Apparently George Galloway didn't get the memo...
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article601356.ece

Okay so some on the Left condemn terrorism, what do they want a cookie?

At the end of the day just because they differentiate themselves from their more extremist wing by condemning terrorism rather than rationalizing it doesn’t mean that we on the Right have any common cause with them beyond that. These are still the same people we fought against domestically in the 1990’s, the ones who filibuster our judicial nominees, who fight tooth and nail against fixing the entitlement time bomb before the baby boom generation retires, who are pushing for greater governmental control over nearly every aspect of our economy particularly health care, who are wrong on nearly every domestic issue and who in the end are repositioning themselves on foreign policy not out of conviction but because they see it as a necessary political maneuver to regain power.

I said it before on the last Euston Manifesto thread: this is an internal matter amongst the Left in trying to “reinvent themselves” and those of us on the Right should not fool ourselves into thinking that they will end up being less awful in any material way. Best to use the time we have in trying to get/keep our own House in order (e.g. reigning in spending, immigration reform, judicial nominees, holding our own accountable) rather than delude ourselves into thinking that this will make the other side somehow an acceptable alternative.

In an earlier thread, I had welcomed the people centered approach to advancing the interests of the United States of the left as a compliment to the market driven approach of the right.

Boy howdy was I wrong. Immediately afterwards I was reading of solutions that were merely more bombs or aggressive disengagaement. There was no idea for the funding of feminist literature in Islamic countries. There wasn't a mention about setting up populist media networks or providing support to indigenous voices in the countries where there's government support of Islamic terrorism. There was no mention of scrapping the CIA and redrawing a foreign intelligence agency with a new charter to support our allies and kill our enemies with a view towards strong local governments and eschewing sons of bitches even if they are ours. Either bomb harder or get on the boats; these are the only new options the left can come up with? What happened guys?

I'm a right wing, bomb and money man myself. Simple stuff. But there are weaknesses to the apporach. Bombs don't fix everything, although it is largely true that any situation in the world can be improved by the right person dying (Prussian dictum, not mine).

This is a half hearted start. It would be cool if the Euston manifesto turned into something concrete, but I think the left is mentally stuck on creatively disengaging from everything. They are allowing their efficiency in villainizing the West and disegaging govenr their actions.

To go beyond a beginning, observations and suggestions should be addressed. Euston Alternative remains unanswered when submitted to Euston website email addresses.

"The needs of the next pass are twofold:
First, the compelling underlying first principles need to be distilled from the original along with the arguments that support them.
Second, where generalities are used, specifics need to be teased out and ambiguities resolved."

George Galloway: Lord Haw Haw XP.

I wouldn't be critical of liberals and lefties who talk about this, but wouldn't applaud them either. It's a start. Let's see how far they take it.

I'm less interested in overdue mea culpas about Cambodia and the USSR than in seeing someone stand up to the current manias of the left, which is why I'd like to see the Eustoners admit that "a left truly committed to democratic values" ought to be supporting Israel.

Joe,

Same shill, different monsters.

Please don't neglect what is happening in Iran right now. Many demonstrations are going on in different parts of the country.
These demonstrations should be on TV every night, but the msm doesn't want to promote them.
The Iranian people need our help and support.
The MSM is ignoring the demonstrations.
The blogosphere needs to cover this.
The people need publicity.
The regime has ordered all news about the demonstrations to be blacked out.

2 bloggers doing a good job covering it are:

aryamehr11
thespiritofman
(I tried to give their links, but was rejected)

Please spread the news and encourage other bloggers to do so. If bloggers have to embarrass and pressure the msm into covering the story, so be it.

Well, Joe, A.L.: your commenters have spoken.

"Your comment was denied for questionable content. You said [CENSORED].com, which matched the banned text string [CENSORED].com, which has previously been used by a spammer."

Nice. Appreciated.

Ah, and I can't even quote your own content. Guess I won't even be commenting again until this is fixed.

In a medium that is rightly known for its whiny petulance, #10 takes the cake.

Look between the comment fields and the words that say "Post a comment", Gary. You got punched out because of your bl0gspot domain name.

Bl0gspot. bl*gspot. b1ogspot.

Use some imagination.

The Manifesto is well-intentioned, but doomed.

From the Manifesto:

"For liberals and the Left, anti-racism is axiomatic. "

Translation: "axiomatic" means "we plug our ears, close our eyes, and insist it is so despite all the plain evidence before us! La-la-laaa!"

This is true for liberalism, insofar as the latter is understood as the political expression of the Enlightenment. But it is most certainly not true of the Left, which is anti-Enlightenment to the core.

The National Socialists used to have a saying: "What you believe is no disgrace; the swinishness is in the race". The idea is that character is determined by genetics, and that the individual is powerless to change it (and is therefore not responsible for it).

The Left says no, identity comes from culture, not genetics... and then proceeds to tell us that character (identity) is determined by culture, and that the individual is powerless to change it (and therefore not responsible for it).

Racism is absolutely, positively a child of the Left.

While it is commendable for moderate liberals to (finally) make an attempt at giving the hard Left their walking papers, the fact remains that the hard Left is the philosophical core of that movement. Moderate liberals can no more escape the hard Left than an RC car can escape its owner. What they need to do is not "return" to liberalism, so much as to rediscover and rescue it -- from the Left.

I wish them well; marginalizing the hard Left is a good thing, no matter how temporary.

But I 'm not betting on even that.

"Racism is absolutely, positively a child of the Left"

Goodness me. There are a lot of questionable comments on this thread but I think Mr. seerak takes the cake with that whopper. Congratulations!

Racism is the negative exemplar of any culutre that celebrates who you are. Simplified, all cultures are mixes of doing, being, or having. The left didn't create racism, won't cause someone to racists, and leftist ideology won't save someone from racism.

What leftist ideology needs to do is come up with something as groundbreaking as the Green Berets, the Peace Corps or the Atomic Bomb for the 21st century. There needs to be a contribution of fresh ideas to the same goal: countering totalitarianism world wide.

While I largely disagree with Seerak's comment, I'd like to thank him (her?) for inspiring the funniest mental image I've had this week with the RC car analogy.

I think Seerak just presented his idea with something out of order. Leftism didn't invent racism, but there is a particular set of deterministic thinking that can make a powerful engine for racism that the left employs. The class warfare rhetoric has a villain that is innately evil. Anytime you ascribe to an innate feature of a human, that is the stretching exercise for racism.

Blair has a point.

We can judge the degree to which the Euston Manifesto is anything other than bloviating in an attempt to increase the volume of a laytex sphere by keeping an eye on whether or not committed, idealistic young leftists begin signing up for military service or getting serious about the notion that doing down terrorism inherently implies committing violent acts (against people other than harmless shopkeepers).

Oh, and, for tradition's sake, whenever threads like these pop up, SOMEBODY has to quote...

"100 million skulls."

Russ, your first indicator is not valid, your second is.

"We can judge the degree to which the Euston Manifesto is anything other than bloviating in an attempt to increase the volume of a laytex sphere by keeping an eye on whether or not committed, idealistic young leftists begin signing up for military service or getting serious about the notion that doing down terrorism inherently implies committing violent acts (against people other than harmless shopkeepers)."

Military service has much to recommend it, and is encouraged for the level of understanding it brings to war/peace/military decisions so long as enough people within a population have that background).

Having said that, there are many ways to serve, and citizenship does not require one to serve in the military. Nor does it make those who do serve more equal in any way, or add greater moral weight to the ideological struggle against Islamic fascism.

The first argument make sense and has a point (the level of military expertise within the liberal/left population as a whole is extremely small, and that is a detriment). But implying that military service is some kind of requirement for being taken seriously is just the neo-fascist chickenhawk argument in different packaging.

Now, your second point is valid. A leftism that condemns terrorism but will not fight it is just appeasement and accomodation in another guise. The understanding that thwarting sharia's fascist dreams requires counter-violence as well as other forms of action is critical.

In terms of military service, how about the bastions of leftism quit thinking that a Marine Corps Officer with an Ivy League diploma is representative of a failure of that college.

The military is seen as an unworthy profession among most of the left. The current hypermodern left doesn't produce priests, police or troops. And it's hell bent to give up on farmers and workers, too. So if it can't convert, sustain or defend its own order, its just coasting or reacting.

The left, when there was a pricipled core position, stuff like the manifesto, could really kick some ass on the international scene. The American left simply reacts now. It has no core values. The left is for gay rights, but celebrates diversity to include support for people who outlaw homosexuality. The left is the home of feminism, but will not criticize any regime but the US in terms of feminist issues. The Euston Manifesto points out the pro strong man urge that turns populism and left wing thinking into a brand name: "When you absolutely have to have a fascist strong man, make him a Populist Brand Strong Man! Now with 110% more votes!"

So, if the left was serious, left leaning people would become soldiers. Or evangelists of their own culture, like the Peace Corps. Or cops, firefighters, or Red Cross. There wasn't a surge in membership in any of those groups in the blue states, by left wing folks.

There hasn't even been any new ideas coming from the left except to cede the responsibility for our own defence to the multinbational community, which is comprised of people who have no interest in protecting us. That's a retreat narrative. It isn't new, it isn't effective.

The manifesto should be a clarion call for action and ideas. It's a young document, but yeah, I think that heightened enrollment in foreign and domestic service would be a bell weather for commitment from the left, since universities are their stomping grounds.

Actually, Joe, that was supposed to read as a single indicator... otherwise, Blair has it again imho.

I'm not positing that not being in military service is unworthy -- far from. But demographically, Joe, we see almost no entrants to the military -- or, as Blair has pointed out, several other closely-related functions -- from folks on the left (firefighters, we do see, actually, Blair: the role has cachet in the GLBT community, and "more power to them." I used to have a temp gig transcribing testimony for equal-opportunity lawsuits involving the SFFD).

I understand the skepticism that many conservative readers are having to this posting. It's easy to talk the talk, walking it requires some more effort. Those of us who have been behind the War on Terror, since 9/12 might well ask what took so long for Norm to make up his mind.

I used to be where Norm stood. I was a 9/12 convert, but I used to be there. (See my username?) It takes some will & effort to say " I was wrong" and change your views around. Osama bin Laden found the effort, I had the will. I guess somepeople take longer to come around, but better late than never, I say.

Norm Geras has dared to break ranks with the dictator-kissing, self-hating, excuse-making Left. He has publicly refuted the idea that the Left can support terrorists, jihadi-men, and tinhorn strongmen, and still call itself "progressive". he has called the Left on this stance, and urged his like-minded peers to reject the reflexive cheerleading for the enemies of Western Civilization.

Will he get any good hearing for it? Puh-lee-ase. Outside of his slowly growing circle of converts, the Left is going to have a hissy fit. I'm sure DU & Kos are going to revoke Norm's Leftist Club membership & excommunicate him from the Red Church of International Solidarity for the heresy of defending Western Civilization.

Actually, I hope they do just that. Here on the non-Left end of the political spectrum, we can welcome Norm to the discusiion. We can listen to what he has to say, even if we don't like it, and then respond to him in return. He may not be 100% in agreement with us in ways of suppressing the jihadi-men, but at least he knows the danger is real, and something has to be done about it. Too many of the Left either are playing ostritch, or are even cheering on the terrorists. If the Left keeps booting out people like Norm who have a flash of moral clarity and dare to stand up for their core beliefs, they are going to be discredited and swept aside as a bunch of losers who would rather be "right" than win a no-holds-barred struggle against evil men, or even save their own worthless skins.

Fine by me, really. In 2000, I voted for Robogore. In 2004 I voted for Bush as a Democrat. They didn't get it. This November I plan to vote as a Republican. Give Norm a little time guys, once you change, you can't go back. The Left will make sure of it.