Scrambling for the high moral ground leaves everyone in the gutter.

As of today it is thought that at least 34 people are dead and many hundreds have been injured as a result of the latest Islamist terrorist atrocity – in Brussels, this time.

But apparently – so the liberal tastemakers assure us – it is too early to make political capital out of this.  Really?

Then why have the airwaves been full of people talking of this being an attack of the capital of Europe?  I didn’t know that Europe was a country that required a capital.  

Or the notion that this is not just an attack on Brussels, but the whole of Europe.  Really?  

French President François Hollande, his own country still reeling from the attacks in Paris that killed 130 just four months ago, said: “Through the Brussels attacks, it is the whole of Europe that is hit.”   

Why not say the Benelux.  Why not say western Europe.  Why not say the civilised world which I would have thought would be ideal for the situation.  But no, it is the E word that has to be squeezed in. 

Or how about European Council President Donald Tusk in a statement condemning the bombings and reminding the world of the special role Belgium plays in the EU.

“These attacks mark another low by the terrorists in the service of hatred and violence,” Mr. Tusk said.  “The European institutions are hosted in Brussels thanks to the generosity of Belgium’s government and its people.  The European Union returns this solidarity now and will fulfill its role to help Brussels, Belgium, and Europe as a whole to counter the terror threat which we are all facing.”  

Get that?  It is all about European solidarity.  It is all about the European Union.

It’s the oldest trick in the book.  Scare people by telling them there is a threat and they, the leaders, have to act.  We saw where that can lead with the Patriot Act in the USA which most reasonable observers would say it was anything but patriotic to the constitution of the USA. 

Then we have the UK Prime, Minister David Cameron, criticizing UKIP for exploiting the assaults to make the case for Britain to leave the EU. 

And yet he then goes on to make a very political point himself when, in a rare joint statement, he joined other EU leaders expressing solidarity with Belgium and said they are “determined to face this threat together (as the EU) with all necessary means.”  In other words, the more cynical would say, he is exploiting the assaults to make a case for staying in. "Were all in this together" to use a much over used phrase of recent days.

The truth is, neither side should be doing any exploiting. It is demeaning and fails to recognise the suffering and pain of those caught up in the attacks.

Instead we should be asking, why is Belgium a failed state and then take time to face and some uncomfortable home truths about Europe and Islamism.  That is what the people of Brussels and and the rest of the civilised world should be asking today.