Posted by Bill on 08/15/06 15:46

Is there only one lesson to be learned from history? The weight of Nazi
atrocities is compelling, but World War II was not the only war in
history, and "appeasement" masks a host of factors that are not always
congenial to conservatives. Hitler's rise to power was possible because
of the brutal terms of the treaty of Versailles, and his popularity in
Germany rested to a large extent on the admiration of military
"virtues": the promise of brutality when dealing with perceived slights,
the parades, the statues, the uniforms, the guns. The Nazi regime was
essentially predicated on the idea of force as the dynamism of culture
and civilization.

What was detente if not "appeasement" by any other name-- yet it
resulted in years of peace and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.

What were the negotiations in Ireland if not a form of "appeasement"?

Besides, I don't think the real issue is whether it is appropriate to
use force and to be prepared to use force when genuinely threatened.
That's a colorful diversion by those who defend Bush. The real issue is
competence. Whether it is Iraq or Osama or Katrina or the deficit or
Social Security or the environment or pretty well anything else, this
administration may well be the most incompetent of the past 100 years.

Bush is using the national credit card to the hilt, running up a massive
deficit which he will kindly pass on to your children. Whether you
agree with him or not, our children have the right to make their own
choices about national policy.

There he is, smiling, standing tall, full of integrity and honor-- and
giving the bill, a massive, incomprehensible deficit, to the next
generation: let them pay for my judgements. Let them absorb the expense
of acting on my beliefs-- or least, Dick's and Don's. What do I care?
Maybe Bill Clinton couldn't keep his pecker in his pants, but Bush has
his hand on your children's wallets. What is "honor" and "integrity"?

I guarrantee you Bush won't be speaking at AIDS conferences once he's
out of office. He'll be collecting those big fat honorariums from all
the people that owe him a fortune because, by God, he handed them
millions and billions of dollars in tax credits, deregulation, no-bid
contracts, and so on and so on. If Bush does anything after he leaves
office that could be remotely construed as "public service", I'll send a
donation to the Texas Rangers.

And, best of all, just because they didn't actually hand him the cash
while he was still actually in the Oval Office, he can prance around on
his high horse and convince most people, who don't understand tax
legislation anyway, that he has "honor" because he didn't cheat on his wife.

Richard Crowley wrote:
> "Bill Fright" wrote ...
>
>> Here Here! Well said. I'd love to notice thoughtful deeds that have
>> been sorely missing in our government - and others.
>
>
> Where is Neville Chamberlain when we need him?
> Have we learned nothing from "appeasement" with the Nazis of the
> previous generation?

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