67 Years Ago
...today, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor (h/t The Spirit of Man). That act of aggression brought the United States into World War II, which had already begun in Europe more than two years earlier. On September 11, 2001, I recall thinking that the attack on the World Trade Center in New York was of equal import. Apparently, many on the left disagreed.
FDR, a Democrat, was president in 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed. If there had been a Democrat in office in 2001, I wonder if it would have made a difference? There is a Democrat poised to assume his place in the Oval Office now, and so far I haven't seen much difference between what Bush's approach to the modern day fascist menace we call Islamism has been and what Obama has done in preparation for the day he assumes power. Unless Obama substantially changes his tune following his inauguration in January, I have to wonder if the left will pillory him as much as they did to Bush because he certainly won't have brought to the office anything close to the Nirvana he promised his minions.
Anyone who has studied 20th century history will know that there were several conflicts playing out in various parts of the world in the 1920s and 30s, many of which could be a viable contender to Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 as the event that set off the Second World War. Anyone who has studied history also knows that the past always influences the present. There is no escaping it. No leader can ever start fresh.
My hunch is that Obama will be a Cold Warrior no less than any of his predecessors in the Oval Office. He may try a few things that are different, but global realpolitik remains the same as it always has been. Making deals with some unsavory characters to contain, or effectively deal with the even less savory ones, is part and parcel of the task of leading, and even more so, if you are leader of the world's most powerful nation. To disengage, and become isolationist, is to invite economic collapse, not just of the US economy, but of the whole world.
So good luck Mr. Obama. I hope you understand that many of your campaign promises were pie-in-the-sky. The world is looking to you and wondering whether or not you will be a realist, a pragmatist or a foolishly romantic idealist.
FDR, a Democrat, was president in 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed. If there had been a Democrat in office in 2001, I wonder if it would have made a difference? There is a Democrat poised to assume his place in the Oval Office now, and so far I haven't seen much difference between what Bush's approach to the modern day fascist menace we call Islamism has been and what Obama has done in preparation for the day he assumes power. Unless Obama substantially changes his tune following his inauguration in January, I have to wonder if the left will pillory him as much as they did to Bush because he certainly won't have brought to the office anything close to the Nirvana he promised his minions.
Anyone who has studied 20th century history will know that there were several conflicts playing out in various parts of the world in the 1920s and 30s, many of which could be a viable contender to Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 as the event that set off the Second World War. Anyone who has studied history also knows that the past always influences the present. There is no escaping it. No leader can ever start fresh.
My hunch is that Obama will be a Cold Warrior no less than any of his predecessors in the Oval Office. He may try a few things that are different, but global realpolitik remains the same as it always has been. Making deals with some unsavory characters to contain, or effectively deal with the even less savory ones, is part and parcel of the task of leading, and even more so, if you are leader of the world's most powerful nation. To disengage, and become isolationist, is to invite economic collapse, not just of the US economy, but of the whole world.
So good luck Mr. Obama. I hope you understand that many of your campaign promises were pie-in-the-sky. The world is looking to you and wondering whether or not you will be a realist, a pragmatist or a foolishly romantic idealist.
posted by Louise at 1:18 pm
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