The Economic Nationalist

O, the narcissism!

… Swiss watchmaker Swatch Group Ltd. is worried that its relations with Muslim countries—an important destination for its goods—will be imperiled if [a Nov. 29 referendum to ban the construction of minarets] passes. “The brand ‘Swiss’ must continue to represent values such as openness, pluralism and freedom of religion,” said Hanspeter Rentsch, member of the executive group management board at Swatch. “Under no circumstances must it be brought in connection with hatred, animosity towards foreigners and narrow-mindedness.”

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This article follows the last two on Iran (here and especially here).

Like many readers, this writer grew up during the Cold War. It is hard to convey to the younger generation the deep, implicit sense Americans shared in those days, especially white, conservative Americans, that our country was a great force for good in the world, opposing the Soviets (which was true), having stopped the Nazis (not really true, since the Soviets did that, but we remembered it through the lens of D-Day), serving as a bright beacon of freedom and democracy to a world threatened by tides of darkness. Of course, in the later years of the Cold War Cultural Marxism was on the march here. Cultural Marxism did much domestic harm but, on some level at least, we simply knew that those among us that sought to tear down our patriotism were liars and bad people. America was good; America’s foes were wicked. We all understood this for, despite persistent, draft-dodging, leftist propaganda to the contrary, it had the advantage of being largely true.

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Would someone like to explain to me what, exactly, is supposed to be so wrong with Iran’s form of government? The more I learn about Iran’s constitution in the context of the present crisis, the more that constitution makes sense to me.

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The Economic Nationalist suddenly seems to be publishing several articles weekly, after whole months of one article or none. Such are the times. Anyway, an interesting paleoconservative discussion over the rectitude and origins of the Iraq War is brewing over at Eunomia. Click and read comments at least by Daniel Larison, “Adam01″ and this writer if the topic interests you. —Howard J. Harrison

Barack Obama, the new, improved George McGovern, won yesterday evening’s Mississippi debate against John McCain. Mr. Obama won comfortably. It was not even close. (more…)

Wisely said Euripides 2400 years ago, “The darkest hour is that before the dawn.”

In view of the broad, manifest failure of the George W. Bush administration and—more excusably but no less disappointingly—of the Republican Revolution of 1994, a growing number of conservative American traditionalists have begun to despair for the future of Western civilization. White people of European extraction, 28 percent of the world’s population as recently as 1950, are on course to fall to fewer than 10 percent by 2060. The populations of black Africa and of the Muslim world are booming; and, increasingly, those people not only populate their own ancestral lands but also colonize ours.

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Ali Akbar Dareini of the Associated Press reports:

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s hard-line president declared that crude oil prices, now above $115 a barrel, are too low, state media reported Saturday.

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Things are worse in Europe.

Frank J. Fleming writes,

If you go to Saudi Arabia, they may take your Bible. So, if you were planning on doing Bible studying in Saudi Arabia, you may have to change your plans.

I guess one solution is to bring two Bibles. Then when they take one Bible, you can be like, “No! Not my Bible! Whatever shall I read?” but you’ll secretly have another Bible. I guess that’s kind of like lying—which the Bible forbids—but then again they’re stealing your other Bible—something also forbidden by the Bible—and two wrongs make a right.

Another idea is to also bring a vial of holy water. Then, when one of them tries to take your Bible, you yell, “Get away from me, heathen Moslem!” and throw the vial of holy water in his face. Then he’ll scream and fall to floor as it burns away his skin. That’s because it was really sulfuric acid and not water at all, but they won’t know that. That’s always a funny trick.

Mr. Fleming’s book is sold here.

National pollsters ask respondents not only questions like, “Do you approve of the job the president is doing?” but also qualifying, cross-correlating questions like, “For whom did you vote in the last presidential election?” The pollster already knows how many voted for whom in the last election, of course—election results are not subject to post facto revision by opinion polls!—but the pollster asks the question anyway because he wants to estimate the numbers of Election Day supporters who now disapprove of the president’s performance, etc. Such qualifying, cross-correlating questions are routine. Hence, imagine the pollster Gallup’s surprise in December 1963 when, in the wake of President Kennedy’s assassination, two-thirds of respondents reported voting Kennedy! The real election of 1960 had in fact given Richard Nixon 49 percent of the vote.

As every American not living under the proverbial rock probably already knows, U.S. Army General David Petraeus is scheduled September 2007 to report to Congress on progress in Iraq.

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