Stretch, warm up, & stretch some more

“So the Belgian prime minister invites comparisons between Abdeslam and Bin-Laden, between an ISIL cell and al-Qaeda, and between Molenbeek and northern Pakistan. How any of those comparisons might serve to help the restoration of Belgium’s good name is anybody’s guess.

Metaphor! Simile! Irony! S’mile!

“He rejected any prospect of “a grand reform of the state,” but declared that the post-March 22 world was different from the pre-March 22 world. What changes would be required? It would be right, he said, to await the results of a parliamentary inquiry into the terrorist attacks. (Which was given its mandate only last Friday and is not expected to report before the end of the year.)

Doesn’t he just “have” to say these kinds of things? Being cool, like Obama, is tantamount to saying that U don’t care. Not like people who truly have a heart, like Johnny Rep.

“Given the pummeling that Belgium’s reputation has taken, the prime minister ought to have been ready with substantive examples of immediate reform. It took him several attempts before he cited an imminent ban on pre-paid mobile phone cards; and a promise to invest in technology for the security services. “I do not accept that there is one country dramatically defective,” he said, “but there are lessons [we can learn].”

Between two extremes the moors become truly treacherous. Houdining the dichotomy is the quintessential Belgian specialty.

“For too long, Belgium has got by on benign geography and infrastructure, while good customer service has been patchy — and rare in public services.

The Poland in the West has had it really rough. Especially as it suffers the fate of a binary state.

Source: Tim King – http://www.politico.eu/article/charles-michels-failed-bid-to-restore-confidence-brussels-terror-attacks-security/ 7 april 16