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From a multitude of sources comes word that right-wing Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn has been assassinated. Details are sketchy to non-existent, but the smart money is that the assassination is politically motivated; when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. I think that the most surprising, albeit obviously sarcastic, reaction is Glenn Reynolds':
I thought that such shootings only took place in the uncivilized United States, with its bloody-minded Frontier approach to things. At the cost of perhaps being mocked for missing the point, and without meaning any insult to Professor Reynolds, I would suggest that any sincerity in this reaction can only come from not taking a good modern European history course. During the life of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), more than 400 left-wing politicians were assassinated by right-wing killers, a rate even greater than that of Jenin in producing suicide bombers. To say this is not to say that a coterie of the anti-democratic left and Islamofascists in Europe are planning to guarantee that the EU nations fall squarely in the pro-terror column, despite the wishes of their peoples and regardless of the cost. It does suggest to me, however, that this is a European problem, and that, if our help be requested by any nation on the far side of the pond save the UK (for the moment we will ignore the question of whether the UK is a European nation or not), it be provided if at all with a meaningful price tag, unlike in 1917 and 1941. Glenn Reynolds' link It should be noted that this does not purport to be a complete list; these are just links I noticed among the blogs that I read regularly. John "Akatsukami" Braue Monday, May 06, 2002 |
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