Overheard in the Purgatorium

“You want to send troops to Darfur? I sympathize. I’m not sure what they’d be able to do there. A few years ago, men and women of conscience were urging the United States to intervene on behalf of the Kurds, who had suffered, many of them, a fate worse than death at the hands of Saddam Hussein and his mass murdering sons. Being gassed to death, people tell me, is no picnic. And the United States did intervene, and the Kurds were saved. And now it is said by the same conscience stricken folk that this intervention has been a failure. Men and women of conscience on the left – except for Christopher Hitchens and some few others besotted by the courageous Kurds– are clamoring for the troops to come home. So it seems the French (and Cindy Sheehan; can't forget her) were right all along, doesn’t it?

"You know, let me hazard a prediction. The Americans are a bit behind Europe in their emotional responses to things of this kind. I predict that when the United States is fully convinced that it should draw its troops from Iraq and let the country collapse into sectarian warfare – no picnic either – Europe will come to the realization that President Bush was right about nearly everything, except the presence of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. Nothing can spare Europe, nothing will spare Europe. Of course, by this time, the United States will again lag far behind Europe. The window to democracy in Arabia that had been opened by the blood, sweat and tears of Americans will close with a bang.”

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The Blumenthal Burisma Connection

Steve Hilton , a Fox News commentator who over the weekend had connected some Burisma corruption dots, had this to say about Connecticut U.S. Senator Dick Blumenthal’s association with the tangled knot of corruption in Ukraine: “We cross-referenced the Senate co-sponsors of Ed Markey's Ukraine gas bill with the list of Democrats whom Burisma lobbyist, David Leiter, routinely gave money to and found another one -- one of the most sanctimonious of them all, actually -- Sen. Richard Blumenthal."

Obamagod!

My guess is that Barack Obama is a bit too modest to consider himself a Christ figure , but artist will be artists. And over at “ To Wit ,” a blog run by professional blogger, journalist, radio commentator and ex-Hartford Courant religious writer Colin McEnroe, chocolateers will be chocolateers. Nice to have all this attention paid to Christ so near to Easter.

Did Chris Murphy Engage in Private Diplomacy?

Murphy after Zarif blowup -- Getty Images Connecticut U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, up for reelection this year, had “a secret meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during the Munich Security Conference” in February 2020, according to a posting written by Mollie Hemingway , the Editor-in-Chief of The Federalist. Was Murphy commissioned by proper authorities to participate in the meeting, or was he freelancing? If the former, there is no problem. If the latter, Murphy was courting political disaster. “Such a meeting,” Hemingway wrote at the time, “would mean Murphy had done the type of secret coordination with foreign leaders to potentially undermine the U.S. government that he accused Trump officials of doing as they prepared for Trump’s administration. In February 2017, Murphy demanded investigations of National Security Advisor Mike Flynn because he had a phone call with his counterpart-to-be in Russia. “’Any effort to undermine our nation’s foreign policy – e...

Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State

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