Speaking of that, congrats to Jackie on her decision not to 'step out' much!
Where was I?
Oh, yeah. I rather enjoy a lot of the Anti-War.com historical revisionism, which is mostly a revival of the thoughts of writers who were not treated kindly during the Twentieth Century as it turned to collectivism and 'scientific management' of society with such horrific results. In case you don't get past the first three sentences, here's an exerpt:
[President Bush] took out after the Russians and the postwar Soviet occupation of Europe: "For much of Eastern and Central Europe," he averred in a speech in the Old City's Small Guild House, "victory brought the iron rule of another empire." Well, yes, thanks to the U.S.-Soviet alliance and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's enthusiastic cooperation, but to the astonishment of many, the president not only acknowledged that - he also tried to atone for it:
"This attempt to sacrifice freedom for the sake of stability left a continent divided and unstable. We will not repeat the mistakes of other generations - appeasing or excusing tyranny, and sacrificing freedom in the vain pursuit of stability."
This act of presidential contrition, while certainly welcome, does not go nearly far enough. By entering the war at all, and opening up a "second front" in the West - at the urging of American leftists and other friends of the Soviet Union - the U.S. saved the Bolsheviks from probable extinction at Hitler's hands. Without American support via the Lend-Lease Act, the Soviet regime might not have survived the war - which was precisely the hope of those conservative opponents of U.S. intervention, supporters of the America First Committee such as Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the publisher of the staunchly anti-interventionist Chicago Tribune. When Hitler turned against Stalin, his ally and ideological soul-mate, and German panzer divisions drove toward Moscow, McCormick presciently warned in an editorial that while "our war birds" would "welcome" the dissolution of the Nazi-Soviet alliance "as reason for getting into the war," the people still didn't want it:
"To other Americans, the majority of them, it presents the final reason for remaining out.... Should we aid Stalin to extend his brutalities to all of Finland, to maintain his grip on the Baltic states, or to keep what he has of Poland and Rumania? Should we enter the war to extend his rule over more of Europe or, having helped him to win, should we then have to rescue the continent from him?"
I'll add editorial comments tomorrow. Though making such a promise is a sure way to inspire me to think of many other things to write about.
......
['Nee-na' as she calls herself (long in bed, I saved this for you), would like to say "Eye-dowich bidowy!" (Standard American pronunciation rules - long 'y') to you all. She speaks some kind of language. We just don't know what it is. Kinda sounds like Ojibwe.]
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