Oh, How the Lucid Have Lost It

After reading this bizarre celebration of the Grenada invasion on NRO this morning, I first checked to make sure that the author is the same Lawrence W. Reed whose essays I’ve often enjoyed over the years. Upon the shocking discovery that the two are one, I looked back through some of Reed’s online articles for any early warnings of his now full-blown mental collapse, but all I found was sensible commentary. Take this bit from 1994:

Millions of Americans today believe that as long as the cause is “good,” it’s a duty of government. They look upon government as a fountain of happiness and material goods. They have forgotten George Washington’s warning, “Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And like fire, it can either be a dangerous servant or a fearful master.”

Here’s Reed today, justifying the war on Grenada:

The doubting Thomases who dismissed the administration’s claim that the medical students needed to be rescued were forever silenced when those very students returned to the United States. The first one off the plane fell to his knees and kissed the tarmac. At the White House, the students expressed their profound appreciation for what American troops had done.

It’s time to quit writing, Larry, and get a job on Fox and Friends.

Galloway Expelled from Labour

The UK branch of Democracy Exports, Inc., has officially purged one of its members. MP George Galloway is Labour no more after being “convicted” on four of the five following charges:

· he incited Arabs to fight British troops
· he incited British troops to defy orders
· he incited Plymouth voters to reject Labour MPs,
· he threatened to stand against Labour
· he backed an anti-war candidate in Preston

(Turns out he didn’t incite Plymouth voters to ditch Labour, so he isn’t a total monster.)

The “threatened to stand against Labour” charge is totalitarian clairvoyance at its very best, “related to claims that he was planning to stand as an independent against Labour in the next general election if he was expelled from the party.”

We’re Desperate, Get Used to It

The $36 billion U.S. government telethon for Iraq’s reconstruction isn’t going so well. Just over a third of that money has been pledged so far, and that’s counting the EU, Britain, and Japan. The president can suck up to Australia all he wants, but given that their GDP is about one-seventh the size of Japan’s (contribution: $5 billion, mostly loans, through 2008), where the war was much less controversial, it ain’t gonna help.

How long before Dubya’s trick-or-treating at Tonga’s doorstep?

Where Will David Horowitz Get His News Now?

Israeli settler radio station Arutz Sheva is off the air, convicted of broadcasting without a license. This may pose a problem for Frontpagemag.com and National Review, who treat the wildly militaristic channel as the journal of record for the Middle East: How to explain this tyrannical act by the Israeli government, pound for pound the world’s greatest force for liberty?