The Attitudes of Appeasement Before WWII

Last night on the Military Channel, there was a documentary on about Franklin D Roosevelt and his secret efforts to help Britain prior to the U.S.'s official entry into World War II.

 

Many American citizens were opposed to U.S. involvement in the war. They saw Hitler as Europe's problem, and Europe should deal with him. There were many clips of people marching in the streets with signs and boards opposed to American involvement in the war. If anything, they wanted to strike a peace deal with Hitler's regime. A sort of guarantee, I suppose that he wouldn't come across the Atlantic, or attack U.S. ships in the Atlantic. Hitler also had a treaty with Poland. That didn't work out too well for the Poles.

 

Roosevelt tried back channels to assist the British, even going as far as to surplus naval warships, sell them to U.S. Steel so they could, in return, sell them to the British.

 

Even after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, there were still many people who were opposed to U.S. involvement in Europe, since Hitler didn't attack us. The appeasers didn't mind going to war against Japan, but wanted us to stay out of Europe. Ultimately, if it weren't for a German U-Boat sinking a U.S. destroyer, citizen apathy may have prevented Americans from entering the European theater.

 

Of course, there was a lot more to it than that. As it relates to today's politics and world view, it's interesting to see that the same rules still apply. While FDR wasn't exactly hawkish about going to war, he was able to see what would ultimately happen if Hitler wasn't stopped, not just appeased. This same philosophy seems to running rampant today. War is a brutal thing. I hate it. It should be used as a last resort. But I'm not afraid of building up America's defenses to ensure that we are not threatened. North Korea comes to mind immediately.

 

Now, the U.S. is in a position where we have a president who has reached out to Russia and wants to enter into a news arms treaty with them. This is a country who is so far behind us in technology, the only country that treaty would  help is Russia, since they don't have to spend money they don't have trying to develop new weapons. The only thing it does is put the U.S. at a disadvantage since it will hamstring the Defense Department.

 

The attitude of appeasement will always be there, but we must be careful how much we appease versus how much we prepare to defend ourselves and our allies.

 

 

Obama Washes His Hands Clean of Iraq

U.S. President Barak Obama effectively told Americans and Iraqis a few days ago that he is no longer responsible for whatever happens in Iraq. He has appointed Vice-President Joe Biden as his point-man for Iraq.

 

Now Joe Biden is responsible to the American people for what happens in Iraq, not President Obama. This was announced the same week that American troops moved out of Iraqi cities, not the country as some people celebrated it that way.

 

Immediately, I can not think of anyone more inept at dealing with foreign dignitaries as Joe Biden. He can't even have any interview in the U.S. without coming off as a bafoon. There have been a number of interviews he has given and his brain just goes completely blank, just like Dear Leader without a teleprompter.

 

Obama accomplishes something else by handing the reigns over to Emperor Joe. One of the major knocks against Obama during his campaign was his foreign policy experience. By washing his hands clean of Iraq, he takes leave of one his major points during his campaign. He wanted a fresh approach to Iraq, and he was going to do this, and that, and blah blah blah.

 

There is a downside and an upside for Obama on this issue. If Iraq blows up after troops leave the cities, he can tell Biden to fix it. If all goes well, Biden (or Dubya for that matter) can claim victory. Whatever the result, Obama is still taking leave on foreign policy decisions.

NC Governor Bev Purdue Bites the Hand

NC Governor Bev Purdue Bites the Hand

 

Governor Bev Purdue recently announced that NC teachers will not be getting their automatic pay increases they normally get when the next school year begins. Unfortunately for the NC teachers union, they don't have any room to complain until 2012, when Purdue is up for re-election.

 

Teachers groups fell over themselves endorsing Purdue during her campaign, and this is how they get repaid. She has already made drastic budget cuts that have decreased the number of teacher positions, has stopped funds for replacing some teachers that have retired, and with other means, has increased the number of children per classroom.

 

For a candidate that ran on her previous experience as a teacher, she is showing her adeptness for being a politician, rather than someone concerned about her colleagues in the classroom.

Abortion Supporters Win Again

The Senate voted against a proposed amendment on Friday that would have blocked funding for family planning organizations if it was found to be participating in forced abortions.

Senator Roger Wicker (R – Mississippi) had proposed the legislation allowing the President to block funding if groups were participating in forced or coerced abortions. Senator Wicker had these words to say on the floor of the Senate before the vote:

"Let's keep the provision that allows the President of the United States to make this determination. And if there is evidence to prove that American tax dollars would be used by the United Nations to fund these coercive practices, then let's not allow the United States taxpayers to be a party to these abhorrent and coercive practices."

The amendment failed by a 39-55 vote, with only 94 Senators voting.

The measure would have blocked funding to UN groups that were participating in forced abortions. An investigation by the Population Research Institute found that the UN Family Planning Agency was heling to enforce China's one-child policy.

“‘It's very clear that the U.N. Population Fund is a cheerleader for the Chinese family planning program, is funding the program, and turns a blind eye to forced abortion and forced sterilization,’ he tells the Times.

Mosher's team's 2001 investigation found that family planning was nonexistent and that forced
abortions and sterilizations were commonplace. And the local UNFPA officials conducted their operations out of the China Office of Family Planning, where these abhorrent practices were taking place.”

Even the United States’ own investigation revealed that the UNFPA did not deserve taxpayer funding.

“The State Department sent officials to China to conduct a follow-up investigation in 2002 and found enough evidence for then-Secretary of State Colin Powell to tell Congress that the UNFPA doesn't deserve taxpayer funding.

Powell said the Chinese population control staff members used equipment and supplies provided to them by the UNFPA to carry out their work.

Rep. Christopher Smith, a New Jersey Republican, also toured China and spoke with local residents and activists who informed him of the situation there. He said Chinese officials only showed the State Department what they wanted Powell's staff to see and that the abuses and the UNFPA link was more pronounced than even Powell's team knew.

"The United States should not help UNFPA cover up China's crimes against women and children," Smith told the Times.”

The President’s stance on abortion is starting to become very questionable. During the campaign season, he said that the decision about where life began was beyond his pay grade. Well, it starting to look like that is in serious doubt as President Obama has signed legislation funding forced abortion.

BBCW: Obama Centrists Starting to Wonder if Obama is Healthy for Country: Stuart Taylor's "Obama's Left Turn" Sounds Like a Familiar Friend

BBCW: Obama Centrists Starting to Wonder if Obama is Healthy for Country: Stuart Taylor's "Obama's Left Turn" Sounds Like a Familiar Friend

Great article about how some citizens of Obamanation are starting to rethink their citizenship.

Kansas City, Misery

Kansas City TV station KMBC announced today that the city is facing an $85 million shortage in their budget. Mayor Mark Funkhouser has put a plan up that includes holding back the $2 million dollar payment to the Truman Sports Complex. Eliminating the payment would essentially break the lease with both the Chiefs and the Royals.

While I completely see the point that the city needs to balance its budget, I wonder what would be more beneficial. Let’s examine the points.

The city doesn’t pay up, and the teams, basically, become free agents. Just like the Sonics did to Seattle last year, they could pack up and go because the city didn’t help them stay. Of course, there were other points in interest in Seattle, but that is for another day. With the bad economy affecting the entire country, do the teams have a realistic chance to find another city that would be able to support them financially and offer a viable fan base? One obvious answer is Las Vegas, but neither the NFL or MLB is willing to let a team camp out in Vegas due to their respective league’s stance on gambling. So Vegas is out. And in a down economy, Vegas just got some bailout money to remain viable anyway. Vegas is very out. For MLB, there are a few other options. Charlotte, NC, already has a basketball and football team. But since Charlotte is the Southern Banking Capital, the city’s economy has been hit hard. Atlanta might object to another team being so close, especially one where they have a large fan base. Charlotte stays on the list for now. Then there is New Orleans. Like Charlotte, there is an established pro sports legacy. One advantage New Orleans has is a ready stadium in the Superdome. Although it may be outdated, at least there is a place to play immediately. New Orleans is on the list. As far as I can see, those are the options for the Royals. Besides, who would want one of the worst teams of the last 20 years?

Unfortunately for the Chiefs, the options are not good. LA. That’s it. And we all know how that is going to turn out, don’t we Al Davis . . . .

Besides loosing the teams, there would be a ton of revenue leaving the area, along with jobs in concessions, parking, stadium maintenance, and team operations.

Now, let’s examine what would happen if KC bucks up and pays the bill. The teams stay. There is a rabid fan base for the Chiefs, which keeps the locals happy. People stay in employed and pump money back into the local economy. Kansas City would lose a lot more than $2 million if they choose not to pay up.

In this time of economic belt-tightening by municipalities everywhere, this is one time where the muni needs to splurge a little to keep their local economy from flat-lining.

Markets tank again; GM and Citigroup lead the way

As of 2:30 PM today, the Dow was down 260 points to 6.612. And The One didn’t even mention the economy today. And Timmy hasn’t been in the news. Hmm. I guess this is just reflective of how the markets see the assistance from the government.

The Dow is down more than 50% from its high of 14,164 on October 2007. February 2009 is the worst February for the Dow since 1933.

“The Dow, which dropped 12 per cent this month, had its worst February since 1933. During the month, 20 of the 30 components reset their 52-week lows, with 13 hitting 52-week lows at some point during final session of the week.”

Citigroup’s stock finally fell below the $1 threshold. Welcome home, dear! I thought the feds were going to prop up Citi after their announcement last week about converting a few billion dollars in preferred shares to common stock. That would give the feds 36% ownership in Citi. Looks like that was a great idea..

Oh yeah, and GM is saying today they may have to go into bankruptcy to help restructure. Why didn’t they say this $50 BILLION ago? Once again, the government offered a band-aid to something that needed to be amputated. If GM is going to have to declare bankruptcy to get straight, they should just suck it up and do it. Bankruptcy would allow them to void their union agreement so that could be restructured as well. Every time they’ve been give BILLIONS, they come back to the trough like pigs a few weeks later wanting to get some more. Unfortunately, President Obama promised in his speech to Congress last week that he would not let them fail.

While the American auto makers are crying, why haven’t we heard any screams from Toyota, Nissan, or Honda?