B E B E R E

(Had always figured myself as being a moderate or centrist sort given my ability to aggravate both sides of the spectrum of ideas equally.)

Hmm...my having posted a link and some complimentary words about a PJ O'Rourke article yesterday kind of started a tempest in my usually calm, tepid little teapot.

The Paleocon friend disagreed because he thought the article not harsh enough on the muslims who started rioting. The Lib dem friend objected on the grounds that O'Rourke is "Racist!"

Am taking both commentaries with a grain of salt. O'Rourke is a bit snarky, but not more so than your typical NYTimes, Guardian or Independent columnist. It's just that what he snarks on is generally not the things that mainstream columnists are allowed to be snarky about - hence the term racist, I think. As for the Muslim scourge bit, well, all I can say is that there's that problem of mismanaging immigrant populations being treated with political correctness (much like a bandaid over a gunshot wound...we're seeing similar issues in other former colonial powers/countries with gastarbeiter policies) that's been completely overlooked up to this point. Perhaps there wouldn't be any riots if the philosophical/emotional power gap hadn't been allowed to be filled by radical fundamentalists rather than ignored or avoided.