Stirring the Pot
November 3, 2009 Comments Off
Cold What?
September 25, 2009 Comments Off
New Adventures in Historical Revisionism
First, Mr. President, I daresay the people of Russia and Eastern Europe hardly decided to stand up and decide that the Cold War’s conclusion would be peaceful. You might ask the citizens of Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria — to name a few countries — if their polite request for the Soviet Empire to withdraw from their borders was met with a peaceful response.
Leaving aside the fact that no one – least of all Obama – has ever suggested that the groundswell of opposition to Russian occupation was “polite,” this is pretty much exactly what happened. There was no war. The Poles and the Estonians and the Hungarians did not sack Moscow. The Soviet withdrawal was largely peaceable. Except in Christie’s fevered imagination, the Marines did not, in fact, liberate Warsaw.
When you’re in a hole, the general rule is to stop digging. Christie procures a backhoe. The next paragraph manages the neat trick of preemptively refuting his own argument:
Second, I fail to comprehend how a sitting president of the United States would travel to Russia and announce that the end of the Cold War was not the result of “any one nation.” How about the country Mr. Obama was elected to lead? The United States held the Russians at bay while supporting the Solidarity movement led by Lech Walesa in Poland and others who dared to rise up against the Soviet Union in their quest for freedom and democracy.
So after crediting the United States with sole responsibility for ending the Cold War, Christie proceeds to mention Lech Walesa and the Poles, who “dared to rise up against the Soviet Union.” Perhaps those foreigners had something to do with the end of the Cold War after all? You would think that this neatly proves Obama’s point about recognizing other nations’ contributions, but according to Ron Christie, you’d be wrong.
July 9, 2009 11 Comments
His Heart Isn’t Big Enough
What does it say when the president of the United States is unable to acknowledge that the United States won the Cold War and broke the bonds of Soviet tyranny for nations of Eastern Europe?
His latest outburst was prompted by this truly outrageous statement from President Obama:
Now, make no mistake: This change did not come from any one nation. The Cold War reached a conclusion because of the actions of many nations over many years, and because the people of Russia and Eastern Europe stood up and decided that its end would be peaceful.
The nerve of the man! To suggest that Solidarity, Pope John Paul, the ‘Singing Revolution,’ or Mikhail Gorbachev had anything to do with the fall of Communism is downright unpatriotic. Doesn’t he realize that Ronald Reagan was responsible for literally every crack in the Soviet edifice?
From a diplomatic perspective, you needn’t be a latter-day Metternich or Talleyrand to grasp that claiming sole responsibility for ending the Cold War might be a bit off-putting to foreigners. And given Russia’s well-known sensitivities about the issue, I think it’s very sensible of Obama to tread lightly on the world stage.
But beyond the pragmatic case against needlessly pissing off important countries, what I’m truly astounded by is McCarthy’s unthinking chauvinism. Is it really that outrageous to credit the people of Eastern Europe and Russia for helping end the Cold War, particularly when Obama’s generous account actually reflects the historical reality? Is McCarthy so uncharitable that any acknowledgment of the achievements of other countries somehow detracts from his own patriotism?
Many on the Right identify with the go-it-alone mystique of the American cowboy, whose straight-shooting approach is supposedly a guide for foreign policy. But it’s worth remembering that our iconic Western heroes (Shane comes to mind) were strong and silent rather than unthinking braggarts. A patriot should have enough confidence in his country’s achievements to survive without needless reaffirmations of national pride, something McCarthy should remember before his next attempt to insult half the world.
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As a counterpoint to McCarthy’s bluster, I’d recommend Reagan’s D-Day commemoration, originally found through this old post from Daniel Larison, who is also worth a read on the subject of patriotism.
July 8, 2009 35 Comments
