Does Mark Steyn Read Donny Baseball?

Just two posts down I highlighted, on the occasion of the Canadian elections, the world leaders left standing and those fallen several years on after the debate over Iraq.

Mark Steyn expounds, in typical brilliant fashion, on the same theme today.

An astute reader (my only reader?), pointed out that all of the ensuing elections had more issues at stake than just Iraq. Naturally. Indeed. Of course. Canada had a massive government corruption problem (think Abramoff x 1000), Germany has 11% unemployment, etc. and so forth. Nonetheless Iraq war policy, or more importantly the philosophical underpinings of such policy, is highly relevant. Steyn nails it, here's the money quote:

"...cheap demonization of the Great Satan is almost as popular in the streets of Toronto as in the streets of Islamabad. But these days anti-Americanism is the first refuge of the scoundrel, and it's usually a reliable indicator that you're not up to the challenges of the modern world or of your own country."

RTWT for the hilariously ironic bit on the Canadian flags. I imagine that large percentages of the Canadian public views most Americans as mindless, flag-waving dolts, yet their own government seems to be trying to blunt separatist sentiment by handing out...flags!