A Non-Emotive Lexicon"

I wrote a column back in the early 90's about the coming golden age of Western civilization. The twentieth century had seen us beat back Nazism and communism. The twentieth century dawned with most of Europe ruled by monarchies and ended with democracies in charge. I honestly thought that our children and grandchildren could live in peace.
I'm sure the Romans occasionally thought the same thing. But barbarians are never far from the gate. And now those barbarians are close to having nuclear weapons.

Europe seems to have exhausted its will to defend itself.

When someone repeatedly professes hatred for you and threatens to kill you, prudence suggests taking him seriously in the interest of your future well-being. Yet old Europe, having fits about the rise of jihadism in its midst, has responded by changing the subject, or chatting up diplomatic incentives and "new initiatives" to coax for instance Iran toward right reason, or - please sit down for this one - rewriting the dictionary: The European Union, its member countries having endorsed in December guidelines for politically correct official parlance, is working on a "non-emotive lexicon . . . to avoid linking Islam and terrorism."