News from my country

[fpb]

You may have heard about the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (which actually has nothing to do with the EU, although I have no doubt that its decision was welcomed by parliament and commission) to order the crucifixes to be removed from all Italian classrooms. What you will not have heard is the response to this decision. The

Comments

Fight the good fight

[sanscouronne]

This is so infuriating. I am glad to see that the Italian people care about, and will fight for their religion, their culture, and their sovereignty.

This decision by the European Court of Human Rights has nothing to do with human rights, and really nothing to do with Europe, at least not the idea of Europe to which the Italian people subscribed.

Re: Fight the good fight

[fpb]

We have a little practice. After filling our jails with Mafia and Red Brigades murderers, what's one dumb court deceision?

Speaking seriously, though, I am worried that the government has chosen entirely the wrong path. Among Mr. Berlusconi's many faults there is an absolutely fatal one, which is that he is desperate to be liked. You can see it in international meetings, when he scuttles around smiling and trying to be agreeable to everyone; the result is that he is repeatedly used by colder and more calculating individuals such as Putin or Gheddafi. In this case, the proper path was to withdraw Italy from the Council of Europe (the mother institution of the Court of Human Rights, and a different organization from the European Union) and negotiate hard-facedly to demand a new version of the treaty that would explicitly exclude this sort of imposition. Instead he appealed - to the same court that passed the original rotten judgment. I'm afraid I am pessimistic about the result.

[shezan]

This is a FANTASTIC post and deserves to be reproduced EVERYWHERE.

[affablestranger]

I knew decisions like this were going to come down from on high once the European states handed over individual at-home authority to a central authority elsewhere. I have no idea how this will ultimately play out, but I am of course quite heartily on the side of the Italians. Alas, I am also cynical. The individual identities of most U.S. states has gone by the wayside over the years in favor of national sociocultural hegemony, and once that process begins there's not likely any good road back. I fear the same for Europe.

[ccr1138]

If you think the liberals aren't trying to homogenize the whole USA, where the federal government is uber alles and the rights reserved to the states by the constitution are moot, you aren't paying attention. Why else would the left be fighting so hard to deny states the right to regulate things like health care, education, abortion, gay marriage, etc.? None of these issues are within the purview of the federal government, but that doesn't stop the left from creating new bureaucracies and regulations to force states to toe the line. Did you know the new health-care bill contains a provision to punish states if they pass laws limiting trial lawyer compensation in medical malpractice? That is not only contrary to the spirit of reform which they preach, it is unconstitutional! Wake up and see what's happening in our country! It's being destroyed from the inside out by those who want to force their liberal views down the throats of the rest of us, despite the law and our vehement protests

[shezan]

Have now linked to this at my own LJ.

[mosinging1986]

Well, wow! This makes me want to cheer.

Thanks for reminding me that not everyone on the planet has gone insane!