The poison pill of social conservatism

I haven’t said much about the primary campaign for the Republican nomination for POTUS.  Not because I haven’t paid attention to it, but because there has been little for me to say.  Unless the GOP runs a completely insane moron like Ron Paul, I will vote for the GOP candidate over Barack Obama.  As a general rule, I don’t think any of the existing GOP candidates, again except for Ron Paul, are evil or destructive to the point where they can’t be trusted with running the country.  That doesn’t mean the Republican candidates are beyond objection.  In fact, there is plenty to which to object in every one of them.  This election is too important to make the perfect the enemy of the good.  We can’t afford another four years of Obama.

But now the GOP is down to three presidential candidates – Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.  (I don’t count Ron Paul., because 1. he’s unelectable and B. if he is the GOP candidate, the GOP will have ceased to exist as a political party.)  And so the objections of the GOP faithful will become less important and the objections of the great political middle will become more important.

Which brings me to “social conservatism.”

New additions to the library

The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels & Indian Allies, by Alan Taylor; and
Mr. and Mrs. Madison's War: America's First Couple and the Second War of Independence, by Hugh Howard.

My understanding of the War of 1812 is a bit soft.  I hope these new acquisitions will help fill that gap in my knowledge.

Fatal Crossroads

On December 17, 1944, a convoy of unarmored trucks carrying Battery B of the US Army's 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion left Schevenhütte, Germany, near the dark and foreboding Hürtgen Forest that had been the focal point of such vicious combat, for Luxembourg and what was hoped would be some easier duty.

Most of them would never arrive.  In the Ardennes, just south of Malmédy, Belgium, at a crossroads called Baugnez, the column fell foul of the spearhead of the German offensive that would become known as the Battle of the Bulge.  By the end of the day, some eighty US soldiers would be dead, having surrendered to the improvised German task force known as Kampfgrüppe Peiper, and, unarmed and herded into a field, subsequently murdered by troops of the Waffen SS.  It was at least the second such massacre of Western Allied troops by the Waffen SS, the first being the murder of some 80 British POWs near Dunkerque (Dunkirk), France, in 1940.  This was also the only such large-scale massacre of American troops by the Germans in World War II.

The Malmédy Massacre, as this incident has become known, is the subject of a new book by Danny S. Parker called Fatal Crossroads: The Untold Story of the Malmédy Massacre at the Battle of the Bulge.  I discussed the book in passing earlier and highly recommended it.  Now I want to give some meat to that recommendation.

Kampfgrüppe Peiper was a group of elements of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, (the same unit that commited the 1940 massacre, with the same commanding officer, Wilhelm Mohnke) under the command of SS Lt. Col. (Obersturmbannführer) Joachim ("Jochen") Peiper.  In this desperate, stupidly-conceived and poorly-planned German offensive, Peiper's orders were simple: get to the Meuse River with one tank.  As fast as possible. 

Bye bye, Buddhas

Another reason why the Taliban should be treated as the barbaric bastards that they are:

Ten years ago, the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan were destroyed by the Taliban while the world watched.  These enormous statues had survived 1,500 years only to be blasted by dynamite.  When the face on one of the buddhas stubbornly clung to the cliffside despite the blasts, the Taliban shot it off with rockets.
The international community begged for the Taliban to not destroy the statues.  Other countries volunteered to care for the giant sculptures.  The pleas went unanswered.  One month after an announcement that they would be destroyed, they were.
It is said that the destruction was not only about “false idols” in the Islam faith (after all, they’d survived many centuries in this region), but instead was a response to the international community’s refusal to recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.  There were also economic sanctions that had been imposed which were disfavored.

Don't get me started

on Obama's speech last night.  Didn't watch it.  Read the transcript.  Same old crap.  Calvin Woodard of, surprisingly, the Associated Press, did a pretty decent takedown (h/t: Wizbang).

Let me be perfectly clear.  By no means is Obama wrong about everything.  I think reasonable minds can disagree on ObamaCare, though the way it was passed through Congress was contemptible.  I think reasonable minds can disagree on new banking regs.  I myself hate US companies moving jobs overseas just because Pakistanis, for intance, will work for less money and under more unpleasant working conditions than Americans.  And Obama did take out Usama bin Laden, which many Democrats and even some self-styled Republicans (I'm looking at you, Ron Paul) would not have done.  And though I disagree vehemently with Justice Elena Kagan's politics, I think her intellect and temperament will make her a good addition to SCOTUS.

But in terms of defense and foreign policy, the raison d'etre of the federal government, and in environmental policy, which has become increasingly irrational and even malevolent, Obama has been an utter disaster (see, e.g., Iran and the Keystone XL pipeline, respectively).  Plus, two words: Eric Holder.  Two more: Timothy Geithner.

Sad

Representative Gabrielle Giffords is stepping down.

Her retirement is understandable, but, still, this is sad on so many levels.  A very good representative, a very good person, giving her all for her constituents.  And she gets cut down by a nut case.  The US government in general and Congress in particular will be worse for the loss of Representative Giffords.

It does highlight the dangerous situation in which our country finds itself.  Elected officials, regardless of political affiliation, should not be physically attacked or threatened because of their political positions.  We have elections to change policies.  That's what civilized countries do.  Physically harming or even just threatening a legislator because of their policies is absolutely unacceptable, and is a bad sign for the deterioration of public institutions.

Godspeed, Representative Giffords.  Can't say I agreed with you, but you didn't deserve this.  May you be restored to full health in short order.

Condolences

to the family of Joe Paterno, and all his fans at Penn State and elsewhere.  My father had a theory for years that the reason Paterno did not retire was because his wife would not let him, fearing that without football he would quickly pass on like Bear Bryant did.  I can't say if that happened here, but there do seem to be parallels.

Paterno certainly made some mistakes (some larger than others), but at heart he was a good man who demonstrably cared for his players and his university.  The world has lost a good man.  May God be with him and his family during this time of sadness.

Penguin Awareness Day

Hat Tip to Ace of Spades; I can't believe I missed this:

When:
Penguin Awareness Day: Always January 20
World Penguin Day: Always April 25th


About Penguin Awareness Day, and World Penguin Day:
Penguin Awareness Day, and World Penguin Day are great opportunities to learn about and appreciate one of the few natives of Antarctica. On these days, spend a little time learning about them.... a pictorial book or internet site is fun. You can also watch a documentary of these cute and popular, grounded birds.
These days are also a time to wear black and white---penguin colors. However, wearing a tuxedo in their honor is optional. It is also popular today to tell a penguin joke or two.

Leave it to Ace of Spades to dig up a great penguin picture:

Pretty much all penguins are amazing and wonderful creatures.  But, by now, everyone should know the penguin that matters most, on whom all of Western Civilization depends for its survival:

I hope you like long ... -ish

I just turned in "Cascading Failure: The Roman Disaster at Adrianople AD 378" for the first round of editing.  It's a long 'un, but I think it will be well worth the read.

More Pantheon party

Until Adrianople is done, how 'bout enjoying some more of the amazing ongoing party at the Pantheon:

From March 2011, my own photograph of the amazingness that is the Pantheon and the fun atmosphere in the Piazza Rotunda.

Light posting for the weekend

I've finished Fatal Crossroads and will review it soon, but right now I am in my final push to get the final cite checks for Adrianople article done and get the piece off for two rounds of editing before it's posted.

Blame my light posting on Kampfgruppe Peiper

Work has gotten in the way a bit but I also can NOT put down, to blog or even to complete Adrianople, the book Fatal Crossroads: The Untold Story of the Malmedy Massacre at the Battle of the Bulge, by Danny S. Parker.  I'll give a full review of it later, but for now I will just say that Parker has created a military history investigative masterpiece along the lines of Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, by Jonathan Parshall and Tony Tully; The Battle of  Surigao Strait, also by Tully; and Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg, by Timothy B. Smith.  Part World War II, part true crime, part detective work, part archaeology.  If you are interested in World War II and especially the war in Europe, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

More on the Major Maritime Mishap in the Mediterranean (or "Andrea Doria II")

Since my first post on the unfortunate Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia, there have been some new developments:

First, the ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, seems to be a real piece o' work.  He was among the first to abandon ship, in the process abandoning the passengers and crew who depended on him.  He was seen leaving the ship early in the crisis:

Maritime authorities, passengers and mounting evidence pointed Sunday toward the captain of a cruise liner that ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan coast, amid accusations that he abandoned ship before everyone was safely evacuated and was showing off when he steered the vessel far too close to shore.

My latest appearance

on Civil Discourse Now is here.  This week's episode features co-hosts Mark Small and Paul Ogden, along with guests labor lawyer William Groth and myself.  We discuss the so-called "Right to Work" legislation, which is coming up in the Indiana General Assembly.  In light of my history, you might be surprised that I actually oppose "Right to Work."

Major maritime mishap in the Mediterranean.

The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground on a sand bar near the island of Giglio, off Italy's Tuscan coast, in one of the most dramatic accidents on the sea in recent memory.  Wizbang suspects the cause was "some sort of serious lapse in navigational competence."  And, indeed, the investigations have already begun:

Italian authorities are holding the captain of a 3,200-passenger cruise ship that ran aground and tipped over late Friday, killing at least three people, injuring 30 and leaving up to 40 others still missing. Survivors, meanwhile, described a chaotic evacuation as plates and glasses crashed, and they crawled along upended hallways trying to reach safety.
Several media outlets citing Italian television reported that two survivors had been found inside the ship and firefighters were working early Sunday morning to rescue them. The ship's Italian captain, Francesco Schettino, was detained late Saturday and is being investigated for manslaughter and abandoning ship. The Associated Press reports Schettino is being held in a jail in Grosseto, Italy, until next week, when a judge will decide whether he should be released or formally put under arrest. In Italy, suspects can be held without charge for a few days for investigation.
The chief prosecutor in the Tuscan city of Grosseto, Francesco Verusio, was quoted by the ANSA news agency as telling reporters that the captain "very ineptly got close to Giglio," the AP reports.

Ouch.