Posted on 05/24/2006 5:22:30 AM PDT by unionblue83
It didn't start with Iraq. Or with George W. Bush.
The modern liberal paradigm of America's role in the world is not new. Whispered by Jimmy Carter, bellowed by Al Gore or parroted by John Edwards, vocalized by a young John Kerry or an old John Murtha, the notion that America is an imperial war power run amok alienating the world has a longer lineage. It is a paradigm born exactly sixty years ago this September in Madison Square Garden.
On that September 12th of 1946, the world was in turmoil. Winston Churchill had months earlier delivered a blistering assessment of the post-World War reality. With Harry Truman at his side Churchill warned that "an Iron Curtain has descended across the Continent." Stalin's Soviet Union was on the march. Soon, the Russians would have the atomic bomb.
Stepping to the podium in the Garden that September night was Secretary of Commerce Henry Wallace, Franklin Roosevelt's Vice President in FDR's third term. Uneasy about Wallace's left-wing pronouncements Democratic bosses convinced FDR to replace him with Truman in the 1944 election. With Roosevelt's death Truman was now president. The result of the Garden speech was explosive.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
So as Harry Truman used to say "The buck stops here1" Of course today the Democrats are the ones who want to say "The buck does not even slow down here." And then blame George Bush
As a former liberal (about 20 years ago) I am often astonished when current libs blithely dismiss their party's recent turn-around from certain principles--you'd think their hero Billy Clinton never made overthrowing Saddam our national policy; you'd think the same people condemning our War on Terror weren't just shouting that we should be intervening overseas not for money but to save humans being tortured and murdered. They don't care that Abu Grahbe was an isolated incident and those who broke the law are in jail, they are more worked up about THAT than they are about women being shot in the head on sports fields. The same people who for decades shrieked about rightwing Christians are oh-so-careful in their criticism of Islamofascism.
Whenever I think the Republican party has problems--and it does--I look at the shambles of the Democratic party, which is what happens when you let political opportunism be your party's only unifying theme.
This article started off well in its discusson of the different views of Henry Wallace and Harry Truman. However by the end of the article, the writing was strained with long sentences and needless parentheses. Finally, the Dixie Chicks reference along with the artile title was somewhat pointless and only provided the self-righteous and self-indulgent gals with yet more free publicity.
pflr
for later
I feel that way, too, but I did laugh out loud when, last night, on the ACM awards, Reba McIntire said, "Whew! I don't know why I was so nervous about hosting this show. If the Dixie Chicks can sing with their foot in their mouth, I can host this thing!" It brought the house down despite the grammar problems! LOL! You should have seen the people standing and cheering--entertainers included. It brought cheer to my heart...am I too gleeful???? Ha Ha As much as I enjoyed their music and believe them to be immensely talented, I just can't listen to their music anymore. Perhaps if they had just sang.... rhombus, please don't critique my ramblings. :)
Sorry, I can't help myself...Nice rambling, Sandlady. Sorry I missed the program.
I watched the AMC awards waiting to see what Reba would say, knowing that she was hosting. Needless to say I wasn't disapointed! allso had an evening of good music to listen to!!
Today the results of the Wallace/McGovern paradigm are dramatic images of repeated failure.
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Excellent article. (But I wish everyone would stop giving the Ditzy Chicks publicity. Ignore them, and they will fade away.)
Unfortunately, the self-destruction of the Demon-rats only helps the spineless GOP leaders. The GOP looks conservative and sane in comparison.
Damn! Wish I'd seen that! :)
Thank God every night for keeping FDR alive during his third term--FDR survived for a couple of months into his fourth term...if Roosevelt had died in office during his third term, we would've had a bonafide COMMUNIST SYMPATHIZER as President!
Of course, he was a Democrat.
This article is a bit of a waste of time...as if the Dixie Chix could read or understand history.
...old timer Democrats...
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Sorry, but Benson soiled his reputation with some of his polical alliances, IMO.
Decades later McGovern brought Wallace's paradigm back to life as the 1972 Democratic presidential nominee. He wrote of his disdain for Truman. "Harry Truman is being elevated retroactively as a great President, whereas Henry Wallace is largely forgotten.
With respect, the mention of the DCs gives the article a historical context to read about the history of the so-called 'progressive' movement. I seriously doubt any readers of the Am Spec will be moved to purchase any DC stuff by this article. The comparision between them and Henry Wallace educates the reader in the provenance of the wacky left and makes for a good read, IMO.
I do not understand this idea that 'ignoring' your political opponents will make them go away--any more than ignoring a toothache will make it go away. Though they prattle and whine like children, they are not; freepers need this historical context to deal with these twits intellectually.
I enjoyed the historical context but with respect, the Dixie Chicks are hardly our political opponents. Rather they seek profit by elevating themselves to victimhood, no more or no less than many. Mentioning them as one of the many examples that derive their "beliefs" from the political philosophy of Henry Wallace is well and good (although I'd be surprised if the DC ever heard of him). Giving the Dixie Chics the starring role in an opinion piece which addresses so much more than just them is what disappointed me.
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