Why waste time here on this 6th of June

When you can go to The American Catholic for an update on the 82nd Anniversary of that Day of Days on June 6th, 1944.  Here, here, here and here are, as usual, some good reads.  

Like last year, I've seen no major MSM mention of it.  I'm sure a couple outlets have if you Google them and D-Day stories directly. But even Googling "D-Day" yielded nothing from any MSM outlets I saw, except the BBB if you count that. 

As I've said, WW2 had fallen to the wayside by the time I was entering high school and college in the 1980s.  Vietnam had become the pop culture starting point around which endless movies, shows, and class lessons were based.  WW2 got mention on the 10s.  That is, every 10th Anniversary year.  I recall in the early 90s (50th), there was significant coverage.  But only around the various key anniversary dates.

It would be Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation and Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan in the late 90s that threw WW2 back into the spotlight.  Up until that point, WW2  had been given about 70s movie style treatments at best.  The movie The Big Red One was about as gritty and explicit as you got for mainstream releases.  Then came the 80s and 90s and an upswing in graphic effects and depictions of violence.  Just in time for movies like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket.  But not for WW2.

Not until Saving Private Ryan.  For about two generations, WW2 was old John Wayne movies or adventure romps like The Guns of Navarone or even Kelly's Heroes.  It  therefore wasn't seen as being really bad, like Vietnam (as a college classmate once said). 

Well, SPR put the kibosh on that attitude.  Suddenly those old, stoic vets who were grandpa or great grandpa were cast in a new light.  It didn't hurt that, just as Band of Brothers was released, so came the  9/11 attacks.  Suddenly, patriotism was cool again, and the entire WW2 generation was examined in a new, and respectful light.

But that was then.  By the time of Covid, BLM, and 2020, it was time to rethink that generation oce again.  From the A-bombs to the strategic bombings in general to the segregation and internment camps to our Nazi friendly Jim Crow society (thank you Ken Burns), it shouldn't have come as a shock when the tweet featuring the famous beach landing on D-Day was labeled with the caption "Celebrating the anniversary of an army of white supremacists fighting an army of white supremacists'. I know due to backlash it was taken down, but the point remains. 

Now Trump, with his usual ham-fisted way, is bringing back patriotism in almost cartoonish ways.  Now it seems forced.  Though it has allowed some to push back against the Left's Taliban inspired iconoclasm juggernaut.  But in it all, like many such things can happen, the core of what we're supposed to remember seems to be forgotten.  Hence, even among some conservative sites, I've seen little about this. Many that are waving the flags do so as a sort of 'take that liberals', as opposed to focusing on the topic at hand, which doesn't really help.  But some are still remembering because of what should be remembered, which isn't a bad thing in itself. Because goodness knows, for all its flaws that every generation will have, there was a lot there on those beaches worth remember, if not emulating. 

Happy Birthday America

For all that has gone on in our country, it's amazing that when you think it's time to move somewhere else, you're still hard pressed to imagine where.  As I've told my boys over the years, there are people in the world who would kill to have our worst day.  Not that an American with a brain tumor the size of a watermelon is therefore not really suffering or shouldn't complain.  It's just that we have so many wonderful blessings we can take for granted that barely rank fiction in many places in the world, and throughout most of human history.  That's why it's easy to forget how thankful we should be. Which might be part of the problem; a problem perhaps intentionally manufactured. 

UPDATE: Another example of the malaise among those forgetting our blessings comes from Where Peter Is. A young John Grosso demonstrates that common line of thought, especially among the Left, that says America deserves to be celebrated only if and when America votes Democrat and acts as the Left dictates, and not a minute before.  This is accomplished under that liberal umbrella that claims to be tolerant of everything but evil, while defining evil as anything that isn't liberal.  So they're not saying Americans must conform to their politics, they're merely saying America shouldn't celebrate in such evil times, which looks to all observers like being defined as not conforming to progressive politics.  While leftwing activists like you'll find at WPI are more flagrant with the notion that praiseworthy only means progressive, I fear it has filtered down into a common mentality, especially among younger generations.  An excuse to avoid sacrificing or committing to a cause unless it's worthy of me - and I can always make sure it never is worthy of me, so I needn't bother with those sacrifices and commitments to other causes.  

BTW, I've taken to visiting WPI semi-regularly to note the sparseness of Pope Leo articles compared to how you couldn't go five minutes without seeing new articles singing the praises of Pope Francis on a regular basis. I find that interesting, and yet I've noticed it across the liberal Catholic spectrum.  We'll see. 

Some old reflections on Columbus Day

Here, here, here and here.  It's barely mentioned now.  In fact, here in Buckeye land, this is the time when different outlets point out the effort by some to change the name of our state's capital.  One network - our local CBS affiliate - now refers to the city and city news as 'C-Bus.'  In fact its morning news magazine that was Wake up Columbus is now Wake Up C-Bus.  That's long been an informal nickname in these parts, but usually not for official use.  

Today Columbus is all but gone, and increasingly if the day is mentioned at all, it's Indigenous Peoples Day, or similar.  Of course now we're seeing challenges against everything from Washington and Jefferson, to the Constitution itself (earlier editorial from the New Yorker).

Things are happening fast.  Vichy Conservatives have long hidden behind the idea that bellyaching about such trivial things is just sissy stuff.  They'll wait until the gulags or the gas chambers are in full swing, then they'll start to worry.  Never a great strategy.  And looking at where things are and where they are going, and how quickly they are getting there, should be all the evidence you need for that appraisal. 

As for the Left venerating cultures who did what Columbus is accused of doing or worse?  Need I prattle on about that?  I think by now the reasons for that strange hypocrisy should be clear. 

Reflections on the Worst Generation

We've all heard the phrase 'The Greatest Generation'.  That was popularized by Tom Brokaw by way of his book titled The Greatest Generation.  It applied to the generation that fought in World War II.  It specifically applied to the men in the trenches, more than the older generations who were the high ranking officers, commanders and world leaders of the war.  Though I don't recall actual WW2 veterans referring to themselves that way, the phrase took off and was elevated by Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and that brief wave of patriotism following the 9/11 attacks. 

But I'd like us to consider the Worst Generation.  If we have the greatest, then we must have the worst.  And I don't mean those rascally Baby Boomers who get blamed for everything.  Or Generation X, Y, Z, or whatever.   

By Worst Generation I mean - you probably guessed it - the WW2 Generation.  Yep, the same one labeled the Greatest and cheered by many, including most to the right of center, has some explaining to do, as far as I'm concerned.  Oh sure, they won the battle of WW2.  Even the most sympathetic appraisal, however, suggests they turned right around and lost the war for the civilization that they fought WW2 to preserve. 

Why?  What went wrong?  How could such a storied, celebrated, successful, courageous, and beloved generation fail so miserably after winning so decisively?  I don't know.  I'm sure it would take more than a blog post or even entire blog to unpack what went so horribly wrong.  But it is impossible not to see that, within their lifetime and under their watch, the civilization they inherited is well on its way to oblivion, thanks in part to the time under their watch. 

Again, I have my hunches.  But it would take a book at least, not merely a post or two.  Nonetheless, it's time to be honest.  They failed and failed miserably at the main task of any generation, and that's preserving their inheritance to be passed on to their posterity.  Long before those eager Boomers took over in the 80s (and have yet to let go), you could see the foundations crumbling and the barbarians climbing the gates. 

I'm certainly open to suggestion about how and why they dropped the ball.  But it's time to admit these problems didn't just begin with Vatican II, or the arrival of The Beatles, or even those rascally Marxist Communists  In the latter case, their goals were merely aided by what developed in the years and decades following the WWII generation's greatest, yet brief, accomplishment. 

Remembering

With each passing year, fewer and fewer are here who were there.  A couple decades ago, my family and I had just moved to Ohio.  We went to a local Irish festival that August.  There was a 'genealogy tent' there, and we went in to browse around.  In the crowd of people, I noticed an old codger, walking about on a cane and wearing a yellow cap.  I could tell from behind it was a veteran's cap.

Sizing up his age, I assumed a WW2 vet.  So I maneuvered around through the crowd to see if I was right.  I thought I might say something to him.  After all, WW2 was the topic that first piqued my love of history.   Since I had several family members in the war, I always felt a certain tie to veterans who fought in that conflict. 

I made my way around to get a better look.   When I finally saw what his cap said, I froze.  I just didn't know what to say.   It said US Navy, and then gave the name of the ship on which he had served: USS Arizona.  To this day, I wish I had said something.  Again, the chance to hear from them is fading quickly.  

Now, if WW2 was the topic that was behind my love of history, Pearl Harbor caught my imagination more than anything.  I've always been a fan of 'seismic shift events' in history.  Pearl Harbor, Lexington, Hastings, the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, you name it.  Even as an agnostic, I counted the birth of Jesus Christ on that list.  Things that cut a thick line between before and after have always fascinated me.  And in modern times, few events cut so stark a line between the two as the attack on Pearl Harbor.  

And in Pearl Harbor, the Arizona has always been a point of fascination for me.  I began studying what happened to it when I was in 8th grade, and saw a documentary on PBS about the attack that included a focus on that ship. That was when I saw the famous film clip taken by Dr. Haakenson that caught the explosion for posterity.

About that time, a cousin of mine (much older), had a health issue that put him in bedrest for about a month.  During that time, to kill time, he built a plastic model of the Arizona.  It looked great, and he gave it to me (though now, we believe the turrets would have had a different paint job than we believed when that model was produced).   When I saw the model, it was the first time I saw the ship not a crumpled mess on fire.  From there, I began a life long pursuit to learn what I could about that ill fated ship.  It turns out, there is now only one Arizona survivor.  And he has supported the commissioning if a new ship named the Arizona.  Apparently he is getting his wish.

Anyway, today we remember a different nation from a different time in a different world.  I did see it mentioned, albeit briefly, on the local news.  The intro to the national news mentioned nothing.  For many who are better informed, it is still a day to remember, ponder, and possibly learn from.  

In case you are interested, below is a fine animated video that gives a play-by-play, at least on the attack on the harbor itself.  I like it because he challenges the age old assumption that Pearl Harbor was, for the Japanese, a tactical triumph but a strategic disaster.  He says not so fast.  Given what the air crews could have accomplished that day, they fell woefully short.  I especially liked that nod to cultural influences behind why some of the poorer target selection may have happened.  

Anyway, apart form a few statistical flubs (which he does try to correct on the screen itself), it's a good look for those who have always heard of the attack, but don't know how it went down. 

UPDATE: 

Below is a clip someone on Facebook showed me of actual news reel coverage of the attack.  The news channels of the day, this is what the US population would have seen in theaters in the days and weeks following the attack. 

Mark Shea and Martin Niemöller

Alrighty then:

In a nutshell, since the State is ever just, I'm sure they all had it coming. 

I was going to write up a big post about this, since I haven't bothered with Shea for some time.  But  I figured it speaks for itself.  It's worth posting if only to see a mentality we've seen too many times throughout the sad story of human history.   That's why we shouldn't be shocked when we see it again.

The Righteous Caucasians of Juneteenth

The Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust.  That phrase loomed large in the narrative of my younger days.  Despite the thrashing Christians got for their complicity in the Holocaust, there was always an attempt to single out those non-Jews - Christian or not - who risked, and even lost, their lives to help save Jews from Nazi clutches.  

In Jewish circles, a place of honor was held for those RGs, and in more than one place you can find a memorial honoring their courage and love and sacrifice.  I might say that in Jewish circles they were given more praise and thanksgiving than in society at large.  

I say that because it was mentioned recently that you don't see that today among BLM and other modern Black activists.  In fact, if you mention the role White Americans played in helping Blacks, you can get smacked down.  Either you're accused of somehow trying to deny racism or downplay Jim Crow or your belittling lynchings, or you're reminded that even if Whites did do something for Blacks, they were still racists who probably didn't really care about the Blacks in question. 

In our neck of the woods, our city council just passed a resolution recognizing Juneteenth.  I listened on FB to the reading of the resolution.  Apparently it's about slaves getting their freedom.  Nothing else. No thanks to the Union Army, the Government, or anyone in particular.  Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation were mentioned, but only to point out that they failed to end slavery, the practice ending on Juneteenth when the last slaves in America acquired their freedom. 

I noticed the verbiage used - when slaves acquired their freedom.  As if they got it, you know. somehow reached out and did it, obtained it, grabbed it, Black power and all.  No, it was given them. By an all white government that sent the Union Army led by a white general down to free the slaves in Texas.  

Now slavery in general, and the African Slave trade in particular, would continue on for many generations in other parts of the world (there actually were a couple technical holdouts here).  It wouldn't be until 1980, the year John Lennon was assassinated, Ronald Reagan elected president, and Disco died, that the last country trafficking in African slaves finally outlawed the practice.  On the whole, America was part of that radical movement saying all slavery was bad and had to go, joining a growing number of European nations - Western, Christian, Enlightenment based - who were abolishing the practice altogether. 

But again, that's not how I'm hearing this presented.  I hear little among modern Civil Rights, BLM or other Black activists giving much of a shout-out to those righteous Caucasians.  I wonder why that is.  Why is it if you bring up the sacrifice White Americans made in ending slavery and helping Civil Rights, at best you're corrected, at worst you're accused of racism?  Those who did the fighting and dying are said to have still been racists, or not concerned with Black rights, or somehow deficiently antiracist, or holding racist views.  

I don't know.  It's been years since I paid attention to things like Holocaust remembrance and Righteous Gentiles. After all, most Millennials can barely describe the events meant to be remembered.  Perhaps Jews no longer make a big deal about the RGs.   But if they do, I wonder why the same attention is not given  among BLM, Civil Rights, and other Black activists and their supporters today.  In fact, why is it when you try to point out the contributions of Caucasian Americans in ending slavery, Jim Crow and passing Civil Rights, you can be met with almost hostile rebuttals.  Or am I just missing something. 

Happy VJ Day!

Yep, it's almost forgotten.  Liberals, being a Western focused brood, tend to dismiss the War in the Pacific part of WWII.  I actually have history texts on World War II that confine the entire Pacific War into a single chapter.   To us, WWII is all about the Nazi menace, because that's so easily blamed on the West, and America.  Even Pope Francis has embraced this idea that the Western Allies could have bombed a few rail lines and ended the Holocaust, but chose not to because of our racist ways.  Therefore since we can call Nazis evil, and use Nazi evil to condemn all of the West, we like the European conflict.  Heck, we even give a nod to Normandy once a year or so. 

But the Pacific War?  That gets sticky.  We all know that the US, being racist, all but forced Japan (who we grossly underestimated because racism) into attacking us, which was part of FDR's plans.  We then decided to invent the Atomic Bombs in order to kill as many Japanese babies and Japanese Catholics as we could.  Beyond that there were some aircraft carriers or something, and that's about it.  By 1945, Japan was clearly a broken and penitent nation wanting only peace, love and John Lennon songs.   But us racist Americans would have none of it.  We already had our eyes on world domination and oppression by way of our mighty Military Industrial Complex.   Using Japanese babies as guinea pigs for a show of power is just what our old American racists craved.

Or so the gist of my boys' history books seem to suggest.  All of this ignores those inconvenient non-whites who are always pests when their lived experiences don't jive with Leftist propaganda.  The fact is, one of the strange benefits we've received from China - and other Asian and Pacific Rim nations - emerging and trying to assert themselves is hearing their perspectives.

Remember, after WWII, Japan emerged as our prime, and just about only, ally in the Orient.  Never ones to spend too much time in humility and repentance, Japan was more than happy to ride the crestwave of American guilt and shame that was emerging during the Civil Rights era, and stoked by all those Soviet bots who were seeing post-war era America as their chance. 

Since Truman had plenty of enemies in our own ranks, not the least of which were Eisenhower (political) and MacArthur (personal), we seemed to have ample evidence that Japan was truly a place of peace loving humble penitents when the US decided to nuke them a couple cities.  Popular portrayals of hayseed Americans loving the fact that Truman showed them Japs a thing or two only solidified the idea that this horrible thing happened in a vacuum for no discernable reason.  

It didn't help that there really is no way to square Christian ethics with dropping a meg-bomb on a city filled with the elderly, women, children and infants.  The verdict was in, and America emerged as the bad guy, second only to those Nazis whose defeat we prefer to focus upon.

But yet, you have those emerging voices as other nations, such as Korea, Vietnam, Burma (now Myanmar), and China began to tell a different tale.  The really big break with the Japanese narrative was the emergence of the Korean Women.  At a time when feminism was riding high, their stories of systematic rape camps built by the Japanese for the sole purpose of using them as sex slaves for their soldiers sent shockwaves.  That hurt.  

That didn't only hurt, but it inspired younger Japanese to start rethinking what they had been told about the war.  I know from a girl I dated in college, who was from Japan, that Japan's take on historical events and our take were quite different.  Much of what she heard here in the States she had never heard before in Japan.  Plus, beyond such young Japanese seeking truth, the other Asian countries began to tell their tales.

It turns out, WWII begins in 1931, not 1939 like the press always says.  WWII was already going strong, and atrocities piling up, before Hitler came to power or Mussolini was humiliated in Ethiopia.  And the atrocities continued.  Well beyond the infamous Rape of Nanking, Japan's atrocities rival that of Nazi Germany, if even a restrained acceptance of the various Asian nations' perspectives is taken.  

We don't know how many millions were killed.  Japan is not nearly as repentant as Germany.  Plus, many of the places in which the atrocities happened were not occupied as Germany and its conquered territories were by the Allies.  In addition, it's tough to figure just who killed who.  Like Germany's clash with the Soviets, sometimes we have a hard time figuring out if China caused the death of so many of the millions, or if they were all Japan.

In any event, we now have a much different picture of Japan in August, 1945 than that which was promoted by Japan or critics of Truman's decision to drop the nuclear bombs.  We know that it was a terror state on par with Nazi Germany, and thousands suffering and dying daily under Japan continued to do so up until its surrender.  We also know, thanks to a robust inquiry from within its own borders, that the Japanese high command was in no way prepared to go down quietly.  An invasion and conquest and nothing less is what they were planning.  And given the horror of Okinawa, that invasion would have been one of the worst in all of human history. 

Meanwhile, just waiting Japan out or starving it out would have consigned endless tens of thousands of Japan's victims to torture and death.  Not to mention that the American presence in the area that would have been needed to starve Japan out would have stood exposed to Japan's suicide bomber mentality.  

No, from a Christian point of view, it's tough to reconcile the decision to drop atomic bombs on cities filled with children and the innocent.  Even dropped on purely military targets would be hell and gone from chivalry.  But it was hardly an evil in a vacuum.  If anything, America stands guilty, as the Christian West usually does, of sinking to the level of the world around it.  Already the death toll of World War II averaged in the hundreds upon hundreds of thousands a month.  As many died on average in a month during that conflict as were killed by both atomic bombs.  And one of the biggest causes of that death toll was not the relatively small percentage drawn from the Strategic Bombing operations, but from the Holocausts, the Eastern Front, and Japans's own reign of slaughter and terror.

It shows what happens when good people get pulled into bad things.  At some point, in this present darkness, the only way to realistically stop the bad is by joining the bad.  Perhaps the lesson isn't to condemn the US but to learn the best way to beat evil isn't to join it.  Yet despite America's slip into that, it nonetheless managed to stand higher than many countries in an age where killing by the tens of millions had become the norm. 

If nothing else, for a moment at least, that was certainly worth celebrating. 

It was 75 years ago today

As the years drone on, the memories of this era, when America shined supreme as a beacon of hope and freedom for the world, will fade.  This period in history is as far back to youngsters today as WWI was to my generation.  By the late 80s and 90s, little was said about that war to end all wars.  We knew of it mostly from Snoopy's fights with the Red Baron.  As a history buff, I knew more than than the social narrative would suggest.  But it was no thanks to popular culture or the press.  In the 1980s, when the 70th anniversary of WWI would be ticking by, most of the mass media was obsessed with all those events from 20 year ago today, when Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play.

So it is now.  As a growing surge of younger Americans are convinced that America is and always has been a nation of racism, genocide and slavery, don't expect them to do the heavy lifting to see if anything is worth knowing from America's past.  The press today, on CBS, chose to do a segment on women in the Army Air Corps flying as test pilots.  No real mention of the overall war or sacrifice beyond the date.  Emphasis on the demographic group of the day.  Checklist finished.

In any event, Donald McClarey, as can be expected, has a fine post on some nuts and bolts of this historic event that is all too soon losing its significance. 

A nice tribute to Columbus on Columbus Day

Courtesy of The American Catholic.  At this point we realize that the Left has made an unholy alliance with any people group or culture that will help destroy the Christian West and the American Experiment.  

To that end it will celebrate anything and anyone if it will tear down its enemy.   Therefore appeals to such ideas as rejecting Indigenous Peoples Day due to morally questionable practices on the part of American Indians will fall on deaf ears.  The Left doesn't care if someone tortured or enslaved or practiced human sacrifice.   It is completely prepared to give a justification or defense if need be.  It only cares insofar as it can use such things to tear down the civilization the Church built, as well as the Church along with  it. 

So any desire to sit and rationally discuss why Columbus Day is an appropriate celebration or that we don't want to credit native Americans too broadly will be met with blank stares.  That's not the point.  The Left firmly believes that everything to do with the Western Tradition is bad and must go, including such self-evident truths as the importance of liberty, freedom and the dignity of the human person.   In fact, it doesn't seem to care about people at all, unless their suffering or plight can aid its agendas.  

So for those who get it, the link is a nice remembrance of not only why we celebrate this day, but why we had best start striving to reclaim that which the Left seeks to destroy.  After all, the Left isn't going to stop until it gets its job done, nor should we.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, Google continues it's 'We'd rather celebrate snails than anything from America or the Christian West' mantra, by posting this:

A tribute to the very interestingly fun fact about where a certain strain of optical illusions come from.  But not Columbus.  Anything but Columbus.   Again, the Christian Faith, the Christian West and the American Experiment are the enemy to be destroyed.  We had best admit that, or our posterity is going to pay an awful price. 

Greta Thunburg and the new fortunate sons

Blessed are the poor...

It ain't me, it ain't me.  I ain't no millionaire's son, no.
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no
Creedence Clearwater Revival 

What was a fortunate son?  That was the name given to those wealthy young men back during the Vietnam era whose wealth and privilege helped them dodge the draft.  That left the bulk of soldiers slugging it through the rice fields coming from America's lower classes.  Or at least that was how the concept was presented to me when I was growing up.

So Ms. Thunburg is a young 16 year old who has become an international rock star.  She recently sailed in a specially fitted yacht that was solar paneled and had nothing else in it for the crew, like kitchens, bathrooms and the like.  She already made the news before, being a very vocal advocate leading school children to strike for climate change action.  From there, she has been praised by world leaders, celebrities, millionaire activists, and even met the pope.

I know little about her.  Stories said her parents are both successful entertainers in Sweden, but I don't know what that means.  Is a successful opera singer and actor in Sweden on the same level of success and wealth as the same in America?  No clue.  Though given the speed with which they travel and their availability to fly to link up with her suggests they're not hurting.

And that brings us to the problem.  This Daily Wire piece goes into the obvious fact that the whole yacht sailing thing was more symbolic than anything.  Much time, money and carbon went into it, as it will the subsequent travel and follow up expenses.  Naturally, those who criticize her will be attacked on personal levels and accused of sexism and any other label the Left can come up with.   It's the Left, and by now we shouldn't expect better.

But here's the thing.  However successful her family is, I'll wager they don't qualify as poor.  Probably not middle class, at least from the few domestic pictures I found.  And that's what Climate Change has become.  An alarm bell sounded by very wealthy individuals demanding solutions that will likely hurt a great many people other than those wealthy individuals sounding the alarm bell.

The extra regulations and costs will be passed down to the blue collar worker, the lower middle class, and the working class. Those on the bottom rungs of the world will see what they can afford sliced and diced, and likely will experience hardships in the industries targeted by the regulations meant to save the world.  Those industries will chug along, keeping their profits, and serving their leaders who will rub shoulders with the millionaire activists untouched by the same heroic solutions to climate change they demand.  And those activists will continue on in their limos, their private jets, their yachts, and their mansions that will chew up more carbon in a week than many lower class neighborhoods will in a month.

FWIW, I don't typically go after youngsters who are out fighting for a cause.  I might support them if I agree with their cause, but usually follow the Thumper rule if I don't because, well, they're kids.  I went after David Hogg and the Parkland radicals because of their collective 'F-You, we hope you die if you get in our way to save the world' attitude, and the subsequent praise and free passes they've received from the leftist state as a result.

In young Ms. Thunburg's case, her middle finger to President Trump was a sign of disrespect that took away the shield in my opinion.  If people are going to flip the bird to those who aren't in the peanut gallery, then they open themselves up for scrutiny, even if as young as sixteen.

Nonetheless, I wonder just who will be the fortunate sons in the great war against climate change.  My guess is that they will be the ones born to wealthy parents, given passes into Ivy League schools, and apprenticeships into the halls of power.  They will devote small portions of their abundant wealth and privilege to causes meant to save the world, but whose solutions will only bring harm to the riff-raff, the lower class, the blue collar worker, and of course, the struggling minority.  Consider that when they insist it is the very world at stake if we don't take extreme actions immediately.  Ask just what those saying this are planning to sacrifice.  And what sacrifice those with no say will be expected to make.

Oh, and to show it's not some grudge I bear young activists, here is a story that really does deserve praise and attention.  A young boy hits the pavement and rolls up his sleeves and hands out bags of blessings - as he calls them - to the homeless.  It's a few pennies of thought, and will not end the problem of poverty or save the planet. But it's just the sort of widow's mite that God loves. Because he's out their sacrificing, not on yachts from the piles in his bank account, but by being on the street, in the trenches, with the people he helps face to face.

Nor is it that I reject the idea that our overemphasis on STEM has brought harm to many things in the world including, but not limited to, the environment.   But right now those wealthy activists,  celebrities and even well paid scientists are insisting radical measures must be taken, even if it harms the lower classes.  When I see them act like things are that desperate, and they're willing to do anything to save their lives, including flying coach, taking public transportation and even selling their mansions and penthouses, then I'll think the actual threat matches their demands for others.

The only strange thing about slavery in Western Civilization

Is that it was Western Civilization that decided to end slavery because it was intrinsically evil.  Around the world, from the dawn of civilization, virtually every culture and every civilization had slavery in some form or another.  In some cases, various forms of slavery were practiced.  That would continue well into the 20th century, where the last nation to outlaw slavery did so in the 1950s.

Today, slavery in a new form abounds, under the euphemism 'human trafficking.'  That it is mostly the groundwork for much of our modern commercial and tech industries (making all those goodies we crave that much cheaper), as well as the global sex industry (both prostitution and pornography), we tend not to sound the alarm bells too loudly.

Walter Williams breaks down why the modern Left's obsession with slavery doesn't seem to match the historical record of slavery, much less our reactions in face of the latest incarnation of the practice.  In fact, you might say that the modern Left's obsession with slavery makes you wonder just how much the Left actually dislikes slavery unless it can be used as a weapon with which to bludgeon the very civilization that alone in the world decided slavery was a grave evil.

Notre Dame University goes all Covington on Columbus

As more information comes out about Nathan Phillips, who of late attempted to crash a Mass with drums a'beating, Notre Dame does its best Wormtongue impersonation and promises to celebrate stone age bloodshed and renounce all failed Christians of the past.  What a hot mess.  What embarrassment.  Thank goodness it's not a Catholic school!

Sigh.  But that is the way of things.  History is not about the heroes.  It's about those who finally stand up to the evils allowed by those such as the cowardly Catholics of Covington and Notre Dame.  Ones who easily and proudly embrace all the evil, hate, racism and whatever will keep getting them praise and adoration from the peanut gallery and the best parties with T&A. 

It happens.  It always has.  Throughout history, the actual forces of evil and hell have been relatively few.  Unfortunately, those who recognize them as such as typically few as well and, as often as not, relegated to the margins of society since the Beast and the Dragon are always the ones holding the ears and eyes of the masses.  And it's those masses, getting on with life, just trying to get by, who end up making the legions fighting for the next darkness.

Remember, in 1931 the overwhelming number of Germans were not Nazis.  Fifteen year later tens of millions were dead, exterminated in gas chambers or killed in battle, and Germany was bombed into ruins and split with half of its people enduring the terror of Soviet domination.  And this is why. 

Most people, God bless them, are unaware of such things.  Believe it or not, most are just waking up, going to work, paying bills, watching the game, and going to bed (after brushing their teeth).  But then, that's what they were doing in Germany in 1931 as well.  It's those who through cowardliness or intellectual fearfulness jump on board and help the powers of darkness who are in many ways history's true villains.  The villains are always there.  The baddies.  You'll always have criminals on the small and grand scales.  But it's their enablers who are doubly damned for their part in it.

Right now, the Catholic leadership has embraced racism, attacked teenagers, joined with a lynch mob meant to destroy opponents of the Political Left.  And now more Catholic leaders join other Christians in handing the faith's cloud of witnesses over to the pagan and the heathen for their memories to be burned alive, all while tacitly approving of whatever evils any other civilization ever committed simply by virtue of their skin color, national origins, religion and ethnicity. 

Well done.  Just once it would be nice to see the Church get ahead of the game and actually stand firm against the rising darkness, instead of waiting until the body count has mounted and everyone and their uncle is now resisting for the sake of the free peoples of the world.  Just once.

A Palm Sunday reflection from days gone by

Courtesy of the always informative The American Catholic.  History is a treasure trove of lessons learned from those who came before.  Today historical studies are a sham, a farce, a club with which to bludgeon the past and venerate ourselves despite our stunning lack of accomplishments.  But there was a time when we learned of the rich and wonderful heritage of the Christian West and the United States, as well as those wonderfully flawed yet fascinating individuals who laid the groundwork for our nation.

How the press celebrated October Revolution

One hundred years ago.  It wasn't really dwelt upon, in fairness.  Not like American slavery, or the Trail of Tears, or the Inquisition, or the Crusades (the bad, Christian part), or the Atomic Bombs, or the internment of Japanese citizens (just Japanese, nobody else), or Jim Crow, or segregation, or the persecution of Jews in Europe, or European and American colonialism.  Those need no anniversaries.  Not a week will go by without several of those being brought up in some outlet or another.  Not a day goes by without at least one of them mentioned somewhere.
 
But the October Revolution?  Not a whole lot was mentioned at all.  The press did cover it, sort of.  It was mentioned a couple times.  Not much focus.  Here are a few stories, from here and abroad, mostly looking at the good and the bad, the complexities, or just a nice slide show.  Here, here, here, here and here. 

Again, nothing big, nothing altogether bad.  Not much worth dwelling on. Move along folks.  Nothing to see.

Have I mentioned that the modern Left pines for another October Revolution?  Perhaps the press just didn't want to let the cat out of the bag.

A significant day in world history

General Cornwallis surrendered on this day in 1781.  We've all seen the Schoolhouse Rock clip, so I'm sure we all remember its importance.

Alas that in the modern Cold Civil War, there is a side that dismisses all but the most narrow contributions of that period.  On the other side, the Founding Fathers have become almost mythical.

The fact is, they were the right men at the right time.  They did what few have ever done in history.  They fought to overthrow an established government, succeeded, and then proceeded to keep their promise and put together a successful state that would strive for that more perfect union.

It doesn't happen often.  We sometimes forget that, and so fall into the trap of imagining that the bold rebel or instigator is necessarily the hero against the latest Galactic Empire.  Truth be told, no.  Not that governments haven't been bad, but history is awash with revolutionaries and upstarts who ended up being far worse than what was there to begin with.

The American Catholic, as it can be counted on to do, has a good write up with Washington's actual report of the surrender and a few fun additions to commemorate this day that changed the future of the world.

On this day in Islamic history

Christian Europe was saved at the Battle of Lepanto. The Ottoman Turks, perhaps the single most successful Islamic Empire, had already smashed through southeastern Europe, destroyed what was left of the Byzantine Empire (the effects of which are still felt among Orthodox Christians today), and marched its way toward establishing a foothold in Europe.

It was hardly the first Muslim force to attempt the conquest of Europe.  Almost from the beginning, Constantinople was a goal of Islamic conquest.  And throughout the subsequent centuries, several attempts by Muslims to seize Europe met with varying levels of success. 

In the Iberian Peninsula, Muslim forces successfully conquered the Christian Visigothic kingdom (something a Muslim scholar on a recent PBS special was quite proud of), but were thwarted at the Battle of Tours.  Throughout the next several centuries, Muslim forces would conduct raids along Europe's Mediterranean coasts, even establishing a foothold in the Italian Peninsula and Sicily.  Eventually European interests would reclaim both of these.

It's worth noting that even when I was in college, Europe's conquest of those Muslim footholds were focused on - not the fact that Muslims had conquered them in the first place.

Following this, the rise of the Seljuk Turks and their aggression against both Christians in the Holy Land as well as pushing against the floundering Byzantines would set of the chain of events leading to the Crusades.  Though no gains were made against European territory, as Muslims would have to unite in a defensive conflict to regain territory against the Christian Crusaders, it drew Europeans into a campaign that would have far reaching ramifications for centuries to come.

It was the Ottomans, however, who were the most successful at fulfilling that Muslim dream of seizing the European continent.  One success after another brought Ottoman forces to the front door of modern day Austria.  It was the Ottoman Empire that conquered Constantinople.  Had Vienna fallen, there is little to suggest that Muslim forces wouldn't have marched unopposed until they reached Prussia, or even Paris. 

The Battle of Lepanto itself involved an Ottoman attempt to swing through the Mediterranean and seize Cyprus.  There were strategic reasons centered around the Ottoman's ultimate focus on the Italian Peninsula and Malta's role as a base for raids.  A good rundown of the battle, its details and its importance can be found here.

Suffice to say, the Ottomans were defeated for the time being.  It wasn't over by a long shot.  Long after Jamestown was settled, long after the Pilgrims had their famous feast, the Ottomans were still attempting to push into Europe.  It would be toward the end of the 17th Century before the ability of the Islamic world to threaten Europe was curtailed.  And that was largely due to the growing technological revolutions occurring that gave Europe the upper hand in the military and navigational races so crucial to establishing empires.

If the Europeans seemed eager to rush out and conquer, we must forgive them to a point.  After all, it wasn't only Muslims who threatened them throughout most of Europe's history.  But the threat from the lands of the Mohammedans was always real and in the back of the European mind.

Today, of course, some say a new invasion is under way.   Just as Vikings were striking north as Muslims were invading south, so they contend that Europe is under two invasions today.  One, by way of immigrants, is changing the culture and priorities and resolve of Europe to even want to survive.  The other, secular liberalism, is eating away at its values and its very identity.  Whereas Malta survived the Ottomans, can it survive the secularists?  Whereas Europe stood fast against the sultans, can they survive the inflow of immigrants?

The long term designs that Muslim immigrants have for their new lands are up for grabs.  As we noted here, when Bernie Sanders suggested believers in the historic Gospel have no place in our modern state, Muslims had a chance to stand in solidarity with all religious believers.  Instead, silence at best, or support for Bernie's call for discrimination against Christians at worst, was the result.  What that portends for the long term is hard to say. That the Left doesn't care as long as the last shards of Christian civilization are swept away means half of Western Culture will be glad to see anyone triumph over the West, as long as it's not Christianity.  We'll just have to wait and see.

The madness of the modern Left

Is examined by John C. Wright.  We're at a stage where the idiocy, the lies, the madness is so overwhelmingly obvious, I'm not sure what to do.  That a sizable majority of Americans, political leaders, media personalities, and even religious leaders have embraced the dumb, the lie, the madness just makes you realize how such horrible things we read about in history happened.  We often shake our heads at the zealous crusaders, the fanatical witch hunters, the bloodthirsty conquistadors, the racist slavers, the Nuremberg mobs, the Red Square revolutionaries, and we wonder how?  How could rational people fall into things which, even then, looked stupid and wrong, and in hindsight seem beyond madness and the denial of all reality?  Please read Mr. Wright's piece.  Then it will make perfect sense.

A poignant D-Day tribute

Click here and follow the pictures.  Basically the scenes of the Normandy invasion then and now.  Powerful, and a reminder of what others sacrificed so that we could do whatever it is we do.

The way it used to be

Normandy and what it meant to an era long gone.