Footnote...
Re: But what is most odd is the vast number of Christian fanatics in the US, who form the core of George Bush's support and at 60 million strong represent the single most powerful voting block in US history. Whereas church attendance is down dramatically in England it has never been higher in the United States whose strange fundamentalist Christian sects are, in my opinion, a menace to the world....
(excerpted from E. Said's paper)
Actually, I could conjure up a similar "fundamentalist bloc" of 60 million within the EU... The difference with the US being that, contrary to US politics, the diverse reactionary, anti-immigrant constituencies are scattered across 15 different countries and consequently, don't make up a single, united bloc of voters. Another difference, as E. Said rightly pointed out, is that Europe's Judeofascist crowd doesn't have a strong religious foundation and is essentially political: Pim Fortuyn in the Netherlands, J.M. Le Pen in France, J. Haider in Austria, Ph. Dewinter in Flanders, Fini and Bossi in Italy, Putin in Russia, although they all proclaim their Judeo-Christian heritage, promote an anti-Muslim/Arab populism rather than a pro-Christian agenda....
All in all, I'm afraid that Edward Said deludes himself about Europe --probably because Britain is not the best vantage point to grasp the politics of Continental Europe, namely, the rise of anti-immigrant populism, the ostracizing of Turkey, and the shameful, Munich appeasement towards Herr V. Putin... (not to mention their duplicity about jackboot Israel) Indeed, European leaders pander to Judeofascist Russia in the same vile manner as their pathetic fathers cajoled Nazi Germany 65 years ago. Soon they'll join Daladier, Chamberlain, Leopold III, Pétain and the rest in History's hall of shame....
Gus |
