April 25, 2011

Niall Ferguson pwns Obama and MSNBC

I know, I know, "pwns" is such a stupid non-word but it so aptly describes the exchange.  Over at The Right Scoop there was a great documentary series from British Harvard professor Niall Ferguson on the history of the West and whether the West is now set for a decline.  It led me to three distinct thoughts.  Firstly, even though it's been covered off by Right Scoop, I want to restart my Saturday Learning Series and I think the series is so important and well done, that I have to include it in the near future, perhaps even starting with the first episode of six this weekend.  Secondly, it gave me a couple of great post ideas that I definitely will follow up on as soon as I can*.  Thirdly it made me question who Niall Ferguson is and I did a bit of research on him. The results turned out to be pretty sweet.

One of the items I came across is a video of professor Ferguson on MSNBC absolutely schooling the hostess on the extremely poor performance of the Obama administration on the situation in Egypt.  Professor Ferguson pulls no punches and yet he makes his points in an articulate and well formed fashion.  He does not resort to name calling or ad hominem attacks.  He simply forges ahead, uninterrupted to the hostess' credit, in a forthright but not pushy way.  Take a look for yourself.  Watch the whole thing, it's like watching an elite athlete play against a practice squad.



Notice the slant from the hostess?  "It actually seems like it went pretty damn well".  There's no anger there.  None at all.  But more importantly, this was back on February 14th.  Is it still going pretty damm well, if it ever was? The quick answer: No!
Mahmoud Ezzat, the Muslim Brotherhood's deputy Supreme Guide, said in a forum held in the Cairo district of Imbaba on Thursday that the group wants to establish an Islamic state after it achieves widespread popularity through its Freedom and Justice Party. Meanwhile, Brotherhood leader Saad al-Husseiny, said at the forum that the group aims to apply Islamic legislation and establish Islamic rule. His remarks rattled the leaders of several political parties, who said the statements, which were at odds with the concept of a civil state, would worry liberals.

The Coptic Orthodox Church decided to suspend its dialogue with the group after additional Brotherhood leaders said it was seeking to implement Islamic Sharia and declare Egypt an Islamic state, church sources said. The sources said the Brotherhood is trampling over the principles of equality and citizenship, and that its rhetoric changed after the 25 January revolution to adopt the language of the toppled regime.

Al-Masry Al-Youm has learned that as a result of the controversy, the church abandoned its intention to invite the group’s leaders to attend Easter celebrations.
Pretty damn well?  Not really. I've definitely got a new candidate for my conservative heroes list in Niall Ferguson.  I'll post some more of his videos for you in the future as well.

[*Quick posting note - I will be in meetings all week this week so I will attempt to prepare a few posts ahead of time so that my blog doesn't go lights out.  However, I may not be able to respond to comments in a timely manner.  Don't let that stop you from leaving comments.  I do read them all and I appreciate the thoughts of readers very much.]

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