Mark Steyn Notes TB’s NB Post on ‘Distractions,’ and Makes Important, Attention-Getting Points

Yeah, this was pretty cool (bold is mine; link added by me):

If the incompetent management driving The New York Times from junk status to oblivion wished to decelerate their terminal decline, they might usefully amend their motto to “All The News That’s Fit To Distract.” Tom Blumer of Newsbusters notes that in the past 30 days there have been some 2,500 stories featuring Obama and “distractions,” as opposed to about 800 “distractions” for Bush in his entire second term. The sub-headline of the Reuters story suggests the unprecedented pace at which the mountain of distractions is piling up: “First North Korea, Iran – now Somali pirates.”

But it’s what Steyn did with the “distracting” info that makes him the world’s One Man Global Content Provider:

Er, OK. So the North Korean test is a “distraction,” the Iranian nuclear program is a “distraction,” and the seizure of a U.S.-flagged vessel in international waters is a “distraction.” Maybe it would be easier just to have the official State Department maps reprinted with the Rest of the World relabeled “Distractions.” Oh, to be sure, you could still have occasional oases of presidential photo-opportunities – Buckingham Palace, that square in Prague – but with the land beyond the edge of the Queen’s gardens ominously marked “Here be distractions…”

As it happens, Somali piracy is not a distraction but a glimpse of the world the day after tomorrow. In my book “America Alone,” I quote Robert D. Kaplan referring to the lawless fringes of the map as “Indian Territory.” It’s a droll jest but a misleading one, since the very phrase presumes that the badlands one day will be brought within the bounds of the ordered world. In fact, a lot of today’s badlands were relatively ordered not so long ago, and many of them are getting badder and badder by the day. Half a century back, Somaliland was a couple of sleepy colonies, British and Italian, poor but functioning. Then it became a state, and then a failed state, and now the husk of a nation is a convenient squat from which to make mischief. According to Chatham House in London, Somali pirates made about $30 million in ransom and booty last year. Thirty mil goes a long way in Somalia, making piracy a very attractive proposition.

It’s also a low-risk one. …..

….. When all the world’s a “distraction,” maybe you’re not the main event after all. Most wealthy nations lack the means to defend themselves. Those few that do, lack the will. Meanwhile, basket-case jurisdictions send out ever bolder freelance marauders to prey on the civilized world with impunity. Don’t be surprised if “the civilized world” shrivels and retreats in the face of state-of-the-art reprimitivization. From piracy to nukes to the limp response of the hyperpower, this is not a “distraction” but a portent of the future.

That would appear to be the case as long as President ‘Prompter and his current crew are in office. April 12: Blessedly, in this case, this assessment was wrong. Let’s hope this is a long-term trend.

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UPDATE: The BizzyBlog post Steyn should have referred to (/kidding) is here.

UPDATE 2: Steyn at the Corner — “…. while the pirates send for reinforcements, the President sends for pizza.”

UPDATE 3: Ed Driscoll at PJM — “When The Going Gets Tough, The Aloof Call Pizza Hut.”

UPDATE 4: What in the world is so funny, Hillary (YouTube direct; HT Gateway Pundit via Instapundit)?

My guess is that this is not playing well in Underhill, Vermont.

If Condi or Powell had been caught on tape like this, there would have been howls of outrage for weeks. There should be howls of outrage now.