I have been taken somewhat to task for my remarks in the post below on Ken Livingstone (see comments). I am not surprised, and not wholly innocent. I probably should have waited a respectful week for such commentary, but there it is.

Livingstone's appearance, taken in total, was a good one, as I admit in the post, but the fact remains that no one as far to the left as "Red" Ken, who consorts with and defends Jew-hating homophobic fascists like Sheik al Qaradawi, who panders to a Judenhass Muslim constituency and revels in calling Ariel Sharon a "war criminal" can truly be called a democrat at heart. Sharon has spent his entire life fighting the war that Ken Livingstone has just experienced a single day of.

The fact is that this is the same enemy that attacks in Spain, the USA and throughout the Middle East -- including against Coalition troops and army recruits in Iraq and on buses in Israel. Those who have lauded the Iraqi "resistance," or have provided rhetorical excuses for the "freedom fighters" of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah or Hizballah...those who have written about "insurgents" and "militants" and generic "bombings" in Israel and Iraq and always with a quick nod to the "other side" and who will today write without so much as a hint of self-consciousness about the horrific "terrorist" murders in London...they all have owe themselves and us a long look in the mirror, a serious bout of self-examination.

I appreciate the feelings of, and indeed feel sympathy (really) for those who might have been disappointed with my remarks about the Mayor and the fact that they might have interfered with the feeling of oneness I know we all appreciate and yearn for on occasions like this. I felt that myself on 9/11 in Rudy Giuliani and especially in the actions and words of George Bush on that day -- a man who previously I neither supported nor particularly liked. I have found myself holding to and defending that feeling, and wishing more people could know it.

The fact remains that, as far as the Mayor of London goes, I have simply seen too many pictures of buses with their tops off in the intervening years to feel much sympathy for that particular character.

None of which, of course, has anything to do with my feelings toward all the many citizens and leaders in London known and unknown for whom I have nothing but the greatest sympathy and to whom I send all my support for whatever that is worth. The mix of emotions today must be indescribable.