At any time, there are only a few good kids; they are virtually friendless, surrounded by enemies, detractors, and the perpetually indifferent

Feeling lonely yet?

asks Christopher Cook as he wonders what the world would look like if it were a schoolyard.

The bully beats on the weaker kids, and the good kid's instinct is to stop him.

The left and the Democrats use a number of different methods and play a bunch of different roles, but their goal is always the same: to stop the good kid from doing anything.

Sometimes, they play the role of the schoolmarm who, foolishly seeing violence as wrong under any circumstance, sends BOTH the bully and the good kid to the principal for equal punishment (rather than rewarding the good kid for stopping the bully from harming the weak and defenseless).

Sometimes, they play the role of the other kids—not the ones at the bottom rung who are always bullied, but the ones who fear he might turn his eye towards them if they do anything to try to stop him. They implore the good kid not to challenge the bully, lest the bully's eye turn in new directions. Better to let the weak kids absorb ALL the bully's hatred.

Sometimes, they whisper in the good kid's ear, telling him that he's not as strong as he thinks he is, that he cannot defeat the bully. They slowly erode not only his self-confidence, but also his natural belief in the use of his natural strength to defend the weak and innocent. They try to convince him that he's no different from the rest of the kids, that there's nothing special about him.

And sometimes, they play the role of the kids who actually suggest that the only reason the bully is a bully at all is because he's aware of the good kid's plans to stand up to him, and he's engaging in preemptive bullying. The very existence of the bully is blamed on the good kid.

An American Carol

There is a movie you are not supposed to see when it opens October 3 (David Zucker's movie is clueless, but of course!), called An American Carol (Gracias a Valerie).

Who needs a toilet? The place is one big shithole

Libération PropagandaStaffel lets slip that even in the EU, toilets are a luxury. Hey, not to worry. Once that Lisbon Statement Agenda Plan thing kicks in, there will be toilets a plenty.

If Israel doesn't behave, said the Russian General, "we will continue [!] to deliver weapons to Hezbollah and Hamas"

"Nous sommes là parce que les Géorgiens sont des incapables, que leur administration s'est effondrée et que la ville était livrée aux pillards. Regardez ceci…" [Le général Vyachislav Borisov] me montre, sur son téléphone portable, des photos d'armes dont il souligne lourdement l'origine israélienne. "Est-ce que vous croyez qu'on pouvait laisser ce bazar sans surveillance? D'ailleurs, je vais vous dire…" Il se rengorge. Allume une cigarette dont l'allumette fait sursauter le petit tankiste blond qui s'était endormi dans sa tourelle. "Nous avons convoqué, à Moscou, le ministre des affaires étrangères israéliennes. Et il lui a été dit que, s'il continuait à fournir les Géorgiens, nous continuerions, nous, de livrer le Hezbollah et le Hamas." Nous continuerions… Quel aveu!

Thus reports Bernard-Henri Lévy from Georgia. The philosopher recounts his meeting with Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili.

De tous les grands résistants que j'aurai rencontrés dans ma vie, de tous les Massoud ou Izetbegovic dont il m'a été donné de prendre la défense, il est le plus évidemment étranger à l'univers de la guerre, à ses rites, ses emblèmes, sa culture — mais il fait face.

"Laissez-moi préciser une chose, m'interrompt-il avec une gravité soudaine. Il ne faut pas laisser dire que c'est nous qui avons commencé cette guerre… Nous sommes début août. Mes ministres sont en vacances. Je suis moi-même, en Italie, en train de faire une cure d'amaigrissement et sur le point de partir pour Pékin. Or voilà que, dans la presse italienne, je lis : Préparatifs de guerre en Géorgie . Vous m'avez bien entendu : je suis là, tranquille, en Italie, et je lis que mon propre pays est en train de préparer une guerre! Sentant que quelque chose ne tourne pas rond, je rentre dare-dare à Tbilissi. Et qu'est-ce que mes services de renseignement m'apprennent?" Il fait la moue du type qui pose une colle et vous laisse une chance de trouver la bonne réponse… "Que ce sont les Russes qui, au moment même où ils abreuvent les agences de presse de ce baratin, sont en train de vider Shrinvali de ses habitants, de masser des troupes, des transports de troupes, des ravitailleurs de fioul en territoire géorgien et de faire passer, enfin, des colonnes de chars par le tunnel Roky, qui sépare les deux Osséties. Alors, supposez que vous êtes responsable d'un pays et que vous apprenez ça – vous faites quoi?" Il se lève, va répondre à deux portables qui sonnent en même temps sur son bureau, revient, étire ses longues jambes… "Au cent cinquantième char positionné face à vos villes, vous êtes obligé d'admettre que la guerre a commencé et, malgré la disproportion des forces, vous n'avez plus le choix…"

President Mikhail Saakashvili gives three basic reasons for which Moscow has attacked Georgia, including the following:

nous sommes le pays où passe le BTC, ce pipe-line qui relie Bakou à Ceyhan via Tbilissi; en sorte que, si nous tombons, si Moscou met à ma place un employé de Gazprom, vous serez, vous, les Européens, dépendants à 100% des Russes pour votre approvisionnement en énergie … Le message est clair. Rice ou pas, les Russes sont ici chez eux. Ils se déplacent, en Géorgie, comme en terrain conquis. Ce n'est pas exactement le coup de Prague. C'est sa version XXIe siècle – lent, par petites touches, à coups d'humiliations, intimidations, parades et paniques…

Bernard-Henri Lévy ends his article thus:

C'est l'Américain Richard Holbrooke, diplomate de fort calibre et proche de Barack Obama, qui, retrouvé, à la fin de la nuit, au bar de notre hôtel commun, aura le dernier mot : "Il flotte, dans cette affaire, un mauvais parfum d'apaisement et de munichisme." Eh oui. Ou bien nous sommes capables de hausser vraiment le ton et de dire, en Géorgie, stop à Poutine. Ou bien l'homme qui est allé, selon ses propres termes, "buter jusque dans les chiottes" les civils de Tchétchénie se sentira le droit de faire de même avec n'importe lequel de ses voisins.

And here comes the sad part: no matter how well Bernard-Henri Lévy's article is thought out, most of the reader reactions leave a whiff of exactly what he and Holbrooke deplore: un mauvais parfum d'apaisement et de munichisme. As a couple of the rare readers not to engage in (direct or indirect) anti-Americanism (the conflict "is helping McCain!") point out:

Honte à tous les lecteurs du "Monde" encore englués dans leurs archéo-réflexes pro-russes (pro-soviétiques ?) et stupidement anti-U.S. Cette "guerre froide" chez les lecteurs du "Monde" est proprement surréaliste : il n'y a même plus aucun prétexte idéologique mais de la seule et pure sordide géostratégie bricolée sur des résidus de clivage Est/Ouest. Fort peu de contre-argumentation sur le fond mais beaucoup de viles attaques "ad hominem"

Les réactions haineuses contre BHL dont je suis loin d'être un admirateur sont sidérantes de parti-pris! Ce qu'il raconte est banal si l'on suit la situation dans la presse internationale et les analyses économiques et géopolitiques. Toute cette haine de munichois haïsseurs d'Amérique, aux yeux de Chimène pour Poutine qui souhaitent dépendre à 100% du gaz et du pétrole russes rappelle la tradition d'aveuglement intellectuel de certains Français à l'égard des dictatures d'Hitler à Mao!

Earth to Norks: Fear This

Man Meets Moron

Starry eyed, well off American jets off to Europe to dine off the teat of the British taxpayer. She seems unaware to have discovered something called the voucher, something she surely railed at while stateside.

EURota responds.

O' Hail the Messiah

(merci à RV)

Moveon Sends New Message (Actually, the Same Old Message) to Members

From Copious Dissent (Hat tip to Valerie)

Peacekeeping, Russian Style

Via This is London

Proud to be Ineffectual

But there are lessons we can draw from this crisis. First, the European Union rose to the occasion. At the behest of the French presidency, Europe put itself on the front lines from the outset of hostilities to resolve this conflict -- the third on European soil since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Throughout the first phase of this latest crisis, Europe's commitment was decisive: It was the European Union, through France, that created a space for diplomacy by quickly proposing reasonable terms for a cease-fire and rendering the political cost of pursuing war exorbitant for both parties. If our efforts finally paid off, it is because Europe -- despite a few differences in tone -- did not limit itself to condemnation.

- Nicolas Sarkozy, from Le Figaro on
Sunday-17/Monday-18 August

Three is a consolidation of numbers, of course... That he means the US is obvious, and no, the US did not limit itself to condemnation. It made sure the door for talks remain while a limited demonstration of support for the Georgians could clearly be seen by the Russians, and in a manner that didn’t appear unrelated to Georgia in any way. THAT is how one doesn’t escalate but communicates an opinion.

Gyrating to come with any kind of fake cease-fire that the EU could show off for people, Super-Sarko announces a recovery from the previous hoodwink the Russian put him through. Monday (18-AUG) was supposed to let the world see Russians withdrawing from “Georgia proper” as it’s just been redefined through European acquiescence and clearly without the Euro-warm-fuzzy of “meditative” consent with the Georgians, but it seem that all we know by Wednesday that Russians troops are joyriding around, and Tbilisi is still cut off as if to be offer the Russians the option of turning it into another Sarajevo, and Georgian access to the sea has been effectively cut off.

If anything, this exercise has shown the world where the Russians stand – both on their plans to dismantle Georgia’s independence, and the lack of seriousness with which they take any sort of diplomacy that requires anything of them. Ah! But they AGREE to things. They’ll sign anything, and that seems to be good enough for Europe’s aging children.

What HAS slowed the Russians down was the unanimity the nations on its borders took. Much as the Russians have traditionally feared being surrounded by enemies, its’ done a nice job of ensuring that they remain enemies. Those states – the Ukraine, Poland, and others who have a fear of becoming Russian satellites again, and being battered around by others, were quite clear. The sent official to Georgia as the only sort of meaningful human shield there ever was, and demonstrated their desire to deny the Russians their prize of intimidating them. Ukraine reaffirmed its’ desire to join NATO, and Poland signed a missile deal. Even the BBC which was fond of being imprecise about who and how many in Poland supported the effort, said this morning that there was a longstanding majority for it.

It’s funny how statistics can change.

Back to Sarkozy and Kouchner, and what was actually a noble attempt to use what their power and office could let them – it was a classical diplomatic move that was actually quite effective at keeping the issue alive – give the aggressor a way to back off. Knowing that there are forces against a back-off, let them show themselves for who they are to clarify for the rest of the stakeholders what’s going on. Out of this, one historically found alliances and agreements of opinion if not some agreement on a course of actions.

The mystery with Europe is what it is they think a course of action is, and whether or not it’s just intended to prevent domestic criticism in the form of a nagging criticism over Scerbenica or Rwanda.

Think Progress

I wonder if the NYT's editorial board is reporting this with envy?

President Hugo Chávez is using his decree powers to enact a set of socialist-inspired measures that seem based on a package of constitutional changes that voters rejected last year.

Beyond the second year university student notions of land redistribution, elimination of cash money, fist-pumping “peace”, and other permanent population repressants, EU Rota is all over another under-reported feature of the budding poop-stain's exploits like white on rice: while railing at supposedly abusive and unaccountable corporations, he's nationalizing his way into making the state become one itself (and little else). It comes complete with the Communist obsession with materialism, and the usual inability to actually provide for that illusion of a people as a monolith. Good luck "people", you're building a bridge to the late 19th century.

Say it with Box-Cutters

Curious how some 'youths' will solve a parking problem.

"It's just a simple fight that broke out. It had to do with cars being double-parked and someone wanted to get out in a hurry ... it's just a simple thing that kind of got out of hand,"

It Actually DOES Translate into German, by the Way

- Hat-tip to Jörg

In Ethno-Class Warfare Obsessed EUtopia, this will Surely Cause Confusion