Just got back from seeing Melanie Phillips give a speech and book signing. Terrific. Here is audio of the talk.

We have a problem. Europe is in real trouble. It may already be too late...maybe not, but maybe so. We need to get over our self-consciousness about discussing nationalism and nationhood, and defining what these things mean and what the base-line minimums for membership in our society are. The Ummah doesn't have this hang-up, and they don't mind enforcing it, in many place, like the PA, at the point of a gun.

Post-colonial guilt and centuries of warfare have left discussion of nationhood a dangerous and dirty thing...not so here, not so much, not yet. We'd better start working on removing the guilt and self-consciousness from such discussions. Otherwise the day may come when we'll wish we had.