Donald Trump "Truthed" the following:
The United States' contribution to the war effort was consequential and ultimately decisive in shaping the resolution of the war and the shape of the postwar world. But it wasn't mostly us. American schoolchildren may not learn it this way, but about three quarters of the overall effort to stop Nazi Germany took place on the Eastern Front.
The British gave it time, the Americans gave it money, and the Soviets gave it blood.
The landing at Normandy, the Western Front, and the Battle of the Bulge took place in the last 11 months of the war. The Soviet Union lost 24 million people in the war. The Chinese lost 15 million -- don't forget them. Poland lost 5 million. The United States lost 415,000.
Ignorance matters. Americans cannot understand the current Russian effort to re-unify with a Ukraine that has been part of Russia for centuries (and should always remain such, as Putin sees it) without understanding the sacrifice the Soviet Union made to keep this giant battleground area part of the greater Slavic people, i.e. Russian-facing.
I write this as an opponent of Russia's invasion and as someone who would prefer that Ukraine look westward toward Europe and NATO, now centered by Germany, rather than east toward Moscow. Still, it is important for Americans to know the history. Russians know it. Russians bled to keep that land.
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10 comments:
The other day Borowitz declared that we are in the "celebration phase" of the age of ignorance: the most stupid leaders generate the most attention. Do your own research, you'll always find it there.
The Eastern Front was brutal beyond comprehension. The Russians took 100,000 Germans captive after the Battle of Stalingrad. Only 5000 returned.
Nearly 90 percent of German military casualties occurred on the Eastern Front. The Normandy invasion occurred largely after the Nazis were, essentially, defeated by the Soviets, and the D-Day success was really about saving Western Europe from Soviet oppression. So, nice try, Donald! What was the line by Nathan Lane (in "The Birdcage")? "Try more gum!"
When considering World War 2 in Europe from the British point of view, it's important to read Churchill's "Their Finest Hour." The Soviet sacrifice was enormous. But, as Churchill points out, Great Britain really did stand alone while Germany observed its non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union and Stalin was content for Great Britain to "twist in the wind," as the saying goes. It's too cute to sum up the different combatant contributions to World War 2 in Europe by saying that Great Britain's contribution was "time."
As with all things Donald, this is all about branding, and “restoring” America’s story as the “greatest country” of all time, led by the “best President” in the history of the world. It must be true because he said it.
But renaming everything to suit that story, plus banning books, and defunding education and research…can never erase the well-documented and undisputed record of facts. The question is, will anyone be left who is literate enough to read them?
How stunningly, mind-blowingly ignorant is Trump? The Fifth Amendment requires that all people receive due process. Today on Meet the Press, Trump complained that giving due process to the millions of people he wants to deport would take too long. Kristen Welker asked him, “But even given those numbers that you’re taking about, don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?” Trump replied, “I don’t know.”
And somebody should tell him May 8 is VE Day,, not the end of WWII.
The left-wing ideological project has been to cast America mainly as the villain. That produced a backlash, partly manifested by Trump, that may be in some cases go too far in the other direction.
But the backlash is richly deserved.
Could you be more specific? We know about Project 2025, the right-wing plot to dismantle our democratic Republic, but what's this left-wing project you're talking about?
Whenever I have tried to carry on a conversation with you, you have misinterpreted what I said (perhaps on purpose) and used my words to kick off your own personal rant. Are you willing to do something different this time?
Since you didn't answer the question, allow me: The left-wing ideological project is an ongoing effort to get the country to live up to its founding values, especially establishing justice (for all, including Trump) and promoting the general welfare (aka social justice).
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