The recent furor over Pat Buchanan and what he says about World War II is bringing about a widespread reassessment of the war, and also of one of the supposed villains of the conflict, Adolf Hitler. At first, people were generally condemnatory toward Mr. Buchanan, but since then, after cooler reflection he is getting a warmer reception for his ideas.
Of course, Mr. Hitler has several severe disadvantages going into all this: he has suffered the impact of over 50 years of bad press. Step back and think, if only four years of bad press did-in Dan Quayle, imagine what four or five decades would accomplish. Another of Mr. Hitler's great disadvantages in getting a fair hearing is that age-old dictum: to the victors go the spoils, or to put it in a way more relevant to historical remembrance: it's the winners who write the history. So, with these handicaps -- Mr. Hitler at this point being uniquely-differently-challenged -- Mr. Buchanan simply choosing to link himself in any way with Mr. Hitler was bound to raise people's hackles. And it did!
We are suggesting that with a little more fairness, and with a deeper understanding of the nature of historiography, especially with supposed villains (Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Ventura), that we can come to appreciate not only these disadvantages but, indeed, as Mr. Buchanan has done, to turn it all around and find the good. It was a wise man who first said, "If you can't say nothing good about someone don't say nothing at all." But how many historians have heeded that sage counsel, especially with someone like Mr. Hitler?
To their credit, in recent weeks and days they have started coming around. Pat Buchanan has raised our consciousness -- all of us -- at least a little bit. How did he do this, and what does it mean in terms of his ability to be our President?
Mr. Buchanan is aware that a people who forget their past are doomed to repeat it. He himself admits this fact in his own life. After losing in '92 he promptly forgot it in '93, then after '96 he was oblivious again in '97; now he's running for President again, and projections are that 2001 will be an especially slow year for Pat, mentally-speaking. But with World War II, this fact is true for many of us; and if we weren't even alive during the 1940s, it's harder yet to recall. Those who were there for the most part are suffering Alzheimer's or have lost their mental acuity by other personal failures. It's no wonder, really, that people so softened in their minds have hardened their perceptions of the war into simple cliches like "good vs. evil" and "us vs. them." The truth is, Mr. Hitler never meant any harm: "No harm, No foul" is the way it's supposed to be.
It takes a heroic statesman, though, to clue us all in, and to shake up our memories, that we might not be beclouded in these areas. And Mr. Buchanan is that statesman, that heroic voice crying out in the wilderness.
There are a few great misconceptions surrounding Mr. Hitler and the war effort that need to be dealt with, albeit there are of course so many misconceptions that we can only just scratch the surface.
One misconception we have already alluded to. Mr. Hitler never meant any harm to anyone. The ones in his path who were accidentally tortured, maimed, tortured, robbed, raped, killed, tortured, butchered, and flung into mass graves, were actually to have been the receipients of his benevolence, but circumstances beyond anyone's control "just happened." All of us know about the best-laid intentions. And the bombs that tormented Britain, for a particular example, were only the result of incompetent help: as planes flew in, the wrong buttons were pushed; and in the case of the rockets launched toward Britain, again, wrong buttons. The consoles have been examined extensively in post-war years and it's been proven that these buttons were subject to jamming, one thing or another; you slam a door 40 yards away and one of them engages!
Another misconception is that Mr. Hitler intended to conquer the world. This ridiculous assertion has gained creedence mostly because at the time it seemed like he was headed in all directions. Toward the East, toward the West, etc. The truth of the matter is that he wanted people everywhere to be strong and self-reliant. There are two ways one can accomplish this goal: one, just by preaching strength and hoping for the best, usually a vain hope; or, two, by challenging people through a direct encounter to reach down and see what they have, that they might meet that challenge. It's still true today that the oyster doesn't produce a pearl without the sand irritating it! And it was true in World War II, that muscle untested becomes flab. In a way -- not to minimize World War II too much -- the whole war effort was basically an encounter group with a lot of very good role-playing.
And one other misconception that we'd like to deal with is this, that Mr. Hitler was "pure evil." He has been called every name in the book: scumbag, worthless, nasty, ugly, nimrod, and bad. At one point, he was even considered to be the Antichrist! Any one of us might turn out to be a little bit "bad," too, if we had all that coming our way. As we all know, an arsenal is more than sticks and stones, it's also words, names, and unfeeling slams. You tell a child that he's Satan, he's the Devil, he's Mephistopheles, he's Old Scratch, he's a "real HITLER" (there it is!) -- and you say it often enough -- next thing you know, you've got a self-fulfilling prophecy! And Mr. Hitler heard this: "Hitler! Hitler! Hitler!" Even his own people callously shouted it at him as he passed! "Hitler! Hitler! Hitler!" Mr. Hitler, however, was bigger than all that, to a point...but he too could be pushed. No one likes a schoolyard bully's antics, and Mr. Hitler was no exception. He was an artist, remember, and he could have an artist's temperament. They do not like to be bullied. When they are bullied they can lash out. So, if you want to blame anyone, look to the Poles, the French, the Russians, the English, the Americans, and go right down the list. If any one of these culprits would have stepped-back and said "Hey" ... (deep breath) ... "what the heck are we doing to this poor guy?....", but it didn't happen until Berlin was reduced to shambles, and Mr. Hitler was dead in his bunker. The poor man couldn't even get a truce that he might enjoy his honeymoon with Eva. The World needs a zero-tolerance policy on this kind of bullying. Think of the world as your body. If your arm has an inflamation or gangrene, you don't just lop it off; but with tender care and patience you nurse it back to full health!
Pat Buchanan has brought these and many other facts to our attention. And as President, with the bully pulpit at his disposal, who knows what else he might do for us? One thing we can say with certainty, that with Pat Buchanan as President we won't be wasting our money with the Defense Department. Because Pat knows and has shown, there's nothing we have that's really worth fighting for. Mr. Hitler fought his hardest, but look at where it got him. We can safely pull back from the world and focus on our own life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. And it's true, the Oceans in their vastness are an adequate enough defense against any one, be he friend or foe. Let's change our foes into our friends, and then we'll have everything ... but foes!
Mr. Buchanan is doing this -- yes, more or less in a symbolic way, as Mr. Hitler is no longer with us and cannot be literally redeemed at this point; the world has to suffer its shame. And we hope Mr. Buchanan will continue to do this, as candidate and as President, that the world might find a way to live with itself in peace. And that we might come to see it as true, that there is plenty of Lebensraum -- living space -- for all!
Sometimes Pat argues odd ideas for the heck of it, not because he seriously believes them.
Where DID you dig that screed up from? ;o)