Hell to Pay

Sick to my stomach doesn't begin to express what I felt watching the links below. I suffered so you don't have to unless you want to.

The first is the President's melt-down, press conference of yesterday (Tuesday, August 15, 2017, a day that should live in infamy). I watched the whole thing. The first part was about infrastructure. At about 7 minutes, he opened it up for questions and he went way downhill from there.

NY Times Transcript and Video of trump's Press Conference

Then there was this from one of the organizers of the legally permitted march in Charlottesville (Yes, First Amendment protected). It's a selfie-video he did when he learned that there was a warrant out for his arrest. He claims to be a peaceful and law-abiding neo-nazi. [WARNING: rough language].

President Obama in Wales!

Just as Jonah of old . . . No! Not whales. There is a real country called Wales in English and Cymru to the Welsh or Cymry. Wales is not England but like England is one of the four countries in the United Kingdom consisting of Wales, England, Scotland (at least 'til next week), and Northern Ireland. This should be known to most people in world, but you'd be surprised.

Anyway, I found this picture of the President with some Saxon lady.

President Barack Obama talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the NATO Summit at the
Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, Sept. 4, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Interesting that the NATO Summit in Cardiff, Wales has its participants staying at a resort in Newport on the River Usk just below my ancestral lands.

Valid hitler Comparison

We know (or should know) that no argument can maintain any semblance of rationality when the comparison is made to a certain Austrian corporal. This one is valid because it's, well, hitler.

Dr. Seuss's hitler

Skimming through old newspapers on-line as any good genealogist does, I was startled to see der fuehrer's face. And startled again to see the artist's name. I thought it was worth sharing.

Beck Is Either Stupid or Dishonest (Maybe Both!)

The latest from Nazi-memorabilia collector Glenn Beck is his call to impeach the President for "treason." Because he (the President, not Beck) is sending some aid to international groups and "vetted" Syrian rebels. Politico reports today:

“We did not get into bed with Hitler to defeat Japan. We did not do it,” Beck said. “It’s the height of insanity. But I also believe it is impeachable. I believe it is treason.”

Well, he's sorta right. We did not sleep with Hitler to defeat Japan. No, we had another Ally that admittedly came in late against Japan but was pretty heavily involved in our defeat of Hitler.

Soviet Flag on top of the Reichstag at the Capture of Berlin, May 1945

Racist Rush & Nazi-Collector Beck

I'm calling it. The great, big intellect of conservative thought said on this radio show today that President Obama's policy on Syria is not "shock and awe," but "shuck and jive" This is from Politico, a right of center source (although they are clearly mainstream Republican right, so they are not inclined to be big fans of Rush).

Rush is a racist - no question about it. If you think what he said is funny or you don't understand how it could possibly be racist*, then you are a racist too. Just because you are a racist doesn't mean that you are all bad. And you can always repent, change, learn, and grow.

Help Deseret Book Ban Beck

With a very compelling guest post in the SL Trib from Historian Alexandra Karl this morning, I updated my posting here on Glenn Beck's latest disturbing behavior - much more disturbing than even I thought when I was joking about it. And, I was motivated to send the following to Deseret Book:

Violent Reality vs. Imaginary Hitler

John Stewart nails it:

Click here to watch. (I took off the annoying embedded one that goes on automatically)

Oklahoma City, 9/11, & the Blitz

Still watching the London Olympics and thinking of other things . . . .

St. Paul's Cathedral, August 13, 2010

When we came out of the new Globe Theatre and walked across the "Harry Potter" Millennium Bridge to catch the Tube, there were clouds all around St. Paul's and the glow of the city in the sky reminded me of the pictures I had seen of the London Blitz. It was a little historically spooky.

Knights of the Errancy: A Serious If Unintended Pun

So my subconscious is working overtime. Yet it all seems to come rolling back to my common themes. I blogged on Memorial Day about the honor due our Veterans (just below). And the link to my earlier blog about good intentions even among misguided knights and kings was intentional. Thinking on my title, "Knights of the Air and Sea" I realized it sounded like "Knights of the Errancy" (not to mention that "knight" easily becomes "night,"but let's not go down that Freudian path).

This is deep inside my idealistic heart and I find it hard to explain. But it does help in the distinction to be made from misguided soldiers of good intent and those who followed orders, whatever the intent, to commit horrific crimes that they would recognize if their hearts were not completely closed.

SOTU Update II - Iraq & Afghanistan (Hitler watch on the side)

Oh yeah, Iraq and Afghanistan - getting us out of Iraq first, one of the main reasons we elected the President.  And hopefully out of Afghanistan.  He will modestly declare a victory in Iraq and announce our departure (which "Mr. Modest Foreign Policy President" should have done in 2003 - or better yet, never got us in the wrong war at the wrong time in the wrong place for the wrong reasons - but I digress).

He will also talk about being on schedule to start removing troops in Afghanistan.  He was right that Afghanistan was abandoned in favor of Iraq for all the wrong (well, see above).  It appears to be too late.  It probably already was when he surged there to help justify getting us out of Iraq.  But after two more long years, he has given the US military and the Afghan government every chance to make it and having not made it, the President will again have to put the best interpretation on the horrible situation at the same time recognizing the amazing service and sacrifice of our heroic troops and get us the heck out of there.

He very craftily (and I mean that in a good way) did not get ahead of the American people.  We have sadly put the wars out of our front pages.  But this allows us to withdraw without too much screaming from the right.  Both Iraq and Afghanistan may fail,  but it doesn't seem to make any difference if we stay or leave.  In fact, it may be worse if we stay and it's our guys (and gals) dieing right now!  So let's leave.  The helicopters on the top of the US Embassy in Saigon were even tolerated without us going back into that one we probably should have never been in to begin.

HITLER ISSUES-
In between errands and house duties Saturday, I happened to watch a lot of Hitler on the History and Military Channels (There's always something WWII on).  The thing that struck me is how no major characters in our modern US politics are anything like Hitler - not Bush, Palin, Limbaugh, Newt and certainly not Our President or Pelosi (well, maybe Glenn Beck, just a little bit).  I mean Hitler was a class all his own.  Even in the early years with the Beer Hall Putsch, etc., it was all ludicrous and I don't see anything like that in current America.  Now, I still don't understand it and certainly don't understand how Germany went with him.  And I do not ascribe to the "it can't ever happen here" because the only explanation for Germany going with him was the horrible economic situation and humiliation of WWI (which was sort of their fault anyway, but I digress).  And horrible things could come out of economic and political collapse in our country.  FDR clearly saved us from the extremes of right or left when we could have easily gone one or the other as most of the rest of the world did.  And we certainly can NEVER FORGET the Holocaust and what the Nazis did to the Jews of Europe with a lot of complicity of those that stood by.

But having said all that, look at all the free and easy criticism all over the place of what ever crazy or even sane current US politician or figure you can think of.  I will concede that even the tea party has some value to let people vent and hopefully more rationally step back and think a little about the issues.  We still have a free press (as corrupt and inadequate as the MSM is) and we have a free and open internet as I'm evidencing now (even if nobody ever reads me).  So, we're a ways from seeing a Hitler in our current situation.  (Just let me know if Beck's friends all start wearing the same color shirt).