Robert E. and FDR. Despite having commanded the southern Confederate army, Robert E. Lee, along with Generals Eisenhower and MacArthur, remains among the best known (beloved by some) American military figures. In Clouds of Glory, Lee's career is examined, yet again. In Mantle of Command, biographer Nigel Hamilton breaks new ground in examining FDR's role as the day-to-day commander-in-chief of America's military machine. FDR's role as leader of the Allied war effort has been much studied, but not his day-to-day war-time activities and decisions.
Ukraine. Unrest has spread to much of this strategically located nation. Russia's President Putin longs not only for Russia's "glorious past," but even more so for the security Ukraine provided on Russia's southeastern European frontier.
As the crisis has deepened, many Americans are for the first time learning about "guarantees" (written and unwritten) made by past US leaders regarding NATO's eastward expansion after the end of the Cold War.
As the USSR disintegrated, President H.W. Bush all but guaranteed that NATO would not expand to Russia's western border. Yet that is exactly what has happened.
- 1999: Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland
- 2004: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia
- 2009: Albania and Croatia.
Pearl Harbor not withstanding, Americans tend to forget/ignore the comfort provided by our two-ocean security blanket. In contrast, throughout history Russia has faced a not-always friendly Europe to its west and a lack of warm-weather ports for its navy. Seizing Crimea quickly solved the latter problem and now Putin wants to alleviate his former concern.
A woman's place. Two items this week. First, the firing of Jill Abramson, the first female executive editor of the New York Times, made instant headlines and not just because she was cut loose by the Times; rather, rumor had it, she was sacked after complaining that she had been paid less than her male predecessors. However, NYT publisher Arthur Sulzberger said it was her poor management skills led to her firing.
And yet again, the US, richest country in the world, is the only western industrialized nation that does not offer some measure of maternity leave. In fact, a new UN survey of 182 nations, found that only the US, Oman, and Papua New Guinea offered no monetary assistance.
Global warming and climate change. Presidential aspirant (?) Senator Marco Rubio (R,FL) was talking about this topic and was quoted as saying, "I'm no scientist, man." A huge AMEN to that, Senator. So, it may be hard for the senator to come to terms with a new NASA study that finds the glaciers in western Antarctica melting at a now unstoppable rate, which will raise world-wide sea levels three to four feet. (Most of Bangladesh, just to the east of India, rises a mere 40 feet above current sea levels and nearly everyone appreciates the outlook for Netherlands.)
This sea level news definitely bodes ill for many of the senator's FL constituents, though a population decrease need not concern Rubio since FL, like all states, is guaranteed two US senators.
Nobel laureate Paul Krugman muses,"...[W]hy would the senator make such a statement? The answer is that like that ice sheet, [the Republican] party’s intellectual evolution (or maybe more accurately, its devolution) has reached a point of no return, in which allegiance to false doctrines has become a crucial badge of identity."
My hope is that not all of the displaced Floridians choose to move to high ground here in CO! Really, UT, MT, & WY are nice -- less populous and high up, too!
The "Enlist" bill & immigrant children. It is a given that no system works perfectly all the time. Sometimes the malfunctioning system even seems to work for the good of an individual/group. Dishearteningly, this is aptly illustrated as we find honorably discharged veterans who have a BIG problem. At some point, these now honorably discharged veterans came to the US illegally, but, because of a bureaucratic snafu, were allowed to enlist in the US military. They served and were honorably discharged, but now have problems because of their still-illegal status. The proposed Enlist Bill would seek to establish a legal pathway to citizenship for these veterans, but many Republicans object to any discussion of legal pathways. So, sadly, "in limbo" is now the apt designation for these veterans.
Immigrant children. Suppose you have come to the US with your parents and they have duly applied for a "green card." Turns out the fine print specifies that if your parents have not received their green cards on/before your own 21st birthday, you "age out," i.e. you get to go to the back of the line and apply for your own green card. Bummer, though the Supreme Court should issue a ruling on/before the end of its current term.
Both situations highlight the need for comprehensive, sane immigration reform policy.
Money in politics. The headline of a recent story in Roll Call said it all: "DSCC, NRCC top $6 million raised in April." That's the Democratic Senate Campaign and National Republican [Senate] Campaign Committees. If your US senator is up for re-election, ready the mute buttons because the unending political commercials will continue until the money runs out -- most probably, not "until the 12th of never, and that's a long, long time." (Apologies to Johnny Mathis)
Middle East, religion & politics. This linked Foreign Policy article is a thoughtful exchange between friends with long ties to Israel about that nation's history and its interaction with the American Jewry. From this same article comes this observation by one of the author, David Rothkopf. "History is the story of the human catastrophe that results when states promote religious ends or use religious criteria to guide their governance."
