History Unfolding

This is not mine, but a confirmation of exactly what I have been saying fort the past five years by a man much more educated and scholarly than I. It was forwarded by a good friend, and it speaks volumes to anyone out there willing to read and listen. This isn't me talking; this is a man with a Doctorate in History from Harvard, and has taught there and at Carnegie Mellon. Those are credentials EVERY liberal loves! RGB

History Unfolding

I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books on history that have been published in six languages, and I have studied history all my life. I have come to think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is simply a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes these exist, but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus.

Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about ten to fifteen years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two.

We demand and then codify into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people we know they can never pay back? Why? We learned just days ago that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700 billion we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of "we the people," who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not.

We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy... Why?

We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why?

We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it simply wants marriage to remain defined as between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?) We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose?

Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, social security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and I know precisely what I am talking about) - the list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth. It is potentially 1929 x ten...And we are at war with an enemy we cannot even name for fear of offending people of the same religion, who, in turn, cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so.

And finally, we have elected a man that no one really knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla , Alaska. All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe are more important.)

Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change.. Why?
I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now.
This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again.

And that is only the beginning!

As a serious student of history, I thought I would never come to experience what the ordinary, moral German must have felt in the mid-1930s In those times, the "savior" was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they should have known was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory. Conservative "losers" read it right now.

And there were the promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and frowned and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully and beat them into submission. Which they did - regularly (Much like Obama's SEIU thugs are doing today, RGB). And then, he was duly elected to office, while a full-throttled economic crisis bloomed at hand - the Great Depression. Slowly, but surely he seized the controls of government power, person by person, department by department, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The children of German citizens were at first, encouraged to join a Youth Movement in his name where they were taught exactly what to think. Later, they were required to do so. No Jews of course.

How did he get people on his side? He did it by promising jobs to the jobless, money to the money-less, and rewards for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe , and across the world. He did it with a compliant media - did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and ........ change. And the people surely got what they voted for.

If you think I am exaggerating, look it up. It's all there in the history books.

So read your history books. Many people of conscience objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and ridiculed. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though. And the world came to regret that he was not listened to.

Do not forget that Germany was the most educated, the most cultured country in Europe . It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And yet, in less than six years (a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency) it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them.

As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong by closing my eyes, having another latte, and ignoring what is transpiring around me.

I choose to believe the evidence. No doubt some people will scoff at me, others laugh, or think I am foolish, naive, or both. To some degree, perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe-and why I believe it.

I pray I am wrong. I do not think I am. Perhaps the only hope is our vote in the next elections.

David Kaiser
Jamestown , Rhode Island

David Kaiser is a respected historian whose published works have covered a broad range of topics, from European Warfare to American League Baseball. Born in 1947, the son of a diplomat, Kaiser spent his childhood in three capital cities: Washington D.C., Albany , New York , and Dakar, Senegal. He attended Harvard University, graduating there in 1969 with a B.A. in history. He then spent several years more at Harvard, gaining a PhD in history, which he obtained in 1976. He served in the Army Reserve from 1970 to 1976.

He is a professor in the Strategy and Policy Department of the United States Naval War College. He has previously taught at Carnegie Mellon, Williams College and Harvard University. Kaiser's latest book, The Road to Dallas, about the Kennedy assassination, was just published by Harvard University Press.

The Real Problem with Liberals

I went to a restaurant the other day and was amused to find a car parked in a No Parking zone right on the curb in front of the eatery. Now, normally, I would be more irate than amused because I parked out in the parking lot, like we are all supposed to do. But, on this occasion I was amused because of what I saw on the car bumper and what it REALLY represents in the new, exciting, rarified atmosphere of American life and politics today.

You see, it was all okay because the car had an “OBAMA ‘08” bumper sticker.

Now, all through the campaign we heard all about “change” and that the days of “politics as usual” were over. I might have to assume that “change” meant the small metal pieces of money jangling in my pocket, and that “politics as usual” meant politics with Republicans in charge. Because, so far, what I have seen is standard operating procedure for liberals and Democrats. And this was never brought home so forcefully to me as when I saw that car parked in the No Parking zone.

I have been on this Earth nearly half-a-century. I still have a thirst for knowledge that rivals my curiosity as when I was a three-year-old. I still want to know and understand why things work and how they work. And in my time on this planet and all the inquiry I have made I have seen things and questioned and analyzed them over and over. And as I grow and grow older, one thing is painfully obvious. In the liberal world in which we live, liberals make laws and rules for everyone but themselves.

You may find that curious, but it angers me when the body of evidence increases daily. Now, while these sorts of things have a long history for liberals and democrats, the opposite is equally long on the conservative side. I will note only some of the most recent evidence to build my case, but they are stark and scream of a double standard.

The first example is Senatress Hillary Clinton’s cakewalk hearing in the Senate for her nomination as the Secretary of State for the incoming Obama administration. Clinton has a long list and litany of questionable issues that truly do make one wonder as to her ability to properly function as a true, unbiased representative of the United States. She and her husband’s myriad contacts and dealings with foreign nations having to do with MILLIONS of dollars going into their pockets and the pockets of their pet projects would quickly, undoubtedly and firmly derail any conservative in a similar circumstance. That nominee would be in the pocket of evil, Arab, oil barons.

Then there is Timothy Geithner, the man that President Obama wants for the new Secretary of the Treasury. This man blatantly evaded paying taxes, despite being told that by his employer, AND THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, that he was required to do so. He finally paid up when he learned he might be able to get a plumb political appointment. Would a non-liberal still be on the list? Much lesser things destroyed the nominations of Reagan and both Bush’s nominees.

New York 15th District Representative Charlie Rangel, a Democrat, after years of outrageous conduct and race-baiting, is suddenly found to have failed to report rental income on a beach house in the Dominican Republic, or even pay taxes on the income. He also claims to be living in at least three government-funded, rent-subsidized apartments in New York City, all while also claiming his primary home in Washington, DC for tax purposes. Additionally, he allegedly used congressional stationery to solicit donors for a City College public policy institute in his name, along with other alleged problems. Conversely, Republican Senator Larry Craig of Idaho was caught apparently attempting to solicit gay sex in a public bathroom. According to liberals, there is apparently nothing wrong with being gay. But, if you are Republican, conservative, white and gay, then there is a problem. He was skewered in the press and resigned. Rangel is still in congress, and has yet to be skewered by anyone in the press.

Bill Clinton pardoned felon Mark Rich. When all the truth came out, mostly that Rich had given money to certain Democrats, Clinton worked hard to explain it away. President George W. Bush on the other hand revoked a pardon he issued to Isaac Robert Toussie, whose father had donated money to certain Republicans. Bush REVOKED the pardon. Democrat patron Rich is no longer a felon. Toussie, whose father is a Republican patron, is still a felon.

Now that Barack Obama is the new president he promptly signed a new order establishing incredibly high standards for lobbying and government service. He then just as promptly was forced to consider a waiver for William J. Lynn III as the proposed Assistant Secretary of Defense. Were the standards just impossibly high? Perhaps, but more to the point, the idea that the new rule can be waived for a liberal administration.

Remember, liberal rules are really for non-liberals.

It would seem that liberals believe, with all their heart, that non-liberals (Republicans, conservatives, Christians, whatever they may be called) are evil, must be curbed and need rules. Liberals, on the other hand, don’t need such rules. They are kind, loving, good people who only want what is best.

So, if one of them breaks a little rule, like say parking in a No Parking zone or evading taxes that we must believe he really wanted to pay all along, it’s really okay. Really. It is. So, I guess I really should still be more amused than irate.

So how come I’m not?

Could Obama Hurt Race Relations?

So, Barack Obama is the candidate of choice of the Democratic Party. All during the Democratic primary season, all I could think of was that the choices that the party had were unequivocated Evil (Hillary Clinton) and complete, total Naiveté (Obama). It’s a scary scenario, but what can you expect of a party that foisted the new Narcissus on America sixteen years ago?

Now a note on how I was raised. My father and mother were both Southerners born and bred. They came from a generation that still believed in the dignity, courage and righteousness of the Confederacy, and that believed blacks were a severe problem. Incredibly, though, my parents raised their three offspring that ALL people should be judged by nothing except their actions and character. I never heard them utter a single racist profanity during the time I was in their home, and was frankly surprised (maybe I was just naïve) at some of the actions I saw fellow Whites perform when I went to college.

It excited me to see General Colin Powell, a black man, become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, because it showed me that Mom & Dad were right. And it distresses me to no end when we are continually bombarded today when such “firsts” as the recently-installed Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court being a black woman is considered newsworthy by the media. Why should it be? This is America, and the best person for the job should be placed in that job. Why should race be an issue today?

But, that is what has me worried. Barack Obama could very well become President of the United States. Yes, he is half-black (though in our Liberal nation that means he is “really” fully black), and he is considered by the Democrats to be the best person for the position. And that is part and parcel of what I find frightening. Why? you may ask.

Barack Obama is completely unprepared to perform the job. Except for less than one six-year term in the Senate, all his political background is local and populist. He has no military, foreign policy, administrative, or commercial experience of which to speak, except for “bringing home” the troops in Iraq. This does not bode well for a nation that leads the World in all those categories. Like President Jimmy Carter in 1980, he is running on nothing but rhetoric and sound bites. He has yet to elucidate a single sound policy on any issue, except to say that he will change America.

So, the problem? Every politician today touts “change.” And that is quite alright, though I’m pretty sure that “change” really means more of the same. What worries me is that a naïve populist, having not a single solid policy, being a “minority,” could be just as bad as President Carter and truly set back race relations in America twenty-to-thirty years.

A poor presidency by this man and you could have every racist kook and nutcase, egged on by a media who truly cares less about integrity than winning awards that they bestow upon themselves, gain some legitimacy and point to race as a factor. Can you see the next presidential race with a black candidate, regardless of party, being boiled down to what Obama did? That is not what America needs. It's not a good thing for our nation. What America needs is a capable, effective leader, regardless of race, who has vision, policies, moral integrity and the knowledge to do what the nation requires.

And I’m afraid Obama can’t do that today.