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The Hungarian Revolution of 1956
The Hungarian Revolution against the Soviets and Communism of 1956 started on October 23, 1956. Here are a few photos, re-published in one of today’s Hungarian newspapers (scroll down a bit, there are dozens). By circa November 4th, the Soviets decided to move and that was that. The last free Hungarian radio station (maybe it lived until the 6th or 9th, I can’t remember) spent its last hours broadcasting the Gettysburg Address in seven languages, follow by S.O.S. The Hungarian gave the phrase "freedom fighter" to the world. May the 30,000 or so thousand who died in those few weeks Rest in Peace. Oh, yes, one more thing. I want to say "thank you" to my parents for having the courage and the foresight to leave the country and to bring their family (my sister was four years old and I was ten) to the United States of America. When I asked my father why we were going to the U.S., he said "Because we were born Americans, but in the wrong place." Smart man, my father. Sokszor koszonom!
Posted by Peter Schramm | Link to this Entry | Comments [2] | 10/23/2003 12:02 PM
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The non-headline news from Iraq
Austin Bay says that the "if it bleeds it leads" headlines from Iraq are not so much wrong, they are misleading and very incomplete. He rolls through some of our accomplisments. Karl Zinsmeister also goes over the great good that has already been done in this social and political revolution in Iraq. Would the headlines and the stories would reflect all this!
Trudy Rubin argues that the changes that have taken place in Mosul, under the leadership of Maj. General Petreaus (commander of the 101st Airborne) is a great example of how things should work, and Congress should take note: money is needed. General Petreaus has announced that his troops are moving out of Mosul and handing security over to Iraqis "as local government takes root and life slowly returns to normal." He also said that it would be possible to cut back on American troops by late February or early March without without adversely affecting security. Even the BBC is noting some of the progress made in re-establishing education.
Posted by Peter Schramm | Link to this Entry | Comments [1] | 10/23/2003 9:46 AM
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Rumsfeld’s memo and uncertainty in politics and war
David Tucker doesn’t mind that Rumsfeld’s private memo was leaked to the press, because he thinks it is a good memo: it asks the right questions. The fact that he can asks such questions in the middle of things, as it were, is a good sign. This is the sort of things our enemies have never understood about Americans: Americans are able to act decisively, yet seemingly be disengaged in the midst of that action and ask rather philosophic questions and, if necessary, turn on a dime. Surprise to our enemies, political or military. And, as George Will reflects on Rumsfeld political character (in our lifetime only two other people have had political careers of such breadth, George Schultz and Patrick Moynihan)and his mid-western roots (his biographer calls him a "child of that prairie-driven culture of vitality.") he explains that Rummy is acting according to his own axiom: "A narrow focus on the certain obscures the almost-certain." Politics isn’t mathematics, and certainty is a luxury policymakers often cannot wait for. It’s too bad that Rummy’s opponents (and the administration’s opponents) don’t understand all this, with "their calculated extravagance." I believe they will suffer for it.
Posted by Peter Schramm | Link to this Entry | Comments [1] | 10/23/2003 9:33 AM
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Afghanistan
Lt. Gen. Goetz Gliemeroth,Commander of the 5,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, said that "Apart from, if I may say so, the typical terrorist, we’ve got a new species," they are "excellently trained and ... they also have improved technique at hand." Not good news. Pakistan started fortifying its border with Afganistan to prevent to prevent al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives from sneaking
into the country.
Posted by Peter Schramm | Link to this Entry | Comments [1] | 10/22/2003 3:54 PM
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Democrats attacking Democrats
Andrew Cuomo (son of Mario) blasts the Democrats’ for fumbling their response to a post 9/11 world. What’s more, Cuomo is praising President Bush "for recognizing the challenge of 9/11 and rising to it." Apparently, Andrew has a new book out. Zell Miller argues that his party has abandoned him and the rest of the South, in his new book.
Posted by Peter Schramm | Link to this Entry | Comments [1] | 10/22/2003 1:40 PM
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On recusing oneself and the Constitution
Robert Alt pontificates on this recusal issue brought up recently by Justice Scalia, and thinks that today’s confirmation hearings on Justice Janice Rogers Brown should keep his points in mind. It is a Catch-22, he argues. Matthew J. Franck thinks that Alt is wrong; he thinks that the requirements of judicial ethics should not trump the constitutional obligations of Senators.
Posted by Peter Schramm | Link to this Entry | Comments [1] | 10/22/2003 1:11 PM
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What’s in a name?
This was brought to my attention from The Corner.
RODEO, Calif.- Animal rights activists want the East Bay town of Rodeo --and pronounced ro-day-oh -- to change its name to Unity.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says the name recalls the sport of rodeo. They claim rodeo animals are abused and mistreated.
If Contra Costa County supervisors vote to change the name, PETA says it will donate $20,000 worth of veggie burgers to local schools.
I wonder if the Germans would rename Hamburg in exchange for some veggie treats. Someone should probably ask.
Posted by Nathaniel Stewart | Link to this Entry | Comments [2] | 10/22/2003 11:46 AM
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Intelligence doesn’t win wars
John Keegan explains why intelligence doesn’t win wars. Good piece, thoughtful, and useful for everyone, even though he emphasizes the British context. "F.H. Himsley, the historian of British intelligence in the real war against Hitler, made a sustained attempt to show how intelligence affected its outcome. His conclusion, which did not please the intelligence establishment, is that the efforts of MI6 and Bletchley Park shortened the war, but emphatically did not win it.
His judgment has general application - intelligence never wins wars. As the American David Kahn, the supreme intelligence historian, puts it: ’There is an elemental point about intelligence - it is a secondary factor in war.’"
Please note Keegan’s new book: Intelligence in Warfare: From Nelson to Hitler.
Posted by Peter Schramm | Link to this Entry | Comments [1] | 10/22/2003 11:01 AM
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Rumsfeld’s leaked memo
Here is the full text of Rummy’s leaked memo. It’s short, to the point, and asks the right questions. I don’t see anything to be upset about, these are just the kinds of questions the boss ought to be asking. It reveals to me that he continues to be a serious person; even in the middle of a war that he must be thinking about tactically, he is able to step back and ask strategic questions. The liberal press is spinning it every which way, to the surprise of no one.
Posted by Peter Schramm | Link to this Entry | Comments [2] | 10/22/2003 10:54 AM
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"It’s restored my belief in God."
That’s how Terri Schiavo’s father has described the Florida legislature’s passage of a bill to save Terri’s life. Terri is being rehydrated thanks to the new Florida law that empowered Governor Jeb Bush to order her feeding tubes restored. The bill passed the House 73-24 and the Senate 23-15, and Bush signed it within minutes of passage. FoxNews has this story.
Posted by Nathaniel Stewart | Link to this Entry | Comments [4] | 10/22/2003 10:14 AM
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Under God
The Supreme Court will rule on the 9th Circuit’s decision to ban the words ’under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance. The Ninth Circuit argues that the words ’under God’ constitute an establishment of religion.
Here are three good essays on the upcoming case by James Piereson ,
Terry Eastland , and
Robert Alt .
The articles discuss Scalia’s recusal, the question of standing, and the likelihood that the Supreme Court will reverse the 9th Circuit. Eastland believes that the Supreme Court will reverse the ruling but predicts the quick passage of a Constitutional Amendment if the Court doesn’t reverse the decision. Piereson thinks there’s a good chance the Court will uphold the 9th Circuit’s ruling.
Posted by Mickey Craig | Link to this Entry | Comments [4] | 10/22/2003 8:42 AM
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Woolsey on Posner’s book
James Woolsey, the former CIA chief, while stating that Gerald Posner’s "Why America Slept?" seems "to paint a representative picture of our somnolence, but my experience of being interviewed for the book, as a former director of the CIA, might give some readers pause about details." Worth reading.
Posted by Peter Schramm | Link to this Entry | Comments [1] | 10/21/2003 3:30 PM
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Grade Inflation
USA Today notes that the proportion of of A students among college-bound seniors who took the SAT increased significantly in the past decade, but those students’ SAT scores fell during the same period.
Posted by Peter Schramm | Link to this Entry | Comments [1] | 10/21/2003 3:28 PM
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