Maggie's Farm has always been fond of our fellow blogger over in the UK, Norm Geras. Despite some different points of view (Norm seems to be a socialist, more or less, with that naive socialist faith in government experts and power - not that Norm himself is naive in the least), his blog has always been thoughtful, fact-based, responsible, and respectful of good-faith disagreement. (Like everyone else including us, Norm would be happy with any government run by people with the integrity, spirit, faith in the individual etc , that we want to have ourselves. A dream.)
Now Norm and his pub pals have put together the Euston Manifesto, which needs to be perused rather than summarized. However, in tone it is a progressive manifesto which rejects all of what we at Maggie's consider the loony, anti-American, anti-Western, suicidal, and anti-Israel traits of the Loud Left.
A quote from Geras' and Nick Cohen's piece in The News Statesman yesterday, regarding the manifesto:
The supporters of the Euston Manifesto took different views on the war in Iraq, both for and against. We recognise that it was possible reasonably to disagree about the justifications for the war and the manner in which it was carried through. We are, however, united in our judgement of the reactionary, murderous character of the Ba'athist regime in Iraq, and we recognise its overthrow as a liberation of the Iraqi people. We are also united in the view that, from the day this occurred, the proper concern of the liberal left should have been the battle to put in place in Iraq a democratic political order and to create, after decades of brutal oppression, a life for Iraqis which those living in democratic countries take for granted - rather than endlessly rehearsing the arguments over intervention.
Read their whole piece. The subject of the manifesto has attracted a great deal of attention, because it offers a path to sanity for the Left, and offers a basis for rational discussion between Conservatives and the Left and between non-Conservatives who take Jihad seriously and the Left. We moderates love and welcome rational disagreement and discussion. We are just sick of the hatred.
