Why We Still Have Kings.

Because the King can tell a pig-eyed moron of a military dictator to shut the fuck up, that's why. The last king of Egypt once said, "At the end of the world, there will still be five kings...the king of spades, the king of clubs, the king of hearts, the king of diamonds, and the king of England. To that list, I add, or perhaps substitute, the king of Spain. Unlike the degenerate Windsors, the Bourbons seem to have maintained some dignity. Perhaps it was the long years of fascism, but somehow the Spanish royal house has retained its...majesty. Can anyone imagine Charles telling Boy Assad or Robert Mugabe to shut up? Long live Juan Carlos el Rey de Espana por gracia del Dios. Perhaps it's time to begin a quiet search for a surviving heir of the Stuarts or the Plantagenets.

Europe wakes, but too late?

In Switzerland of all places, Europe begins to awake to the nature of Islam as an expressly political enterprise. Facile distinctions between "political Islam" and "Islamofascism" and "moderate Islam" are exposed as useless. I'm reminded of the academics of the 60s and 70s who kept trying to parse the difference between Castroism, Maoism and Stalinism. There is no such thing as separation of mosque and state, there is no non-political Islam. Indeed, Islam admits of no politics..all human relations are religious, there is no difference to be found between ideology and religion. There are no doubt Muslims who would have it otherwise, but they speak out on pain of apostasy and death. Sarkozy knows it, Blair knows it, Howard knows it, and the Swiss know it. Read about it here.

Hillary's Tattered Veil

Hillary Clinton's performance (and that's the right word for it) in the debate (and that's not the right word) between Democrat Party candidates reveals two important things.
1. Any of the likely Republican candidates will beat her in the general election like a red-headed step-child. This is related both to Hillary's personal failings and weaknesses and to the Democrat's institutional blindness. Taking last things first, it seems clear to everybody except the Dems themselves that running against George Bush isn't working. Memo to Howard Dean: Bush isn't running this time.
Next, the Party is far to the left of the electorate and are thus on track to another Nixon/McGovern scale defeat. They should change their name to the Lemming Party.

2. Hillary's fading aura has lasted this long only because her rivals are so feckless (Obama), dishonest (Edwards), stupid (Richardson) or weird (Kucinich) that they make Hillary look resolute, upright, brilliant and normal by comparison. Unfortunately, she is none of those things and it's becoming increasingly obvious to the public that she's none of those things. She can't give a straight answer to any question because she has no principles at all. Bill could pull that off with a grin and a little triangulation because he's a political genius. Hillary has neither Bill's political skills nor his intelligence and it shows. All she has is his donor list and his briefing book. That may be adequate to see off the likes of Odumbo, the sleazy ambulance chaser Edwards and the space cadet Kucinich, but Giuliani, McCain, Thompson or even Huckabee would eat her alive and spit out the bones.

3. None of her Demo rivals have called her on her long and dishonest career. From a make-work job at the Rose Law firm, to the 100 fold cattle futures deal, to Whitewater, to covering up Bill's sex addiction, to James Riady, Johnny Chung and Norman Hsu, from taking illegal campaign contributions to taking the White House furniture, Hillary's life is one of deep and pervasive mendacity and sleaze.

When the campaign goes to the southern states, all the Republicans have to do is replay that old Nightline interview where she talks about staying at home and baking cookies, her voice sliding into a parody of a Southern accent and dripping with contempt.

Come November, there'll be only two candidates and even the New York Times won't be able to hold its nose then.