Many thanks to Jamie for drawing my attention to Johann Hari’s piece for the New Republic.  I remarked nearly two years ago on the bizarre appeal of spending seven days on a ship surrounded by a bunch of swivel-eyed neocon space cadets.  Evidently the lure of such trips is not as niche as I supposed, for Hari tells us, in alarming detail, of his time aboard The National Review cruise (register to read in full).

The theme of the cruise, unsurprisingly, is the “Muslim problem”: the imminent, some say current, subjugation of Europe by the brown, suicide-bombing horde.  As one of Hari’s fellow guests puts it: “We have written off Britain to the Muslims. Come to America.”

It is customary to ridicule the spittle-flecked invective of You Know Who, as much for its unique extremism as its racist illogicality.  But just as a few insects are evidence of a teeming hive, so Phillips is an outrider – the retailer – of the American neoconservative hate factory.  Just as we might brush away a wasp but be unnerved to step on the nest, Hari’s travelogue is a helpful, if troubling, reminder of the size and vigour of Phillips’ US sponsors.

Please read the whole thing.