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It is nice to be reminded that there are still Europeans like Havel.

After listening to the Italian communist hostage person, I had forgotten.

Roger:

zapetero’s cowardice is the perfect example of how the left is in love with the idea of negotiations, even if they do not achieve results. The left blames Castro’s human rights record on the US embargo. They claim that a “constructive engagement” will be more productive. The EU and Canada tell Castro that they will give him economic incentives if he will loosen restrictions of freedom of thought and expression. The EU starts with the economic incentives. Castro cracks down of non violent dissent. The EU and Canada close their eyes and plow right ahead with the plan that Castro has given the diplomatic middle finger to. They pretend their plan is working even Castro’s action show that they are failing. And they don’t want Havel to even point out the obvious. If we don’t recognize the crimes of Castro then we can claim success. If I ignore the fact I have cancer then that means I don’t have it! EU logic.

Havel is truly one of the great human beings of the 20th century. Or any century for that matter. On the other scale is Zapatero who is truly a slithery snake. In Havel’s presence the latter is nothing more than a smudge.

Hero worship anyone?

The Euros as a body (but fortunately not in every individual case) are craven losers who have apparently learned nothing from the last 50 years of history. I was originally going to say “cowards” but they’re not cowards because there is no personal risk they’re taking or avoiding. They’re just throwing other people under the bus. Those others are the ones taking the risk and being abandoned by people who should know better and could actually make a difference.

The Euros do have a very different outlook on foreign affairs than we do.

I wonder how much of that is due to Europe’s socialism and how much is due to Europe’s history of receiving free protection from the U.S.

Tough guess Roger…..uh…..does spelling count?…….is there an extra credit problem?…Did you cover this in lecture?……;>)

(PS I am grading tonight)

Bostonian is nearer the mark,the left is in love with the left.No matter what bastard child socialism throws up, the mother countries will defend its every vicious deed to the last.

Havel is a true hero: before; during; and after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. Now if only a French or German leader would appear that is half the man Havel is. I guess, we shouldn’t hold our breath, but it could happen…

If the left would adopt Vaclev Havel as their own and follow his lead, they’d be on their way back from the political wilderness.

This isn’t a man obsessed with economic issues, but with ennobling the human soul and fighting the forces that would crush the power of unbridled conscience. And he’s optimistic about the potential of man to build a better society. When I was a kid, that’s what I thought a liberal was.

How is it that what I thought of as liberal when I was 10 or 12 has become a subject of admiration today in The National Review? And outside of Vaclev Havel, whatever happened to liberal optimism?

John Pearley Huffman ó Because the evil conservatives at the National Review have changed with a changing world, while the “official” liberals in America remain trapped in the quagmire of their literally adolescent worldview.

And now I think on it, I don’t recall any mass “liberal” rallies in ‘68 demanding the USSR pull out of Czechoslovakia…

You know I agree, don’t you, Roger.

Meanwhile, this is what I have written about the “anti-terrorism” conference taking place this week, at the same time of the March 11 anniversary.

Zapatero will be there, Havel won’t. Neither -according to a Spanish online newspaper- some figures like David Horowitz, Bat Ye’or, Daniel Pipes or MEMRI’s Yigal Carmon, who were invited but then started receiving indications on what they could say or not, so they cancelled. Even worse, Bat Ye’or was denied any protection during her stay, which given the circumstances means that she can’t come.