Row on Row

There’s a point in every movie when the characters realize that their efforts are having a visible effect on their seemingly invincible antagonist. This is usually the dramatic turning point of the film. That doesn’t mean the movie’s over and the typical rules still apply, the principal one being, never, never believe it’s over just because the soundtrack has calmed down after an apparently climatic sequence and because protagonists are now chatting in the supposedly safe scene. Remember that the antagonist always revives before the final credits.

One of the pillars of civil society is mutual respect. If the Muslim leaders have truly abandoned their plans for the Mosque it will be prove a better salve between the communities than any unction that Western apologists can offer. The “mutual” part is apt to prove impossible unless concluded between two parties worthy of respect. The reason why groveling never works is because there can be no agreement between a man and a slug. And one test of a civilization’s ability to deal is whether it is willing to speak not only on behalf of itself but for the dead who gave it life. Perhaps the Muslim leaders are inwardly grateful that an outcry emerged; a victory over Bloomberg and Obama over the issue of the Ground Zero mosque would have been a victory over nothing. The spirit of the west may be in sad decline, but there are still some who remember the oath of men.