A note from Bruce Bawer

Bruce Bawer is the author of "While Europe Slept" which is a must-read for everybody....here's a quick note from his blog....

I just got back from Rome, where I participated in a conference called Fighting for Democracy in the Islamic World . Brave dissidents from several Muslim countries took part. So did Natan Sharansky, who awed me with his tireless dedication to freedom, his off-the-cuff eloquence, and his no-nonsense insistence on calling a spade a spade.

In my talk, I discussed how the multicultural mentality - which teaches purported liberals to turn a blind eye to even the most brutally illiberal aspects of foreign cultures - led European politicians to encourage the development on their continent of patriarchal sharia enclaves. I further noted that many European pols remain incapable of responsibly addressing or even acknowledging what they've wrought - including the gradual spread of sharia and its baleful consequences to European society at large. ("Permit tyranny in your midst," I said in my talk, "and you'll end up tyrannized yourself.")

As if to illustrate my point, British pol Lord David Trimble, on a panel immediately following my talk, waved away my concerns with a combination of condescension and insouciance that you have to have a name like Lord David Trimble to be able to carry off. There, there, chap! No reason to worry. We've got things in hand. On your way, now! Cheerio!

Back at the hotel, I phoned my partner in Oslo - only to learn that moments earlier he'd been confronted at our local bus stop by two Muslim "youths." "Are you gay?" one of them asked. When my partner confirmed that he was, the "youth" pulled a carpet knife partway out of his pocket. At this point the bus pulled up and my partner boarded it - but not before the "youth" managed to give him a powerful kick in the leg.

Europe's condescending, insouciant politicians have a hell of a lot to answer for. And it's only just begun.