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History shows what leaders can do; Jovan Vukmaravich; Beaver County Times; January 10, 2010.
A previous letter from Mr. Vukmaravich bashed then-President Bush for a government-business trip.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“A recent editorial on the current Russian rehabilitation of Joseph Stalin (‘Amnesia,’ Dec. 27) quoted George Santayana’s statement, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’
“Germane to the recent American sad experience is a quote from Nazi Hermann Goering.
“This is from the book ‘Nuremberg Diary’ by psychologist Gustave Gilbert, who interviewed Goering in his jail cell after World War II.
“Goering stated, ‘Naturally, the common people don’t want war. … But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.
“‘Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.’
“Sound familiar?”
[RWC] Since he wasn’t explicit, I don’t know whom Mr. Vukmaravich is attacking. Regardless, Mr. Vukmaravich didn’t need to go back to Hermann Goering for a relevant quote given his letter’s topic. Consider the following statements by members of the Obama administration.
Rahm Emanuel, chief-of-staff for Barack Obama: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. What I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before. This is an opportunity. What used to be long-term problems -- be they in the health care area, energy area, education area, fiscal area, tax area, regulatory reform area -- things that we had postponed for too long that were long-term are now immediate and must be dealt with. And this crisis provides the opportunity for us, as I would say, the opportunity to do things that you could not do before.” – November 18, 2008, speaking to the Wall Street Journal CEO Council.
Sec. of State Hillary Clinton: “Never waste a good crisis … Don’t waste it when it can have a very positive impact on climate change and energy security.” – March 6, 2009 while speaking at the European Parliament.
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