Pro-war left? Gay Conservative? These bizarre word couplings could easily be described by those not in the know as examples of a contradiction in terms.
What about Marxists for balance and judgment, or even better – libertarians for state action?
They’re not just head-scratching paradoxes but accurately describe the political positions taken on the British political blogs examined in today’s Guardian roundup here.
Read the whole thing and reach your own conclusions about the nature of the UK blog scene. I would confine myself to quibbling with one quote in the article which seems to misinterpret the political position taken by a good number of leftwing bloggers after 9/11 and the London Underground bombs though:
The July 7 bombings newly energised the “pro-war left”, leading to accusations – notably from Madeleine Bunting in this paper – that these “muscular liberals” are retreading the “clash of civilisations” thesis, giving voice to a kind of liberal fundamentalism as zealous as the religious fundamentalism it sets itself against. “You can hear the creak of the drawbridge being pulled up,” Bunting wrote. “They believe they are surrounded by enemies – Muslims, and their dastardly non-Muslim apologists – and must defend to the last man the checklist of universal Enlightenment values that sustain their mission. Their most ferocious firepower is directed at former allies whom they regard as yet to see the light.”
This isn’t what we think at all, of course as anyone who reads the blogs with an open mind will already know. Muslims have never been the enemy – only Islamists organised for mass murder.
And is defending universal Enlightenment values such a bad thing to be doing with your time?
UPDATE: Norm has one post summarising everything you need to know.