Speaking Softly

British Historian Paul Johnson takes a considerably large stick to leftists and Anti-Americans abroad and lets us know that, while they seem to shriek the loudest, there are many others who “say, softly, God Bless America.”

Plain thoughts, delivered bluntly and cogently--to paraphrase Rick in VA; it's a tidy summation of the history of democracy among those democracies that have opposed the objectives of the Coalition of the Willing or those that promised to help, then reneged.

With the notable exceptions of Australia, Poland and Britain (whose prime minister, Tony Blair, has taken huge political risks to back America 100%), most other democratic nations have looked the other way.

The worst example is Spain. On the eve of elections there, terrorists detonated bombs on trains in Madrid, panicking the nation. In a spasm of fear the Spanish--not normally lacking in courage--voted in a Socialist government. The new government took the coward's way out and withdrew its troops from Iraq.

In Ukraine voters took to the streets to reverse a crooked election. Thanks to the backing of the U.S., Ukrainians won their point, and their true, democratically elected president took office. But even though it has tasted the sweets of democracy itself, Ukraine is also withdrawing its troops from Iraq--a case of cowardice compounded by selfishness that bodes ill for the country's future.

And, as a bonus, Mr. Johnson pulls back the curtain on his cohorts. It’s not as if we didn’t know this anyway, but it’s nice to see it spelled out so plainly.

They [European intellectuals] cannot believe that their votes should count for no more than the votes of "uneducated" people who run small businesses, work on farms and in factories and have never read Proust.

One might believe that of the American brand of self-appointed intellectuals, as well.

Read it all the way through.

(Thanks to Lucianne)