Some Political Stuff...and a (Very) Brief Comment on the Culture

So. I got a bit caught up in the comments section over at Lex’s place this morning. Lex published a link to this informative and quite lengthy two-parter in this weekend’s Guardian (UK), and in so doing stole a bit of my thunder the linkage I had planned for today. The Guardian article is a very interesting two-part excerpt from a recent book published by Nick Cohen, one of Britain’s foremost Lefty columnists, who’s undergone a conversion of sorts…specifically about the Iraq war. Mr. Cohen found himself aghast at the Left’s opposition to the Iraq war, and by definition, the Left’s de facto support of Saddam’s fascist regime. It’s a fascinating read, if you have about a half-hour to spare.

Now…about getting caught up in Lex’s comments. A couple of Lex’s commenters took exception to Mr. Cohen’s assertion that fascism is a “far-right” ideology, and presented some interesting arguments in support of their assertions. I was always taught fascism is/was a right-wing ideology, further supported by the literally hundreds of times I’ve been called a “fascist” by various and sundry Lefties when all other arguments fail. So, it was off to Wikipedia to read some stuff cited by the proponents of the “fascism is a left-wing ideology” school of thought, and to do a bit of research on the “right-wing” arguments. Interesting stuff, if you’re a political geek/junkie.

You had to be there, I suppose.

Algore stiffs a long-planned interview. I find this interesting as all get out, especially considering all the brouhaha surrounding his apocalyptic claims in An Inconvenient Truth. Why will he not debate the issues? I quote:

Al Gore is traveling around the world telling us how we must fundamentally change our civilization due to the threat of global warming. Last week he was in Denmark to disseminate this message. But if we are to embark on the costliest political project ever, maybe we should make sure it rests on solid ground. It should be based on the best facts, not just the convenient ones. This was the background for the biggest Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, to set up an investigative interview with Mr. Gore. And for this, the paper thought it would be obvious to team up with Bjorn Lomborg, author of "The Skeptical Environmentalist," who has provided one of the clearest counterpoints to Mr. Gore's tune.

The interview had been scheduled for months. The day before the interview Mr. Gore's agent thought Gore-meets-Lomborg would be great. Yet an hour later, he came back to tell us that Bjorn Lomborg should be excluded from the interview because he's been very critical of Mr. Gore's message about global warming and has questioned Mr. Gore's evenhandedness. According to the agent, Mr. Gore only wanted to have questions about his book and documentary, and only asked by a reporter. These conditions were immediately accepted by Jyllands-Posten. Yet an hour later we received an email from the agent saying that the interview was now cancelled. What happened?

[…]

Al Gore is on a mission. If he has his way, we could end up choosing a future, based on dubious claims, that could cost us, according to a U.N. estimate, $553 trillion over this century. Getting answers to hard questions is not an unreasonable expectation before we take his project seriously. It is crucial that we make the right decisions posed by the challenge of global warming. These are best achieved through open debate, and we invite him to take the time to answer our questions: We are ready to interview you any time, Mr. Gore--and anywhere.

Read the whole thing. The op-ed is jointly written by Flemming Rose, the culture editor of the Jyllands-Posten, and by Professor Lomborg himself. I think Algore (and his arguments) is unraveling. Just sayin’.

Wow! “It don’t get no better than this!” Hitch reviews Steyn! That three-word description should be “nuff said.” My favorite ex-Marxist reviews another of my favorite pundits. And Hitch has his criticisms of Steyn’s work; his piece isn’t as laudatory as one might imagine. An exceptionally good read. And Ace has more on the subject.

Finally… I watched both NFL playoff games yesterday, and they were both pretty good. The Bears – Saints game was in question until the second half; the Colts – Pats game was a nail biter until the very end. The Super Bowl just might be a game this year, rather than an orgiastic display of the worst of American culture. (He ducks. He runs.)