Public order and civilization cannot survive when a community feels it is entitled to commit violence when it is thwarted.

Instapundit links the story of an Egyptian ex-diplomat who was kidnapped and beaten by the Muslim Brotherhood amid the continuing chaos of Egypt.

“They captured me, they dragged me and beat me all the way,” Yehia Negm, 42, said on Tuesday as Egyptians protested for a 19th day against President Mohamed Morsy, the Islamic-based Brotherhood and a rushed referendum on a proposed constitution.

Eight people died, and more than 700 were injured outside the palace a week ago before army troops and tanks restored order.

The Brotherhood blamed the violence on thugs paid by backers of deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak.

Of course they did. Not because they expect anyone to believe that. Not because they have any wish to disown violence. Because painting ourselves in the most favorable light is the top priority.

For a vision of what the Muslim Brotherhood plans for Egypt, look at Northern Mali.

On Oct. 9, Mariam Conate, 15, was walking to her uncle’s house in Timbuktu. She had forgotten to fully cover her face. Two Islamist police officers confronted her, and “one held me, the other beat me with the barrel of his gun,” Conate recalled. “They took me to their headquarters and threw me into a room. They locked the door and left.”

Outside, her jailors discussed her future. One wanted to cut off her ears as punishment. The other wanted to send her to a prison where six of her friends had been raped, she said. She was also worried that she would be forced to marry a militant, a fate her cousin had recently suffered.

“As I listened, I was trembling and crying,” Conate said.

U.N. and Malian officials said they have learned of many cases of rape and forced weddings by Islamist gunmen in the north. Two weeks ago, U.N. Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson told U.N. members that sexual violence is prevalent in the region.

No doubt these men consider their brutality heroic, precisely because it is so extreme. No doubt they think their willingness to go the extra mile to ensure that no woman goes around with her dirty sinful face uncovered redounds to their credit as men. Why, any slug can simply bow to the corrupt culture which permits fornication and other travesties, but to do something about it, to make your mark, even if that mark should only be in the wicked flesh of a woman’s ear, why, that is courage itself. So slice, slice the ears of Decadence, Ad Majora Dei Gloriam!

Fortunately we do not have such barbarians here in America.

As we speak, the usual suspects are pretending that this either didn’t happen, or that it contain’s exculpatory “heavy editing”. I suppose it’s possible that Crowder shouted “All Union Men enjoy union with men, if you know what I mean!” right before the guy started hitting him. But judged on the volume that Epic Beard Fattie achieves beforehand, I don’t think such was necessary. These guys believe themselves entitled to do with “freeloaders” as they please, and a hearty invitation at self-fornication to you if you happen to disagree. Dese guys, Dey is da woikin’ man, and da woikin’ man is always right, see?

Am I making too much of this? No. The difference of knocking over a tent and punching a guy does not equate to the kind of systematic terrorism that is rising in Egypt and Mali. Union goons are more akin to gangsters than revolutionaries; so long as they continue to wet their beak, nobody needs to get hurt. But both believe in a fundamental right to destroy opposition by any means necessary.

This kind of self-righteousness transcends ideology, so the fact that one can find the very same attitude in the lyrics of the official Nazi Party Rally, the Horse Wessel song, doesn’t really mean anything:

Flag high, ranks closed,
The S.A. marches with silent solid steps.
Comrades shot by the red front and reaction
march in spirit with us in our ranks.

You can find the actual song on YouTube, but it was posted by an actual Nazi, and I am not giving that a link.