If Biden said he was honored to receive the endorsement of a group that is opposed to jihad violence and Sharia oppression, he would pay a huge political price. But no one will take any particular notice of this.
“Soros-Funded Muslim Group Associated With Homophobia, Terrorist Defenders Endorses Biden,” by Joe Schoffstall, Washington Free Beacon, April 18, 2020 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
A George Soros-backed Muslim group, which cohosts a conference that in recent years drew speakers who called homosexuality a “disease” and defended terrorist groups, announced its endorsement of Joe Biden for president.
Emgage, which bills itself as the largest Muslim PAC in the country, on Thursday announced it would switch its endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) to Biden. The group cited Biden’s promises to end President Donald Trump’s travel bans, increase the refugee admissions cap, and overhaul the immigration system. Biden said he was “honored” to receive the endorsement.
Emgage has collaborated with a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated group on events that in recent years attracted speakers who openly opposed LGBT rights and supported terror groups. Last year, Emgage became an official cohost of Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) conferences. ISNA was previously revealed to be part of the Muslim Brotherhood network—though it claims it is no longer associated with the group.
The 2018 ISNA conference featured an array of homophobic speakers. One was Omar Suleiman, an imam who has called homosexuality a “disease” that will “destroy your children.” Another, former ISNA president Muzammil Siddiqi, said he “supported laws in countries where homosexuality is punishable by death.” Imam Shamsi Ali, an attendee who was described as a “moderate” on ISNA’s website, has stated that homosexuality is an “unbearable plague.”
Meanwhile, ISNA has disinvited pro-LGBT groups Muslims for Progressive Values and the Human Rights Campaign, because they “don’t fit in.”
The 2018 conference also featured individuals who have come to the defense of terrorist organizations. One speaker, Council on American-Islamic Relations executive Zahra Billoo, has regularly defended Hamas and refers to Israel as an “apartheid state.”
Khalid Griggs, who spoke on a panel with Billoo, has referred to al Qaeda as the “presumed perpetrators” of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and said the U.S. government used the tragedy to wage war on “legitimate resistance fighters” in the Middle East. Griggs previously launched a petition calling on the Obama administration to pardon former Black Panther Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, better known as H. Rap Brown. Brown is serving a life sentence as a convicted cop killer.
Also included in that year’s speaker lineup was Suhaib Webb, a Boston-based imam who held a fundraiser for Brown’s criminal defense fund. Webb hosted the event with Anwar al-Awlaki, an imam who preached to two of the 9/11 hijackers, joined al Qaeda, and was eventually killed in a drone strike.
Anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour, who in 2004 called for a violent “intifada” in the United States, also spoke on a panel at the conference. During the panel Sarsour warned against “humanizing” Israelis, according to audio published by the Algemeiner. Hatem Bazian, head of American Muslims for Palestine, the agent of which has defended terrorists in court, was on the panel with Sarsour….
Wellington says
Biden is not just overall clueless. No, it’s worse than this. The man (and his family) is in league with corruption and evil many times over, whether with China, Ukraine, the Islamic world, etc. Averring otherwise is dispositive of, at best, ignorance, at worst something profoundly iniquitous.
James Lincoln says
Wellington,
100% true.
Don’t forget to add in a hefty dose of senile dementia – which is getting worse. With this he’ll be completely controlled by the leftists.
If “Sleepy Joe” gets anywhere near the Oval Office, the United States is in deep, deep trouble…
Keys says
Exactly my thoughts, JL. The “plan” is to completely control Joe.
Could it be the hidden campaign slogan ? CONTROL JOE 2020
or – YO, JOE !
His loved ones may fuss, but as long as they get a ‘pay off’, “at this point what difference does it make ?”
**********
His running mate ? Hillary – not in person. M. Obama. Valerie Jarrett.
Susan Rice. Donna Brazile. Maxine Watters. Kamala Harris. Oprah, Omar, O.-Cortez, and so many more DELECTABLES and anti-DEPLORABLES to choose from. All pro-Islam.
How much is the vice-presidency worth, R. Blagojevich ?
And if Biden “dies”, we will have our first female president.
LB says
Yes, that senile old man is a perfect sock puppet through which the globalists and muslims could finally realize their long-desired dream of destroying Western civilization. It wouldn’t be that hard to do either, just supply ol Joe with an underage girl every once in a while and he’ll do whatever you ask.
Del says
It is no stretch to think a “President pedophile” would mysteriously commit suicide about 6 months into his term with three shots to the back of his head and the gun would be lost like so many Democrat e-mails and laptops.
gravenimage says
What is Del advocating here?
Martin says
Joe is a terrible candidate for president but a Muslim Brotherhood linked endorsement of him means as little as if the KKK backed Trump. Who, ultimately, cares one iota what they think, even if the Muslim Brotherhood “backed” Trump it would be meaningless.
Boromir's Horn says
“A George Soros-backed……..”
Fill in the sentence, no one has rooted and financed more passionately for the side of evil in history. The damage this man has done is immeasurable. When will he be brought to the Hague and stand trial for his crimes against humanity?
Gordon Miller says
Sure. the Muslims would like to see Biden president; he would so easy to manipulate to their agenda.
Rob says
Given that Joe has committed himself to a female running mate, be interesting to see how she is accepted by his new Muslim besties.
James Lincoln says
Just wondering if she’s going to be wearing a hijab, Rob…
Boromir's Horn says
There’s a fuzzy vision of our Country’s future I can’t seem to escape, it’s a figure in dark, flowing robes. I can’t tell if it’s the grim reaper or a grim hijab, but it’s an unpleasant specter to be sure.
Brian Hoff says
Most Muslim male would have no problem with an woman VP.
Wellington says
Yeah, if she agreed to all the limiting restrictions placed upon females by Islam in the first place. Hey, as for instance, why don’t men have to wear a head covering? And let’s not also forget what Suras 4, 23, 33 and 70 authorize if a woman doesn’t cover herself—“captives of the right hand rot” and similar misogynistic nonsense.
You defend an evil ideology which, quite unfortunately, also happens to be a major religion of the world. Mankind, you know, is often an idiot.
No better example, none, over the longest period of time than the continued existence of Islam. You won’t get this, not at all, but I stated this for truth’s sake, not for your sake.
James Lincoln says
Wellington says,
“You won’t get this, not at all, but I stated this for truth’s sake, not for your sake.”
100% spot on.
Brian Hoff’s brain is completely “locked out” and completely lacks the ability to reason/analyze new information. Like a computer that is out of RAM and has a defective CPU chip.
The truth CANNOT penetrate – no matter how obvious…
Brian Hoff says
There will be no problem at all
Rob says
Until they have power..
gravenimage says
Well, this is hilarious. Is “Brian Hoff”–really, “DefenderofIslam”–saying that women are not deficient in intelligence? That their testimony is not worth half that of a man? That they cannot be beaten and “Honor Killed” by their husbands? That Muslims cannot keep them as sex slaves?
If he *is* saying this, then he is flouting all the teachings of his own vicious creed.
What about his saying here some years ago that as soon as Islam took over here and destroyed the Constitution that he’d be able to get lots of women? Methinks this was of the “captives of right-hand” variety…
Frank Anderson says
There are times that I must offend by writing things that may not be popular. This time it is to again remind that the conditions in Germany between WWI and Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor are so close in many details to the present situation, that it begs for anyone with the opportunity to read about it in Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. In my opinion, the Communist drive to take Germany mirrors the present totalitarian drive to take the United States. In the 1000 page Rise and Fall, it takes only 200 pages to cover that period and its contests in sufficient detail to teach lessons that might help today.
Look at what was being said and promised then by the Communists and their collaborators with what is being said today. We are not witnesses to the first time, but the next time liberty is threatened by tyranny. We must do what we can to create a third choice that was not available in Germany, so that the only alternative does not become another tyranny in response to the first.
Wellington says
Have read, Frank, Shirer’s magnificent The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich many times over. Indeed, it was my supplemental text in the WWII Era course I taught for many years at the college level. But I don’t exactly get what your point is, what the correlation is. Hitler was evil but fully alert; Biden, by contrast, is “merely” overall ignorant and not alert at all.
Moreover, the Communists in 1932-33 did not have a “dynamic” candidate as the Nazis had in Hitler. So again, I don’t gather your overall contention respecting the comparison you made. I could list even more non-sequiturs respecting your comparison but enough for now and so please enlighten me.
Yes, freedom is very fragile and civilization is a thin veneer that can be stripped away very quickly, but the Nancy Pelosis and Adam Schiffs of the world aren’t Marxist ideologues, just overall mediocrities with ill-thought out agendas other than hatred of Donald Trump and an insupportable contempt for traditional conservatism infused by idiotic Leftism. Not good to be sure but very different, I would contend, from the last days of the Weimar Republic to the ascendancy of Hitler.
Your turn, Frank. Hope you are doing well.
Frank Anderson says
W. fair questions all:
1. The first parallel I see is the US national debt, “funded and unfunded”, compared directly in economic impact with the reparations imposed on Germany as though it had SOLE responsibility for WWI. It did not. As lawyers we both know that until recently “contributory negligence” was a complete bar to recovery. The mindless alliances formed to surround Germany contributed directly to the exploding conflict as completely as any German ambitions.
2. The lack of a central “magnetic” leader for the Communist side did little to keep its activities subdued. Like most guerilla campaigns even today, distributed, collective leadership is enough to keep the war going. When one leader surfaces, and is eliminated, another comes up as long as he is permitted to breath. There was plenty of Communist/Socialist turmoil that had Germans willing to accept the Nazi false promises for order as their alternative. We are doing little OR NOTHING to remove the “leaders” trying to subvert the US today.
Whether it is by one outstanding leader or a multitude of lousy, mediocre, un-inspiring leaders, we are suffering a death of a thousand cuts to our liberty, which should offend us as completely as if we were facing Hitler, Lenin, Stalin or Mao today. The collective goal is the absolute same, surrender liberty for security. Only look what totalitarian security has meant in the last 100 years: SLAVERY AND DEATH.
Best wishes and your turn. 🙂
Wellington says
Addressing your point one, Frank: Paul Johnson demolishes it in his magnificent work, Modern Times, by way of noting two salient facts: a) America lent Germany more money than Germany paid out in reparations; and b) if the Versailles Treaty was so terrible to Germany then how do you explain Germany coming back on virtually all fronts so quickly, even by 1929 under Gustav Stresseman, et al.?—the Germany “left over” from Versailles was essentially the Germany Bismarck created with the Second Reich.
Though of German descent, I don’t buy the idea that Germany was too punished by Versailles. This in and of itself is a myth which needs to be destroyed once and for all because Germany under the young Kaiser was deliberately provocative again and again, examples being the two Moroccan crises (1905 and 1911) and the unnecessary build-up of the German Navy (it was tacitly understood by Bismarck, Victoria, et al. that the UK should have the largest Navy and Germany the largest Army; this was a fine balance of power which Germany under Wilhelm II stupidly destroyed). I am NOT placing ALL blame on Germany but I am averring that WWI was principally Germany’s fault.
Point two: The Communists in Weimar Germany never won more than 17% of the overall vote, usually around 12%, not that this in and of itself was not enough because Lenin took over Russia with even less than this percentage of backing, but what really made things miserable for Germany and allowed Hitler to rise to power was the Depression. Just consider these facts (which I ran past a lot of students over many years of teaching): The Nazis got 7% of the vote in 1924 and dropped to just 3% in 1928. By July of 1932 the Nazi vote was up to 37%. What brought Hitler to power was NOT Communist opposition and stupidity but economic disaster.
Always good to have a back and forth with you, Frank. Will, of course, await a usual informed response. As ever I remain
Incorrigibly, conservatively and non-Islamically yours,
Wellington
Frank Anderson says
W. I have every reason to agree with you that Germany made its contribution to starting WWI; but disagree that it should have accepted sole responsibility in the Treaty. It has been almost 43 years since studying Torts in law school where contributory and comparative negligence were discussed, I THINK comparative negligence may have originated in a 1950’s Mississippi case because of the contributory rule being judged as too harsh. In any event, tort law for individuals is at most suggestive for discussion for application to the law between nations. Crushing Germany, insulting Germany, continuing to blockade Germany AFTER the war, strangling any hope of reconstruction was guaranteed to provoke either the national implosion the Allies wanted, or the political rebellion it produced. The Allies created the fertile ground, the Communists sowed the seeds, and Hitler harvested the crops to turn Germany into the monster that created WWII, as the spineless Allies watched and appeased. Who is to blame? What can be learned?
I suggest we can learn that whatever the details were, the German voters who were there saw and thought what they did. They saw 2 choices, Communist turmoil or Nazi Order. They saw Communist murder and brutality in Russia as the Civil War was fought, and Stalin’s ongoing mass murders in any number of events and settings, they also saw Communist violence and advocacy for much the same in Germany before Hitler managed to corral enough support to be appointed Chancellor.
The cold hard fact that Hitler did not broadcast, but made no real secret, of his proclaimed hatred of Jews, can only be examined as one of the compromises forced on German voters to accept his false promises of security and prosperity. We both know from our reading (pretty sure neither of us were there to witness personally) Hitler’s professed hatred of Jews is subject to question; possibly being more a matter of political convenience than a personal conviction. Jew hatred was popular in the circles that supported Hitler. But before WWI Hitler had Jewish friends and business supporters. He admired from a distance Stephanie Isaaks, a beautiful Jewish young lady. His Jewish officer promoted him and awarded him at least one and possibly two Iron Crosses.
Absolutely agree, the 1929 Depression was essential to bringing Hitler to power. He was raging about Germany depending on foreign loans that were thrown away on absurd projects, saying that the nation was sitting on a volcano of debt, which erupted as the demand notes were called, killing the German economy. With more than 100 Trillion (US)/Billion (others) in funded and unfunded debt for the Federal government, and many more Trillions/Billions in state and local debt, the US is sitting on the same volcano of debt today. What happens? How can we do anything to prevent or cushion the eruption?
W. with the most courteous and friendly intention I think I can explain a lot of our difference. You taught in classrooms with many people who had already paid their fees, who really wanted good grades. I taught in classrooms (offices) usually with one or two students (prospective clients) who did not pay me a dime until they were totally satisfied with my advice and plan. I had an hour or two, sometimes more, free of charge to help my clients see what was wrong and what was possible. You had a semester. I had to start with the “forest” to get them to see the “trees”. It kept me alive and protected the most important resources I have, my licenses and reputation.
Tell me what you think?
.
gravenimage says
Frank Anderson wrote:
The cold hard fact that Hitler did not broadcast, but made no real secret, of his proclaimed hatred of Jews, can only be examined as one of the compromises forced on German voters to accept his false promises of security and prosperity. We both know from our reading (pretty sure neither of us were there to witness personally) Hitler’s professed hatred of Jews is subject to question; possibly being more a matter of political convenience than a personal conviction.
………………
Dear Frank, the first part of this makes it sound as though Germans hated antisemitism but were willing to accept it because of Hitler’s economic promises; the second that Hitler himself only adopted the pose of an antisemite because it would be popular with Germans.
The truth is that antisemitism was rife in Germany between the wars, including among many ordinary Germans–it is also true that the horrors of the “Final Solution” went *way* beyond anything that Germany had seen before, or that any other faction had ever advocated.
The Holocaust would not have happened had it not been for Hitler. And he was no passive observer–he was the architect of this genocidal horror.
Frank Anderson says
GI, I did not state my proposition well. I apologize. You will recall that there was a period of roughly 4 years where the Jewish issue went on “slow” where he wanted to have time to stoke it. A boycott of Jewish merchants early in the Nazi regime was resisted, non-Jews indicated a willingness to trade with Jews even when Storm Troopers stood outside establishments pressuring them to “buy Aryan”. That resistance indicated then and suggests now that Jewish hatred, though widespread, was not universal. It took pounding of propaganda and the “They did it to themselves” that I hate with a passion, to get people to look the other way hoping to end the Communist violence only to obtain the violence of WWII..
There were more or less 600,000 Jews in Germany when Hitler became Chancellor. about half got out of Germany while and where they could, the other half remaining. About 100,000 Jews, especially Quarter and Half Jews beat the system by serving in the military. Some full Jews created papers good enough to pass as “Aryans”. Hitler’s campaign from the time of his Beer Hall Putsch, November, 1923, to becoming Chancellor, Jan 30, 1933, required many people to hold their noses in voting for him in preference to the Communists who were bent on tearing Germany apart and about 30 other parties who ranged from ineffective to supportive of Communist goals. Divide and conquer was used by the Communists, which at several elections received more votes than the Nazis.
The parliamentary system stinks and invites minorities to foment trouble in hopes of their taking control when people wear out in the turmoil. Consider Israel today with the third inconclusive election in less than a year.
Frank Anderson says
GI, additional. Hitler’s anit-Semitism after WWI is hard for real live history professors to explain in light of its apparent absence before WWI. While I have been studying Germany since high school, not quite 60 years, my self-study credentials are not the same as those of a PhD. I think there is at least reason to consider without automatically assuming his clear, announced from his first public speech in August 1920, that he had no use for Jews after WWI. I think it was absolutely real, as his orders and conduct show, but originated out of a desire to attract those who were rabid Jew haters into opposing the Communists, whom included many Jews in their leadership. Five of the 7 leaders of the Munich Red Republic were Jewish Communists.
It is complicated. There are no obvious simple answers. Only questions for thought and reflection which might lead to insight in handling the problems of today.
gravenimage says
Thanks for replying, Frank. Yes, it is unclear exactly when and to what extent Hitler developed his rabid hatred of Jews, and some accounts appear to be somewhat contradictory. It seems to have developed by the end of WWI, though. And Hitler wrote little before WWI, in any case.
Frank Anderson says
GI, a number of documentaries collect what can be found about Hitler before WWI. There is a lot of speculation and guesswork demanded to connect the dots of information that can be found. Whatever he felt about Jews he certainly attracted, collected and enabled many who had unlimited hatred, Himmler, Heydrich, Streicher, Goebbels, Goering, Eichmann, . . . and thousands of others. But some Germans did not hate Jews, and had to vote for Hitler anyway. We will never know how many patriotic Jews voted for Hitler in preference to the Communists and their enablers. I maintain that we should do right now everything in our power to avoid having the choose between two tyrannies. That is why I have my candle lighting campaign.
gravenimage says
Frank, it was not just Hitler and Communists who were on the ballot. Von Hindenberg was the sanest major figure in the running, and actually won in 1932.
Frank Anderson says
GI, yes Hindenburg was the sanest candidate for President; but he was really old. (Should we consider a historical parallel with Biden?) When pressure (influence) was applied by von Papen and his own son, who had been bribed by a promotion and a large gift of land, Hindenburg agreed to the appointment of Hitler. The doctor who diagnosed Hitler as insane at the end of WWI was eliminated with most of the records along the way. He did not want people to think his blindness following the mustard gas attack arose from shell shock instead of the medical effects of the gas; but he was sent to a psychiatric ward instead of the facility normally employed for gas victims.
At the time parliamentary elections involved candidates from over 30 competing parties. At one election between 1923 and 33, the Communists had twice the elected delegates as the Nazis.
Wellington says
Frank: I am responding to your 9:56 P.M. post of yesterday. I’ll go point by point.
First, Germany did not have to accept sole responsibility for WWI. Other treaties were finalized with the Central Powers who also had to pay reparations, lost territory, required reduced mlitaries, etc. St. Germain with Austria, Trianon with Hungary, Neuilly with Bulgaria and Sevres with Turkey. Yes, technically the Versailles Treaty was just with Germany but one must see all these treaties as part of a “larger package” of victors dictating the terms of the peace as has been the case throughout history. Singling Germany out here for sympathy is itself not in accord with common practice when wars end.
Second, German voters in the Weimar Republic has many choices other than Communists and Nazis. There were such parties as the Social Democrats, the Centre Party, the Democrats, the Bavarian People’s Party and so on. It was the Centre Party and Social Democrats who got the majority of the votes in the five elections held between January of 1919 and up to the time of the Wall Street crash.
Third, Hitler’s German anti-Semitism has deep roots that go way back in Austrian history. My take here is that the longer Hitler lived it only deepened his anti-Semitism and it is not the case that it did not exist in the first place. Having a few Jewish people as an acquaintance, an officer you served, a love interest, etc. does not negate deep-down anti-Semitism. Remember, many European fascists, including certain Nazi officers, had Jewish mistresses. Mussolini had a Jewish mistress he protected from deportation and she only passed away around 1960.
Fourth, I amicably reject your drawing a distinction between our careers respecting conclusions we have come to on this “matter.” The truth is the truth as best it can be found out with diligence and knowledge and had our career situations been reversed I have no reason whatsoever to conclude that I would have come to different conclusions than I stated on this thread. I would, as an aside, direct you to the German historian, Fritz Fischer, who died in 1999, and who in his historical works placed the blame for WWI overwhelmingly on Germany. Of course, his viewpoint is controversial, and he made a few chronological errors in his works (what historian hasn’t?) but I have been influenced by his writings as I have by many others and first and foremost by my own reflections on the origins of WWI and who was responsible. I have never claimed Germany was solely responsible but I have come to the conclusion, which one has every right to disagree with, that Germany was chiefly responsible, and this was due to the unnecessary belligerence of the Kaiser and some of his officials, none of whom possessed the wisdom and statesmanship of Bismarck whom the young Kaiser got rid of in 1890.
Always good to exchange views with you, Frank. We agree on much more than we disagree on and I like that. Take care.
Frank Anderson says
Honored, Respected and Appreciated Friend W:
1. There was a 4-hour 2-part program titled Third Reich: Rise and Third Reich: Fall on History International channel that I recorded March 27, 2011. Early in the first part it mentions that the Treaty of Versailles had 440 clauses; 414 of those clauses were “devoted” to punishing Germany. One of those clauses, Article 231, (you might search “War Guilt Clause”) compelled Germany to pay reparations that were guaranteed to cripple if not kill what was left of their damaged economy after WWI. I suggest that we try to look at the situation from the eyes of German voters then, instead of being, as we are, 100 years later with all the thought and comment that has gone on since. We face what is to me an entirely and recognizably similar situation right now, and must make decisions now on what we think and know now instead of what will be known in the future.
2. German voters indeed had about 30 different parties to claim their votes. However, all but 2 of those parties, the Communists and Nazis, stood more or less for the status quo and opposed the changes needed to “improve” conditions at a “hoped for” better pace. You and I can remember the impact of every third-party Presidential campaign in the US: to scatter the vote and elect a candidate who probably would have had a harder time in the one on one election. It takes very little imagination to see what would happen if 30 parties presented candidates. Look at Israel today.
3. Any speculation, including mine, on the origin, development and personal sincerity of Hitler’s demonstrated hatred of Jews is just that. I will never know why my beloved uncle, as good and near-perfect human as I have ever known, hated Jews.
4. W. I think we reach the same personal conclusions and goals. I’m trying to suggest a better way to achieve those goals. What would you have to change about your level of patience with clients (students) if you were not paid until after the semester was complete and you had issued a grade. That is the difference I see between your office (classroom) and my office (classroom). I wanted to always be free to recognize clients who would be more of a problem than the opponents, and invite them to find another lawyer. A few hours spent avoiding 5 or 6 years of misery is time well spent. But I had to have some measure of patience along with my forceful, blunt, direct, candid analysis of their problems and what originated the problems. I think that is the posture both of us have in trying to present our case concerning the evils of islam. Our “pay” is their joining our “cause” of defending liberty. Their reward is freedom instead of a grade on a report card.
Please tell me what you think?
Wellington says
Frank: Thanks for your latest reply. I must dispute at least one contention of yours and that is that Germany stood no chance because most Germans either chose the Communists or Nazis–or were forced to.
Not so. Most Germans were with a great man like Gustav Stresemann, but his death just three weeks before the crash on Wall Street allowed for extremists from the Far Left and Far Right to propose their stupid and heinous solutions. Minus the early death ( I believe he was only 51) of a great man like Stresemann and the crash on Wall Street, the Weimar Republic would have almost certainly survived with Marxists and Nazis remaining fringe figures, and especially considering the amity that was already in force by the late 1920’s between France and Germany.
And again I must assert that the Treaty of Versailles left Germany essentially with what Bismarck created with the Second Reich (N.B., you have not addressed this)—and the fact that Germany could bounce back within just a matter of a relatively minimal number of years only proves this all the more. The Versailles Treaty as evidence of something terrible for Germany has been beaten to death and not rooted in accuracy. Stunning this is still used, as by you, to exculpate Germany at least to some extent. Let’s not forget that while the Germans of the WWI era were still far more civilized than the Nazis, they nonetheless did terrible things like flooding French and Belgian coal mines and destroying the great medieval library at Liege for no good reason. While I am no fan of Wilson, he was right to be disgusted by the resumption of submarine warfare by the Germans in January of 1917 and the Zimmerman telegram re Mexico. And on and on here.
Yes, the “war guilt” clause was what most rankled Germans but I would ask, and based on what I already provided you about the two Moroccan crises, a very silly man as Kaiser, Fritz Fischer’s writings, et al, why was this not deserved?
As a German himself said, i.e., Goethe, the Germans make trouble for themselves and everyone else as well—or as that Great Man, Sir Winston Churchill, sapiently and accurately opined, the damn trouble with the Germans is they are either at your feet or at your throat.
You know, Germany reminds me of Manhattan in a way, to wit, the parts are greater than the whole. For civilization to survive optimally it is imperative that the whole always be greater than the parts. This is why I would far prefer, as I have said before here at JW, the people of West Virginia to run America for the next ten years rather than the people of New York City. Ditto for Germany respecting the WWI era versus the UK, America or even (mon Dieu!) France.
As always, Frank, I remain
Your admiring friend,
Wellington
gravenimage says
Dear Frank, my main point was that most Germans didn’t vote for Hitler, seeing him as the only alternative to the (supposedly even worse) Communists. They voted for someone who was uninspiring but pretty decent.
This was not enough to save Germany from Fascism, of course, but it means that at least early on it was hardly universally embraced even by many who were also opposed to the known ugliness of Communism.
Frank Anderson says
GI, as always you are absolutely correct. The most the Nazis ever received in any “arguably” free election was 37 percent. Alfred Hugenberg added the Nationalist Party’s votes to help get Hindenburg to make the Chancellor’s appointment; then Hugenberg was “sidelined” (expelled) from the Cabinet when he was no longer useful. I most courteously suggest that watching some of the interviews of people living then might help see the many “shades of gray” that are often missed. I think their thoughts and observations as live witnesses of the events and campaigns help us direct our honest speculation where information is contested or absent. We can learn from these lessons if we think and do our best to apply them. I have no interest whatever in excusing or whitewashing facts. My goal is to help US learn.,
James Lincoln says
Frank Anderson and Wellington,
Two of the most knowledgeable historians I have ever run across.
Reading your posts is truly an extraordinary education.
Fine people both of you – best wishes!
Frank Anderson says
James, as far as W is concerned, completely deserved and well earned. I hope to be worthy to some measure. Thank you. I obviously spend a lot of time reading, watching videos and thinking to make my observations and conclusions.
We must learn from the lessons of the past if we have any hope of avoiding them, and worse, in the future; even when the lessons may be similar instead of perfectly matched. As in the German example, totalitarians are working together to destroy liberty.
Rufolino says
As to the development of Hitler’s antisemitism. Vienna was rife with hate filled anti-semitic pamphlets before WW I, which Hitler must have seen and probably imbibed. He expressed personal disgust at the racial melting-pot which was the Viennese population.
But his personal anti-Semitism did not become formulated until the end of the war.
Hitler’s shock at Germany’s defeat in 1918 was genuinely traumatic for him. It shattered a world-view which had sustained him, and It made him ill.
It appears that his own vicious anti-Semitism now coalesced in response to this horrendous military defeat and the emotional shock it generated. The
Who was to blame for the defeat ?
Hitler thought he knew. It was “the men of November”, Jewish politicians and revolutionaries who had “stabbed Germany in the back” to suit their own aims. From then on the Jews garnered his undying hatred.
Frank Anderson says
R. from all I have read and watched you summarize well the conclusions almost uniformly shared by historians. Those who reflect on the time before WWI always wonder what took him to the extreme that he followed. Vienna is recognized both for a substantial Jewish population and for intense anti-Jewish thought. In spite of that anti-Jewish thought, Hitler’s encounter with Jews, ranging to the Jewish doctor who did what he could to comfort Hitler’s mother dying from cancer, to Jewish dealers who helped market his art and Jewish “residents” of the “homeless shelters” where Hitler lived for a time with whom he discussed “great issues”.is contrary to him having at that time a blind, passionate hatred of Jews as his conduct before and during WWII reflects.
My beloved uncle, HCT, father by choice #2 in sequence but not rank, had one fault, a blind, passionate hatred of Jews that was totally unexplained in the almost 30 years I knew him, and totally out of character for one of the best, kindest and most brilliant people I have known. I am familiar personally with unexplained issues. I have my problems with some Jews; but claim a dear Jewish friend as one of my unnumbered mothers-by choice and have great admiration for the wisdom taught by Judaism. The major point I wrote and spoke when conducting my official adopted mother’s funeral was, “There are just some questions that we are not given to answer in this life.”
gravenimage says
Agreed, about Wellington and Frank Anderson, James.
tim gallagher says
I have seen quite a few videos clips of Biden stumbling around, struggling to try to put a few sensible words together, and he really does seem to be suffering from some type of dementia. As someone who lives in Australia and who has not noticed Biden much before (I mean I know he was Obama’s Vice President) I was wondering whether Biden was always this dumb, or was he once quite an intelligent person, but has now gone downhill mentally due to dementia? As someone observing Biden from far away, I am amazed that such an inarticulate person could reach the point of running for the Presidency. In the clips I have seen, Biden seems to completely lose his train of thought and just rambles.
Wellington says
tim gallagher: Going back to the 1970’s, Biden has had a reputation here in America as being about the dullest knife in the US Senate.
Living in Pennsylvania as I have my entire life, I have been familiar with Biden for a long time now. He is originally from Pennsylvania, the Scranton area (Lackawanna County), but went to the University of Delaware for his bachelor’s degree and Syracuse University in New York for his law degree and then went back to Delaware to build his political career almost fifty years ago.
He has said many dumb things over the course of his too-long career in politics (e.g., asking a man in a wheel chair to stand up and take a bow—and believe me this is just one of dozens upon dozens of silly, ill-timed and just downright stupid things Biden has said), and when Obama chose him as his Vice-Presidential running mate in 2008 I just concluded that Obama, who is very sharp but wrong on almost all issues as many smart people are, wanted an essential dumbo as his VP so he wouldn’t have any competition to worry about.
I don’t think it a coincidence at all that Obama took until just a few days ago to endorse Biden for President. By no later than 2014 he knew that Biden was failing fast mentally (and with not much mental awareness even at his best in earlier years) and this is why during the last three years of Obama’s Presidency Sleepy Joe was kept away from the cameras as much as possible. Obama had no choice but to endorse Biden this past week but if it was not a weak (and very late) endorsement then nothing is.
Or, as Rudy Giuliani has said, Biden was as mediocre as you can be and still graduate from law school. Oh yeah. The key to “understanding” Biden is that there has never been much “there” and there is even less “there” now than ever. Hope this short narrative helps.
tim gallagher says
Thanks for that very useful rundown on Biden and his very limited intellect, Wellington. I watch a very good and entertaining current affairs program called “Outsiders” on a Sunday morning out here in Australia and, from time to time, the hosts of that program have shown Biden rambling and seemingly completely lost when trying to talk on issues. That is where I saw a bit of Biden in action. When Biden’s ramblings are finished the camera switches back to the three hosts of the program, who have quizzical looks on their faces. I think they have trouble believing that Biden is actually a contender for the Presidency. One of the hosts is an American, James Morrow, who now lives in Australia, so I suppose he knows a bit more about Biden and his career. I am amazed that someone who seems so dumb can advance to such a high level in his career. I am 70 years old, so I can vaguely recall that Dan Quayle was spoken of, many years ago, as being fairly dumb. Some of the people who reach high up positions are extremely surprising. I imagine Trump will win the election, but I was watching Biden on the “Outsiders” show and I was thinking, how could this guy be in charge of a country, especially the way his mind is these days?
Frank Anderson says
T.G., Biden could and almost certainly would do the same thing as the idiot Obama did: Hire over 40 unelected, un-nominated, un-approved Tsar’s to do his work and ruin the country.
gravenimage says
Tim, even people who generally like Biden have long known that he suffers from “foot in mouth disease” and is “gaffe prone”. Putting it rather mildly…
tim gallagher says
Thanks for the comments. I am always a supporter of the conservative side of politics because I think the left wingers inhabit a fantasy land on all issues, Frank, so I am not someone who liked Obama ( and I do suspect he was a person who was trying to strengthen evil islam). But Biden does seem to have dementia, whereas I guess Obama was on the ball to some degree. But I guess you are right about how Biden would hand government over to a bunch of pretty hopeless people. gravenimage, what do people like about Biden? I suppose he is a pleasant enough, folksy type of person, but not a person to give any power because he’s surely be out of his depth completely. I like Trump ( and I like the way he fires straight back at the lefties who attack him instead of putting up with their crap) and I am amazed that the Democrats can’t come up with a better candidate than Biden. I don’t know much about Canadian politics, Giacomo, but, like you gravenimage, I think that Harper seemed a good,solid conservative leader. In a democracy, the people do get the government they deserve. I find Trudeau pathetic, a full-on virtue signalling leftie. Australia has voted in some imbecilic left wing governments at times,(like Trudeau’s) which I guess our population deserved. The leftie governments proceeded to stuff everything up, leave huge debts, open borders, etc, then the pendulum swings back. In the USA, surely Trump will demolish the senile Biden. Roland, Biden certainly has a blank, nobody home inside this head, look on his face in that photo. As you say, he probably knows he’s not capable of doing the job he’s up for.
Frank Anderson says
T.G. Obama could read a speech or follow a script. Who wrote that speech or script is subject to question, in my opinion. But he served his masters well. As little as I care for Jimmy Carter I can point to 2 actions he took that deserve credit, deployed the cruise missile and rescued the Vietnam boat people. Obama did NOTHING to strengthen the United States and everything possible to weaken and embarrass it. And Biden sat next to him every step of the way.
gravenimage says
Tim, the only thing I find to admire about Biden personally is his raising his sons after his first wife and daughter died in a car crash in 1972, where his sons were injured.
But politically I can find little to like about him.
Even his supporters are generally pretty lukewarm about him:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/why-do-joe-bidens-supporters-like-joe-biden.html
I think some Democrats just think he is electable because his is (somewhat) moderate and was Obama’s vice president.
tim gallagher says
Thanks for the comments, Frank and gravenimage. I hadn’t really thought about Obama for ages, Frank, so your comment about him made me recall my impression of him. I thought that he seemed like a very smooth-talking salesman, maybe, as you say, he was merely reading a speech or script, but he was a smooth speaker and the opposite of Biden, who seems to lose his way as he seeks to speak about some subject and just seems to definitely have some problem, such as dementia, kicking in. I probably see the world the way you do, so I’d agree that Obama and his policies were detrimental, but I suppose the problem is that many other left leaning people would have thought he and taking the USA in directions that they wanted it to go. It’s so far back, but Carter seemed like a very decent person to me, but not up to the job, though the good things he did that you mention were positives. gravenimage, I suppose my main feeling about Biden, and quite a few other people who reach pretty high levels in politics, (probably some other fields as well) is, how did such mediocre people climb so high? You would think that their careers would have stalled at some lower level. As someone who is far away from the US political scene, I am very surprised that the Democrats, who would not be the party I would support anyway, could not come up with a more impressive candidate. I imagine that a lot of people must feel the same. I didn’t know about the tragedy in Biden’s life. That would cause huge suffering for anyone.
Frank Anderson says
Carter had academic credentials of a nuclear engineer, but could not pronounce correctly the word “nuclear”. Out of an exaggerated sense of setting an absurd example he directed that not only would the US not complete the Clinch River Breeder Reactor, it would not reprocess spent reactor fuel.
Having worked along the way for 4 nuclear utilities in varying capacities, I know that nuclear power generation is an economic disaster. Refusing to reprocess spent fuel increases the weight of waste storage problems 20 times. Only about 5 percent of a fuel rod is fission products. The rest could be recovered and used again. Forty percent of the heat produced by a fuel rod in its last month of the 72 months it spends in operation come from Plutonium which is bred/made in the reactor. The object of any breeder reactor is to create more fissionable fuel than is consumed, entirely possible under the right conditions-France does it every day.
There remains substantial fissionable Uranium 235 in the spent fuel. The removal of the fission products which destroy the economy of the reactor by absorbing neutrons without triggering energy producing fission reactions, or producing Plutonium from non-fissionable U-238 is what forces the fuel to be considered “spent”. The US to my information is the only nuclear power user that does not reprocess and recycle nuclear fuel. There are 10’s of thousands of tons of spent fuel waiting in US reactor cooling ponds for “final waste storage”, far more than would be needed to offset the corrupt sale of nuclear ore interests under HRC.
This was decided under Carter.
tim gallagher says
Frank, thanks for the comment about Carter. He was on the wrong side of politics for me. It is so long ago that I have only vague memories of Carter. Nevertheless, he seemed like a decent human being although I disagreed with his politics. He seemed to have good intentions, but, to my conservative mind, was always going down the wrong track, as is the case with people on the left of politics. Not that I know a lot about American politics, but I liked Reagan and I like Trump. Thatcher was also a world leader who impressed me a great deal. I like the tough and conservative leaders who tell the unpalatable truth about things instead of being politically correct and being fence sitters.
Giacomo Latta says
Lucky buggers, you Americans! All we have in Canada is a certifiable idiot with a degree in Drama, minor in blackface.
gravenimage says
Giocomo, during the Obama years I envied you Stephen Harper.
Roland says
The blank anxious look in Biden’s face is pretty scary. He can sense that he’s in over his head. He cannot survive much public scrutiny or a campaign against a pugilistic opponent like Trump. The Democrats will pull a switcheroo at convention time. There will likely be a white-black ticket. Congressman James Clyburn will have a lot of say here.
Halal Bacon says
soreass makes satan blush
Lydia Church says
This explains how his earlier comments were bought and paid for…
(see earlier post about Biden and muslims)
gravenimage says
Soros-funded Muslim group associated with Muslim Brotherhood-linked defenders of jihad terror endorses Biden
……………………….
No surprise here…
Dapto says
United Nations, World Health Organisation & The Vatican all being run by Communists & all want to enslave you. And US Democratic Party have become Communists and if they win they’ll rule by Politburo style comity
Frank Anderson says
Dapto, I have read and heard many times the reason the Communist Party of the United States of America stopped nominating candidates for President is that the Democratic Party has stolen their platform.
Bob says
Since Islam is a male dominated religion, I’m sure they will be wanting to know if a woman VP will submit (Islam does mean submission) to wearing a hijab and if she will be pro-FGM (important in Islamic culture). They may even go so far to ask if a woman VP will let them perform FGM on her body. In case your wondering what is FGM, it stands for Female Genital Mutilation. They can’t trust women who can get into sexual pleasure which can lead to adultery. Then adultery leads to stoning to death and there goes another concubine they have to replace. Sarcasm, you say, well that is the true nature of Islam.
notnolib says
Still……The best part was when Creepy Joe’s coke-head boy Hunter was schtuping Creepy Joe’s other boy’s wife!! That and “my word as a Biden”……It almost cost me a keyboard.
toomanyhobbies says
O gave them billions of US taxpayer dollars so yes they want Sleepy Joe.
Lightship Chaplain says
Sure, our enemies and the Democrats all hate President Trump! What I can’t figure out is why so many don’t see or understand how destructively wicked this is for our nation!!!
Wellington says
Lightship Chaplain: Because much of mankind is pathetic, often times even regardless of educational level and IQ level (though dumbness is also a factor and the Islamic world “excels” here with an average IQ in the 80’s, barely above retarded level and due to many reasons, not the least being too close marrying of kin, though Islamic “thought” also has had a dumbing down effect exponentially over the centuries).
Without accurate knowledge, enlightened moral intelligence, common sense and wisdom, ANYTHING is possible (for instance, don’t forget that Joseph Goebbels had a PhD). As a further example of the veracity of this hypothesis I have posited, just look at the long life of Islam, which actually should have had a very short life if even any life at all.
Man is often a collective idiot. The fact that Islam is still around, a creed founded by a brutal, narcissistic psychopath, very much tends to validate this second hypothesis of mine.
Hope this helps. Time for a beer (or maybe three).
Frank Anderson says
W. would it matter if I write that we agree on what you have written here? Not encouraging, Is it? But this is the “hand” we are dealt and have to play.
No Muzzies Here says
Obviously the Muslims will expect something in return for their support. Biden was in the White House while his boss gave Iran special privileges and money to help them in their quest to make the world Islamic, and so he knows what he must do.
Wellington says
And just consider for a moment (shudder) what Biden knows about Islam. Next to nothing I am certain.
OLD GUY says
Soros funded Muslim group, that should scare the hell out of voters. I’d consider his endorsement or any Muslim groups endorsement as a kiss of death to a presidential campaign. Bye Bye Joe.
J Plummer says
Islam is a deadly cult & has never benefited any democracy or republic—ever!
Muslims are cockroaches—it’s what they fall into that they mess up. (Read their Koran, America, & see for yourself).