Mark has been laid low by illness in recent days, but, in the wake of his SRO appearance in Toronto, he did find time to chew over the current scene with Laura Rosen Cohen. We think you'll find Laura's interview of Mark full of interesting nuggets:
Q: Was "Never Again" just a type of utopian security blanket, because as you say, we've hit the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and there isn't a country in Europe where you can see that spirit-of barbaric anti-semitism being animated. And it's also Argentina, where the prosecutor against the terrorism against Jews there faced 'suicide by a bullet to the back of the head'. And the Italian Jews-the leader of the Rome Jewish community and his grandson were locked in Auschwitz at a ceremony, escaped climbing the walls and were interrogated by the Polish police. So, "Never Again"?
I think they drew the wrong conclusion from "Never Again". The Jews were sort of peripheral to the meaning of that. I think what 'Never Again" means to a continental European is never again, as they saw it, nationalism led to war. So their response to 1939-1945 was to undermine their own nationalism. At the time of the European Constitution, so-called, a decade ago, you had these apparatchiks from the European Commission standing up and warning the Dutch and the French that if they didn't sign on to this Euro-superstate that they would be on the path to Belsen and Auschwitz.
In other words, it's one or the other. You've the European Union or you've got ovens. That was the lesson they drew, that nationalism was bad, that nation states were bad, that national identity was bad. And, as part of that, they imported the next generation of anti-Semites to Europe.
You can find the full interview here - and Scaramouche has an accompanying drinking game.
~Mark was in Toronto to promote his new book, The [Un]documented Mark Steyn, But it has an appeal beyond Ontario. From Colorado:
Before I left, I finished a book by radio personality and writer Mark Steyn, "America's undocumented anchorman..." Steyn frequently fills in for Rush from his outpost in Northern New Hampshire and has a wicked satirical bent and an incredible breadth of history and politics. He comes from Canada and writes for Canadian, US and British papers. His take on happenings in the US is unique as he looks at them from a slightly foreign perspective. I think he must have been like what Mark Twain was in his time, I spent several hours on a recent plane flight laughing out loud at his observations on things we sometimes take for granted...
It was a fun read and even if you don"t agree with his politics, I think you will find his perspective thought provoking and funny.
The [Un]documented Mark Steyn is available at all good retail outlets but don't forget, personally autographed copies are exclusively available right here at the SteynOnline bookstore.
