This is the way the world ends/Not with a bang but with a stripper

The British, you might recall, once boasted one of the most advanced, literate, and civilized cultures in history. In addition, they fought bravely against the Axis alliance during World War II. But now they are, overall, apparently keen on refusing to make the most basic, commonsensical moral judgments, adopting an embarrassing “boys will be boys!” approach to the naked dalliances of the country’s, uh, royalty:

More than two-thirds of adults in Britain thought Prince Harry cavorting naked with women at a Las Vegas party was acceptable behaviour, according to a poll out Sunday.

The YouGov survey in The Sunday Times found 68 percent thought the third in line to the throne’s antics were acceptable for a young, single man having fun on a private holiday, with 22 percent saying it was not.

Some 75 percent still had a positive view of the 27-year-old army helicopter pilot.

Did I say “boys”? I suppose the word is elastic these days, meaning “any man not bound to matrimony, a moral code, or a pair of underwear.”

To put it in some sort of historical perspective, by the time he was in his late twenties, Winston Churchill (who was from the aristocratic lineage of the Dukes of Marlborough) had seen military action dozens of times in Cuba, India, Sudan, and South Africa, had been a prisoner of war, had written numerous pieces and books about his travels and adventures, and had been elected to Parliament. Of course, it’s unfair to compare Prince Harry to Churchill; great leaders such as Churchill, whatever their flaws, only come along once in a great while. Young men who cavort unclad with young, er, ladies in Las Vegas are a shilling a dozen.