America Alone

I just love Mark Steyn; he’s a breath of fresh air and rationality in any political conversation, and is one of the wittiest commentators around. I’m reading his latest book (America Alone), and found this bit last night:

For example, I hadn’t really followed Sudanese current events closely since, oh, General Kitchener’s victory at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, but in 2003 a story from that benighted land happened to catch my eye. In the fall of that year mass hysteria apparently swept the capital city, Khartoum, after reports that foreigners were shaking hands with Sudanese men and causing their penises to disappear. One victim, a fabric merchant, told his story to the London Arabic newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi: a man from West Africa came into the shop and “shook the store owner’s hand powerfully until the owner felt his penis melt into his body."

I know the feeling. The same thing happened to me after shaking hands with Senator Clinton.

Just seconds before reading that passage, I was taking a sip of a nice Cabernet. I’m sure glad I had swallowed my wine before reading any further!

To be quite serious for a moment, Mark’s new book is a prediction for America’s future — when it stands nearly alone as the only major non-Muslim country, and all of Europe is under sharia law. His case starts with demographics — very alarming all by themselves — and is buttressed by some cogent observations about weaknesses in our own civilization. It’s a real wake-up call, and well worth reading. The wit is just a side-benefit.

By the way, the above-quoted story carries on for quite a while. I hurt myself laughing at this section; it’s worth the price of admission all by itself…