Evanston: Why We Fight
Evanston: Why We Fight
I have long thought that Dwight Eisenhower didn’t really want to be President, but felt that it was his duty, just as General Grant did after the Civil War. Last night I revised my opinion of Eisenhower because of his farewell speech given when he left office in 1960, which is used as the introduction to the movie, WHY WE FIGHT. In it he warned clearly of the danger of power falling into the hands of the industrial/military complex. Elsewhere in the movie he is quoted as saying, “What will happen when the man who is President doesn’t understand the military as I do.” Which, of course, has been every President ever since.
WHY WE FIGHT is a cogent polemic. It is superior to Michael Moore’s movies, because Michael Moore takes some cheap shots that weaken his efforts. With the single exception of a comment about nuclear weapons by Gore Vidal, this movie is consistently persuasive in showing that precisely what Dwight Eisenhower warned about has happened.
Of course, politicians have always been deceitful, arrogant and self-serving; but it seems increasingly certain that the group who have coalesced around the present President are worse and far more dangerous than most.
A while ago I wrote about the book: THE LOOMING TOWER: AL-Qaeda and the road to 9/11. Read it and watch WHY WE FIGHT and you will better understand the present world.
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In the America’s Cup New Zealand won again easily, and Oracle came from behind to edge Luna Rossa. I saw an item online that said “Oracle and Luna Rossa go head to head. The Italians blink.” That’s just not the way it was.
The young Australian helmsman, James Spithill, who steers Luna Rossa, buried the New Zealander, Chris Dickson, who steers Oracle, at the start. Buried.
The wind was steadier today and there weren’t any significant shifts. Oracle won by not making any mistakes after the terrible start and with superior downwind boat speed. The Italians, of whatever true nationality, didn’t make any mistakes either and they didn’t blink.
Speaking of nationality, it was amusing to hear the television commentators get excited about “the Americans making a comeback.” I just went to the official America’s Cup site. Of Oracle’s thirty-seven team members, precisely three are Americans.
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Yesterday reached 90ºF and I turned on the air conditioning for the first time.
This morning was perfect, around 80º, when I rode my bike up to Northwestern, where I saw the above geese in a lagoon on campus,
Tuesday, May 15, 2007