Last night I watched again the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan. It's hard to put such moving sacrifice into perspective, on this the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion to begin the liberation of Europe. But I leave you with portions of two relevant addresses -- one contemporaneous and one retrospective. First, from General Dwight D. Eisenhower on the eve of invasion:You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi … [Read more...]
President Obama, Please Spare Us from Further Diplomatic Embarrassments
From Gateway Pundit, more evidence of the kind of "change" in diplomacy we voted for: Barack Obama writes to FORMER president of France Jacques Chirac saying he looks forward to working together "in the coming four years" -- while altogether snubbing current president Nicolas Sarkozy. More at EuroPumas. (Here's the original Le Figaro story, in case you're interested. It's not every day I get to link to something en Francais.) Way to go. Just one more in a string of diplomatic embarrassments emanating from the Oval Office. But keep on laughing, Mr. President. … [Read more...]
What an Amazing USA Comeback and a Slap Back at French Arrogance
Yes, after several days off, mostly busy and relatively sleepless though enjoyable, I'm back. Thank you for your patience and forbearance. Few things could rouse me from my blogging slumber so fitfully and so excitedly as that AMAZING Olympic swimming relay comeback victory by the United States. The image of American swimmers Michael Phelps and Garrett Weber-Gale in raw exultation as teammate Jason Lezak helped secure them and Cullen Jones a USA victory in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay has become indelible. Only slightly less rewarding was watching the stunned and sullen looks on the faces of the French swimmers, the favorites in the race, whose anchor leg teammate and 100-meter freestyle world record holder Alain Bernard couldn't close … [Read more...]