It was a mostly grim week, at home and abroad. But, in case you missed it, here's how the last seven days looked to Mark:
The week began with a federal judge called Richard M Berman ordering conservative film-maker Dinesh D'Souza to undergo psychological counseling. Steyn regarded this as an appalling exercise in Soviet-style medicalization of dissent.
~Tuesday was Bastille Day in France. Mark celebrated with a song and a film for the season. The festivities in Paris were in marked contrast to the ongoing fallout from the July Fourth fiasco in his own backyard.
~The big news midweek was the P5+1's "deal" with Iran. Steyn joined Hannity on Fox News to argue that Sean's comparison of Obama to Neville Chamberlain was unfair to Chamberlain. He also discussed crime and illegal immigrants. On Wednesday Mark checked in with Toronto's Number One morning John Oakley for more Iran talk, plus a little bit of climate change.
~On Thursday the latest attack by a card-carrying member of the Amalgamated Union of Lone Wolves claimed the lives of five US military personnel. Shortly after, Mark and Hugh Hewitt offered some instant analysis, which we hope was more insightful than that of Tom Fuentes of CNN, who cautioned that we don't know whether Muhammad is a Muslim name. As the hours went by and the usual predictable profile of the killer emerged, Steyn was disturbed by the lack of righteous anger.
~On Friday our Sinatra Century countdown continued with a quartet of songs from The King And I.
For our Saturday movie date, Steyn opted for a Hitchcock classic, Strangers On A Train. Also for your weekend enjoyment, the Aussie Spectator offered a rave review by James Allan of Mark's most recent book The [Un]documented Mark Steyn, which he calls "beautifully written and funny". (If you'd like a copy personally autographed by Mark, all you have to do is click here - where you can also find a preview of his forthcoming book.)
This September sees the 10th anniversary of the Danish Mohammed cartoons. Mark will be joining the editor who commissioned them and other freespeechers at a special event in Copenhagen. If you're in the vicinity, we hope to see you there. For tickets and more information, please see here.
A new week at SteynOnline begins tonight with our Song of the Week.
