Plus Ca Change...

Jeff Shaara’s “The Rising Tide” is a novel of WWII. I’ve had trouble staying interesting the story, but the introduction to the book contains a concise and well-written summary of historical events preceding the war. A section is paraphrased below:

“The economic hardships cause loud voices of German nationalism to rise up, men who would inspire their people by appealing to fear and revenge. The most effective is Adolf Hitler. In the early 1920’s Hitler is considered a fringe-element radical…but his message finds appeal during the economic depression. Hitler’s following builds. His political opponents lack his oratorical skills and his lack of conscience for brutalizing his enemies. Hitler’s political organization becomes a deadly tool for his ambitions, and anyone opposing him is subject to a level of violence that shocks and intimidates voices of reason.”

A slight re-wording might produce this:

“The economic hardships cause loud voices of nationalism to rise up, men who would inspire their people by appealing to fear and revenge. The most effective was Ronald Reagan. In the early 1970’s Reagan was considered a fringe-element radical…but his message finds appeal during the economic depression. The Neocons’ following builds. Their political opponents cannot match their lack of conscience for brutalizing their enemies. The GOP becomes the tool of ambitious Neocons, and anyone opposing them is subject to a level of vitriol and mendacity that shocks and intimidates voices of reason.”