Possessing a passion for history, I don’t remember when I first became aware of Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. I remember him for who he was for what he attempted to accomplish. A German officer during World War II, he was central in German resistance to Nazi rule. He was also Catholic. I write this one day after release of the movie Val Kyrie, Hollywood’s version of events.
Although I haven’t’ seen the movie yet, it appears propagandists still exist. Take Roger Friedman’s review for example. It seems , as if on cue, Friedman has reacted to the movie from a parochial viewpoint. He believes the movie “opens the door to a dangerous new thought: that the Holocaust and all the other atrocities could be of secondary important to the cause of German patriotism.” He is concerned that the movie’s’ characters, “heroes” he calls them, tongue-in-cheek, were aware of what was going around them. Curious reaction from Friedman given the topic of the movie.
Also forgotten in the movie is another central theme of the war, Germany’s attempt to crush the Communist Party government of Moscow’s Joseph Stalin. Like Germany’s Nazi Party, communists killed millions of their own citizens to further their end cause.
Freidman is upset because not once in “Val Kyrie” do any of the movie” “heroes” mention what’s happening around them, “that any of them is appalled by or against what they know is happening or has happened: Hitler has systemically killed millions in the most barbaric ways possible to imagine.”
Val Kyrie is an attempt to bring Von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators into the light of history. We all know of Nazi atrocities to Jews. However, among those of the Holocaust were others, such as Catholics like Von Stauffenberg. What occurred in Nazi Germany was not solely put upon Jewish people.
If anything, this movie does not appear to be an attempt to de-Nazify Germany. Rather, it is an attempt to cast Germany into proper historic light. Germans have had enough guilt imposed on them. Many theorize World War II would not have occurred if Germany had not suffered the huge remuneration penalties that burdened them after World War I.
Most German soldiers, like German civilians, had been dragged into events they had no power over, the web the Nazi Party was casting. Val Kyrie is, through this writer’s eye, a long-overdue postscript to World War Two and those who sought to change things.
Sullivan, an avid military historian, is an internationally-published writer residing in northeastern Ohio.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
BAILING OUT SYNCHRONICITY
Back in the 80s the trucking industry was deregulated. What occurred was the collapse of poorly-managed trucking companies that had been supported by collective rate making. Management and union at the time were in synchronicity with each other. Rate increases were routinely approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission so union wage demands could be met. Teamsters unions were smart. If a national strike was called they didn't strike ALL the trucking companies, they would just choose one of them. Kind of like the UAW.
The safety net of collective rate making went out the door with deregulation. Those companies who had been riding along were forced to close their doors. Thousands of union truck drivers and support personnel were forced onto the streets. No bailout then. Fast forward to 2008.
President Bush has bailed out our automotive industry. We can't close them down, of course. However, I accuse management and labor to be in synchronicity with each, just like pre-regulation trucking in the 80s.
U.S. car makers had it all. When quality was introduced, and the American people began to buy foreign-made cars, the American auto industry woke up. They made giant strides in putting out better cars but they lost one invisible item - MOMENTUM. Kind of like a football team that fumbles the ball on opening drives and allows the opposition to get one or two up on them. It becomes pretty hard to regain any pretense at composure. Unless you have referees who give you the ball back.
President Bush has given the U.S. auto industry the ball back. My prediction is the UAW and American automobile executive management will continue to fumble. The question will then be, who's going to kick the referees out to make sure the rest of us witness an honest game?
The safety net of collective rate making went out the door with deregulation. Those companies who had been riding along were forced to close their doors. Thousands of union truck drivers and support personnel were forced onto the streets. No bailout then. Fast forward to 2008.
President Bush has bailed out our automotive industry. We can't close them down, of course. However, I accuse management and labor to be in synchronicity with each, just like pre-regulation trucking in the 80s.
U.S. car makers had it all. When quality was introduced, and the American people began to buy foreign-made cars, the American auto industry woke up. They made giant strides in putting out better cars but they lost one invisible item - MOMENTUM. Kind of like a football team that fumbles the ball on opening drives and allows the opposition to get one or two up on them. It becomes pretty hard to regain any pretense at composure. Unless you have referees who give you the ball back.
President Bush has given the U.S. auto industry the ball back. My prediction is the UAW and American automobile executive management will continue to fumble. The question will then be, who's going to kick the referees out to make sure the rest of us witness an honest game?
Sunday, December 07, 2008
WHEN BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY RAN AMERICA
It is extremely popular for political writers and elected officials to demonize american business. If one believes Plain Dealer writer Dick Feagler, "Business Leaders Show Ignorance." He, too, demonizes American business. The fault is not entirely theirs however.
If one has followed the path of the fines to our businesses, e.g., EPA and SEC to name a few, the figures number into the hundreds and hundreds of millions. It is as if government entities have the luxury of time to explore us under a microsope. Eureka! We have found an area where we can extract money from them.
Yes, as I said, business leaders have only themselves to blame. But government, through its voracious appetite for extracted money, has forced industry to locate outside of our borders. We are not a place to invest capital. That only leaves a void for government to look for money within the borders. And that ain't much honey.
How does one create an atmosphere for investment? One can begin by looking at the Republic of Ireland where the tax rate for industry is low. Ireland donates money abroad without having to borrow. Contrast this with the tax rate in the British political entity called Northern Ireland and it becomes clear. And we must begin to pay down our national debt.
The incoming Obama administration has only one option. Oh yes, there are others, but they won't have the courage to create an environment for investors, both local and international. The place they want to take us is called socialism.
Profit is now a bad word in America, aided and abetted by government and media. Add the guilty in corporate America to the mix and we're ripe for "change". No, the option they exercise will be to print more money, exactly the same thing that has gotten us to this point. And, at some point, the American dollar will fall. I mean, utterly fail. No socialist government will accept the American dollar. For socialism to "work", every nation's government must be socialistic. Until they are, moral capitalism will be the only entity that creates wealth.
If we don't want wealth, what do we want?
If one has followed the path of the fines to our businesses, e.g., EPA and SEC to name a few, the figures number into the hundreds and hundreds of millions. It is as if government entities have the luxury of time to explore us under a microsope. Eureka! We have found an area where we can extract money from them.
Yes, as I said, business leaders have only themselves to blame. But government, through its voracious appetite for extracted money, has forced industry to locate outside of our borders. We are not a place to invest capital. That only leaves a void for government to look for money within the borders. And that ain't much honey.
How does one create an atmosphere for investment? One can begin by looking at the Republic of Ireland where the tax rate for industry is low. Ireland donates money abroad without having to borrow. Contrast this with the tax rate in the British political entity called Northern Ireland and it becomes clear. And we must begin to pay down our national debt.
The incoming Obama administration has only one option. Oh yes, there are others, but they won't have the courage to create an environment for investors, both local and international. The place they want to take us is called socialism.
Profit is now a bad word in America, aided and abetted by government and media. Add the guilty in corporate America to the mix and we're ripe for "change". No, the option they exercise will be to print more money, exactly the same thing that has gotten us to this point. And, at some point, the American dollar will fall. I mean, utterly fail. No socialist government will accept the American dollar. For socialism to "work", every nation's government must be socialistic. Until they are, moral capitalism will be the only entity that creates wealth.
If we don't want wealth, what do we want?
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