As the United States moves towards a “post-Christian American”, Russia seems to be experiencing a religious renaissance. Jon Meacham reports:
In Kim Willenson’s collected oral history of Vietnam, the most interesting perspectives often come from the senior and junior military officers. Reading the warnings of Admiral James B. Stockdale on the importance of “moral leverage” would have been extremely useful for members of the Bush administration, especially those who knew the evidence of WMD was in short supply. 
You, dear reader, all are in for a real treat. Dan Carlin is the host of the acclaimed podcasts Common Sense with Dan Carlin and Hardcore History. Originally from Hollywood, California and born to a family of entertainers, Carlin continues the family tradition while simultaneously educating his audience. This is the first interview with him for United Liberty.
It’s been a while since I’ve had a conversation with a zealot socialist.
I used to all the time when I lived in Seattle, San Francisco and then Berkeley but these types become conspicuously absent while living in the suburbs. When I did encounter them, I was better at avoiding political conversation. However, recently I made the mistake of talking with one.
We were talking about the tuition hikes being inflicted by the University of California and California State University bureaucrats. This gentleman opined about how America was evil and driven by greed (Isn’t it amazing how that talk doesn’t stop even when a Democrat of African American descent is Commander in Chief, the Congress is in the hands of Democrats and the country is on the precipice of universal care?) and how he wondered whether he should leave the country for some place that wasn’t engulfed by “profit-driven bullshit,” like Canada or the United Kingdom.
Yes, he really said that. This brainiac really lives in a mental world where America is the only country with an economy driven by profit. Chances are if you’re at this blog, you don’t need a detailed explanation of why that is wrong.
For the last week, Ayn Rand has been a hot topic at United Liberty as well as throughout the mainstream and underground media, as two biographies of the philosopher have been released. The twenty year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall has also been a hot topic.
In a combination of the two areas of discussion, here is an invaluable nugget of intellectual discovery: Ayn Rand responding to the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union, in an audio commentary distributed by Pacifica Radio (which today distributes shows such as Democracy Now!).
Sixty years ago today, the People’s Republic of China was established:
BEIJING — China’s leaders marked their nation’s 60th anniversary on Thursday with a precision display of military bravado, a fleet of floats representing everything from a giant fish to Mount Everest and, improbably, a female militia unit toting submachine guns and attired in red miniskirts and white jackboots.
The celebration of the founding of the People’s Republic of China was immense, powerful and flawless, down to the crystal skies which, just a day earlier, had been laden with smog.
In all that, it was a fitting analogy for how China’s Communist Party leaders wanted their citizens and the world to regard them — and, perhaps, how they may be feeling themselves these days. The last such parade, in 1999, was of interest mainly to foreign military analysts and China hands. This time, the world’s news outlets reported raptly on the significance of every detail, and China’s state-run television network streamed video coverage over the Internet, in English and other languages, to viewers worldwide.
Beyond that, however, the Chinese made few concessions to their global audience. The 60th celebration was slightly kitschy and indisputably retro, a carbon copy of the prior once-a-decade celebrations. “On one level, they are naturally aware of the international audience, but in the end this is a parade and show for Chinese leaders and the people of China,” Geremie R. Barmé, professor of Chinese history at the Australian National University, said in an interview. “It has always been such a show. It is a display of China’s might and power. When it comes to this kind of parade, international perceptions are just not that important.”
Kennedy’s message was simple. He proposed an unabashed quid pro quo. Kennedy would lend Andropov a hand in dealing with President Reagan. In return, the Soviet leader would lend the Democratic Party a hand in challenging Reagan in the 1984 presidential election. “The only real potential threats to Reagan are problems of war and peace and Soviet-American relations,” the memorandum stated. “These issues, according to the senator, will without a doubt become the most important of the election campaign.”
Kennedy made Andropov a couple of specific offers.
First he offered to visit Moscow. “The main purpose of the meeting, according to the senator, would be to arm Soviet officials with explanations regarding problems of nuclear disarmament so they may be better prepared and more convincing during appearances in the USA.” Kennedy would help the Soviets deal with Reagan by telling them how to brush up their propaganda.
Cuba is running out of toliet paper:
Cuba, in the grip of a serious economic crisis, is running short of toilet paper and may not get sufficient supplies until the end of the year, officials with state-run companies said on Friday.
Officials said they were lowering the prices of 24 basic goods to help Cubans get through the difficulties provoked in part by the global financial crisis and three destructive hurricanes that struck the island last year.
Cuba’s financial reserves have been depleted by increased spending for imports and reduced export income, which has forced the communist-led government to take extraordinary measures to keep the economy afloat.
H/T: Club for Growth
Gennady Zyuganov, the head of the Russian Communist Party, gives a thumbs up to Obama-nomics.
“I said that I had thoroughly studied the U.S. president’s anti-crisis program, that I liked it, as well as that it is socially oriented and primarily aimed at supporting poor people and enhancing the state’s role. I said all this to President Obama,” he said.
Sort of makes you think, huh ?
Sam Webb, the chairman of Communist Party USA, recently wrote approvingly of President Barack Obama:
“In this legislative session, we can envision winning a Medicare-like public option and then going further in the years ahead,” writes Sam Webb, Chair of the Communist Party USA.“The core of this struggle, whether we like it or not, turns on the inclusion of a public option in a health care bill,” continues Webb on government takeover of health care issue. “President Obama reaffirmed his support for such an option and the Congressional Progressive Caucus recently expressed its full support for a public option that is government run, covers everyone, and goes into effect right away.”
The conversation isn’t limited to health care issues, either.
jason [at] unitedliberty [dot] org
brett [at] unitedliberty [dot] org
United Liberty
