Rightank

Robert’s Bork’s recent book, “A Country I Do Not Recognize”: The Legal Assault on American Values, is an excellent read. Although Bork edited the five articles in the book, his preface makes the book worth its price. The only essay I didn’t enjoy was Terry Eastland’s, which was merely a regurgitation of First Amendment freedom of religion and establishment cases.

What stood out the most was Bork’s description (in his introduction) of the liberal Justices’ philosophy on the Supreme Court as Olympian: self-assured intellectuals who savor the lushness of their own enlightened reasoning, believing the traditional constraints of a constitutional democracy need not apply to their reasoning or judicial opinions. Olympians are self-appointed immortals who speak down to–not an equal level. To an Olympian, strict adherence to the constitutional text is an anachronism. Justice Kennedy’s reliance on “the right to define one’s concept of existence . . . of the mystery of human life” as part of the liberty guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment in Lawrence v. Texas to justify overturning the moral judgment of a state legislature is a prime example.

Thankfully, help is on the way. Chief Justice Roberts sits in Rehnquist’s place and Judge Samuel Alito is headed for confirmation. However, another one or two SCJs are needed to assure that the meaning and intent of our Constitution is not wrested from the People who ordained it or those who now abide by it articles and amendments. Bork concludes:

Control of law is part of a larger struggle for power, the power to coerce individuals, groups, and nations to accept particular values. In both constitutional and international law, the power-seekers are predominantly on the left, and so far they have been largely successful. That is a fact that United States citizens, insofar as they cherish self-government and American values, should recognize as reason for profound concern.

This power struggle is a big part of why the Democratic questioning of Judge Alito was so confrontational and bombastic. Both the Old Left and the New Left want to hold on to and expand their last vestige of power–the judiciary. Hopefully, that power will finally slip from their grasp.

I just finished reading Bat Ye’or’s magnificent book, Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis. Her book explains in great detail how the European elites opened up their borders to allow a huge immigrant population of Muslims to satisfy their own global intentions. These European Elites (e.g., prime ministers and ambassadors) decided to roll the dice. They gambled that if could convince the Arab leaders to exchange European investment and infrastructure capablilities for oil and a steady pool of immigrants, the Europeans would create a Euro-Arab hegemon that would rival the United States. Unfortunately, their gamble didn’t pay off. Rather, they’ve played right into the Arabs hands and have created a Eurabia where the Arabs–not the Europeans–are the power brokers.

One of the great nuggets within Eurabia is the vocabulary of Islamic conquest (e.g., dhimmitude, and jihad, dar al-harb) that is learned. With that understanding, it’s easier to see how Osama bin Laden and his minnions carved out their radicalism.

The Islamification of Europe is not only a threat to indigenous Europeans but threatens to pull away Britain to an anti-American posture and quell the Eastern Europeans from friendly and supportive relations with the United States. Ye’or’s book should be required State Department reading. I highly recommend it.

I just finished reading Theodore Dalrymple’s book Our Culture, What’s Left of it: The Mandarians and the Masses. A very enjoyable read, loaded with personal ancedotes that captivate, emotionalize, and provoke one’s own feelings about how our pristine, civilized culture is being slowly thrown in the back-alley dumpster. Dalyrmple’s collection of essays vividly portray the societal costs of moral relativism and family revisionism–and why these intellectual utopias wreak havoc on the interpersonal relationships that uphold society’s mores. Highly recommended.