Death of a Christian Knight

Communism had no greater foe than the Catholic Church. From the time of the Reformation and, later, the period of the French Revolution, Rome understood that its battle with those who marched under a red flag posed what is nowadays called "an existential threat" to its existence. Although liberty, equality and fraternity had been put to rest in 1815, two hundred years of seething ferment in the West ultimately produced the Russian Revolution and the very real possibility of the old guard being entirely eradicated around the globe.





Now, not quite twenty years since the demise of what some might call the great socialist experiments, those of all political coloration have begun to come to terms with what appears to be the victory of "free enterprise" in every corner of the globe with the exception of such roaring mice as Cuba, North Korea and the Islamic protestors against modernism. Most of us were taken by surprise. Prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, who on the left would have, could have predicted the demise of communism? Yet, when it occurred there was no shortage of those who would make claim to having foreseen its inevitability. The New York Times celebrated the occasion by giving space on its first page first to one of its own, the late R.W. Apple, who called it the greatest historical event since the revolutions of 1848. Then, upping the ante, the Times gave the same space to Solzhenitsyn, who proclaimed that what we were witnessing was not merely the fall of the Soviet Union but the demise of the whole romantic revoltionary tradition, that what events illustrated was that the ideals of the French Revolution of 1789--liberty, fraternity and equality--were at bottom incompatible.





There have been many candidates for hero of the counter-revolution--from Pope John Paul II to Ronald Reagan, from Milton Friedman to Margaret Thatcher--but many Americans will harbor the not so secret suspicion that but for William F. Buckley and his influence, the hammer and sickel might still be waving above red square and half the people on the planet.



Bill Buckley was indeed the ultimate Christian knight, so much so, in fact, that I suspect he knew the truth about himself and his movement. He was too much of a gentleman to tell a really big lie.

The truth is that none of these figures can truly take credit for the victory of capitalism. That capitalism wins all of its battles through the reckless application of capital itself. Money talks.

On the Other Hand...

not all of the apparatchiks of the Bush administration are without ego. R. Nicholas Burns can be counted on to function as the official liar of the White House. He is a champion at disinformation presented with a winning smile. He is also proof that there is in fact a permanent government, since Burns served as ambassador to Greece.

When Israel was bombing the hell out of Gaza and then invaded Lebanon, it was little Nickie's role to repeat as many times as he could in as many media venues as would have him, "Hezbollah started it." This is the dark side with a smiley face label.

Although he has supposedly resigned from public service roles which essentially had him looking for ways to antagonize reason in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, he has surfaced to go on the record in support of Kosovan independence. This should be rich. If anyone wants to know what is really going on in that section of the world, read Chalmers Johnson. In his work, he alludes to the fact that the military base in Kosovo (a five star accomodation for our fighting men and women) is in a class with the Great Wall of China for the ease with which one can spot it from outer space.

Even Jeffrey Sachs' "shock treatment," it appears, was not enough to entirely subdue the Russians, so now we will really teach them a lesson. We have more sabers rattling through the air right now than a performer at the Peking Opera. Missiles in Belarus and the Ukraine, Kosovan independence, shooting down errant satellites. Prod the Russians enough, and who knows, we could get a real war going.

Who Are Those Guys?

You know, when men in real authority need attack dogs, the quality they most seek is loyalty. A corollary of loyalty of the kind that is required to carry out dirty jobs is a high threshold for disapproval. There are men who are used to not being admired for their charm, who, knowing this, will be determined to succeed, to allow success to serve as compensation for lack of grace. Such men are dangerous men. They simply don't care what people think of them. In Gonzales, Chertoff and Mukasey we have men who are emblematic of the type.

Need to work outside of the constitutional framework, Mr. President? No problem. Need to stonewall, temporize, resort to equivocation, be disingenous, use Orwellian language? None of these are a problem. I'm the man for you.

If the day comes when I have to fall on my sword, swallow the bitter pill, you will be able to count on me. I will take the bullet for you.

This will not make me attractive, not make me appear heroic in the eyes of most men, but they always looked upon me with disdain in any case. What I will get in return is a page in the history books. What I will get in return is the opportunity to be in a position of such power that I will be able to put some of the charmers in their place. What I will get is the sweet smell of the power trip that I could not get any other way. When I enter a Georgetown restaurant, the taste of the Bordeaux will be all the sweeter for the knowledge that there are men and women in the room who recognize me and who recognize in me the power to destroy.