Michael Kroger blames the lefties for not making any noise about Zimbabwe:
But where are the peaceniks, the greens, the anti-war demonstrators, the churches, the democrats, the human rights activists and others who committed so much energy to freeing South Africa and Zimbabwe from oppressive rule a generation ago? Where are those tens of thousands who marched against the war in Iraq? Are they not revolted by the behaviour of Mugabe and his thugs? There are no reports of demonstrations, sit-ins, hunger strikes and peace marches.
It’s always wonderful to see a conservative step up to criticise “the Left” for being silent on the protection of human rights. Except there are a couple of minor flaws in Kroger’s argument. I have seen plenty of condemnation of Mugabe and the current situation of Zimbabwe from across the political spectrum. Also, those marching against the war in Iraq were protesting against the actions of their own governments in an attempt to influence them. Perhaps they realise that in this case, our government (both current and previous) has done all that it can to exert diplomatic pressure on another state, and that Mugabe himself won’t be swayed by demonstrations by white folks on the other side of the world.
Disgust and dismay at the situation in Zimbabwe is not an issue of political ideology. But that won’t stop Kroger and others from opportunistically suggesting that it is a failure of the monolithic “Left”.
ELSEWHERE: Trust Bolt to join any chorus of “Leftist” condemnation. Bolt and his ilk will criticise the UN for failing to achieve anything, criticise G8 and APEC and all the other anti-democratic bodies for failing to achieve anything, but then they expect a populace of peaceniks in to rise up and somehow topple a foreign government by sheer force of will. If wishing could make it so, we’d be there. Perhaps Bolt’s “African president” (a.k.a. “an African hero”) might have done more to help his ally Howard in this battle.
