Things that must not be said.

It’s important not to scare the timorous.

Many on the Right wish that some of the more outspoken members in their side would just shut up. The recent near-universal condemnation of Rush Limbaugh is proof that even the mildest transgressions must be condemned. A piece by Matt K. Lewis is a perfect example. When the Left is using four-letter words as if they were government subsidized (like Solyndra), he writes an entire column wishing that Ann Coulter would pipe down. Who is Matt Lewis? Beats me. But he was given a column by the Daily Caller, so he may be someone’s room-mate. Looking at one or two of his other columns, it seems as if he’s someone whose focus is on stoking internecine warfare on the Right.

The desire on the Right to stifle inquiry is mild compared to the desire on the Left to make certain ideas out of bounds for serious inquiry. Until the murderer of seven Frenchmen and children turned out to be a self-confessed flower of al Qaida, the Lame Stream Media in Europe and the US were ready to brand the Right as guilty. The AP just knew who the culprits were:

“Focus fell Tuesday on three paratroopers who had been expelled from their regiment near Toulouse in 2008 for neo-Nazi sympathies, a police official said. The killer on Monday handled large-caliber guns with expertise, leading some to suspect he had a military or police background.”

How unfortunate for them that the culprit is named Mohammad. Now, instead of beginning a genuine search for the next Muslim youth who will follow in this murderer’s footsteps, the LSM will begin asking why French culture turned a perfectly nice young man into a mass murderer. I’m absolutely sure that the NPR analysis of this killing spree will follow exactly that trajectory.  You can see the outlines in this article which shifts the blame to Israel.  They have already run one story suggesting that the killer was a neo-Nazi.

The Nazis are the Left's favorite villains, perhaps due to that fact that they are no threat.

Europe can face Nazism with great moral confidence and contempt. After all the US Army already beat them in 1945. They are as safe fighting Nazis as shooting paper targets on the range. The Mohammed Merah’s shoot back. At the heart of the European evasion is a deep awareness of incapacity. They won’t face the obvious challenges because they fear they can’t — at least not without reforming themselves.

Deep thinkers in the moderate middle are beginning to believe that the Blue model is now shown to be hopelessly broken, a synthesis will arise where both the Left and the Right will begin to work on real solutions. Like a second marriage, that may well be the triumph of hope over experience. How many Marxist professors were persuaded that Communism doesn’t work by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the horror stories that were finally told about the abject failure of that system? The Left’s hold on academia is stronger today than ever.

While there are faint signs that this may be possible, and while this is the preferred solution, it must be said that history is not compelling. Prior to World War 2, Winston Churchill was an outcast for uttering what most of the political class though were outrageous remarks regarding Germany and its leaders. Had he given his “blood sweat and tears” speech before the war he would have been locked up and the keys thrown away.    Only the outbreak of real war made Churchill's words sound true and his political resurrection possible.

Ann Coulter’s most outrageous comment followed the 9/11 attacks in which one of her friends, Barbara Olson, was killed: "we should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." We have not followed Ann’s advice and more than a decade later the fundamental problem has not even been addressed, merely denied.    I hear that Mohammad is now the most popular first name for babies in England.