Sun - April 20, 2008Does "British" = "Sissy?"Okay, I've complained recently about the Brits
doing a generally poor job in Iraq based on their policy to not anger anyone.
This past year they had some of their sailors and sailwomen captured and were
released only after they wet their pants and cried, quite literally, for their
mommies and their video games. Such a pathetic track record can hardly be
sullied.
But the Brits, drawing on their long tradition of never letting the level of past accomplishments keep them from continually surpassing standards have hit again. In past ages, when Britania ruled the wave, they kept the seas safe by executing pirates, often with little ceremony, but more often very publicly and gruesomely. As described by John S. Burnett in the New York Times, "The British attitude has come a long way since the days when pirates were chained to pilings at Wapping and left there until the tidal water of the Thames ebbed and flowed over the bodies three times. So much for Britannia ruling the waves." So today, surpassing their sissy moma's boys sailors standard, their fear of angering an enemy that tries to kill them, and their desire not to hurt anyone's feelings by appearing strong to insurgents, has done their new standard one better. They will give asylum to pirates. The Brits gave us quite a legacy of the common
law, the rule of law, and a culture and philosophy of government that has served
us well. I hope we never emulate their 21st century behavior.
The theory, I suppose, for this new "enlightened" approach to pirates is that if pirates are captured by civilized countries such as Somalia the ersatz government there will behead them or chop off their hands. Even though I don't like post 1993 Somalia's government, it hardly seems unfair to execute or dismember those who attack unarmed cruise ships, kill the passengers and steal their property. But that's just me, thinking of fairness and all. The modern Brit government will have none of that. They consider punishment to be unnecessary for pirates. I suppose they can just pay them off or something. It worked for the Barbary pirates in the 19th century. Oh, wait, it didn't. It just encouraged them. Well, never mind, pip pip, keep a stiff upper lip, don't let your standards slip. And the Brit standard is to welcome pirates into their country as political refugees. Excuse me while I go take something to settle my stomach. It seems to me that these pirates are pretty much the same muslims that we're at war with. They should be executed on the spot, not captured. No quarter, no surrendering allowed. A society, a culture is only as strong as its dominant philosophy. I've been singling out the Brits, but in truth their behavior is only a symptom of a disease in all of western civilization. The US has resisted this somewhat in an international context, but the disease is spreading and if we don't watch out, we will succumb to it as has most of Europe. Go Back to the Start, Do Not Collect $200 Send me your two cents | |