Homogenizers in Retreat

At their worst—their best is bad enough—EU enthusiasts clumsily invoke the pale specter of a synthetic terror.

By George F. Will | NEWSWEEK

Published Aug 2, 2008

From the magazine issue dated Aug 11, 2008

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Posted By: thisamericancitizen @ 08/13/2008 1:32:31 PM

Comment: COMMENT: Separatists mock 'American training'

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26116598

Abkahzian separatist forces backed by Russian military might pushed out Georgian troops and even moved into Georgian territory itself, defiantly planting a flag and laughing that retreating Georgians had received "American training in running away."

Well, now this news must make George F. Will jump for joy, or at least dance a sort of 1940 Adolf jig. Bloodshed, tanks rolling, death, terror and tens of thousands uprooted because of ethnic hostility . Silly "Homogenizers" , peacenicks trying to seek to find common ground, diplomacy and rule of law to help prevent this sort of thing. HOMOGENIZERS IN RETREAT! WARMONGERS RULE!!! Right George? Shave your head. George, the skinheads will follow.
Posted By: comingandgoing @ 08/08/2008 2:34:16 AM

Comment: What´s all this vitriole about? No one is inviting us to join the EU, so Will can relax. He has pretty limited insight into the complexities of Europe and the psychologies of its people but his grandiosity lets him think of anyone supporting the idea of an EU as a "slow learner". And, of course, they are all marxists. A flag that no one salutes and an anthem with no words to sing" - now that just the proof George Will needs to show us what an opera bouffe that whole attempt is. The past is never dead, eh George? Is that why the confererate flag continues to be so popular in parts of this United States? Obscurantism and lunacy? They are everywhere - and they don´t go away just because your constitution is worded well.
Posted By: jamesd553 @ 08/07/2008 12:50:21 PM

Comment: After the drafiting of the its contitution a subsequent failure to pass in referendums, the European Union can be best described by the military acronym FUBAR. It is now doing quite the tap dance to convince Europeans of its nessecity while at the same time trying to convince Turkey that it's not.

Still I wonder what the left's obsession with making this country "more european."
Posted By: good conscience @ 08/07/2008 11:18:04 AM

Comment: First, and probably only, time in my life that I agree with what Will has to say. Rock on, Georgie, rock on!
Posted By: sgoldbarg @ 08/06/2008 8:16:54 PM

Comment: As always, george will screws up. Hunza runs along the high Pamir, not the Himalayas. For 3 billion Asians, that would be like siting the Adirondacks in Georgia.
Posted By: sgoldbarg @ 08/06/2008 8:11:02 PM

Comment: Dear thehappyamerican,

"a sense of decencey " ??? you must be thinking of Obama, because any man who calls his wife a "stupid c*nt" in public the way mccain did is so lacking in decency as to be unfit for office.
- Posted By: thehappyamerican @ 08/07/2008 2:15:29 AM
  
  Comment: No mistake. Obama is entwined with domestic terrorists. His ideas are the brutality wrapped in velvet of very vicious people who call themselves "progressives" or "humanists." From his friends and political allies streams calculated discrimination campaigns against good Americans.
  There's no mistake. No You- Must -Mean.
  We may see the National Lawyers Guild actually go overt briefly to help Obama out, because Obama is going to need resuscitation and soon. Things are not going well for the DNCs sub-terrainian power apparatus and it's an amazing thing to see!
  Some missing Power To The People from decades ago is going to be coughed up and returned.And Obama can't stop it!
Posted By: AntonioGramsci @ 08/05/2008 12:30:41 PM

Comment: For years I sought a way to quantify George's hypocrisy, and then he went and did it for me. The main "homogenizing" agent in the world today is consumer capitalism, a point lost on a FreeMarket disciple such as this. Now, who's up for McDonald's?!? Maybe a Coke?
Posted By: waretc @ 08/04/2008 10:11:38 PM

Comment: Good point, but some other truths about Europe are missed. Yes it is a continent of many nationalities seeking autonomy, but in the past when fortunate enough to have their own nation few of these nationalities have maintained the same border for more than a 100 years. Many countries have appeared on the map of Europe only to disappear in a few decades. This is because except for England, almost all of Europe is vulnerable to invasion. Throughout Europe's history you have seen tension between two needs: nationalism and security. As the populations forget about Word War II and perceive threats from factors like immigration and terrorism nationalism gains favor. I suspect the day will come when Europeans want security again and the ebb will shift again toward union. I respect George Will greatly, but I think the personality and desires of Europe are much more complex.
Posted By: Billy Pilgrim1 @ 08/04/2008 7:58:21 PM

Comment: Interesting, but vague point in this article, especially coming from a guy who has consistently criticized American Indian sovereignty and the rights of Native Hawaiians. But I guess Europeans deserve special consideration. So, should we all assimilate or not?
Posted By: Billy Pilgrim1 @ 08/04/2008 7:57:48 PM

Comment: Interesting, but vague point in this article, especially coming from a guy who has consistently criticized American Indian sovereignty and the rights of Native Hawaiians. But I guess Europeans deserve special consideration. So, should we all assimilate or not?
Posted By: wilsan @ 08/04/2008 5:55:20 PM

Comment: I dunno...

We want " Diversity " here in the " United " States, and then despise it when we see it in practice.

Go figure.
Posted By: Young Hickory @ 08/04/2008 5:43:58 PM

Comment: Smug George, he seems pleased that the world is fractious and chaotic. It never ceases to amaze me that impending apocalypse is treated so glibly by the seekers of Armageddon. Jesus taught us to love our fellow man here on earth, not to hasten the coming of end times. That is up to the Lord our Creator.
Posted By: ahlesa4 @ 08/04/2008 5:27:13 PM

Comment: Separtist are such a foriegn concept for American mind. I do not understand divorcing the people with whom you have shared a nationhood for hundreds of years on an emotional or rational level. Do they really think it will be to their economic and political advantage to be a tiny country in the world. Even on a diversion level it makes no sense: I can not imagine Flanders (6 million people) producing a world championship team in anything.
Posted By: PCRay @ 08/04/2008 5:22:22 PM

Comment: Thank you, Mr. Will, for another sample of your snorting superiority. Why oh why can't everyone else be as clever as you? You have become a real Colonel Blimp, you know.
PaulCRay
Posted By: tma-sierrahills @ 08/04/2008 5:19:39 PM

Comment: [Corrected copy: apparently quotation marks cannot be pasted in]

Re: George Will is a "conservative" on mass immigration, as Nancy Pelosi is an "environmentalist" on mass immigration.

Some have pointed out that the greatest force for future splintering conflicts in the world would be the successful formation of a world government, because every tiny group on the planet would then have a ready-made Prime Enemy. Yes, a bunch of politicians, bureaucrats, corporations and assorted leftist dreamers and schemers trying to jam Europe into one big happy nation will eventually be calamitous. But it is amazing how so few see the chilling implications for the United States. Before the U.S. went on its current legal and illegal mass immigration binge, starting in 1965, it was already one of the most "diverse" nations on Earth, and should have taken that as a source of strength. However, in the ensuing years our own hair-brained elites have set into motion a nearing arrival time when various racial, ethnic and religious groups will be coalescing into their own geographic regions within the U.S. (already well under way) and begin to make angry power claims against each other and the center. What good can come of learning the lessons of history if we persist in naively believing that America is an exception to it?
Posted By: tma-sierrahills @ 08/04/2008 5:09:10 PM

Comment: Re: George Will is a ???conservative??? on mass immigration, as Nancy Pelosi is an ???environmentalist??? on mass immigration.

Some have pointed out that the greatest force for future splintering conflicts in the world would be the successful formation of a world government, because every tiny group on the planet would then have a ready-made Prime Enemy. Yes, a bunch of politicians, bureaucrats, corporations and assorted leftist dreamers and schemers trying to jam Europe into one big happy nation will eventually be calamitous. But it is amazing how so few see the chilling implications for the United States. Before the U.S. went on its current legal and illegal mass immigration binge, starting in 1965, it was already one of the most ???diverse??? nations on Earth, and should have taken that as a source of strength. However, in the ensuing years our own hair-brained elites have set into motion a nearing arrival time when various racial, ethnic and religious groups will be coalescing into their own geographic regions within the U.S. (already well under way) and begin to make angry power claims against each other and the center. What good can come of learning the lessons of history if we persist in naively believing that America is an exception to it?
Posted By: Pete Kent @ 08/04/2008 4:00:46 PM

Comment: Why do we have to listen to this dog whistle, Will?
Posted By: mnjam @ 08/04/2008 3:36:03 PM

Comment: George Will makes a very good argument for the dissolution of the United States. Secession by the Northeastern Quadrant to form a "Blue Republic" sounds good to me.
Posted By: okayhawaii @ 08/03/2008 9:16:33 PM

Comment: hi george, when is the last time you smiled outside of a baseball game, and who won't you vote for barak obama?

there is a NY times best seller, i'm told, a book, its called, titled, Obama Nation' its readers use the rallying cry, "Nobama!" i'd like to hear how you differentiate your critiziscm of obama from the theme of that 'book.'

and, personally, i'd love to read a column of yours in which you challenged yourself to be otherwise than nearby obtuse, in terms of the aggragate of your, well, you know what I mean.
Posted By: notroubleatall1963 @ 08/03/2008 12:48:25 PM

Comment: Nice commentary. But I would hesitate to judge the EU so harshly myself. The Europeans have done a lot more for their citizens than we have with our government here in the US. Our citizens are still struggling to be able to afford to live in this country - they can't afford health care, they pay taxes on their unemployment checks (for god's sake) and their retirement income... We are hardly in a position as a nation to criticize the smooth (generally) running of the majority of EU nationa compared to our own mess. But I suppose conservatives see the services that are provided to citizens across Europe as "socialism" - well, bring it on, say I.
- Posted By: thehappyamerican @ 08/03/2008 9:06:27 PM
  
  Comment: .Complaining about tax on unemployment and retirement income (complaining about run away socialism!) and then adds..."bring it on?"... to more socialism?
  Wheeeeeeewhhhhhhhhhh.
  Socialism=Americans are not taxed enough so AMERICANS SUCK...until they pay more taxes!. And on everything! Anything! Socialists are the serial Zodiac Taxers of the planet!
  The Americans Suck First! campaign is Bill Clinton's which Obama has stolen and giving the Rap Star format.
  America doesn't Suck. Americans DON"T SUCK. This is still the land of opportunity for those who study hard and work hard. An inconvenient fact for Obamas' dazzeling one Star and one The One campaign,playing on a stage near you!
  Obama has agreed to permit drilling for oil IF a new tax can be applied to oil, now.
  The green, earth first , critical mass , and enviromentalist must be running to sniff glue over this news... but they better hurry! Obama will tax the glue, too! Thats how the EU works!
  - Posted By: mnjam @ 08/04/2008 3:38:47 PM
    
    Comment: Actually, there is more opportunity in being born the son of admirals and partying your way through the Naval Academy to finish 894 out of 895. Study hard and working hard will get you into Harvard Law, elected to the Law Review and labelled as an effete Anti-American socialist-Marxist commie liberal.
    - Posted By: thehappyamerican @ 08/06/2008 3:46:37 PM
      
      Comment: Really? I never was called an Anti- American Socialist liberal (of any kind), and you don't need to go to Harvard Law School to embrace the DNC's Americans Suck First Campaign! But I worked hard and studied hard, and have great friends! This country is awesome!
      Obama's oppertunity exceeded mine --he got to go to law school-- and that's another great part of America!
      This is a fantastic country we are blessed to live in!
      McCain didn't befriend 60's domestic terrorist. i don't think that has anything to do with being the son of an Admiral.Or his standing at one of the nations toughest schools. But probably because he has character and a sense of decencey. (Socialist are pretty ruthless by contrast, and yes. definatly effete.And expect everyone else to be ,too.).
Posted By: Jack999 @ 08/03/2008 10:36:20 AM

Comment: Republican reporter can't help resort to this comments on John McCain ...I'M TOTALLY AGREED WITH HIS MOTHER to said publicly that indeed that JOHN McCain is plain Stupid.

"For a man who will turn 72 this month, he's a surprisingly immature politician,erratic, impulsive and subject to peer pressure from the last knucklehead who offers him advice. The youthful insouciance that for many years has helped McCain charm reporters like me is now channeled into an ad that one GOP strategist labeled "juvenile," another termed "childish" and McCain's own mother called "stupid."
Posted By: Damian Hockney @ 08/02/2008 2:38:37 PM

Comment: Beautifully put...just one thing: the EU actively encourages these moves to fracture the big old nation states specifically in order to be more able to impose its own authority and laws. It is a lot easier to tell several different small new(ish) states what to do, than to do this to the larger old-established nations. The process of giving Wales and Scotland (and London as well) 'parliaments' was part of this.