Yesterday, I read something that appalled me. It did not surprise, but it appalled nonetheless. This was a blogpost by Bing West titled “Obama’s Shameful Iraq Remark.” I will reprint the post now:

“We can’t try to take over and rebuild every country that falls into crisis,” Mr. Obama said during his state of the union address last night. “That’s a recipe for quagmire, spilling American blood and treasure that ultimately will weaken us . . . It’s the lesson of Iraq.”
That is insulting to all who fought. What does Mr. Obama say to the families who lost a loved one: they died in a quagmire that weakened us?
The lesson of Iraq is that after American troops achieved stability, Mr. Obama quit, leading to a larger war and more American deaths.

I agree with Bing. And I have nothing to add, at the moment, except to say this: Obama’s Nobel lecture, in December 2009, was one of his best speeches, as many conservatives have said. Yet there was something galling in it.

Obama said, “Perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the commander-in-chief of the military of a nation in the midst of two wars. One of these wars is winding down. The other is a conflict that America did not seek; one in which we are joined by 42 other countries — including Norway — in an effort to defend ourselves and all nations from further attacks.”

Norway, I should mention, is the country that, in effect, gives the Nobel Peace Prize. (The parliament appoints the committee.) And it was in Norway that Obama was speaking.

I’d now like to quote from my history of the prize, Peace, They Say:

At no point in his lecture did Obama utter the word “Iraq.” Iraq was nothing more than a war that was “winding down.” And this was a “war of choice,” Obama was saying, by implication — a war of choice rather than a “war of necessity,” as the Afghan War was. That had been Obama’s mantra during the presidential campaign, too: Iraq the bad and unnecessary war, Afghanistan the good and necessary one. He mentioned, as we have just seen, that Norway was part of the coalition in Afghanistan. He did not mention that there had been an equally big coalition in Iraq, of which Norway was part.

Is that enough for now? Probably. Let’s move on to the next outrage . . .

‐In this item from the Daily Caller, I see that Obama has been doing what he’s done before: namely saying that “hard-liners” in America and “hard-liners” in Iran are allies, whether they know it or not. Said Obama, “I think it’s somewhat ironic to see some members of Congress wanting to make common cause with the hard-liners in Iran.”

First, hard-liners in Iran are, in fact, the government: the rulers. Second, Obama is peddling the line that the Left peddled during the Cold War, certainly during the final stage, certainly during the 1970s and ’80s.

They said that “hard-liners” in the Soviet Union and “hard-liners” in America were allies — because they were both trying to prevent arms control from happening. They wanted to perpetuate the struggle. And both sides, of course — the Soviet Communists and the conservative Republicans, essentially — were called “conservatives”!

Despite my exclamation point, this is maddening.

‐Another Daily Caller item is headed “ISIS Burns Its Own Fighters Alive To Teach Them A Lesson.” Let me quote a bit:

The Islamic State decided to take its own fighters and burn them alive after they fled Ramadi, following the city’s capture by Iraqi forces.
After the fighters fled Ramadi, ISIS dragged them into a town square, moved them into a circle formation and set them alight to let other fighters know that losing is not an option, Fox News reports.
If they didn’t know before, ISIS fighters now know that the only acceptable course of action is to fight to the death.

This reminded me of Josef Stalin. And may I do some more quoting, from my book Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators?

Hitler and the Nazis had a pact with Stalin, which they broke in June 1941. They invaded the Soviet Union. Stalin barked at Yakov [his eldest son], “Go and fight!” He did. In less than a month, he was captured. The Germans discovered they had a plum. Stalin denied to them and everyone else that he had a son named Yakov. He further denied that there was really such a thing as a Russian POW: “In Hitler’s camps, there are no Russian prisoners of war, only Russian traitors, and we will do away with them when the war is over.” Stalin had his daughter-in-law, Yulia, arrested as the wife of a traitor. She was imprisoned for a year and a half, and was never the same again.

‐Let’s turn to the current presidential campaign. I was feeling sorry for Hillary the other day — almost. She is being dogged by her husband’s “past.” (Actually, I doubt his past is past, but anyway . . .) Then I thought: Well, she is where she is — former first lady, former senator, former secretary of state, presumptive presidential nominee — because of him. So, she’s gotta take the good with the bad.

‐I see that Loretta Lynn, the country star, is supporting Donald Trump for president. I flashed back to 1988 — when something she said was used against the Republicans by the Dems. She was supporting George Bush. And she said of his opponent, Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, “Why, I can’t even pronounce his name!”

Democrats quoted this over and over — as evidence, or alleged evidence, of Republican stupidity and bigotry. (To read a news report in the New York Times — a good and colorful one by Bernard Weinraub — go here.)

‐I want to complain about a journalistic practice. Martha Ford, the widow of William Clay Ford, is the owner of the Detroit Lions. The Detroit Free Press refers to her as “Ford” (as in this article). Mrs. Ford is in her 90s. To me, she is “Mrs. Ford,” and I think she ought to be that way in papers, too. “Ford” is just so blunt and, to my ears, borderline rude.

I’m sure that other ears hear, and think, differently.

By the way, Mrs. Ford is Martha Firestone Ford — talk about auto royalty, baby!

‐Hang on, another campaign note, or another political note: In the ’90s, Bill Clinton started this business of “invest.” Before, we said “spend.” But Republicans did a good job of making “tax and spend” infamous. So Clinton hit on “invest”: “We’re going to invest in education, we’re going to invest in roads, we’re going to invest in the environment . . .” — just like individuals invest their own money, see? Clinton was going to take tax dollars and “invest.”

You know where that word is perhaps most appropriate? In the area of defense. Talk about an investment. The stronger, more effective, and more prepared your military, the less likely you are to have to use it.

‐The other day, I had occasion to think of an old expression: “It ain’t braggin’ if it’s true.” And I thought: “Well, it is bragging if it’s true. If it’s not true, it’s lying.”

‐This is really wicked. I saw an obit. In its headline, it described the deceased as “Creator of Socially Conscious Musicals.” I thought, “I bet they’re fun to listen to.”

Very wicked. (Bill Buckley would say, “Can something be ‘very wicked’?” I don’t think so. I think wicked is wicked. And I ain’t talkin’ musicals.) (Bill once said to me, “Can a person be ‘very indigent’?”)

‐Well, blow me down. Gilbert Kaplan died. He is the man who made a fortune in the financial world and then devoted his life, essentially, to Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony. He was a big story, or at least an amazing one, in classical music for decades. To read his obit in the New York Times, go here.

Here’s why I said “blow me down”: I never knew that his brother wrote “You Light Up My Life.” One of my favorite pop songs.

Holy smokes. I’m now thinking of the song, and of Debby Boone.

See you!