Posted on 07/06/2002 9:31:56 AM PDT by First_Salute
Your observation is astute. IMO, the Rosetta Stone to the 20th century is the carnage that was WW1, when European civilization came very close to committing suicide. By the time the slaughter was over, there Europe's bestest and brightest was imperished, and our economy would seen bankruptcies of keiretsu type lead banks in the event of devaluation of repudiation of debts resulting from that war. In my opinion, there was absolutely no excuse for the war not being ended as soon as it became evident that it would only be a bloodbath.
So the band played on; as that noted conspiracy peddler Alan Greenspan has averred, a significant part of the Great Depression was due to the Fed's tightening the money supply when a loosening was needed, at the behest of special interests. The Fed wouldn't even dream of doing this today, because the ensuing riots would completely destabilize the country. Back in those days, the majority was rural, and Model Ts luxuries. Country bumpkins can't riot; what are they going to do, burn their own home down?
Anyone who went throught the War, not to mention the Great Depression cannot but have come out of it with a cynical view of the world, deeply mistrustful of the established order and ideologies, and with good reason. Seeking answers that promised that these would not happen recur is understandable, even laudable, even if the answers proved themselves foolish. Selling out to foreign countries, however, treason.
Conservatives would never have had these problems with "Lefties", had we policed our own, and not allowed parasites to pollute our shiboleths.
Some of the Commies like Philby were deviants who chanelled their hostility against society into treason; others however, were born to privilige, but could not go along with the "dignum et decorum est pro patria mori" crowd.
One of the more interesting "What if's" of that time's history would have been how much treason we'd have seen if the Left had been able to organize openly, and not been driven underground by the "Red-hunting" Justice Department, which stifled debate with arrests and repression - the emphasis was on silencing and intimidating opponents to the that illustrious Klan member Woodrow Wilson's way of seeing things, in a way that, once again, would not be thinkable in today's America.
"... the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover decided to take his case to the Republican Congress. His testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee in March 1947 was the opening salvo in an offensive against domestic communism."
If Herman doesn't know or use the "correct" name, it's unlikely many others will. I'm not sure what the bone of your objection is, but it sounds to me like you're tilting at windmills.
Hiss was assigned at Yalta to make the deal with the Soviets for aid in the Pacific War...which gave the USSR claim to a great deal of territory.
My grandfather, who died before I was born, was a former Secret Service agent who had been on the White House detail during the time of Taft, Teddy Roosevelt, and Wilson. He used to say that this country would curse the day that FDR was elected President. I think examples like these show that the idea that FDR was universally loved is a myth. I couldn't believe a recent news item I heard that said he was recently voted the greatest president ever by a group of historians.
They sure as heck are.I got this book last christmas,and while it is a serious read,(I had to start making a list of the names,so I didn't have to go back again and again and re-check myself and what I read a month ago,you see)it is stunning to know how far into the USA the Russian Communists had penetrated our Gov't and our wide open society. What disturbs me, is that after all these years,I'm sure the Chinese have infiltrated us in similar ways.When I'm through with this book ,I'd like to post a list of facts I've been marking in yellow from this remarkable book.It's too bad people don't read like they used to when I was growing up in the early 70's.That fact alone assures me that my Chinese comment is probably true.I have Liberal acquaintances who still think McCarthy was a bad man and wrong.I've brought this book to lunches before and they still 'Hem and Haw'.(The Rosenbergs were innocent in their eyes.)Some people can never be helped you know .
BTT
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