Scourging of a wise philosopher reveals true nature of the ‘liberals’

“IS it now a crime to be a conservative in Europe?” asked RTÉ’s Áine Lawlor last week. We must wait a week or more before we know the answer to that.

We need to know before we vote on Europe’s new constitution. This makes the controversy over Rocco Buttiglione’s appointment as EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security more serious than the run-of-the-mill squabbles that often arise in European politics. More grave, even, than the row that led to the fall of Jacques Santer’s Commission in 1999.

The affair presents the EU with an important moral test.