against Iran that was instigated by the United States as revenge for the embassy hostage crisis back in the 1970’s. You couldn’t make this stuff up.

By contrast, the U.S. has been in flagrant violation of that same treaty for a long time, given its refusal to draw down its nuclear arsenal in any significant way, if at all. In fact, Uncle Scam is planning to crap away billions, of not trillions, more of your tax dollars to produce even more nukes. This country already has enough nukes to turn the entire planet into a glowing ember. In fact, the people of this country have ponied up probably at least a trillion for the ones we already have. Weren’t we told that they were the ultimate deterrent? You know: Mutually Assured Destruction, and all of that? But now, we’re supposed to believe that if a nation on the other side of the planet gets its hands on one or two, we’re all going to die? Have people already forgotten the manipulation that went on in 2004, with the color-coded threat alerts, that disappeared right after Diebold put Bush back into the White House? We had 30,000 Soviet nukes pointed at us throughout the Cold War, and people managed to live their lives in relative peace, without the government going out of its way to try to scare the bejeezus out of them 24/7. But now, we’re all supposed to set our hair on fire, and run around screaming “Save the children!”, over Iran? How stupid are people in this country? Don’t they EVER learn? Apparently not.

You can’t have it both ways. Either those 40,000 nukes are a credible deterrent, as they seem to have been during the Cold War, or we were ripped off to the tune of a trillion dollars, and we need to demand a refund RIGHT NOW. So, which is it?

Excuse my caps, but THE UNITED STATES IS THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND TO USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS, AND USE THEM ON CIVILIANS. THE UNITED STATES MILITARY HAS BEEN FIRING DEPLETED URANIUM AROUND IN IRAQ FOR SIXTEEN YEARS, WHICH IS THE CAUSE OF GULF WAR SYNDROME, AS WELL AS THE CAUSE OF HORRENDOUS BIRTH DEFECTS BEING SEEN IN THE CHILDREN OF IRAQIS, AS WELL AS U.S. SOLDIERS, AND THEY ARE EVEN PASSING THIS STUFF TO THEIR SPOUSES THROUGH SEXUAL INTERCOURSE.

So just who in hell is the real threat to life, liberty and peace on this planet? Hmm? And what braindead cretins are financing it through illegal taxation? Hmm?
422 Comment by Red Phillips on 26 May 2007:

Kathleen,

Or Mary Cheney’s baby is a gift from God, and Mary Cheney is living in open rebellion.
423 Comment by robert reavis on 26 May 2007:

“Perhaps if that had happened at an earlier age, the pencil-necked little snot wouldn’t have turned out the way he did.

I have a two word wish for Mr. Will’s future: biker bar.”

Oh, so true, Mr. Newland

To paraphrase a lecturer at the institute last summer, “Mr. WIll spent too much time learning the Whippenpoof song from old neo-con Indian fighters in a protected environment,” and too little time avoiding the working realities and good manners to be found in a bar-room education.” Thanks for the insight. rr
424 Comment by Joe Eaton on 26 May 2007:

Unless and until we have a foreign policy at least remotely influenced by the Founding Fathers and not dominated by special interests, the pseudo-conservative politicians that control the Republican party and mega-influential demagogues like Hannity, Limbaugh and O’Reilly we will continue to have Republican debate audiences cheer putdowns of Ron Paul, the only Republican currently running worth voting for. I say this most reluctantly, having voted for every Republcan president since Nixon, including George W. twice: if Ron Paul doesn’t get the nomination, a most unlikely event, I will vote 3rd party for the first time in my life.
425 Comment by hugh ashmead on 26 May 2007:

Question for Big M; so there is nothing to worry about from the Islamic Jihad?
426 Comment by Dan Smith on 26 May 2007:

Speaking of our money supply, something of a moral issue for sure, have you looked at Shadow Government Statistics at http://www.shadowstats.com? Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ own data, but using the methodology of the pre-Clinton years, gives us an inflation rate of something over 10%, and not the 2.7% or so currently reported. That 10% itself is also unhinged from reality.

In the late 90s, Greenspan allowed a growth in credit to support the shennanigans on Wall Street, where trillions in wealth were transferred into the bank accounts of speculators from wage earners and retirees following the collapse of the market in March 2000. You’re too young to have to worry about social security, but you might be interested to know that M3, which gives a slightly more accurate picture of inflation, is no longer being reported by the government, and that based on (relatively) accurate inflation figures, social security checks today should be about twice their current amounts.

It’s ironic that so few people who truly care about the extinction of our most basic rights have any understanding of the crime occurring every day as the Fed floods credit into the hands of non-productive speculators on Wall Street who in turn fund, a la Soros, the most corrosive activist groups in this country. I’m no economist, although I majored in economics, but even I can see that the signs are too ominous to ignore.

When the party’s over, you really don’t want to be holding play money or banking on traditional investments to protect your capital against hyperinflation. The collapse of the dollar standard is now set in stone, thanks to all that compassionate deficit spending and the average person’s willingness to sell his grandchildren down the toilet for plastic and electonic trinkets from China.

There’s the (libertarian) argument that our trade deficit is exactly balanced by credits to our capital account, which is about as impressive as the bookkeeping at Enron. We transfer our assets to overseas creditors, but that’s OK since we get to enjoy all that plastic and electonic junk. Try explaining the most simple economic concept, like inflation, to your neighbor. Chances are he’ll be telling everyone you know that you’re some sort of crank. We’re headed for disaster.
427 Comment by Chris Ikaris on 26 May 2007:

Some may recall that George Will was shown to be the unethical fraud when it was revealed that helped to elect Reagan in 1980 through the use of Carter’s stolen debate briefing book. Even though he was supposed to be just a journalist, Will was an advisor to the Reagan campaign in 1980. More to the point, he helped to prepare Reagan for the debate using the stolen briefing book, which Will first read in David Stockman’s kitchen. Predictably, after the debate, Will appeared on ABC News’ “Nightline” and praised Reagan’s performance as “thoroughbred.” Also predictably, when his unethical behaviour was revealed in 1983, Will refused to apologize for his behaviour even after he was justifiably berated by fellow journalists, most notably by his fellow members of PBS’ “Agronsky & Co.” The plain fact is that Will cannot be trusted or believed about anything. He is a shameless fraud and always has been, period.
428 Comment by Daniel J on 26 May 2007:

Greenspan swore in on the Talmud by the way…
429 Comment by Daniel J on 26 May 2007:

Islamic Jihad? Cave dwellers with a vendetta against imperial aggression?

The United States and Israel are the greatest threat before Pakistan.

We are one well-placed bullet away from an Nuclear Islamic Fascist state over there.
430 Comment by Michael Kenny on 26 May 2007:

Don’t forget that Russia is a party to the European Convention of Human Rights and therefore, subject to the compulsory jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights, just like Britain, France, Germany or any of the other members of the Council of Europe. Those who find fault with Russian democracy should put their money where there mouth is and start court proceedings where they think it is justified. The fact that they haven’t is eloquent testimony to their lawyer’s opinion on the matter!
431 Comment by Olympiada on 26 May 2007:

Hi,
As a newcomer to Georgian politics, I found your comments very complex. Do you think you could express your point of view in a simple paragraph? Thanks.
Olympiada
432 Comment by David Rolfe on 27 May 2007:

Not everything published in the west’s MSM about Russia is entirely devoid of merit. In today’s Sunday Times (of London), Mark Franchetti sets out to explain why “Putin enjoys popularity ratings that must surely be the envy of George W Bush and Tony Blair.”

He is not telling us anything new, but it is useful to have him say it at a time when Putin’s Russia is being treated as the devil incarnate. The same goes for his reminder that the UK has granted political asylum to Akhmed Zakayev, whom Moscow accuses of terrorism.

A quote from the article -

“But liberalising the economy was a traumatic business. Millions lost their savings and were plunged into dire poverty while a few insiders became fabulously rich oligarchs who flaunted their wealth. Crime became rampant and Russia, once the heart of an empire feared and respected around the world, was on its knees. For scientists, engineers and state workers who had traded a life of certainties to eke out a living as gypsy cab drivers, or for pensioners forced to survive by collecting empty bottles off the street for a few kopeks, a free press could hardly be much consolation.

As a result, more than 15 years later, for a politician here to be labelled a “democrat” is suicide because so many associate the term with the economic hardships and social upheavals of the early 1990s.

It is true that pro-western democrats have been crushed by Putin’s regime, which has denied them the right to make their views heard, but if they are a spent force it is mainly because most Russians no longer trust them. That explains why, in the West, Gorbachev and Yeltsin are feted but are despised by most in Russia as the two leaders who stopped the clock and engineered the end of the Soviet Union.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1844508.ece

“
433 Comment by Steve on 27 May 2007:

Great article!!! Let me just say,” Niggers eat shit with a rusted spoon”.
434 Comment by Harry Wisniewski on 27 May 2007:

Sam Francis on George Will: http://www.mmisi.org/ma/30_02/francis.pdf
435 Comment by Michael Ezzo on 27 May 2007:

I believe Dr. Fleming has been misunderstood. He did not say “babies” are a gift from God; he said “the ability to pro-create” is. These are two different things, and cannot be confused,
or else the whole point is clouded. So, I’m fairly certain he deliberately worded it that way, in order to show that it’s not just the results, but HOW they were arrived at, that determines whether the act was one of defiance, or of humble acceptance of a blessing.
436 Comment by Kathleen on 28 May 2007:

Michael Ezzo writes: “I believe Dr. Fleming has been misunderstood. He did not say “babies” are a gift from God; he said “the ability to pro-create” is. ”

And Mary Cheney — obviously — has the ability to procreate, while lots of heterosexual women do not.
Either this god (the one who provides the “gift” of procreation) is confused … or you are. Which might it be?
437 Comment by chris on 28 May 2007:

Though isn’t it reasonable that since Russia is a powerful country that has been a great obstacle to the western powers in the past that these powers will treat an assertive Russia with great alarm?
438 Comment by Leon Haller on 28 May 2007:

Am I missing something here? A “bipartisan” group of Congressional traitors in the Senate is seriously pushing an immigration bill whose effect will be the final nail in the coffin of the Founders’ Republic, and yet there is nothing on this website about this gravest of issues other than a ‘pick-up’ syndicated column from Pat Buchanan.

Apparently, the writers at CHRONICLES think that Mary Cheney’s lesbian parenthood, the Iraq quagmire, the Lost Cause, and a few other matters are more important than the impending Latino racial conquest of the US. Unbelievable. And you call yourselves ‘conservatives’?

If Sam Francis were alive, this amnesty is all he would be writing about. But then Sam understood the REAL issues of our time, as the rest of the CHRONICLES stable obviously does not.
439 Comment by robert reavis on 28 May 2007:

“The main point is that we are to know our place in the order of things. Religious customs, and the reverence that accompanies them, school our minds and hearts, while contempt for tradition reflects an individualistic arrogance that begins by harming family and friends and ends by destroying the individual himself. ”

Dr. Fleming,
If one further considers Socrates definition of the state as the expression of its individual souls writ large, one can see clearly why a lack of reverence, disdain for tradition and arrogance always precedes the fall of great Republics. The expanding audience for Christopher Hitchens is a contemporary example. rr
440 Comment by hugh ashmead on 28 May 2007:

I must concur with Victor K. We are at war with Islam and we should suport this effort. Perhaps the way it is waged is not the best but it is puzzling that paleos, including the ones on this blog believe that there is evil within Islam that we have to deal with. But somehow we are not supposed to fight it according to Mr. Roberts because it is all contrived by Neocons, including the 9/11! It must be all part of the insanity that we have to deal with, this strategic alliance of the left with its fellow travellers and Islam. According to them, George Bush is a greater peril to us than Osama Bin laden and Al-Kaeda.
441 Comment by Napoleon Courtney on 28 May 2007:

Excellent piece, I had a friend ask me why only white people are considered to be racist, and I said they’re not. I’m black and I know a lot of blacks, Hispanics, and Asians who are racist and they say racist things it’s not a group I told her that is racist it’s the individuals themselves. I think both Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are racist (I don’t know who appointed these guys as the goto guys for all things related with blacks in America I didn’t, and I never would ask these guys for their opinion or help for that matter. These two guys do more to harm blacks in America by their actions and the people who think like them.) We’re all Americans and we have the same ineffective leaders at all levels of government.

It’s unfortunate that these incidents happen, and get no attention, but as long as you have a policy especially among liberals that perpetuate the black victim or that all minorities are incapable of taking care of themselves and being responsible for their own action this problem will only continue and will probably get worse.

These are the same limousine liberals that were for forced busing of public schools, but their children were going to private schools. They’re also the same ones who believe in open borders, but live in a high security and gated community. With the incidence described in this article, who can blame them, unfortunately we all can’t live afford to live in these kinds of protected communities. Which is why these stories should not be buried in a newspaper or just a quick news blurb on the nightly news.

There is still racism in America, and it comes in all races, creeds and colors.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. – Excerpt form Martin Luther Kings “I Have A Dream Speech”
442 Comment by Iliya Pavlovich on 28 May 2007:

Pot, calling the kettle black, but such are the Anglo-Saxons:

Russia has to learn that it cannot act with impunity. We need to make our condemnation of Russia’s appalling human rights record clear . . . We need to remind him that the journalist Anna Politkovskaya was killed seven months ago—and still the police investigation has only been rudimentary. We need to complain vigorously about . . . the mayor of Moscow’s banning of this weekend’s gay pride march . . . Respect for the rule of law and human rights must underpin Russia’s future and we should not be afraid of ruffling Putin’s feathers.

As always, these “small” events do not escape the scrutiny of Dr. Trifkovic’s eye no matter what part of the planet they are on, and no matter how well cloaked they are. Russia complete defeat has been on the forefront of the “Imperialsits” for decades, it’s just that nobody ever wants to admit it. Why else would we have city/state principalities of ZERO importance in Europe (Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Azarbeijan) all chunks of Mother Russia slowly peeled off, same as Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia, Krajina, Banija, Lika, Kordun were peeled away (AND CLEANSED) of the Serbian population and Serbian dominance.

However, when you least expect is there are some good news from the Swiss: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6676271.stm

They are moving to ban minarets. Finally a little bit of sense penetrateres European suicide mission. If the Swiss can do it, so can we (I secretly hope). Nevermind that the person most instrumental in minaret project mentioned was an Albanian (just slightly contrary to the Albanian atheism protested and prophesized on these very pages).
443 Comment by TJF on 28 May 2007:

I do not believe that a human life, however it comes into being, is cursed. Procreation, like all other good things, is a divine gift but, like all divine gifts, there are rules that govern its use. Quite apart from her erotic perversity–the rather narrow-minded preference for persons like one’s self as opposed to the attraction to the opposite sex which is normal–Mary Cheney has demonstrated a far graver perversity in putting her own desire for motherhood above either the child’s needs or humility in the face of nature and God. I know there are hundreds of millions of Americans who do not understand this in their minds, though many do in their hearts. To such people I simply have nothing to say. There are people who molest children or eat fecal matter.
444 Comment by Kevin Riley O'Keeffe on 28 May 2007:

George Will’s appearances on “This Week Without David Brinkley” never cease to amuse me. Doesn’t the guy realize he’s being used in order to portray conservatives as some sort of stereotypical gaggle of effette, plutocratic snot-weasels? I suppose we should be thankful he’s a neo-”conservative” (despite his being too characteristically dishonest to admit it), since he weakens every cause he’s seen and heard to be endorsing by virtue of his being such a loathsome epitome of patrician poltroonery.
445 Comment by TJF on 28 May 2007:

The writers at Chronicles:
1) Do not constitute a cabal that thinks with one mind,
2) Do not offer knee-jerk reactions to every piece of public stupidity concocted by Congress, especially since many of them have time after time been predicting this very sell-out and have little to say except we told you so
3) Have been too busy putting together a new book, Immigration and the American Future, quite simply the best book ever written on immigratin, with important contributions by Chilton Williamson, Peter Brimelow, George Borjas, Wayne Allensworth, Ed Rubenstein, and myself among others.
4) Are spending this long weekend with wives and children who are more important to them than the predictable treason of US congressmen.

By the way, do not trust the so-called opponents of the new bill. Most of them are open-border advocates who are running scared after receiving threats from constituents.

There are lots of websites catering to the unstable minds of the great unwashed. They are not hard to find.
446 Comment by Bill Wilder on 28 May 2007:

Dr. Fleming,

I’d post a comment, but I’m laughing too hard at yours above to do so.

Cheers!
447 Comment by Michael Ezzo on 28 May 2007:

Our representatives in Washington are like most Americans : they believe America is a “country of immigrants.” People that believe such will not likely stop immigration.
448 Comment by Allen Wilson on 29 May 2007:

There are times when I think that we need a cabal to come along that is of one mind, a cabal somehow able to militarily exert control over some part of this continent, institute an orthodox form of Christianity as a state church to the exclusion of all others and allowing only orthodox christians to serve in public offices or the military, institute classically based Christian education and forbidding all forms of education not so based, put down dissention, build a strategically located capital, persecute and eradicate all non-Christian religions in it’s territory except for Judaism, destroy all secular ideologies, and send missionaries all over the continent. Constantinople II, perhaps? Many may not wish to live in such a society, but I would much rather serve such a state in any capacity than the one we ‘live’ under now.

Seriously, perhaps we need to look at the beliefs of the founders and the later Confederate founders and discern which of their principles were applicable only to their own time and place (such as laws forbidding primal geniture?), and which are universal and timeless, applicable to most any Christian society even if they have to be modified according to time and place (the works of Calhoun?). We must make every effort to ensure that the second group of principles are passed on to later generations so they can be known to those who rebuild civilisation on the ruins of ours. Clearly, the points that Dr Wilson has made here must be passed on to that generation, along with the true story of the American and Southern republics and the destruction of those republics and following 150 year long decline and eventual fall of society.
449 Comment by Allen Wilson on 29 May 2007:

Mr Ashmead, we cannot fight Islam by means of idiotic debacle. Another Saigon in Baghdad will only weaken us and make expansionist Islam stronger, just as the post-Vietnam, pre-Reagan era represented the high tide of worldwide Communist expansion and the low tide of Western weakness in the face of it. In order to defeat expansionist Islam we must first defeat the establishment in America and Europe which prevents us from effectively protecting ourselves at home, and which also commits criminal atrocities against those Muslims who actually are no threat to us overseas. For better analysis on this subject, see Dr Trifkovic.
450 Pingback by ChroniclesMagazine.org » The New Plan for Iraq: War With Iran? on 29 May 2007:

[...] This article first appeared in the May 2007 issue of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. [...]
451 Comment by Lame Cherry on 29 May 2007:

I always wonder how shills make easy money writing absolute nonsense. Craig Paul Roberts use of the term “CRIME” to describe government policy is as evil twin as his toothsome photo which reminds one of another inept citizen dumping their trash talk on the American scene in one Jimmy “love to spit on thy neighbor” Carter.

It would help if Mr. Roberts actually understood the facts like the DOD has reams of evidence which President Bush squelched for the purpose of the War on Terror in which Russia dumped 2 shiploads of chemical weapons in the Indian Ocean for Saddam, Saddam shipped out plane loads of Saddam’s biological weapons to Lebanon and Syria and Russia evacuated Saddam’s lone nuclear warhead.

Added to published reports of America taking out of Iraq 1.77 TONS OF WEAPONS GRADE NIGER BASED URANIUM REFINED BY FRANCE (weapons grade for Mr. Roberts means you can make nuclear bombs of it as it is refined.) all point to Mr. Roberts being an ignorant on the subject.

The only diaster in American policy is people like Craig Paul Roberts who are void of facts and have done nothing but empowered al Qaeda, Islamocommunists in proxy control of Russia and China and are responsible for the thousands of dead and wounded US soldiers who would not be harmed if they had actually just shut up and listened to what the facts were instead of jabbering on like their poster boy Jimmy Carter who sold his soul to Islamic oil money.

It is distasteful to the extreme no one in media challenges these things which they write when there is no excuse as the facts are out there, but yet, here Mr. Craig Paul Roberts is allowed once again to drivel on without one editor rejecting his flat worlder nonsense.
READERS deserve better than this, because when Mr. Roberts starts stating he is Calligula’s fairy princess dancer reincarnated will Chronicles magazine play the fool in agreeing to that off the wall tripe too?
(Rhetorical as you will as no one cares one whit about the facts.)
452 Comment by Martin on 29 May 2007:

Mr. Sobran,

You are bang on the money about Will.

He penned one of the most disgusting columns I can recall reading in the wake of the Madrid train bombing, to the efffect that the Spanish dumped Aznar because they wanted ‘peace, and at any price’.

Of course the reality, that Aznar was thrown out because of his egregious lie that the bombings were the work of ETA, would have made far less attractive copy.
453 Comment by Ronald Kyser on 29 May 2007:

“Britain is in form a constitutional monarchy, but it is in fact a republic, in which elected representatives hold the sovereign power.”

In what sense can a disarmed people constitute a republic? Unless “republic” is merely a Latin synonym of the Greek “democracy”.
454 Comment by Bill Wilder on 29 May 2007:

Buchanan gets back on message after a momentary drift re: “the Surge.” But there’s little reason for optimism the Dems in Congress will stop the President from pursuing war against Iran.
455 Comment by Ira Nayus on 29 May 2007:

What you fail to point out is the fact that Constantinople fell six months or so after an attempted illegitimate unia with the Latins. Thanks to St. Mark of Ephesus, the unia did not take place. Of course, the fall of Constantinople was a blow not to “Christendom” — some ecumenical notion embraced by those who have to rely on traffic with Latins for their pay — but a blow to the one, holy Catholic Orthodox Church — not Rome. Why is it that you as a Serb continue to play step-and-fetch-it to Rome? Why do you continue to ignore the countless outrages of Rome against Orthodoxy — never mind the actions of Croatian Latins during WWII, the sacking of Constantinople, or the Uniates in the Ukraine. Constantinople fell in no small part because Rome wanted to capitalize on the vulnerable state of Byzantium, ever looking to “convert” the Orthodox to their heresies and innovations. And why all of this non-sense about Islam? I don’t see any Muslim names heading up media outlets that pump pornographic entertainment into our homes every night of the week through the television and radio. I don’t see any Muslim names heading up organizations demanding the removal of any and everything associated with Christianity from the public square. I didn’t hear any Muslims calling for a new Pearl harbor event. For whom do ye not speak for fear of?
456 Comment by George Ajjan on 29 May 2007:

There is another icon of Mary in Sednaya, Syria – also reportedly painted by St. Luke. Very popular local and regional attraction – even Gulf tourists, who are Muslims, regularly pray there.
457 Comment by Trifkovic on 29 May 2007:

Re Union etc, cf. my “1204 AND ALL THAT”: http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:tzzgBCPSIswJ:www.chroniclesmagazine.org/News/Trifkovic04/NewsST121404.html+1204+and+all+that&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us
458 Comment by A J Pestronic on 29 May 2007:

Mr. “Nayus” is misguided on his history. The Council of Florence took place in 1439 — roughly 13 years before the fall of Constantinople. However, it is interesting to point out that Emperor Constantine XI was, for all practical purposes, a Uniate: he attempted to force a union with Rome. In fact, he was not crowned in Constantinople because of the fierce