American Veteran on Veteran's Day
Honoring our Heroes on Veteran’s Day
Veteran’s Day is a time to reflect upon the sacrifices, bravery, and patriotism of millions of service members whose call to duty guarantees the freedoms and way of life enjoyed by all Americans. To my brother, cousins, father, aunt and grandfathers who served, most especially, THANK YOU!
The new page on the Wars of Charlemagne, who built Western Europe’s most powerful empire in the post-Roman period, is now online at:
http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_charlemagne_king_of_franks.htm
Charlemagne Picture by Durer
New page on Images and Pictures of the German Invasion of Norway (1940) now online at http://historyguy.com/worldwartwo/world_war_two_images_invasion_of_norway.htm
German Soldiers in a burning Norwegian Village During the Nazi Invasion of 1940
The blazing assault by Joe Stack on the Austin IRS offices comes at a scary time in American politics. The euphoria felt in some corners of America after the election of Barack Obama has now given way to fear. Fear by many, especially those drawn to the populist Tea Party demonstrations and events, of an all-powerful government seen as out of control. Fear also, by those who see government as a useful tool to correct social injustice and to aid those who need assistance. That fear is in the form that Obama’s promise is being wasted by political theater and partisan divisiveness in Congress and throughout our nation. One needs only look at Senator Evan Bayh’s acid comments on the political gridlock in Washington City, and the upset win by a Republican as Ted Kennedy’s replacement, to see the political tempest we are now in.
Joe Stack saw the government as an enemy out to get him with tax laws designed to enrich the powerful and already-rich (his manifesto cited Enron, General Motors, and the Wall Street scandals) and not designed to help average Americans. These opinions are nothing new. Many activists on both sides of the political spectrum have said similar things for decades, if not centuries, while trying to advance their own agendas. The scary thing about Joe Stack is that he not only openly called for Americans to revolt and use violence to fix these problems; he acted on his own call to violence. And then he went from being just another taxpayer with a grudge against the IRS to a domestic terrorist when he plunged his plane into a downtown Austin office building full of innocent people. Government workers and bureaucrats who are often the butt of anti-government jokes and insults, yes, but still people innocent of anything deserving of death.
While reading Joe Stack’s manifesto, some parts of his diatribe sounded quite similar to commentary made by the Tea Party activists and many economic conservatives critical of the government in general and President Obama in particular. While calls for violence are thankfully few and far between, the fact that many Americans who suffered losses in the Great Recession; lost jobs, lost homes, lost hope, may read Stack’s manifesto and see themselves in his list of travails and critiques of government and Wall Street. While clearly no fan of President George W. Bush, Stack in that regard mirrors many who today are frustrated with the system. Analysts have noted that many ordinary citizens drawn to the Tea Party are not necessarily friends of the Republican Party, despite their opposition to the Obama Administration. The fear mentioned earlier is also felt in the GOP, as party leaders see a new movement arise that they may not be able to control and which may turn on them as part of the partisan problem.
Many incumbent politicians fear the rising anti-incumbent fever gripping the electorate; as well they should. But that fear should be only of losing their jobs, not of losing their lives. America is one of the world’s most successful, rich, and powerful nations not because we can beat anyone on the battlefield or because our citizenry is any smarter than the rest of the world. No, America’s promise, and America’s success, rests in the relative stability ensured by our imperfect, yet functioning Constitution, and by the tradition of political stability Americans have cultivated over the centuries. We are no banana republic with a history of coups, revolutions, and constant civil war. We know that when President Obama’s time in office ends, either through the ballot box or through constitutionally-mandated term limits, he will leave office, just as all of his predecessors have done. When Americans “throw the Bums out,” to use an old-time phrase, we do so with the ballot box, not a box of bullets. Joe Stack (and before him, Timothy McVeigh, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Wilkes Booth, and all of our other domestic terrorists and assassins) got it all wrong. Some misguided fools may see Stack as a populist hero, but in reality, he misused his anger and rage, and took a step (or flight, as the case may be) onto the Dark Side of American history.
http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/andrew_joseph_stack.htm
http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/domestic_terrorists_and_assassins.html
Yemen is one of the poorest nations in the world, with high unemployment, a low literacy rate, a corrupt government, a well-armed population with a history of stronger allegiance to tribe, clan, and family than to the nation, and a long history of civil conflict. Many analysts consider Yemen a leading candidate to become a “failed state,” as Afghanistan once was and Somalia is now. Both Afghanistan and Somalia have become havens for al-Qaida and other Jihadist Muslim organizations intent on destabilizing secular Arab nations and launching attacks on Western interests. The presence of al-Qaida is not Yemen’s only military problem, though it may be the most pressing as 2010 begins. The attempted bombing of an American airliner on Christmas Day, 2009 has been linked to al-Qaida forces in Yemen (part of the larger al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula organization, also known as AQAP). The suspected airline bomber spent time in Yemen and evidence points toward the likelihood that he received training in Yemen from al-Qaida. Also, a Yemeni radical Yemeni cleric was connected to the U.S. Army officer who killed several soldiers at Fort Hood earlier this year. As of this writing, many experts believe that an increased American involvement in Yemen is highly likely in 2010 as,..READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE AT: http://www.historyguy.com/yemen_history_wars_politics.htm
Joseph Stalin-Soviet Dictator and Mass Murderer
Joseph Stalin’s 130th birthday is today. That he was ever born and lived out his evil, bloody life is a cause for despair and sadness. Joseph Stalin was, without a doubt, one of the vilest, most villainous dictators in history. Only Hitler surpasses Stalin in the annals of war and genocide.
Russia’s remaining Communists, though, choose to ignore his crimes (or, perhaps they actually applaud them. Being Communists, you never know what they truly believe), and instead want to celebrate the birth of their long-lost hero. For those who may not be fully aware of what Stalin did in his criminal career to deserve this status just below Hitler in
December 7, 2009, marks the 68th anniversary of the surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. military bases in and around Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This attack launched America into World War Two and literally changed the course of history. Without being attacked first, it is highly unlikely that the U.S. would have entered World War Two. By attacking the United States, Japan thought it would cripple or destroy the U.S. Pacific fleet, thereby preventing American forces from stopping Japan’s Asian blitzkrieg. In the days and weeks following the Pearl Harbor attack, Japanese forces attacked American, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealander, and Dutch forces as Japan seized the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), and New Guinea. American islands at Wake and Guam were also attacked and occupied.
Believing that America had suffered a crippling blow, Hitler and Mussolini also declared war on the United States, thereby bringing American power into the war against the Nazis and the Fascists. As history now shows, America’s entry into World War Two ensured Allied victory, as the Nazis and Fascists were destroyed in Europe, and Japan fell under the power of two atomic bombs some four years after their ill-fated and ill-advised assault on Pearl Harbor.
For more information, go to: http://www.historyguy.com/battle_of_pearl_harbor.html
Two new pages dealing with World War Two Vocabulary and World War Two Biographies are at:
http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/world_war_two_vocabulary.htm
http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/world_war_two_biographies.htm
New pages related to World War Two deal with the Battle of the Atlantic and the sinking of the German raider, the Admiral Graf Spee in 1939.
http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/naval_war_battle_of_the_atlantic.htm
http://www.historyguy.com/worldwartwo/naval_war_battle_of_the_river_plate.htm
The Flag of Poland
New page now online which looks at the wars of Poland from about 1600 to the Present.
At: http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_poland.htm