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Civilization's 'Darkest Hour'
Townhall.com ^ | December 28, 2017 | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on 12/27/2017 9:20:01 PM PST by Kaslin

The new film "Darkest Hour" offers the diplomatic side to the recent action movie "Dunkirk."

The story unfolds with the drama of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill assuming power during the Nazi invasion of France in May 1940. Churchill's predecessor, the sickly Neville Chamberlain, had lost confidence of the English people and the British government. His appeasement of Adolf Hitler and the disastrous first nine months of World War II seemed to have all but lost Britain the war.

Churchill was asked to become prime minister on the very day that Hitler invaded France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The armies of all three democracies -- together larger than Germany's invading forces -- collapsed within days or a few weeks.

About a third of a million British soldiers stranded in a doomed France were miraculously saved by Churchill's bold decision to risk evacuating them by sea from Dunkirk, France, where most of what was left of the British Expeditionary Force had retreated.

Churchill's greatest problem was not just saving the British army, but confronting the reality that with the German conquest of Europe, the British Empire now had no allies.

The Soviet Union had all but joined Hitler's Germany under their infamous non-aggression pact of August 1939.

The United States was determined at all costs to remain neutral. Just how neutral is emphasized in "Darkest Hour" by Churchill's sad phone call with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR cleverly assures Churchill that in theory he wants to help while in fact he can do nothing.

(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: darkesthour; garyoldman; movies; winstonchurchill; ww2
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To: ballplayer

Yes. It so disoriented him that it broke his communist spirit. He realized that Communists had no values at all apart from political values.

No values of God, human respect, mercy, nothing. Only whatever it took to advance Communism and The State.

It was one of the most profound books I have ever read, and it was interesting to me that the first time I read it, I saw it as a political tale.

The second time I read it, I saw it as a man at war with himself.

The third time I read it, I realized it really was the story of a man searching for God.

Amazing book. Whittaker Chambers remains to this day a hero for me. He could have simply disappeared anonymously.

Instead, he chose to be a witness, and put everything he had on the line. His self-worth. His job. His reputation. His family. And his life.

All he did, he did to reconcile his personal values with a belief of his creator when he realized he could not believe in Communism and God at the same time. One or the other had to be utterly destroyed. And the same is true today, we should keep that in mind when dealing with the Chinese or the Communists in our midst.

Who of us could do what Whittaker Chambers did?


21 posted on 12/28/2017 5:08:06 AM PST by rlmorel (Liberals: American Liberty is the egg that requires breaking to make their Utopian omelette.)
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To: Kaslin

I mentioned this to my mom this AM. She worked at Widener at the time. She said “I saw Churchill when he visited Harvard. The girls were warned not to go near him as he was always nude. He didn’t want to be bothered with clothes. He was quite eccentric, and quite fat.” Mom can’t remember anything new for even 3 seconds but her old memories are quite sharp.


22 posted on 12/28/2017 5:15:39 AM PST by NonValueAdded (#DeplorableMe #BitterClinger #HillNO! #cishet #MyPresident #MAGA #Winning #covfefe)
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To: ballplayer; rlmorel

Interesting, I will have to read that book.


23 posted on 12/28/2017 5:19:17 AM PST by NonValueAdded (#DeplorableMe #BitterClinger #HillNO! #cishet #MyPresident #MAGA #Winning #covfefe)
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To: NonValueAdded

There are two absolutely stunning and amazing things that give the book power to this day:

1.) It is all 100% true.

2.) When reading it, the tactics of the Left are exactly-EXACTLY the same 60 years later. Lying and deceit mixed with open collaboration with the media on character assassination.


24 posted on 12/28/2017 5:31:33 AM PST by rlmorel (Liberals: American Liberty is the egg that requires breaking to make their Utopian omelette.)
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To: rlmorel
the slandering of him is one of the heinous things the left has done to this country

FAKE NEWS even then.

ML/NJ

25 posted on 12/28/2017 5:37:14 AM PST by ml/nj
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To: Elsie
The subway scene is pure fantasy.

Yes, the English have a strong affection for the "King amongst commoners" - in this case PM - device in literature.

26 posted on 12/28/2017 5:46:51 AM PST by Sirius Lee (In God We Trust, In Trump We MAGA)
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To: rlmorel

The communists thrived and think they should control America today.

By not killing them off in the 50’s we must do battle with them now.


27 posted on 12/28/2017 5:56:20 AM PST by Thibodeaux (2018 is looking good)
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To: Thibodeaux

My point was that McCarthy pounded them back underground for several decades, and with the emergence of the Sixties radicals to power, they began to openly show their faces and allegiances again, culminating in the election of Barack Obama.

Did you ever think, in your entire lifespan, that you would ever see an openly radical, racist, Marxist, socialist, statist scumbag like Barack Obama elected?

I certainly didn’t think it was possible, but he got into the Presidency twice.


28 posted on 12/28/2017 6:06:02 AM PST by rlmorel (Liberals: American Liberty is the egg that requires breaking to make their Utopian omelette.)
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To: the_Watchman

A leftist on my Facebook group posted an article praising Bolsheviks Bernie & Reichhhh meeting.

When I replied they were both leftwing communists, he retorted that there’s a big difference between socialism & communism.

Of course, I pointed out both “brands” are leftistism and have same goals and detailed history that supported the obvious.

Not surprising, he melted like a typical snowflake.

The point of this rambling is leftists (aka “Marxocrats”) are so far gone in their brainwashing, that CW2 is inevitable.


29 posted on 12/28/2017 6:07:50 AM PST by newfreep ("INSIDE EVERY PROGRESSIVE IS A TOTALITARIAN SCREAMING TO GET OUT" @HOROWITZ39, DAVID HOROWITZ)
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To: Kaslin

I urge anyone to see Darkest Hour. True, there is quite a bit of Hollywood in it to make the story even more dramatic, but that’s true of most Hollywood history films. Overlook that and enjoy a well told story and an Academy Award performance by Gary Oldman.


30 posted on 12/28/2017 11:09:04 AM PST by colorado tanker
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To: rlmorel

He also stated that he knew he was leaving the winning side and joining the losing side


31 posted on 12/30/2017 3:33:42 AM PST by ballplayer
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To: ballplayer
"...He also stated that he knew he was leaving the winning side and joining the losing side..."

Which takes a lot of courage to do...

32 posted on 12/30/2017 7:20:52 AM PST by rlmorel (Liberals: American Liberty is the egg that requires breaking to make their Utopian omelette.)
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To: rlmorel

Which he most certainly had


33 posted on 12/30/2017 3:28:38 PM PST by ballplayer
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To: Kaslin

This movie is a joy to watch. Run, don’t walk, to your nearest theater!


34 posted on 12/30/2017 3:38:29 PM PST by American Quilter (When does the wall start going up?)
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To: luvbach1
Some have objected to the portrayel of Churchill as altenately vigorous and doddering.

"Some" didn't understand what they were seeing. Churchill went for days with almost no sleep while trying to rally his establishment "allies" in Parliament to fight the Germans. In addition, while trying to force himself to create a speech agreeing to "peace" negotiations with the whole government exerting nearly unbearable pressure on him to do what he knew to be wrong, the internal strife made it almost impossible for him to speak coherently.

35 posted on 12/30/2017 3:42:48 PM PST by American Quilter (When does the wall start going up?)
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