If you take the view that the U.S. is an imperialist aggressor, congratulations: You can cease worrying. But, if you think that America has been the ultimate guarantor of the post-war global order, it’s less cheery. Five years from now, just as in Canada and Europe two generations ago, we’ll be getting used [...]]]> Steyn manages it:

If you take the view that the U.S. is an imperialist aggressor, congratulations: You can cease worrying. But, if you think that America has been the ultimate guarantor of the post-war global order, it’s less cheery. Five years from now, just as in Canada and Europe two generations ago, we’ll be getting used to announcements of defense cuts to prop up the unsustainable costs of big government at home. And, as the superpower retrenches, America’s enemies will be quick to scent opportunity.

Longer wait times, fewer doctors, more bureaucracy, massive IRS expansion, explosive debt, the end of the Pax Americana, and global Armageddon.

Our future? Commonplace and unexceptional.

No one much cared for Rome either.

Until it was gone.

Update: On to the next thing!

Frustrated with the lack of action to overhaul the country’s immigration system, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied on the National Mall and marched through the streets of the capital Sunday, waving American flags and holding homemade signs in English and Spanish.

Supporters traveled from around the country in hopes the rally would re-energize Congress to take up the volatile issue. Some lawmakers oppose any attempt to help an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants become U.S. citizens while others insist on stronger border controls first.

President Barack Obama, who promised to make overhauling the immigration system a top priority in his first year, sought to reassure those at the rally with a video message presented on giant screens at the National Mall. The president said he was committed to working with Congress this year on a comprehensive bill to fix a “broken immigration system.”

It’s the march of progress, comrades – It can’t be stopped!

Iraq’s election commission has rejected calls from the president and prime minister for a recount of votes cast in the general election on 7 March.

An election official said a recount of all votes would [...]]]> The Iraqi democracy – there are two fine words sitting side by side – has learned perhaps too well from freedom’s cradle:

Iraq’s election commission has rejected calls from the president and prime minister for a recount of votes cast in the general election on 7 March.

An election official said a recount of all votes would be impossible and was unnecessary because of checks on fraud.

Earlier, President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri Maliki backed calls for a manual recount of votes.

Partial results indicate a close race between Mr Maliki and former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

But the long delay in announcing the full results has led to growing allegations of fraud.

I just wish they might have taken better notes on Philadelphia in 1776 than Florida in 2000.

But not the back yard, apparently. Not any more:

Groups of immigrants have moved into the gardens of at least six properties since November last year, leaving a trail of cider bottles, bags of human waste and drugs needles behind them.

Though homeowners have appealed [...]]]> The English gave us the principle that a “man’s home is his castle.”

But not the back yard, apparently. Not any more:

Groups of immigrants have moved into the gardens of at least six properties since November last year, leaving a trail of cider bottles, bags of human waste and drugs needles behind them.

Though homeowners have appealed for help, the police and council say they cannot arrest the trespassers – who have no passports and are mostly from Eastern Europe – because they claim it is a civil, not a criminal matter.

The immigrants gained access to the land through an open alleyway and sleep on dirty mattresses, using rolled-up blankets as pillows.

Ian Treasure, 41, one of the homeowners affected by the camps, said a man named Joseph from the Czech Republic was living in his garden coal shed.

Despite six phone calls to Peterborough City Council pleading with them to evict the immigrants and remove the mountains of dumped rubbish, he could not get the man to leave.

If the constabulary can’t be bothered to help the citizenry maintain their property rights, the citizenry will eventually take things into their own hands.

Which is when it can get ugly.

I mean, what other motivation could there have been to oppose this unprecedented intrusion of government power into that most private [...]]]> Yesterday apparently, while I was busily turning processed dinosaur detritus into Bernoullis, an unruly crowd made up entirely of racists and homophobes gathered on the Capitol lawn to protest the president’s health care reform plan.

I mean, what other motivation could there have been to oppose this unprecedented intrusion of government power into that most private of sectors?

It’s a wonder the man ever got elected, in a country like this.

Regrets for that image.

For my own part, as I watch this nearly 3,000 page monstrosity heave itself towards the transom, I can’t help but have some contempt for the whole political process. The GOP seems eager to fight the bill as much to wound the president [...]]]> Mark Steyn is not a fan. Condom regulation is interwoven.

Regrets for that image.

For my own part, as I watch this nearly 3,000 page monstrosity heave itself towards the transom, I can’t help but have some contempt for the whole political process. The GOP seems eager to fight the bill as much to wound the president and his party in the next election than on the merits of the bill itself. Across the aisle, the Democrats seem as eager to simply deny the GOP the satisfaction of killing the bill than for any inherent goodness found within.

Too many arms have been twisted, too many bribes paid out, too many favored constituents cosseted.

When and if this passes, America will move much closer to the European Model of social welfare. Which to some folks will be reckoned progress. But I have just the two questions:

When America becomes Europe, who will be left to play the “American” role?

And was that the point all along?

This week, Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal signed House Joint Resolution 2 (HJ0002), claiming “sovereignty on behalf of the State of Wyoming and for its citizens under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government [...]]]> Wyoming says, “no farther“:

This week, Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal signed House Joint Resolution 2 (HJ0002), claiming “sovereignty on behalf of the State of Wyoming and for its citizens under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government or reserved to the people by the Constitution of the United States…”

“For decades we have shared increased frustration dealing with the federal government and its agencies. What started out as a leak in the erosion of state prerogative and independence has today turned into a flood. From wolf and grizzly bear management, to gun control, to endless regulation and unfunded mandates – the federal government has become far too powerful and intrusive.”

For your own good, of course. Washington politicians are much smarter than those at the state and local level.

Update: Federalism?

What a novel idea.