John Derbyshire, the fate of the Republic, and manhood

The following quotes are found in a post at the National Review's 'The Corner'. If you want a good taste of what has happened to at least some of the thinkers of the Right, and how far they have fallen during the Bush years, 'The Corner' makes for enlightening reading: puerile humor, bombast, ad hominem attacks, sloppy thinking. A few genuine nuggets. The only thing that prevents William F Buckley from spinning in his grave is that he is not dead yet.

Anyway, here it is for what it's worth:

"Shame [John Derbyshire]

Thank God the Moussaoui trial is over. I have never been so embarrassed for my country. The low point of the thing — and a low point for our nation in its accelerating slide to oblivion — was when that U.S. Navy Lieutenenat sniveled and blubbed on the witness stand while Moussaoui jeered at her — quite rightly, in my opinion. ... An American officer, in uniform, weeping IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY! ....

Judge Brinkema's closing remarks were typical of the whole sorry performance, and gave Moussaoui yet another opportunity to play the man — the only man in the courtroom. [my emphisis] I wonder if you can win a war without deploying hatred. Homer didn't think so.
....

"When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, naturally they will favor the strong horse."—-Osama bin Laden. Yes, they will. We are doomed, doomed."

Well, if Derbyshire thinks "we are doomed, doomed", than for the first time in months I become optimistic about the fate of the Republic. Derbyshire is becoming something of a small, mean, nut case on the Right. I cannot imagine why a magazine founded by Buckley keeps him around.

For what it's worth, I do not believe that Derbyshire has served his nation in uniform. As for Homer, he was part of a society that thought homosexual relationships between real men were perfectly ok - even noble. And that human sacrifice was fine too. Not sure that the NR scribe realized this. But then, Derbyshire seems to think, if you can puzzle any real sense out of his rant, that Moussaoui was acting at the trial like a real 'man'.