When Will Angela Merkel Apologize for Hitler

Whenever there is a debate over whether or not Obama's apology tour all over the world, those that defend the president are quick to point out that it shows maturity and humility for a president to recognize and acknowledge not only triumphs of their country's past but errors and faults. Here is one example.

A mature nations acknowledges its shortcomings.Quite simple really. Butyou seems to have difficulty grasping it.

A "show" of strength differs from real strength. Again, elementary.

A strong nation can admit mistakes because it knows it is still the strongest. You don't make yourself weaker by acknowledging flaws, you set an
example. Human knowledge 101.

In particular, he is showing how he is different to one of the most hated Presidents in modern history.

The days of talking self-righteously about America while refusing to consider other viewpoints are over.

To those folks I ask a few simple questions. Why isn't German Chancellor Angela Merkel apologizing for Hitler? When will Nicholas Sarkozy apologize for Napolean? When will the world receive and apology from Gordon Brown for King George? How about Putin? When will he apologize for Stalin? If you want something more recent, how about this? Both Merkel and Sarkozy ran on against the policies of their predecessors, foreign policy and domestic. When will they apologize on a world stage for the years under Chirac and Shroeder?

If it is a sign of a "mature nation" to recognize both faults and accomplishments on the world stage, why do supporters of Obama only demand that our president show such "maturity"?

The answer to this question lies at the heart of the fallacy of their argument. I believe in their view if Obama demanded of his counter parts that which he deems necessary from himself, he would be portrayed as exactly the arrogant bully that he is trying to avoid. The only way for Obama to bring the world together is for him and him alone to show humility while giving everyone else a free pass on their own country's past misdeeds.

Think about that for a minute. The president is going on a tour of the world and pointing out each and every wrong that his country has ever done. Yet, the rest of the world gets a pass from doing the same, even though they all have just as much to apologize for, if not more. He's doing this because he believes only such humility will allow for an environment of mutual understanding so that we can work in a productive manner on the world stage.

In other words, Obama holds himself to standards he wouldn't hold others to because that's the only way he thinks the rest of the world can rally around him. In other words, the only way that President Obama thinks he can rally the world around his geopolitical goals is to inherently make the United States look weaker than the rest of the world. Keep in mind he has been flying around the world pointing each of our mistakes while nearly totally disregarding the mistakes the rest of the world has made.

That's a peculiar and rather ironic point of view. We are the world's only super power. Our leader thinks that the only way for the world to come together is for that super power to inherently be weakened first on the world stage. Maybe it will work, but I've never heard of a plan in which you weaken yourself first in order to get others to work with you.

My Grandfather, the 14th Amendment, and the AIG Bonuses

My grandfather never graduated from high school. He spent almost his entire life in the tiny Siberian town near Novosibirsk. His greatest advice, one I wish I would follow more often, was simply this

no matter how much you make this month make sure you spend at least a penny less (though of course he would say it in Soviet currency)

Despite a lack of any real education, my grandfather built a very successful Soviet equivalent of a corner store. The store became so successful that it drew the attention of the Soviet leader at the time, Joseph Stalin. Stalin was attempting to revolutionize the economy into one totally dependent on him. As such, anyone successful on their own was someone that became a threat.

As such, Stalin sent in his henchman into my grandfather's village and arrested him on the spot. Charges were trumped up and my grandfather spent the better part of the next two decades in a Soviet gulag. He eventually lost part of his leg and the success that he built was eventually destroyed.

The 14th amendment was initially created to rid the country of the evil of slavery.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Over the last nearly two centuries however, it has evolved into an amendment meant to protect Americans from the kind of tactics that Stalin used against my grandfather. The amendment means that every American is treated the exact same by the law as any other American.

Now, look at what the Congress is trying to do with the bonuses given to AIG employees. There was public outcry over these bonuses so the Congress is trying to punish everyone that received a bonus with a 90% tax. Now, on most levels the Congress is trying to do exactly what Stalin did. They are isolating certain Americans and punishing them in a way that other Americans would never be punished.

Sure, the people that are being punished likely deserve no sympathy. In fact, that's when the 14th amendment is most important. No politician would ever isolate and target a group that is sympathetic. It is those groups that are easily demonized that are most in need of the protection that the 14th amendment provides. By proposing this onerous tax that targets and isolates certain Americans the Congress perverts everything that the 14 amendment stands for.

I am no Constitutional scholar and so I won't speak to whether or not this bill is or is not Constitutional. I can however say that it in every way perverts the spirit, if not necessarily the letter, of the 14 amendment. While it may appease our populist sentiments, it also perverts everything this country should stand for.

Defending FDR's Legacy

Lately, it has almost become sport for many Conservatives to start attacking the legacy of FDR. There are several reasons for this. The first is of course that FDR is the penultimate liberal President. His legacy is pantamount to the future of liberalism. If his economic record is considered successful, it also opens up a pandora's box to all sorts of big government programs. The size of the government is a nearly never ending debate. FDR's economic record is standard Keynesian, and it forms the basis for much of liberal's defense of government spending to stimulate the economy. I, myself, have questioned FDR's economic record.

While FDR's record, is in my opinion, a matter of great debate. His overall record is beyond question. I believe that any President during war time is judged first, second, and last by his performance during that war. As such, FDR carried the U.S. through its most difficult war and we won that war. That speaks for itself.

Really though, his legacy is cemented because FDR pulled off the greatest foreign policy coups in history. Sometimes when we look back on histor, we see with a matter of fact something that was truly remarkable. That's, I believe, what we had with FDR. On the eve of WWII, FDR, along with Winston Churchill, was able to reach out to Joseph Stalin and convince Stalin that Adolph Hitler was a bigger threat to Stalin's own power base than an alliance with Britain and the U.S.

This may seem simple enough however Stalin was evil and a tyrant. The same could certainly be said of Adolph Hitler. In other words, FDR convinced Stalin that an individual just like him was a very real threat to him. Normally, despots and tyrants find each other. In this case, FDR was able to pit tyrants against each other. The significance of this cannot be overstated. Had Russia gotten into bed with Germany who knows how things would have turned out.

What is impossible to quantify is FDR's skills in staring down this evil, tyrannicall lunatic and being able to convince someone this irrational of something perfectly rational. The reality was that Hitler wanted to rule the whole entire world. As soon as he was done with Britain, France and the rest of Western Europe, it was only a matter of time before he got to Mother Russia. Stalin's aspirations reached beyond his border but he never wanted to rule the whole world. FDR and Churchill were able to convince Stalin that his own plans would eventually be compromised by Hitler.

Their marriage was one of extreme convenience. As soon as Hitler was eliminated, Stalin saw his recent allies as enemies, and what followed WWII was a prolonged Cold War. This only makes the coup that much more remarkable. Stalin never saw either FDR or Churchill as any real allies but rather those he could use for an immediate purpose. No doubt, both FDR and Churchill knew this quite well. That's why keeping him in line throughout their alliance is even more remarkable. It is this foreign policy coup that is rarely placed into the proper context. It's this that makes FDR's legacy one that puts him in a very special class.