The Germans not only had a powerful artistic culture at that time; they also led the world in depravity. This depravity was not a huge launching pad for what happened thereafter -- meaning the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich -- but it was a factor.
The Weimar Republic -- post WWI to 1933 and the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor -- was a time of gigantic political and economic upheaval with armed putsches and hyper inflation -- a loaf of bread in Jan 1923 cost 200 marks and 200,000 marks in Nov 1923.
Weimar was the first republic ever to govern Germany and it was felt to have been imposed by the victorious Allies of WWI and the Versailles Treaty.
Weimar did not create culture; they sustained it meaning the achievements of German culture were interrupted by WWI and regained there footing after the war.
The Weimar Republic was a bad time in the history of Germany; bad enough that they embraced Hitler who dragged them out of a depression and enormous unemployment. If times hadn't been so desperate, maybe no Hitler. Who knows?
I think there are. In addition, anyone that really tries to go into government and restrict its power in any way is tattooed as a fascist/dictator, when the opposite is true.
I'd like to see DeSantis get the Republican nomination over Trump....but I am comfortable with Trump. Trump far better than Haley who would be terrible and better than ANY Democrat. ANY Democrat.
Trump is an autocratic leader that demands loyalty from his subordinates and co-conspirators without giving it in return. He does some things that are great in leadership, and fails miserably in others.
But, again, better than any Democrat and any RINO establishment Republican.
We owe Trump a debt of gratitude for exposing the rot of the Military Industrial Complex/Deep State that Eisenhower warned of so many years ago! Well said Mr Minch!
Going to give a snap or two to Vivek yet? The guy is wiping the floor with these neocons. For this, I give the guy 5 stars. He's Trump on steroids in some ways. I wish that he was 10 years older.
I'm gratified to read you see through Haley. I couldn't believe it when an acquaintance of mine, a Republican who worked for the Reagan administration, expressed support for her. She is being pushed by the RINOs, the donors, and parts of the media, and that tells you everything you need to know. Apart from her being a neocon and a puppet of the MIC, I think she is being pushed because she checks off 2 diversity boxes, gender and POC. The mainstream GOP is dominated by a lite version of Wokeism and DEI.
Wow, what an unmasking huh? She went from a very good United Nations ambassador to a lackey for everything that is wrong with the Republican Party. Agree that the power in the Republican Party is scared of being labeled an old white man party. Virtually every candidate now is a woman, a person of color or has some other "preference". Who will replace McCarthy? watch since it is a safe R district. How about the guy in NC? I do think Haley has the absolute correct position on abortion. Of course, if a miracle happens and she is the nominee, I will grudgingly vote for her. Better than a D. But, I am not worried. She will flame out. DeSantis is the biggest disappointment. Others on this thread pointed out that he is a poor retail politician. Too bad.
Riley Gaines is a true hero - one who runs into danger to save others when most would run from it. Love her and pray that she remains as courageous as she is. Along a nearly similar vein, saw Chloe Cole speak at a small venue near us not too long ago. Hers is a truly sad story of how supposed "medical" people destroyed a young person's life. I hope she's successful in her lawsuit against Kaiser.
She is. She is exhibiting what it takes to be a leader. Her principles are in the right place. Her standards are in the right place. It took great courage to stand up and face the fire where others were afraid from parents to other swimmers to observers of the sport. Most if not all of transsexual type people have a mental issue. Parents that enable transition prior to the age of 18 when the person can make their own choice also have mental issues.
The Epoch Times had a good article on that issue. They called it Transhausen by proxy, a take on Munchausen Syndrome by proxy. A lot of parents have many screws loose. Some shouldn't be allowed near sharp objects, let alone children.
U of Illinois President Kileen was pretty good. Somewhat surprising, but welcome
'In the past few days, we have watched the events unfolding in Israel and Gaza with great anguish and alarm. The unspeakable brutality of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians is simply horrifying. Such acts can never be justified and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms.'
**
Hawley vs. Wray was a good eye-opener for people who think the FBI is apolitical. Wray declared that some of the agents he was using to intimidate/spy on Catholics were nominally Catholic themselves. Ok then, that makes the 1st Amendment null and void.
Having been a product of Catholic schools from grammar school through most of high school, it is amazing to see the level of ignorance by the FBI as to the history and organization of parochial education in the US.
Catholic schools -- talking to you, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Depaul and the other 200 Catholic colleges and universities -- have been a bedrock educational foundation for the country since its founding. G'tow was founded in 1789.
What is also interesting -- beyond the infamous "memo" about "extremists" -- is that after 80 FBI agents were assigned to the investigation they came up with nothing. They could not differentiate amongst the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of Mercy, and the Christian Brothers.
Funny thing, today I don't think attending a Catholic school insulates you from the rot that is DEI etc infecting almost every academic institution in our country. Ask @danproft about his alma mater, Benet Academy, in suburban Chicago.
I think many of our Catholic educational institutions try to catch up with the DEI lunacy of the public schools The administrations are captured by accepting government funding and don't want to upset their sources of income.
I am a past trustee for the Newman Foundation (UIUC). It is a lot of work to try and prevent/avoid problems seeping in from the education establishment. Recalling the Head of Religious Studies dept at U of I deciding that he was now an Atheist. Similar to the Head of the Math Dept declaring that he didn't believe in Integral Calculus.
The insulation starts w/ the individual/student these days, because many of the high- and college-level Catholic schools, heck even the elementary and middle levels, aren't what they were back when I was attending decades ago. I've got a son currently at one of the Chicago-based Catholic universities mentioned above, thankfully he can think for himself and see thru the liberal/prog nonsense and focus on getting educated in business/economics/management.
I've been reading you on Twitter, blogs, and now Substack for many, many years. This is the single most profound thing you've ever written and you are absolutely spot-on. It's incomprehensible to me just how quickly we've descended into the muck that we find ourselves in at this point. Our entire society has been dragged into perdition with virtually no push-back from any of the institutions that formerly made up our societal structure, i.e. schools, churches, civic organizations, businesses, and our unwritten social compact in general. At 75, I have much less to lose than my children and grandchildren, but I worry about their future more with each passing atrocity that I see happening. Most especially, though I am not Jewish, I am beyond shocked at the level of anti-Semitism that's been exposed since October 7. It simply boggles my mind that we're seeing this in 2023. "Never again" was supposed to be an iron-clad guarantee for everyone to support. Now, it's becoming a distant memory.
Thank you. I am not Jewish either but I am reminded of the Anne Frank exhibit in the new Liberation Pavilion at the National World War Two Museum. "And then they came for me". They aren't segregating who they are coming for this time. It's a firestorm of hate. Jews, Christians of all stripes, atheists, conservatives and the people who want to be left alone (you will be made to care).
Many of today's "Christians" are cheering for the wrong team. Many if not most mainstream Christian churches worship at the altar of DEI and ESG. They manage to cherry pick some bible verses that when misinterpreted justify their positions. They are also joined at the hip with "compassionate" Democrat party policies.
Politics are very much a part of the lives of these churches. They have confused charity with lobbying for government handouts for their chosen underclass instead of doing the actual hard work of giving thirsty people a drink and hungry people something to eat - they think by getting the government to force others to pay for this they are fulfilling God's word. I find it revolting, and more than a little depressing.
Brilliant essay. Lots of profound ideas are expressed clearly in a tight space. I read it twice to let it sink in.
Once you learn to see the rot, it becomes easy to spot. It's hard for many people to see it. Their information sources and social circles don't allow for it, and anyone espousing these types of views is branded as a lunatic and/or dunce. It can cost business or friends.
It's easy for those on the fringe to see it--they aren't risking social status by entertaining different ideas. It's really easy for those who lived in more statist countries (Xi Van Fleet is a great example).
Once you see it, it's a lot harder to speak out publicly if you fear economic or social consequences. Bill Ackman's recent Twitter posts are remarkable, in that sense.
Great post Mr Carter! Many great points! I for one am waiting for the day that any one of these unelected bureaucrats or FBI agents gets held accountable for their failures! Maybe a couple fired generals after the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle! Somebody who used the surveillance capabilities of the NSA to monitor free American citizens sitting in a cell! The Leviathan of government needs to be slayed, and the sooner the better! The Deep State has been exposed and no one can claim they didn't know anymore! We live in interesting times. I pray for our country!
Having been a professional soldier, I find it amazing that the general officer corps of the Iraq/Afghanistan two decades -- Army and DoD -- have not been held accountable for their inability to fashion a credible strategy to defeat enemies when we had a personnel advantage, better troops, superior firepower and ammunition, complete air superiority, an intel advantage, and unlimited ammo.
These are the kind of problems studied at the C&GS College (tactical) and the War College (strategic) by the brightest minds in the racket. They had 20 years to solve the problems.
Our enemies were, at best, third world light infantry with no battlefield medical capabilities and limited firepower.
Guys like David Petreaus spent years working on strategy and came up with nothing useful. We got beat by a grossly inferior force.
I will give us credit for routing ISIS, but we did not salt their fields and mound their skulls into pyramids.
In addition, these same officers vouched for the training and combat capabilities of a 1MM Afghan army that was equipped with the best US gear and they lasted less than a month against the Taliban. We need accountability from those who designed, oversaw, and vouched for the training program.
Who will be the George C Marshall and end it? Marshall assumed command on Sep 1, 1939. That's an interesting day in world history. One of his first acts was to fire all the presiding generals, and raise up the younger ones. It was simpler then, since everyone had the same values etc beat into them on the Plain at West Point, and the parade grounds of other service academies. Today, it's not as simple.
One of the most brilliant things Marshall did was to conduct a series of maneuvers -- the Louisiana Maneuvers amongst them -- in which he sorted out the qualities of his commanders.
After the Louisiana Maneuvers (corps level with two opposing corps) he sacked almost all of the general officers involved and marked two officers for high future command -- a division commander named Patton and a senior corps level chief of staff named Eisenhower.
Marshall also had been the commandant of the Infantry School during the pre-war years and kept a "book" on what officers at the field grade level would ultimately be great leaders at the division, corps, army, and army group level.
Marshall oversaw standing up almost 100 divisions in World War II, the greatest startup triumph in history?
We have lost our focus on the two critical discriminators of military leadership:
1. Does this increase the lethality of the force?
2. Does this increase the safety of our warriors?
If you cannot answer "yes" to one of those things then it isn't soldiering.
Well said Mr Minch. I have a couple friends who left their careers in the Army because of the misplaced values of the present Senior Staff. They were made to feel unwelcome and promotions blocked because they weren't yes-men. How do we effect the changes needed I wonder?
Having learned some small insight from a niece and nephew who both served (US Army) in Iraq, it seems politics has seeped all the way, from generals, down the ranks of commissioned officers. Both had opportunity (and even the intention) to make a career of the Army--and left at the first opportunity out of disillusionment. The rot truly starts from the top and has infected all of the body.
The cause most easily diagnosed is mission creep. Your two critical discriminators of leadership have been lost (or discarded) in the rush to adopt present-day fads of PC, CRT, DEI and other fashionable rubrics of the post-modern cultural zeitgeist. Being hip and/or trendy should be the first clue for exclusion on any military leader's to-do list. Cheers.
Traditionally, nations like ours at their peak soon tumble. But since we have such an ethos of individuality perhaps we will beat the odds. Won't be easy.
I took time to read this more thoroughly today, and it reminded me how much I loathe Christopher Wray.
Could not find a single thing I disagree with, and I’ll add my own emphasis to the thoughts on General Partners returning LP capital or umdräng commitments from these educational endowments - the guys and gals running the endowments are paid more than Nick Saban. It’s publicly available information, Princeton is a good example if you need one. Moreover, these managers are (likely) selected based on their ability to be consummate politicians, not in the government, but liaisons between the alumni and Wall Street. They get paid to it deals with GP’s and get preferred returns, lower management fees, and other terms unavailable to other LP’s.
My own alma mater is a catholic institution, newly minted D1 school, without a massive endowment, but certainly capable of supporting more expense than it does. I know many Notre Dame alums involved in fundraising from ND’s endowment, and I can tell you the GP’s courting them bend over backwards to get access to any slice of the pie.
Americas federal governor is run by the intelligence community mostly for the benefit of oligarchs that act like they care more about countries not called America. They, along with an impoverished underclass, are at war with the American middle class and are trying to bring us to heel. Trump is standing in the gap for us, and they will destroy him for it.
As the world situation becomes more dire and our leaders become more feckless, your posts have become more prescient. Thank you. This one is another masterpiece of yours. Like you, I was born a conservative and came out after I read Barry Goldwater's manifesto written in 1964. Possibly ghost written by, my memory fails me, the bearded guy who often appears on Fox and NewsMax.
I am lucky in that I went to a small state school in Michigan and avoided the political pitfalls of being indoctrinated by some leftist twit out at one of the Eastern schools.
I will speak to you and Mr. Jeffrey L. Minch below, as your comments are similar. What you fail to mention, at least IMHO, is that as the leaders of the Western World move away from their Judeo-Christian ethics and become "secular," Oh - How I hate that word, the world has degraded step by step. It has been ever so since Man decided to build the Tower of Babel, to put himself at a level and equal to God.
If the ego of Man allows him to believe that he is a god, or that there is no God, then he believes that there are no consequences to his moral actions. That he is dust and will return to dust when he dies, so why not do whatever his sad, pathetic little ego wants to to achieve his vision of greatness?
The bottom line is that he will then push society towards his definition of Utopia, and it will all be fruitless and endlessly destructive. Of necessity, it will be defined by a total loss of personal freedom and the subjugation to the human will of others, the greatest sin of all.
What Man should do is place himself in the Hands of God, and pray that he, we, be given to answers to the problems that face us. We may not get there in our lifetimes, but working for what God wants us to do, following His Will, is our true destiny. Of course, all of this should be followed by our everlasting gratitude.
Newsome not lighting the Christmas tree, hum. Guess on the bright side, he didn't chop it down. That guy likes abortion more than his wife likes banging Weinstein to get ahead.
The real power in this country resides in the DOJ, attorney generals, and prosecutors offices. About 8-10 years ago, I read an article how Soros was spending massive amounts of prosecutor elections. That is now bearing fruit. The only way to fix this country is to get rid of communist/fascist prosecutors and attorneys general. They won’t be going away without a fight. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/breaking-nevadas-democrat-attorney-general-announces-felony-charges/
Wow, that was at least 5 great blog posts in one.
The Germans not only had a powerful artistic culture at that time; they also led the world in depravity. This depravity was not a huge launching pad for what happened thereafter -- meaning the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich -- but it was a factor.
The Weimar Republic -- post WWI to 1933 and the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor -- was a time of gigantic political and economic upheaval with armed putsches and hyper inflation -- a loaf of bread in Jan 1923 cost 200 marks and 200,000 marks in Nov 1923.
Weimar was the first republic ever to govern Germany and it was felt to have been imposed by the victorious Allies of WWI and the Versailles Treaty.
Weimar did not create culture; they sustained it meaning the achievements of German culture were interrupted by WWI and regained there footing after the war.
The Weimar Republic was a bad time in the history of Germany; bad enough that they embraced Hitler who dragged them out of a depression and enormous unemployment. If times hadn't been so desperate, maybe no Hitler. Who knows?
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
Perhaps there are parallels with our current admin and the general sense of depravity?
I think there are. In addition, anyone that really tries to go into government and restrict its power in any way is tattooed as a fascist/dictator, when the opposite is true.
I'd like to see DeSantis get the Republican nomination over Trump....but I am comfortable with Trump. Trump far better than Haley who would be terrible and better than ANY Democrat. ANY Democrat.
Trump is an autocratic leader that demands loyalty from his subordinates and co-conspirators without giving it in return. He does some things that are great in leadership, and fails miserably in others.
But, again, better than any Democrat and any RINO establishment Republican.
I like nothing about Trump, well except for his policies, outcomes, and rabid male assertiveness to the punks in the world.
DeSantis has been the greatest disappointment at a retail level of any touted politician in my lifetime.
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
very disappointing on a retail level. a friend of mine told me that would happen two years ago.
We owe Trump a debt of gratitude for exposing the rot of the Military Industrial Complex/Deep State that Eisenhower warned of so many years ago! Well said Mr Minch!
agree
Going to give a snap or two to Vivek yet? The guy is wiping the floor with these neocons. For this, I give the guy 5 stars. He's Trump on steroids in some ways. I wish that he was 10 years older.
I'm gratified to read you see through Haley. I couldn't believe it when an acquaintance of mine, a Republican who worked for the Reagan administration, expressed support for her. She is being pushed by the RINOs, the donors, and parts of the media, and that tells you everything you need to know. Apart from her being a neocon and a puppet of the MIC, I think she is being pushed because she checks off 2 diversity boxes, gender and POC. The mainstream GOP is dominated by a lite version of Wokeism and DEI.
Wow, what an unmasking huh? She went from a very good United Nations ambassador to a lackey for everything that is wrong with the Republican Party. Agree that the power in the Republican Party is scared of being labeled an old white man party. Virtually every candidate now is a woman, a person of color or has some other "preference". Who will replace McCarthy? watch since it is a safe R district. How about the guy in NC? I do think Haley has the absolute correct position on abortion. Of course, if a miracle happens and she is the nominee, I will grudgingly vote for her. Better than a D. But, I am not worried. She will flame out. DeSantis is the biggest disappointment. Others on this thread pointed out that he is a poor retail politician. Too bad.
The General Michael Flynn tweet a few weeks ago skewering her for her warmongering was great.
Riley Gaines is a true hero - one who runs into danger to save others when most would run from it. Love her and pray that she remains as courageous as she is. Along a nearly similar vein, saw Chloe Cole speak at a small venue near us not too long ago. Hers is a truly sad story of how supposed "medical" people destroyed a young person's life. I hope she's successful in her lawsuit against Kaiser.
She is. She is exhibiting what it takes to be a leader. Her principles are in the right place. Her standards are in the right place. It took great courage to stand up and face the fire where others were afraid from parents to other swimmers to observers of the sport. Most if not all of transsexual type people have a mental issue. Parents that enable transition prior to the age of 18 when the person can make their own choice also have mental issues.
The Epoch Times had a good article on that issue. They called it Transhausen by proxy, a take on Munchausen Syndrome by proxy. A lot of parents have many screws loose. Some shouldn't be allowed near sharp objects, let alone children.
U of Illinois President Kileen was pretty good. Somewhat surprising, but welcome
'In the past few days, we have watched the events unfolding in Israel and Gaza with great anguish and alarm. The unspeakable brutality of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians is simply horrifying. Such acts can never be justified and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms.'
**
Hawley vs. Wray was a good eye-opener for people who think the FBI is apolitical. Wray declared that some of the agents he was using to intimidate/spy on Catholics were nominally Catholic themselves. Ok then, that makes the 1st Amendment null and void.
Having been a product of Catholic schools from grammar school through most of high school, it is amazing to see the level of ignorance by the FBI as to the history and organization of parochial education in the US.
Catholic schools -- talking to you, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Depaul and the other 200 Catholic colleges and universities -- have been a bedrock educational foundation for the country since its founding. G'tow was founded in 1789.
What is also interesting -- beyond the infamous "memo" about "extremists" -- is that after 80 FBI agents were assigned to the investigation they came up with nothing. They could not differentiate amongst the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of Mercy, and the Christian Brothers.
Why was the FBI investigating Catholic schools?
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
Funny thing, today I don't think attending a Catholic school insulates you from the rot that is DEI etc infecting almost every academic institution in our country. Ask @danproft about his alma mater, Benet Academy, in suburban Chicago.
I think many of our Catholic educational institutions try to catch up with the DEI lunacy of the public schools The administrations are captured by accepting government funding and don't want to upset their sources of income.
I am a past trustee for the Newman Foundation (UIUC). It is a lot of work to try and prevent/avoid problems seeping in from the education establishment. Recalling the Head of Religious Studies dept at U of I deciding that he was now an Atheist. Similar to the Head of the Math Dept declaring that he didn't believe in Integral Calculus.
Kind of banging my head against the wall.
The insulation starts w/ the individual/student these days, because many of the high- and college-level Catholic schools, heck even the elementary and middle levels, aren't what they were back when I was attending decades ago. I've got a son currently at one of the Chicago-based Catholic universities mentioned above, thankfully he can think for himself and see thru the liberal/prog nonsense and focus on getting educated in business/economics/management.
I've been reading you on Twitter, blogs, and now Substack for many, many years. This is the single most profound thing you've ever written and you are absolutely spot-on. It's incomprehensible to me just how quickly we've descended into the muck that we find ourselves in at this point. Our entire society has been dragged into perdition with virtually no push-back from any of the institutions that formerly made up our societal structure, i.e. schools, churches, civic organizations, businesses, and our unwritten social compact in general. At 75, I have much less to lose than my children and grandchildren, but I worry about their future more with each passing atrocity that I see happening. Most especially, though I am not Jewish, I am beyond shocked at the level of anti-Semitism that's been exposed since October 7. It simply boggles my mind that we're seeing this in 2023. "Never again" was supposed to be an iron-clad guarantee for everyone to support. Now, it's becoming a distant memory.
Thank you. I am not Jewish either but I am reminded of the Anne Frank exhibit in the new Liberation Pavilion at the National World War Two Museum. "And then they came for me". They aren't segregating who they are coming for this time. It's a firestorm of hate. Jews, Christians of all stripes, atheists, conservatives and the people who want to be left alone (you will be made to care).
These people are truly evil.
Many of today's "Christians" are cheering for the wrong team. Many if not most mainstream Christian churches worship at the altar of DEI and ESG. They manage to cherry pick some bible verses that when misinterpreted justify their positions. They are also joined at the hip with "compassionate" Democrat party policies.
Politics are very much a part of the lives of these churches. They have confused charity with lobbying for government handouts for their chosen underclass instead of doing the actual hard work of giving thirsty people a drink and hungry people something to eat - they think by getting the government to force others to pay for this they are fulfilling God's word. I find it revolting, and more than a little depressing.
Agree 100%
Fantastic post!! A home run, Jeff.
Brilliant essay. Lots of profound ideas are expressed clearly in a tight space. I read it twice to let it sink in.
Once you learn to see the rot, it becomes easy to spot. It's hard for many people to see it. Their information sources and social circles don't allow for it, and anyone espousing these types of views is branded as a lunatic and/or dunce. It can cost business or friends.
It's easy for those on the fringe to see it--they aren't risking social status by entertaining different ideas. It's really easy for those who lived in more statist countries (Xi Van Fleet is a great example).
Once you see it, it's a lot harder to speak out publicly if you fear economic or social consequences. Bill Ackman's recent Twitter posts are remarkable, in that sense.
Of course, Bill is hyper rich. He's established. His consequences are few. But, I am glad he is doing it.
Great post Mr Carter! Many great points! I for one am waiting for the day that any one of these unelected bureaucrats or FBI agents gets held accountable for their failures! Maybe a couple fired generals after the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle! Somebody who used the surveillance capabilities of the NSA to monitor free American citizens sitting in a cell! The Leviathan of government needs to be slayed, and the sooner the better! The Deep State has been exposed and no one can claim they didn't know anymore! We live in interesting times. I pray for our country!
Having been a professional soldier, I find it amazing that the general officer corps of the Iraq/Afghanistan two decades -- Army and DoD -- have not been held accountable for their inability to fashion a credible strategy to defeat enemies when we had a personnel advantage, better troops, superior firepower and ammunition, complete air superiority, an intel advantage, and unlimited ammo.
These are the kind of problems studied at the C&GS College (tactical) and the War College (strategic) by the brightest minds in the racket. They had 20 years to solve the problems.
Our enemies were, at best, third world light infantry with no battlefield medical capabilities and limited firepower.
Guys like David Petreaus spent years working on strategy and came up with nothing useful. We got beat by a grossly inferior force.
I will give us credit for routing ISIS, but we did not salt their fields and mound their skulls into pyramids.
In addition, these same officers vouched for the training and combat capabilities of a 1MM Afghan army that was equipped with the best US gear and they lasted less than a month against the Taliban. We need accountability from those who designed, oversaw, and vouched for the training program.
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
Who will be the George C Marshall and end it? Marshall assumed command on Sep 1, 1939. That's an interesting day in world history. One of his first acts was to fire all the presiding generals, and raise up the younger ones. It was simpler then, since everyone had the same values etc beat into them on the Plain at West Point, and the parade grounds of other service academies. Today, it's not as simple.
One of the most brilliant things Marshall did was to conduct a series of maneuvers -- the Louisiana Maneuvers amongst them -- in which he sorted out the qualities of his commanders.
After the Louisiana Maneuvers (corps level with two opposing corps) he sacked almost all of the general officers involved and marked two officers for high future command -- a division commander named Patton and a senior corps level chief of staff named Eisenhower.
Marshall also had been the commandant of the Infantry School during the pre-war years and kept a "book" on what officers at the field grade level would ultimately be great leaders at the division, corps, army, and army group level.
Marshall oversaw standing up almost 100 divisions in World War II, the greatest startup triumph in history?
We have lost our focus on the two critical discriminators of military leadership:
1. Does this increase the lethality of the force?
2. Does this increase the safety of our warriors?
If you cannot answer "yes" to one of those things then it isn't soldiering.
Pronouns are not soldiering.
JLM
Well said Mr Minch. I have a couple friends who left their careers in the Army because of the misplaced values of the present Senior Staff. They were made to feel unwelcome and promotions blocked because they weren't yes-men. How do we effect the changes needed I wonder?
Having learned some small insight from a niece and nephew who both served (US Army) in Iraq, it seems politics has seeped all the way, from generals, down the ranks of commissioned officers. Both had opportunity (and even the intention) to make a career of the Army--and left at the first opportunity out of disillusionment. The rot truly starts from the top and has infected all of the body.
The cause most easily diagnosed is mission creep. Your two critical discriminators of leadership have been lost (or discarded) in the rush to adopt present-day fads of PC, CRT, DEI and other fashionable rubrics of the post-modern cultural zeitgeist. Being hip and/or trendy should be the first clue for exclusion on any military leader's to-do list. Cheers.
Yes, the rot is everywhere, not just the Ivies. I saw the state of it at the State U where I taught. Thank goodness I'm out of there.
See the school board member using a teen gay sex book instead of a bible at hear swearing in. https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/school-board-president-swears-in-on-pile-of-banned-books-instead-of-bible-video/ar-AA1l6rCb
Traditionally, nations like ours at their peak soon tumble. But since we have such an ethos of individuality perhaps we will beat the odds. Won't be easy.
I took time to read this more thoroughly today, and it reminded me how much I loathe Christopher Wray.
Could not find a single thing I disagree with, and I’ll add my own emphasis to the thoughts on General Partners returning LP capital or umdräng commitments from these educational endowments - the guys and gals running the endowments are paid more than Nick Saban. It’s publicly available information, Princeton is a good example if you need one. Moreover, these managers are (likely) selected based on their ability to be consummate politicians, not in the government, but liaisons between the alumni and Wall Street. They get paid to it deals with GP’s and get preferred returns, lower management fees, and other terms unavailable to other LP’s.
My own alma mater is a catholic institution, newly minted D1 school, without a massive endowment, but certainly capable of supporting more expense than it does. I know many Notre Dame alums involved in fundraising from ND’s endowment, and I can tell you the GP’s courting them bend over backwards to get access to any slice of the pie.
Great writing Jeff.
I think we’re a bit past the Weimar stage. Our government has gone full Gestapo: https://public.substack.com/p/us-military-contractors-used-counterterrorism?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=email&nthPub=3581
Tucker is going to be coming out with an interview of Alex Jones. You’re going to want to watch it. Here’s a warm up: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8RWqKa91pxs&pp=ygUKRGF2ZSBzbWl0aA%3D%3D
Americas federal governor is run by the intelligence community mostly for the benefit of oligarchs that act like they care more about countries not called America. They, along with an impoverished underclass, are at war with the American middle class and are trying to bring us to heel. Trump is standing in the gap for us, and they will destroy him for it.
Great rant. Our nation’s trajectory is not looking good at the moment, but that doesn’t mean it has to continue to go on that way.
Hi, Jeff,
As the world situation becomes more dire and our leaders become more feckless, your posts have become more prescient. Thank you. This one is another masterpiece of yours. Like you, I was born a conservative and came out after I read Barry Goldwater's manifesto written in 1964. Possibly ghost written by, my memory fails me, the bearded guy who often appears on Fox and NewsMax.
I am lucky in that I went to a small state school in Michigan and avoided the political pitfalls of being indoctrinated by some leftist twit out at one of the Eastern schools.
I will speak to you and Mr. Jeffrey L. Minch below, as your comments are similar. What you fail to mention, at least IMHO, is that as the leaders of the Western World move away from their Judeo-Christian ethics and become "secular," Oh - How I hate that word, the world has degraded step by step. It has been ever so since Man decided to build the Tower of Babel, to put himself at a level and equal to God.
If the ego of Man allows him to believe that he is a god, or that there is no God, then he believes that there are no consequences to his moral actions. That he is dust and will return to dust when he dies, so why not do whatever his sad, pathetic little ego wants to to achieve his vision of greatness?
The bottom line is that he will then push society towards his definition of Utopia, and it will all be fruitless and endlessly destructive. Of necessity, it will be defined by a total loss of personal freedom and the subjugation to the human will of others, the greatest sin of all.
What Man should do is place himself in the Hands of God, and pray that he, we, be given to answers to the problems that face us. We may not get there in our lifetimes, but working for what God wants us to do, following His Will, is our true destiny. Of course, all of this should be followed by our everlasting gratitude.
God has given us a paradise. Can we keep it?
Carl Zapffe
Door County, Wisconsin.
Newsome not lighting the Christmas tree, hum. Guess on the bright side, he didn't chop it down. That guy likes abortion more than his wife likes banging Weinstein to get ahead.
Thanks for keeping the pulse of sanity flowing.
The real power in this country resides in the DOJ, attorney generals, and prosecutors offices. About 8-10 years ago, I read an article how Soros was spending massive amounts of prosecutor elections. That is now bearing fruit. The only way to fix this country is to get rid of communist/fascist prosecutors and attorneys general. They won’t be going away without a fight. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/12/breaking-nevadas-democrat-attorney-general-announces-felony-charges/