French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin led the pro-Palestinian line during the talks between Shalom and the European ministers.

"It is not possible to ignore the historic place and standing of Arafat," he said, "and he has the popular support of most of the Palestinian community."

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/320439.html

Contramericans?

Ptah

The trouble with "idiotarianism" is that it's used just like the drunk uses the lamppost: more for propping up one's position, than for the illumination it provides.

The trouble with "villepinist" is that it acknowledges Villepin - he (like France in general),

is better left ignored.

America can - America will!

Modern philosophy lacks a coherent explanation for the nature of morality. There are roughly three kinds of response to this predicament: the religious, the objective, and the anti-objective.

The religious response is intellectually indefensible, but in some of its more evolved forms contains considerable moral wisdom. The objective approach shares with the religious approach a commitment to the existence of an objective right and wrong, but freely admits that the philosophical justification for this commitment remains to be elucidated. The anti-objective approach is founded on the denial of the existence of an objective right and wrong; and on looking instead to procedural mechanisms for developing a consensus about moral values.

The most notable feature of this anti-objective approach is that its adherents hate their pro-objective opponents, more than they hate outright doers of evil. That is how they come to be systematic apologists for evil -- time and again they conclude that their enemy's enemy is their friend.

This is the underlying explanation for the political morality of a great swath of Western intellectuals, including most academics. We need a succinct descriptive term in order to facilitate discussion of this widespread and culturally malign mentality, of which Dominique de Villepin is such a shining paragon.

In the service of this cause, Villepin deserves all the recognition we can give him.

The problem I have with keeping the word "idiotarian" (even though I think it's the right word to use) is the fact that the left is notorious for redefining words to suit themselves. Just like they've strived since Bush took office to redefine "patriotic" as being against the country or government. That's just one example though. I'm sure they'd try and redefine "idiotarian" too.

In order to give "idiotarianism" (or Villepinism, or whatever) the right name it would help if we understood where this pathological conception of morality comes from. I just spent another exhuasting after-dinner conversation trying to persuade an anti-war friend that Bush was right to take us to war in Iraq when he did, and something struck me afterward.

Instead of trying to persuade her to switch sides by criticising her position, I should have been encouraging her to criticise *my* position. I suppose this would be like leading a horse to water, but anyway:

Some think tank should set up a call centre next time there's a just war on the cards. Each idiotarian caller is paid 25 cence on their credit card for every good question or criticism they make to the well-trained telephone moralist. (The telemoralist has access to detailed computer files citing arguments, counterarguments, newspaper sources, etc). These 25 cence payments keep stacking up until the caller repeats a circular argument, or falls back on "peace is better than war", or "Bush is slimy and he pollutes rivers", "we need more information before rushing to judgement" or "the Catholics were just as bad in Northern Ireland" or whatever.

In this way,
(a) we get to know far more about idiotarians
(b) idiotarians are forced to confront reality

Actually, maybe it would be more effective to make the payments to charity (the charity would be selected by agreement from a list).

The caller must answer 4 or 5 questions before the critical session begins in order to establish his credentials as a Villepinist. (As an extra guide, lie detecting software would be installed on the call centre's computers)

I know this scheme has about as much chance of being implemented as every Palestinian kid getting a free trip to Disneyland, but what the heck. Someone slap me down...

Villepin makes new call to end "tragic cycle" in Middle East

Fri Aug 22, 5:38 AM ET

PARIS (AFP) - French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin urged Israel and the Palestinians must try to break out of their "tragic cycle" of violence as the region appeared headed for even more violence.

Speaking on the privately-owned RTL radio station, De Villepin said both sides needed to make concessions to stop the cycle of violence, and he called for a new effort by the European Union to get involved.

The Israelis had to promise to pull out of the Palestinian territories to give their inhabitants "the feeling that their life is going to change," while the Palestinians had to "very clearly give up carrying out attacks," he said.

The French official also called for the international community to broaden its efforts for peace, and said the United States could not act on its own.

"Europe must get involved again," he added.

The statement came as the Palestinian militant groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas issued a joint statement formally ending their seven-week-old truce with Israel.

I suggest keeping both words (idiotarian and villepinist). Use idiotarian for the broad category of someone who is generally an idiot, with various kinds of incorrect reasoning. And use villepinist for the subcategory of idiotarians who are characterized by the more specific reasoning error of siding with evil without wanting the consequences.

Henry Sturman

"We are all aware of the gravity and the urgency of the moment," de Villepin told France-Inter radio. "We must act. It's the duty of the international community."

What is?

PARIS - Iraq has gone from being a terrorist-free country under Saddam Hussein to seeing an "explosion" of terrorism since the US-led war this year, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Thursday in a speech directly contradicting White House assertions.

"There was no verified link between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's regime, no terrorism before the regime fell," de Villepin told a Paris conference of diplomats, scientists and businessmen focusing on religion and politics in Asia.

"And yet, afterwards, there has been an explosion of terrorism, an increase in opportunities of attacks and a more fragile situation," he said. ...

"We must make sure that each crisis on the international stage is well looked after, which explains the French position which strongly believes that, rather than treat the Iraqi crisis urgently and hastily, it would be better to first tackle a settlement of the Palestinian conflict," he said.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=7236

Having recently emerged battered from national education strikes and months of street demonstrations over reduced retirement benefits, Jacques Chirac's administration is looking on with dismay at media encouragement for right-wing intellectual claims that France is now the weak man of Europe, mired in hypocrisy nationally and internationally, indifferent to popular needs such as care of the aged, and shaken by the aftershocks of vain defiance of the US-led war in Iraq. In short, that France is going down the pan.

"Reading these books, France is in agony, powerless and irretrievably condemned to decline," Dominique de Villepin, the suave but widely mistrusted Foreign Minister, complained over two pages in Le Monde last week, comparing today's prophets of doom to anti-republicans who collaborated with the Nazis.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1061130,00.html

I would like to know just what "historic place and standing" that inbred gentleman is talking about.