Motus Mentis

All over the Middle East and the Maghreb, freedom-loving people are shrugging off the yoke of tyranny. Soon the world will be a far better place, as the entire region emerges from a tenebrous netherworld of medieval despotism into the broad, sunlit uplands of representative government and post-Enlightenment liberal society. Everywhere you look, the yearning for modern, secular democracy shines in the eyes of brave young idealists — as we see, for example, below:

Nowhere do the fires of freedom burn hotter today than in Libya — where, as the world watches with anxious, yet audacious hope, the nation’s long-suffering people have risen at last to claw their vile overlord, Mu’ammar al-Qadhdhafi, from his perch. Although Colonel Gheddafi fights on grimly for the nonce, his fall seems inevitable — and once he is gone, the sweet flower of liberty will blossom on the shores of Tripoli, nourished by the blood of patriots and the rotting corpse of the Jamahiriya.

Yes, we in America can’t wait to see that bastard Qudhafi dragged through the streets. (Indeed, to make it official, our Ms. Clinton has even announced that Khadafy “must” step down, which ought to settle things tout de suite.)

But wait a minute — weren’t we kind of okay with the guy not too long ago? Like when Lionel Ritchie went over there to sing for the Qathafis, delivering a healing message of peace on the anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Bab al-Azizyah? Or when we congratulated Col. Ghaddafy for turning over a new leaf, and renouncing terrorism, and even paid him reparations? What the heck happened?

Over at NRO, Andrew McCarthy gives us a recap.