Month: June 2005

He went into he Lion’s Den and told the European parliament that the continent had to liberalize its economy, reduce its absurd agricultural subsidies and reform itself to become more democratic. And guess what? Many agreed. Is the tide turning? Money quote:

Italian politicians hailed Tony Blair’s vision of Europe, and declared that a new ‘Rome-London axis’ would provide the driving force of the new EU, replacing the exhausted Franco-German motor. Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, said last night: ‘Europe must reform, as Prime Minister Blair says, and I am in total accord with him.’ Piero Fassino, leader of the Democrats of the Left, the main opposition party, said that Mr Blair was charting the way for Europe. Antonio Polito, editor of the left-wing review Reformista, said: ‘The European Left must understand that it cannot remain attached forever to the Franco-German idea.’
Most worryingly for President Chirac and Herr Schröder is that their own countries’ newspapers fell under Mr Blair’s spell. The left-wing French newspaper Libération declared in its headline: ‘Blair’s new deal for Europe.’ Its veteran Brussels correspondent, Jean Quatremer, said: ‘For a long time, we have been talking about the French social model, as opposed to the horrible Anglo-Saxon model, but we now see that it is our model that is a horror.’ The country’s most influential newspaper, Le Monde, backed Mr Blair’s demand for a reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), calling for the partial ‘renationalisation’ of farm aid so that EU countries pay part of the subsidies themselves. The paper declared that the only way to find the funds needed for EU research and technology was to cut spending on agriculture.

My admiration for Blair grows. He’s the best Tory prime minister currently available. Maybe he’s on the verge of becoming a Tory EU president. Here’s hoping.

Mystery pollster went back and looked at the polling data on how self-described “liberals” responded to 9/11. Bottom line:

Two weeks after the attacks, 84% of self-described liberals supported “military action” against the terrorists and 75% supported “going to war with a nation that is harboring those responsible.”

What a bunch of wimps and traitors. Of course, the Bush-Rove strategy of dividing the homeland while at war for partisan purposes has turned this around somewhat. The hard left’s vileness and stupidity did the rest.

“Liberalism triumphed yesterday. Government became radically unlimited in seizing the very kinds of private property that should guarantee individuals a sphere of autonomy against government. Conservatives should be reminded to be careful what they wish for. Their often-reflexive rhetoric praises “judicial restraint” and deference to — it sometimes seems — almost unleashable powers of the elected branches of governments. However, in the debate about the proper role of the judiciary in American democracy, conservatives who dogmatically preach a populist creed of deference to majoritarianism will thereby abandon, or at least radically restrict, the judiciary’s indispensable role in limiting government.” – George F. Will, today. Like Will, I favor a judiciary that keeps itself in check. But I do not favor – and I don’t believe conservatives should favor – a supine judiciary when it comes to individual liberty and equality. The courts are there for a reason. And sometimes when they strike down majority or legislative decisions, they are absolutely right to do so.

I’m not permitted to mention her actual age (it’s a landmark day), but I owe so much to her. She was never able to go to college because her family needed her to work for a living; but she made it part of her life’s work to make sure I got a better chance. She made sacrifices that I only later appreciated, gave me the confidence to reach for the stars, and nurtured the faith that still nourishes my soul. She’s my heroine in so many ways. So happy birthday, mum.

Here’s an email that gladdened me:

I’m a gay farmer/rancher born and bred in Saskatchewan, Canada (or, as I prefer to call it, Paradise). I have been in a committed relationship with my partner for almost 8 years now. We live in an extremely rural part of an extremely rural province. From the time we moved in we were made to feel completely welcome and respected as any other family in the community. People here really don’t care what you do in bed with who. What does matter is being a productive, involved member of the community and a good neighbour.

Our neighbours continually pester us with questions about when we’re going to “make honest men of each other.” Just as with straight couples, it’s with mixed emotions that my partner and I move closer to tying the knot. After all, forever is a very long time! But when you love someone completely none of that scary bullshit really matters. As long as we have each other to share life’s good and bad and grow old together my life is complete. We are very lucky men to have found each other.

I only wish my many gay friends in the U.S. were able to have their relationships honoured and respected in the same way. A country that doesn’t allow its citizens to freely choose who they will spend the rest of their lives with can’t truly be called a free country.

Somehow I don’t believe this man is a threat to anyone or anything. But he understands the meaning of freedom.

The proof is here.

Jon Rauch, astute as ever, notices some interesting shifts in Republican rhetoric in the Senate debate over the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown. Yes, the days of small-government Republicanism are now largely a matter of history, I’m afraid.

The state of Tennessee is now investigating the unlicensed Christianist camps where children are sent to be “rescued” from their emotional and sexual orientation.

“It is really refreshing to read your objection to the HIV scare tactics. They have always made me uneasy. I am a heterosexual non-drug using woman, and HIV has never struck close to me, but the scary ‘you have sex you might die’ refrain is inhumane, to my ears. Maybe because I am a person who would have been better off with more sex in my life, not less.
It has occurred to me that for much of the history of the human race the mortality rate for childbirth was such that having sex, for a woman, was about as dangerous as what today would be considered ‘unsafe’ sex. Maybe a lot more dangerous. The entire human race is built upon the willingness of women to take greater risks than we now consider acceptable. But that was sex between a man and a woman.”