Fun While It Lasted

The old truth is becoming clear: advanced civilizations necessarily fall to barbarians, out of the decadence and emptiness bred of self-loathing and insulation from the harsh realities of living.

The impulse to this "yearning for the mud", as the French put it, that propels the Kerry candidacy and energizes his supporters, is eloquently summarized here.

The Kerry Campaign is not some expression of deep American values and ideals, but an expression of the lowest realms of American Political life, something that has always been part of our politics -- the subconscious yearning for American defeat.

See the whole thing.