That was almost as good as the flag concession in Germany in the 1930s. m/r
American Inertia
by Mark Steyn • Dec 5, 2014
I've borrowed Kathy Shaidle's headline because I think that sums up John Derbyshire's column better than the one he and his editors chose: "The Impotent Eagle." It's not that we are incapable of doing anything, it's that we can't rouse ourselves to do anything.
John was my colleague at National Review for many years, where I regarded him as a gloomier version of me, and he regarded me as a hopeless Pollyanna. Nevertheless, much of what he writes today will be familiar to readers of both After America and The [Un]documented Mark Steyn, personally autographed copies of which make kind and thoughtful Christmas presents and really aren't as suicidally depressing as you might think. Derb's mournful refrain was taken from a throwaway line a correspondent made re immigration:
Replied my friend:
'I think that withdrawing birthright citizenship from the children of illegals would be a good move, and highly appropriate. I don't see why we couldn't do it going forward. But of course we won't, because we can't do anything.'
It was that closing phrase that stuck in my mind. We can't do anything. It's so damn true.
John focuses on the big headlines: the Afghan war... immigration... law enforcement in Ferguson... America can't win wars, enforce its borders, prevent looting. He could have added a bazillion others: build a flood barrier that prevents one measly not-so-Superstorm Sandy ruining people's lives for years after... replace the dingy decrepit dump of LaGuardia with an airport that isn't a total embarrassment to one of the world's great cities... upgrade the most primitive bank cards in the developed world... stiffen Republican spines to come up with plans for debt reduction that kick in before the middle of the century...
But I'm increasingly struck by how "we can't do anything" applies to all the small stuff, too.
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