historiblogography

or not

In 2004, Michael Moore compared Iraqi insurgents to the Minutemen of the American revolution. This meant that he was a massively deranged far-left lunatic, well beyond the boundaries of polite discussion.

In 2007, the person making that comparison is a general in the British army.

What we have on our hands here, ladies and gentlemen, is the political equivalent of a Kuhnian paradigm shift. There will be no going back to the old paradigm. The language of the old paradigm, no matter how aggressively re-asserted, will be experienced by most people as something quaint and sad, like a rusted Edsel or a presidential candidate who raises his hand when asked who on the stage doesn't believe in evolution. The premises have changed, down at the foundational level.

It's all over but the inevitable part where the king and his ministers are compelled to accept their failure.

And that last part is pretty much the big problem.

posted by Chris Bray @ 8:47 PM