Short-Term Memory

An unwitting yet hideous example of the politically correct, “can't-we-move-on” short memories of the elites exposed in Tony Blankley's spot-on analysis “Short memories, politically correct lies” (Op-Ed, Wednesday) appeared concurrently in London's left-wing Guardian. With nary a week having passed after the worst terror attack in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />London since World War II, a Blair Cabinet minister took to its pages to warn Englanders of “the greatest challenge facing the global community.” This greatest threat is, of course…climate change. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />

Yes, it is true. While the bodies of the victims of the real threat confronting civilized man still lay buried under an exploded train car, and the blood still ran in the tubes that for 80 such days and nights during the blitzkrieg harbored London's brave citizenry, the current secretary of state for environment, food, and rural affairs, Margaret Beckett, opened her stirring call to action with this obscenity. Why not name Y2K or the Loch Ness Monster instead as the greatest threat is anyone's guess.

What is clear is that—all proper admiration for our plucky British cousins notwithstanding—this particular display from the leadership is a far cry from “we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills.”