Thursday, February 8, 1945. Offensives started in the East and West.

The Red Army launched the Lower Silesian Offensive (Нижне-Силезская наступательная операция)

The Western Allies launched Operation Veritable.

Day G. Turner performed the actions that resulted in his being awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor.

He commanded a 9-man squad with the mission of holding a critical flank position. When overwhelming numbers of the enemy attacked under cover of withering artillery, mortar, and rocket fire, he withdrew his squad into a nearby house, determined to defend it to the last man. The enemy attacked again and again and were repulsed with heavy losses. Supported by direct tank fire, they finally gained entrance, but the intrepid sergeant refused to surrender although 5 of his men were wounded and 1 was killed. He boldly flung a can of flaming oil at the first wave of attackers, dispersing them, and fought doggedly from room to room, closing with the enemy in fierce hand-to-hand encounters. He hurled handgrenade for handgrenade, bayoneted 2 fanatical Germans who rushed a doorway he was defending and fought on with the enemy's weapons when his own ammunition was expended. The savage fight raged for 4 hours, and finally, when only 3 men of the defending squad were left unwounded, the enemy surrendered. Twenty-five prisoners were taken, 11 enemy dead and a great number of wounded were counted. Sgt. Turner's valiant stand will live on as a constant inspiration to his comrades. His heroic, inspiring leadership, his determination and courageous devotion to duty exemplify the highest tradition of the military service.

Soviet POWs led by Mikhail Devyatayev escaped from Peenemünde.

Yalta continued on.  The notes from Communist spy Alger Hiss, part of the US delegation from that day:

2/8 After the noon meeting of {Tel. to Dept re Assoc. Ns}

For Sees, Jebb, Gromyko & A H

met as committee to discuss Un Ns

Conference procedure. A. H. ex- 2/8

Plenary

4.30 p m

plain ed State Dept views but said Pres.

had not approved. After lunch before

plenary session ERS cleared all with Pres.

& A H told Gromyko & sent word to Jebb

Pres called on Eden to report for For Mins

Ed: We met to consider etc. & read his report

re place Ed. repeated his statement of this morning that next meeting of For Mins be held in Lon & that seemed to meet with a measure of approval

Ed: Reason for saying those who are members now should be invited was to prevent nations from becoming Un Ns Just to be invited Understands Am. Del. has different view

St: I have the list of states which declared war on Ger I count this no. into official members of the Ass. Among these are 10 which [Page 783]have no dip. rels with S. U. We will together with them build up world security——

Pres: I think many of them will be glad to recog & est. dip. rels with S U. Haven’t got round to it yet. In few is very strong Cath. Church influence At same time we recognize most of these who have not exch. dip. rels with Sov Un. have sat with Sov Un at Bretton Woods & other dip. conferences held.

St.: That’s right but on other hand is very diff. build up world sec. with countries which don’t recog. Sov Un

Pres: Easiest way to est. complete dip rels. is to invite them. That involves matter of history which should be explained. 3 yrs. ago Actg Sec State Welles told number of these states not nec. to declare on Ger. but should break all rels. So there are 5 or 6 of these which expect to be invited—& are in good standing Sec. of State has embarrassed me further by bringing this to my attention 1 month ago. As a result I sent a letter to the 6 pres. of these 6 reps explaining that if they wanted to be invited they should declare war on either Japan or Ger. Ecuador has declared war but hasn’t had chance sign Un Ns decl. Paraguay will soon. Peru, Venezuela etc (not Chile, soon) Will be embarrassing if not invited. In meantime in past 4 yrs. all of these nations have helped us in waging war because large part of raw materials for munitions of war came from them.

Result is I’m in a somewhat diff. position

St: Not discussed today

Pres: We have phrase Associated Ns meaning nations which have broken rels but haven’t declared war.

The list of nations which Mr Stett gave to Mr Molotov at lunch today

St. asked about Argentine

Pres: Not an assoc. nation

St: If “associates” come in that would include Argentina. Would include Turkey

Pres. My idea & it would save my life would be to invite those who have are on the list who have helped us on condition that they declare war.

St: Before or after they declare war

Pres: Before, put a time limit, say 1st of March

St: Agreed

Church: I am glad to say these nations would be required to declare war before they would be invited to the Conf. Of course I feel like Marshall St that some of them have played a poor part, waiting to see who would win. Now it’s quite safe they would like to come in Will have depressing effect on Ger to realize another batch has come in. [Page 784]Might also have effect on other hostile belligerents to see how whole world is turning ag. them

Pres: I should like to add one name to list for sake of clarity—newest rep. in world Iceland

Church: re Eg. HMG feel special resp. On 2 occasions were willing to declare war It was more convenient to us to have them stay formally neutral

Pres: In other words you’re in same fix I’m in

Church Also I must say on behalf of Eg that when enemy was only 30 miles from capital Egyptian Army rendered service, guarded bridges, communs & generally was more helpful than if she had declared war & made Cairo subject to air bombardment ∴Feel if Eg. now feels she wanted to declare war she should have the opportunity

Iceland also rendered very val. services. At a time when the U. S. had not herself had entered the war she admitted Brit & US troops, violated her neutrality in a marked fashion & guarded a life line across the Atlantic. I think those two have certainly a case provided they declare war

Is it intended any nation which declares war.

Pres: no, only the Assoc Ns

(Italy, Ireland—no)

Church: I shall mention a name which I think will cause universal satisfaction—Turkey T. made an alliance with us before the war at a very dangerous time. But when the war broke out, after it had been going on little while, T’s found their army was not equipped with any of weapons that decide modern battles. But att. has been friendly although they would not take the opportunity which was offered to us yr. ago

St. says all right if by end of Feb. It will declare war

Ger. is not yet defeated war & war hardly will terminate by end of Feb.

Pres: One other case—curious case.

Den.2 was invaded. Has been under Ger. domination since

Only one man claimed to represent Den. was the the Dan. Min. in Wash. He could not declare war but he disowned acts of his own govt

Would be with us 100% if they could

Church: Have they agreed to the independence of Iceland?

I do not think it is of very great importance. I think Mar & Pres are quite right in letting any one come to the party who declares war by end of month

[Page 785]

St & Denmark could wait

Pres Yes

Church: She would have a perfect right to come if she is able to speak

Pres Amend Un Ns & also those of assoc. powers & T. who declare war by Mar 1

Church All who declare war

Ed. Un Ns as they exist on the 1st of Mar.

Church:

Pres Ger. or Japan

Common enemy

Mol Would it not facilitate position of Sov. Reps if they would sign Decl. of Un Ns before 1st of Mar.

Pres I think its easier to take the list we’ve got. San Marino & Andorra might sign, nations like that

Church. What is the position

St: But T is not fighting

Pres: read list of Assoc. Ns & T only if they declare war

Mol: If Uk & Byelo-R sign decl before 1st of Mar.

Pres. That had been settled in this formula We are prepared to support them.

St. I propose to name the Reps, which would be invited: Uk & Byelo-R. To call them by name in this protocol and secondly I propose that they should sign the Decl of Un Ns before 1st of Mar. Change the protocol

Church Delay invitations to two states of Sov. Un till we are all met If so many new ones are to be brought in now be confusing

St: I have point out that’s not quite logical. 3 great powers agree to seat White R & Uk But some might say they haven’t signed

Church: Two R states should be treated same as other late arrivals

St. I wouldn’t like to embarrass Pres. What is his difficulty. I might withdraw my proposal

Pres: Only technical. We have been discussing admitting other people. Uk & Wh R are not other people they are here already. We & UK will support it. We change SU from 1 vote to 3 right here. Why 3, why not 4, 5, 6?

St. Withdrew his request. But names of the two republics should be in the report

Poland

" "The Dirty Dozen" - the last remaining members of the original 161st Regt. Combat Team, 25th Inf. in San Manuel, Luzon, P.I. 8 February, 1945. 25th Infantry Division."

The  Alaskan Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945 passed thanks to the efforts of Tlingit Elizabeth Peratrovich.

Last edition:

Tuesday, February 6, 1945. False hopes at Manila.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Army, Battle of Berlin, Battle of Manila, Douglas MacArthur, German SS, German Wehrmacht, Iwo Jima, Personalities, Philippines, Yugoslav Partisans

Monday, February 5, 1945. French SOE agents Denise Bloch, Lilian Rolfe, and Violette Szabo were executed at Ravensbrück concentration camp.

"British 61st Heavy Regt., 31 Btry., "A" Sub. 7.2 howitzer firing. Gabbiano area, Italy. 5 February, 1945. Photographer: Schmidt, 3131st Signal Service Co."

It was Monday, and news magazines were out.  Stalin was on the cover of Time.  German POWs were featured on Newsweek.  A smiling young woman in a swimsuit was on the cover of Life, which had an article on Florida.

Ecuador declared war on Japan.

The Red Army crossed the Oder at Brzeg.

The US 7th Army and linked up with French forces splitting the Colmar pocket.

SOE agents Denise Bloch, Lilian Rolfe, and Violette Szabo were executed at Ravensbrück concentration camp.  All three women were heroic.

Szabo.

High ranking SOE figure, Vera Atkins, dedicated her immediate post war efforts to detecting who was responsible for all three agents deaths.  A woman of great mystery herself, she was Romanian and Jewish, but easily passed for English.

Bloch, who was as French Jewish refugee.

Violette Szabo is particularly well remembered and was the topic of at least one movie.

Rolfe.

The SOE tends to be well remembered, but it had been penetrated causing some agents, such as Szabo, to be picked up nearly as soon as they were left on the ground.  Who the leak was, was never detected.

The U-41 was sunk by the HMS Antelope off of Lands End.

Hard fighting occured near Manila, where Lt. Robert M. Vale would perform the actions that would lead to a posthumous Medal of Honor being conveyed to him.

He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. Forced by the enemy's detonation of prepared demolitions to shift the course of his advance through the city, he led the 1st platoon toward a small bridge, where heavy fire from 3 enemy pillboxes halted the unit. With 2 men he crossed the bridge behind screening grenade smoke to attack the pillboxes. The first he knocked out himself while covered by his men's protecting fire; the other 2 were silenced by 1 of his companions and a bazooka team which he had called up. He suffered a painful wound in the right arm during the action. After his entire platoon had joined him, he pushed ahead through mortar fire and encircling flames. Blocked from the only escape route by an enemy machinegun placed at a street corner, he entered a nearby building with his men to explore possible means of reducing the emplacement. In 1 room he found civilians huddled together, in another, a small window placed high in the wall and reached by a ladder. Because of the relative positions of the window, ladder, and enemy emplacement, he decided that he, being left-handed, could better hurl a grenade than 1 of his men who had made an unsuccessful attempt. Grasping an armed grenade, he started up the ladder. His wounded right arm weakened, and, as he tried to steady himself, the grenade fell to the floor. In the 5 seconds before the grenade would explode, he dropped down, recovered the grenade and looked for a place to dispose of it safely. Finding no way to get rid of the grenade without exposing his own men or the civilians to injury or death, he turned to the wall, held it close to his body and bent over it as it exploded. 2d Lt. Viale died in a few minutes, but his heroic act saved the lives of others.

In the same battle, then TSgt Donald E. Rudolph would perform the actions that would lead to the same award.

Second Lt. Rudolph (then TSgt.) was acting as platoon leader at Munoz, Luzon, Philippine Islands. While administering first aid on the battlefield, he observed enemy fire issuing from a nearby culvert. Crawling to the culvert with rifle and grenades, he killed three of the enemy concealed there. He then worked his way across open terrain toward a line of enemy pillboxes which had immobilized his company. Nearing the first pillbox, he hurled a grenade through its embrasure and charged the position. With his bare hands he tore away the wood and tin covering, then dropped a grenade through the opening, killing the enemy gunners and destroying their machine gun. Ordering several riflemen to cover his further advance, 2d Lt. Rudolph seized a pick mattock and made his way to a second pillbox. Piercing its top with the mattock, he dropped a grenade through the hole, firing several rounds from his rifle into it, and smothered any surviving enemy by sealing the hole and the embrasure with earth. In quick succession he attacked and neutralized six more pillboxes. Later, when his platoon was attacked by an enemy tank, he advanced under covering fire, climbed to the top of the tank, and dropped a white phosphorus grenade through the turret, destroying the crew. Through his outstanding heroism, superb courage, and leadership, and complete disregard for his own safety, 2d Lt. Rudolph cleared a path for an advance which culminated in one of the most decisive victories of the Philippine campaign.

Rudolph survived the war and completed a career in the Army, retiring in 1963.

The RAF Balloon Command was disbanded.

The Japanese carrier-battleship Ise, was damaged by a mine off Indochina.

The USAAF hit Iwo Jima again.

The Greek Communist Party accepted the governments terms for amnesty.

The US-bred filly Big Racket set the world record for fastest average speed set by a racehorse at the Clasico Dia del Charro held at Mexicos Hipodromo de las Americas.

Last edition:

Sunday, February 4, 1945. The Yalta Conference begins.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, Battle of Manila, British Army, Burma, Indian Army, Iwo Jima, Joseph Stalin, Philippines, Roosevelt, U.S. Air Force, Winston Churchill, World War Two, Yalta Conference

Pandemic Part 10. A new paradigm?

 

February 17, 2022

The Center for Disease Control estimates that, taking the massive spread of Omicron around the country into account and the final relatively high vaccination rate in the country, 73% of the nation is now immune from the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, i.e. COVID 19.

Nobody is really sure exactly what that means.  But it might mean that we're entering a phase where the virus doesn't disappear, but it's much less disruptive to society.

It's still the case, however, that it remains a danger for the unvaccinated.

March 1, 2022

Wyoming's public health emergency shall expire on March 14.

March 21, 2022

A new variant of Omicron has developed, which is about 30% more transmissible than the already more transmissible Omicron.  It's spiking in Europe and in Hong Kong has caused an outbreak with a massive death rate, mostly concentrated in the unvaccinated elderly.

China has reported its first deaths in many months.

According to experts, the world is about 50% through the probable course of the pandemic.

April 14, 2022

Over 1,000,000 Americans have now died from the COVID 19.

July 22, 2022

President Biden has COVID 19.

At this point, two members of our four member family also have, with one having had it quite recently and finding it awful, but being grateful accordingly for having been vaccinated.

A new, more traditional type of vaccine, has now been approved.

September 20, 2022

On 60 Minutes over the weekend, President Biden stated; "The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We're still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over."  The HHS Secretary later confirmed that position.

Epidemiologically, it isn't over, but then neither is the plague's pandemic either.  The statement has been criticized, with 400 people per day dying of the disease, but by and large it reflects the mood of the public which has largely gone back to a new post Covid introduction, world in which COVID 19 is part of the background.

December 15, 2022

The new defense spending authorization includes a requirement that the Secretary of Defense rescind vaccination requirements for troops because, well because that's the idiotic sort of thing that politicians like to stick into bills.

All of the troops should be vaccinated.

December 24, 2022

China, which has not accepted western vaccines, reported 37,000,000 new vaccinations in a single day.

January 2, 2023

A new variant of Omicron, XBB.1.5, now makes up 40% of the new cases in the U.S.

And Covid is still killing.

January 20, 2023

Governor Gordon Tests Positive for COVID-19

CHEYENNE, Wyo. –  Governor Mark Gordon has received results of a COVID-19 test that showed he is positive for the virus. The Governor is experiencing only minor symptoms at this time and will continue working from home on behalf of Wyoming. 

March 1, 2023

The Washington Post broke a story that the Department of Energy issued a report believing, with "low confidence", that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated in a Chinese lab.

A really good analysis of this story can be found here:  

Why Scientists, Lawmakers & Diplomats Care Where COVID Began

In actuality, the Biden Administration early on ordered governmental intelligence agencies to get to the bottom of the virus' origin.  Eight intelligence agencies were assigned to the tasks, two of which have concluded, but with confidence doubts, that the virus was natural in origin. Two, we know now, felt the opposite, with it already known since 2021 what the FBI felt, with "moderate confidence" that the origin was a Chinese lab.  Two just haven't reported.

None of this kept some from claiming that it's now proven that the virus originated in the lab.

FWIW, private scientists, as opposed to intelligence agencies, overwhelmingly feel that it originated due to animal transfer in the Wuhan market.

March 18, 2023

Recent evidence points to raccoon dogs at the Wuhan market as the source.

April 11, 2023

President Biden declared the COVID emergency to be over.

August 22, 2023

Declared over or not, two new strains are on the loose and a new booster should be available mid September.

April 12, 2024

The CDC has found there's no link between the COVID vaccines and cardiac arrest in young people.

Not that this is a surprise.

It'll make no difference in the anti-scientific atmosphere of the day. A society that can believe that legalizing marijuana, which is largely untested and wholly unregulated, and that Donald Trump won hte 2020 election, will still believe that the vaccine is risky, but cause it wishes to.

June 15, 2024

Reuters has revealed that during the height of the pandemic, the US ran an anti-vax campaign in the Philippines to try to undermine Chinese efforts there.

There's no excuse for that whatsoever.

November 18, 2024

Is it the flu or is it COVID? One at-home test can tell you

January 26, 2025

The Central Intelligence Agency revised its report on the origin of COVID reporting, with low confidence, that a Chinese laboratory is to blame.

This was a report that was completed during the Biden Administration and was just now released.  It's being released now is unfortunate, in that it comes during the Trump Interregnum which is packed with people who generally have a contempt for science, which this will slightly fuel if anyone notices it given all the distraction at the present time.  Most Scientists think the most likely hypothesis is that it circulated in bats, like many coronaviruses, before infecting another species.

Last prior installment:

Pandemic Part 9. Omicron becomes dominant

If Trump isn't demented, what is he?

I've consistently advocated the theory that Donald Trump has a rapidly progressing case of dementia, and I'll stand by it, even though I have no qualifications to maintain that at all.

But what if he isn't demented. How do you explain his behavior?

We'll take a look.

He's just stupid

This is a real possibility.

There's no real reason to believe that Trump is intelligent.  His success in business, which is often cited is pretty much based on his having inherited a vast amount of wealth.  As studies have shown, people who inherit a lot of money are likely remain wealthy no matter what.  It actually takes real effort for them to fall down into a lower economic class.

There's plenty of evidence that Trump is simply dumb.  He appears to say whatever floats through his head he adopts the views of people around him without thought, he asks questions of his aid that are really, well, dumb.

And really stupid people often tend to be either profoundly kind, or profoundly mean.  Trump seems to fit in to the latter category.  The nuances of morality that most people have require some degree of intelligence.  Trump simply lacks that, perhaps, so being really mean just comes naturally to him.

How then did he get to be President?

Well one thing is that people tend to assume that wealth equals smarts.  He has a lot of money, so he  must be smart, right?

Nope.

But as people tend to believe that, they tend also to fill in the blanks for the stupid person so that their support of him is rationalized.

In the past, we saw that a lot with sports.  Some sports figure may be as dumb as a box of rock, but as people want to idolize him, they make excuses for everything the person says or does.

And the entire celebrity worship thing in American culture is part of that.  People take seriously things celebrities say, as they must be smart, or they wouldn't be celebrities, right?

To add to it, the dumb int he public eye tend, normally to be protected by handlers, which Trump was up until very recently.  Now that he's not the stupidity of much of what he says and does is really coming to the forefront.

Finally, intelligence is complicated.  There are polymaths who are sort of universally intelligent, but there are also people who can excel at one thing without really being smart at anything else.  Trump clearly has skills as a salesman.  That frankly seems to be the only talent he has.

On that, I've known a few salesmen really well and often been surprised by how little interest they have in the topic of what they sell, or anything else.  An extremely successful real estate broker I know, for example surprised me when he revealed he had once been a car salesman.  They are, however, both sales.

A car salesman that I knew once surprised me in a conversation by revealing he really knew nothing about automobiles at all, and wasn't interested in them.  Cars bored him pretty clearly, but he was really good at selling them.  Selling is what interested him.

Trump may very well be like that.  He has good sales skills, which doesn't mean he's really very interested in anything he's selling.

A problem with the stupid is that they won't acknowledge it.  I don't think its true that most stupid people don't have an inkling they're dumb, but how they react to it is different.  Some simply accept it.  Others reject it.  Some seek constant affirmation that they aren't dumb.  Trump seems to fit into that category.

Aiding that, we'd note, is that he's been surrounded by people who have been telling him that he's really smart his entire life.  Everyone has witnessed something like that personally, where somebody is protected from reality until they simply don't know what it is.

There's sort of a Chauncey Gardiner element to this, we'd note.  In the film Being There, a simple minded man is mistake for a genius and becomes an advisor to the President simply because of his appearance and apparent station in life.  It's very difficult for most people to accept that somebody who has achieved apparent success isn't extremely smart.  I recall my mother, for instance, being of the view that Barrack Obama must be a genius (I'm not saying that he wasn't) because he was a lawyer.  It doesn't take smarts to become a lawyer, and one of the most successful ones I ever met with not a smart man at all.  He was just lucky.

Added to this, people, once they latch on to a figure, tend to attribute their own values to him.  We've seen this in spades with Trump. He's not a religious man, but people believe he is. There's no reason to believe he cares about most of the populist agenda, unless doing so aids him personally, but people believe he does.

The scary thing here is, unlike the first time when Trump had people to real him back in, he doesn't now.  If he's not demented, and therefore not capable of being removed, he can do pretty much any dumb thing he wants to over the next four years.

He's simply narcissistic and amoral.

Full bore narcissism and complete amorality is really rare.  Even people that most other people accuse of narcissism are capable of at least some empathy.

Likewise, complete amorality is very rare as well. Even people with loose morals usually have some.

But not always, in either case.

Indeed, it's well know that psychopaths have no empathy for other people.  And some of them, we'd note, are pretty smart.  According to some, Julius Rosenberg, the Communist spy, was an example of all we've mentioned here.  He was really smart and only cared about himself.

Trump was raised in an environment in which only success mattered and only money determined what was success. That was the Trump culture, and by all available evidence, Trump took to it and thrived in it.

Nothing other than Trump matters to Trump.  That's pretty much it. And given that, cheating on spouses, dumping associates, switching positions, lying, and screwing the entire nation are okay if it benefits his view of himself.

And that explains why he completely baffles his opponents and why his admirers admire him. Those opposed to him cannot grasp how anyone can't see through Trump.  Those who admirer him can't bring themselves to believe that he doesn't care about them whatsoever, or the country, or anything other than himself.  

Normal people don't behave like Trump to that degree. Trump's an example of what the world would really be like if John Lennon's Imagine ruled the day.

Trump sees a world in which there are no values, no religion, and nothing, other than Trump getting all he can get.

I'd note, however, that in a way, Trump, if viewed this way, is the ultimate expression of his generation, the "Me Generation".  Not everyone, or even most, in it, but the generational ethos as a whole.  What matter was "me", not much else.  Trump expresses an extreme form of that, even if he acquired it at home from a father who was definitely not part of that generation.  That also makes it easier for his acolytes to vote for him, as some of them growing up sort of viewing the world that way themselves.  Other, however, likely most, really believe that Trump cares about their cost of living, their pocketbooks, and making "American Great."

Well, as we know, Leopards won't eat my face.

He's a Goodfella

Not literally, but rather by association.

Trump developed his real estate business in New York at a time at which if you were going to get by, you were going to deal with the mob.  If he has just as big of "big brain" as he claims, then he would have picked up how mobsters work, which to some extent is on bluff and threat.

The best example is from the movie The Godfather, which was closely based on the real behavior of the New York mafia.  When they wanted Jack Wolz to do something, they put a severed horse's head, from a beloved horse, in his bed. Wolz, who wasn't harmed himself, caved to their demands.

Trump constantly makes bluffs and threats, and in fact quite often his adversaries give him what he wants.  That may be his undignified and reprehensible negotiation style.  If a person is immoral enough, and unprincipled enough, that works. . . right up until it doesn't.

There's no "art" to this deal.  It's brutish.  

And, of course, sooner or later, it doesn't work.

And when that day comes, you have no friends.

Indeed, somebody ought to give Trump the test now.  When he says "I need this" somebody ought to say, come and get it.  

Harold Hardrada asked Harold Godwinson "How much of England will you give me?".  Godwinson replied "six feet, because you are bigger than other men".   In this administration, and soon, somebody is going to tell Trump "fuck you, and the horse that you rode in on", and the whole bluff thing just goes down the tubes.  Once you can't back a bluff up, it's implodes really quickly.

And then, you have no friends at all.

Here, for example, Denmark ought to tell the US to get its Space Farce base out within a few days.  We'd have to.  And if I governed Panama, the Canal  would actually be run by the Chinese within a few days.

Whatcha Gonna About It?

Not much.

And his supporters?

They'll just all claim they were never actually for him.

That's not the only possibility.

The Kremlin Candidate

Trump is a Russian asset. The only question is, is he knowingly one, or not, and why.

It's worth noting that it would truly be a master stroke politically if you could get your man into the Oval Office, if you were one of our enemies.  And then he could go about wrecking things on your behalf, destroying alliances, the economy and even simply our place in the world.

Nobody has every proven that Trump is a knowing Russian asset.  He's definitely a Russian asset, to be sure, but it may simply be because of his view of the world and his childish admiration of strong men, and maybe his wanting to be one.  Maybe its because on the eve of his own death, he wants to be remembered for something, and the only think he can think of is to be remembered as an American Napoleon.

But his relationship with the Russians has never been explained.  Do they have something on him, and if so what?

Many have wondered about this very question, but nothing has been proven.

Still, he's successfully taken a page out of the Nazi Party's book and broad cast lies so consistently that large sections of the US population believe them.  And now he's threatening our allies, and has to be taken seriously.

If Trump is a bought and paid for Russian asset, and largely only cares for himself, he's in an ideal position to simply bring the United States down.  He can alienate our relationship with our allies, destroy our economy, leave us a wreck, and turn us against each other.

And that's the best evidence that he's a Russian asset. That's exactly what he's doing.

Soviet literacy poster.

Related threads:

Hubris and Strange Coincidence.

What is wrong with the Putin supporting right?

A question that should be asked. Who are the dupes, fellow travelers, and assets? Op eds and the Russians.

Tuesday, January 14, 1975. Un-American.

The House Un-American Activities Committee was disbanded by the U.S. House of Representatives.

It's roots went back to 1918 and it had investigated a wide range of Communist activities in the US dating back to that time.  Often missed, quite a few figures that the committee investigated unsuccessfully prior to World War Two would be again after the war.  Many of those whom it suspected of Communist activity would, in fact, prove to have done just that, in spite of the reputation of the committee being tarnished during the McCarthy Era.

It's demise after the Watergate and the Vietnam War was inevitable, but it had a much better track record than is popularly recalled.

Henry Kissinger announced that the Soviet Union was rescinding its agreement to a trade deal with the United States following enactment of the Jackson–Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974.

The Convention on Registration of Launched Objects into Outer Space was signed in New York.  It requires the signatories to inform the United Nations of things that are launched into space.

U.S. Vice-President Rockefeller was appointed to head a committee to investigate domestic espionage by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Last edition:

Saturday, January 11, 1975. Storms. Things can, and do, get worse.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, actors and actresses, Afghanistan, Donald Trump, Great Storm of 1975, Islam, Leopards won't eat my face, Taliban, The Law of Unintended Consequences, The War in Afghanistan, Weather, Women

Blog Mirror: Decapitation Strike

 

Decapitation Strike

Today in World War II History—November 10, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—November 10, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Nov. 10, 1944: Japanese take US Fourteenth Air Force air bases at Kweilin and Liuchow in their drive through southern China.

Thursday, November 9, 1944. Sorge meets his end.

The Japanese hanged Soviet master spy Richard Sorge, one of the most effective, if perhaps ignored, spies of all time.

Sorge's passport in Japan, noting his cover as a journalist.

The 3d Army crossed the Moselle near Metz.

The 8th Army captured Forli.

The Japanese landed 2,000 reinforcements on Leyte.

Last edition:

Wednesday, November 8, 1944. Mystery of explosions resolved. Canadians prevail on the Scheldt.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of Metz, Battle of the Scheldt, boats and ships, Canadian Army, Imperial Japanese Navy, Operation Infatuate, Rocketry, Tracked vehicles, U.S. Navy, Weapons, World War Two

Saturday, October 18, 1924. Ham achievement.

 

The first around the world wireless radio communication took place by Ham radio operators.

German police displayed evidence they had uncovered of a communist false passport operation used to insert spies in the US and other countries.

President Coolidge authorized the President's Cup to be awarded to the winner of the Army Navy Game.

Last edition:

Friday, October 17, 1924. Media Event.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1924 Election, actors and actresses, Calvin Coolidge, Politics

Saturday, July 1, 1944. Bretton Woods.

Morgenthau opening conference.

Delegates from forty-four nations met at the secluded Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire to participate in the Bretton Woods Conference. The conference met to establish the post-war economic order and was one of the most significant events of the 20th Century.

Henry Morgenthau was the chief U.S. delegate to the conference, and was rapidly elected its presiding officer.  Harry Dexter White, who was a Soviet spy, was the chief US delegate in fact and a major factor in the resulting plans.

The II SS Panzer Corps attacked British positions around Caen but was repulsed.  Gerd von Rundstedt phoned Berlin to report the failure to which Chief of Staff Wilhelm Keitel purportedly asked, "What shall we do?", to which Rundstedt replied, "Make peace, you fools! What else can you do?"

The U.S. 133d Infantry Regiment captured Cicina, Italy.

The Red Army took Borisov.

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Public Health Service Act and the Renunciation Act of 1944.  The latter allowed people physically present in the U.S. to renounce citizenship when the country was at war.  It required an application to the Attorney General of the United States in order to do so.

The act sought to have Japanese Americans do that very thing, sot hey could later be deported to Japan.  A total of 5,589 American citizens availed themselves of the act, 5,461 coming from the Tule Lake Segregation Center.  Many came to regret their decision, and some of the renunciations were reversed.

Internees at Tule Lake.

Formation of the anti-Soviet Lithuanian Partisans occured.

Partisans in 1947.

They'd fight on after World War Two.

Anti Soviet Estonian Forest Brothers re formed on the same day.

Last edition:

Friday, June 30, 1944. Epsom halted.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Battle of Biak, Blog Mirror, Caen France, Denmark, Diplomacy, Finland, Omar Bradley, Operation Epsom, Operation Overlord, United States, War Loan Drives, World War Two