Friends, this week's Newsmaker Show delves into some fascinating historical topics, including the Soviet destruction of a Korean Airlines passenger jet in 1983, the discovery of the wreck of the Titanic in 1985, the German invasion of Poland in 1939, and the coup that brought our old pal Colonel Qaddafi to power in Libya. It's a heady brew of historical analysis, with a strong WWII-Cold War aftertaste, as you've come to expect.
In terms of current events, Brian and I focus on the ramifications of our shellacking in Afghanistan, especially in terms of terrorism. We also speculate on how the Dems' domestic agenda will be affected by Biden's political decline, and we evaluate the outrageous "debanking" of Michael Flynn, and what it means for the ability of conservatives to partake in commerce and daily life.
It's a great show, as per usual. Listen to it. Ponder it. Cherish it. It will change your life!
https://wlea.net/newsmaker-september-1-2021-dr-nick-waddy/
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In other news, campus insanity is burning white hot these days. Many professors are being pilloried for exercising their right to free speech, and more than a few are getting the axe. Meanwhile, racially segregated campus events are the new normal, since naturally "people of color" need to be protected from the oppressive reach of "white supremacy", which apparently extends even to rocks. Oy!
Texas has finally passed its election integrity bills! Hooray! Dems, if you want to "save democracy", you'll have to redouble your efforts...
You may have heard that Nancy Pelosi's select committee looking into the Jan. 6th "insurrection" is asking a number of telecommunications and social media companies to "preserve" records for persons they deem of potential interest to their investigation. Now, it would set a very dangerous precedent if a Congressional committee can, on request, go on a fishing expedition into someone's private communications. If they have probably cause, on the other hand, that's another matter. At any rate, these companies had better tread very carefully!
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/kevinmccharthy-january6-bigtech-privacy/2021/08/31/id/1034545/
Here's what I consider to be today's most shocking and newsworthy story: a majority of Americans think that Joe Biden should resign! What's more, if he doesn't resign, most Americans think he should be impeached! Wow. This is a very big deal. What it means is that the American people are truly disgusted by the Biden Administration's mishandling of the Afghanistan withdrawal. Will their pique pass quickly? We'll see. It's odd to me that Biden's approval numbers, while they've dipped, remain more or less in the same territory as before, but nonetheless a large number of voters are ready to throw him out of office, including many Democrats! Anyway, my advice to Republicans, conservatives, and Trumpers would be not to celebrate too early or too much, because the Dems will certainly circle the wagons before November 2022. We are seeing the lefties finally pay a price, though, for acclaiming as their leader a man who even they don't particularly like or respect. The even worse realization for progressives has to be that, as little as Americans think of Biden, they think even less of Kamala Harris! Ergo, in essence, the Democratic Party has no Plan B. It's Biden or bust. (My money's on "bust".)
https://www.newsmax.com/us/rasmussen-taliban-resignation-american-voters/2021/09/01/id/1034627/
Compare the 1975 withdrawal from Saigon under The Ford Administration with the ongoing Afghanistan withdrawal debacle.
ReplyDeleteI would if I could, but I know little about the Ford version. Would you argue that Ford managed the Saigon debacle better?
ReplyDeleteProbably not, in my opinion. You recall we left Vietnam militarily in 1973, which left the Embassy in Saigon, and whatever other Americans there were in that country doing whatever, such as business of various kinds, and so on.
DeleteAnyway, and in the now, The U.S. needed to get out of Afghanistan at some point, and the fact that it was a mess doing so, is, I suppose a hard lesson learned.
Dr.Waddy from Jack: Afghanistan: I think you are right in that Dems are betting that the Taliban resurgence carries with it no assurance of eventual terrorist attack on the US. And I think you right in thinking they may well be terribly wrong. The Dems are very often mistaken in their gambles ,as their support of the Biden/Harris axis may soon prove them to be. But: I would suggest: the Taliban MUST yet fear American power, which drove them into very uncomfortable mountain exile for 20 years. Could that motivate them to be satisfied with murderous doctrinal cleansing of Afghanistan alone, with which, they may assume,they will meet no American material opposition? Have they been sufficiently chastened? Can or will they resist the absolute fanatics in their midst? We will see and we are right to doubt the ability of our present administration to manage this with perception and objectivity. There are some among them who would welcome another mass attack as being richly deserved by an erring US but who,in demonstrating this conviction, would motivate wdecisive reaction.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack:I've thought since the get go that the plan was to use pore'ol Joe as a stalking horse for an unelectable radical. Perhapsthe Dems thought to wait until he had served two years and a day in order to have incumbency on their side in possibly two Presidential elections. But has the pretext forhis exit arrived? A President Kamalafornia would enjoy an extended honeymoon due her "firsts", all of which would require celebration (eg first President with the name Harris, first President with long hair . . .). And of course she would have multiple layers of politically correct armor against criticism. Who knows ,could be just the thing to head off the reckoning in 2022 (?)
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Hitler's disingenuous deals with Stalin showed Stalinto be, in Hitler's consummately sociopathic view, a credulous chump and probably led Hitler to assume he would have complete surprise on his side when he attacked Russia. He knew Stalin would brook no opposition to his own views and when Hitler did strike, Stalin was prostrate with fear and astonishment.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: I thought the latest Titanic movie was overwrought. That pseudoglorious music heralding the ship's plunge detracted from the horror of the scene, much of which inhered in the terrifying stillness of the sea that night. Sure , the special effects and period detail were well done and the director is especially knowledgeable about Titanic. The one scene I thought very moving was that of the priest consoling the doomed. A film which I thought better at depicting the irony of elegance quickly reduced to all unlooked for wretchedness was A Night to Remember.
ReplyDeleteRay, in Vietnam we managed to defer our humiliation by a few years. In Afghanistan it came at breakneck speed. Six of one, half a dozen of the other, one might argue. Of course, the context is enormously different. A U.S. embarassment in the midst of the Cold War was a lot more consequential, in my view.
ReplyDeleteJack, I have little doubt that the Taliban is chastened enough to PRETEND not to harbor terrorists for a while. Whether they are changed enough to forswear terrorism indefinitely in another matter! Frankly, though, in political terms it may not matter. If we have another big attack on American soil or against American targets overseas, Biden will be seen as enabling it, whether or not it has anything to do with Afghanistan.
Jack, I certainly don't regard Kam-Kam as any sort of progressive messiah. The polls say she would be a very weak standard-bearer for the party. Be that as it may, there's probably a big constituency in the Democratic Party for Kamala over Sleepy Joe, and that will make things dicey going forward. Look at how she's being kept out of sight... That tells me that the Bidenists view her as a real threat.
Jack, I'm sure Hitler viewed Stalin as a monster, but as a chump? Stalin's credulousness with respect to German intentions beggars belief in retrospect. I guess the main thing Stalin needed to do to prepare the USSR for war, though, was engage in a huge military/industrial buildup, and he did that in spades. So maybe he wasn't a COMPLETE moron...
Jack, I wasn't a big fan of the James Cameron version of Titanic either. To me, the class warfare theme was hit way too hard, and the romance was insipid to the max.
Dr.Waddy fromJack: Well, yes, Stalin had murderously imposed industrialization on a vast land of many cultures. Still it required massive allied industrial aid in WWII. It could not have resulted from recognition of a German threat, since that did not manifest itself in believable form until perhaps 1939. Theretofore, Stalin had ranged the USSR against the very capitalist world. Had he a sane view to his country's defense against foreign offense, would he have decimated his officer corps in the 30s?
ReplyDeleteGood point, Jack. Stalin showered his military with recruits and with modern arms, and he decapitated it by massacring its officer corps. Generalissimo Stalin was a mixed blessing as Commander-in-Chief!
ReplyDeleteWho was the Soviet military buildup designed to keep pace with -- or to threaten? That's a good question. Probably the Reds were hedging their bets, but I think there's ample evidence that they considered Germany to be potential aggressor Nummer Eins.