Patheos

BuddhistCatholicContemplativeEvangelicalGeneral ChristianHinduJewishLatter-day SaintMuslimNew VisionsProgressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Patheos

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Faithful Democrats

“Nazi Appeasement” and the Cringe Factor

Last updated on: May 9, 2013 at 6:07 am   by Faithful Democrats

“Nazi Appeasement” and the Cringe Factor 2013-05-09T06:07:37-06:00 Faithful Democrats

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The righteousness of the free enterprise system masking occasional greed, our President may well enjoy the family fruits of appeasement. 

 

I must confess that I cringe in embarrassment every time our President steps in front of a microphone – embarrassment for America, embarrassment for the once-dignified and balanced Republican Party and embarrassment for a Bush-sponsoring Christian Church that has sold its soul to the god of sound bites. 

 

Our swashbuckling President, only recently divinely "delivered" from the comatose condition of drug and alcohol addiction, has been the right guy for the times as we tread water in the cesspool of "world copdom."  The dead and dying stand as a grim Show-‘n-Tell of the narcissism of unchecked nationalism, patriotism and lust. 

 

In a speech before the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding, President Bush gave as his mocking example of the futility of negotiating with the "enemy" the 1939 statement by Idaho's Sen. William Borah, "Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided." 

 

Setting aside the possibility that over time we create our own enemies in our inexplicable search for international boogeymen, our President's worldview equates diplomatic negotiation with appeasement, a policy of succumbing to hostile demands in exchange for peace.  The most referenced example of appeasement is British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's Munich Agreement in which Britain and France accepted that the Czech region of the Sudetenland should be ceded to Germany.

 

The target of Bush's ridicule of negotiation was made purposely obscure in the hope, I suspect, that Sen. Obama would take the bait.  Take the bait he did, and he jammed it down the throats of both Bush and McCain.  Advantage Obama!

 

Let's be honest; Obama got it right.  Bush's diatribe before the Knesset on appeasement was targeted for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee – not the customarily-gentile and grandfatherly Jimmy Carter.

 

Appeasement or Preemptive War; America stands at the crossroad. Make no mistake about it; that is the looming focus for the 2008 Presidential campaign.  McCain vs. Obama – imperialism vs. civility; the past vs. the future; Old Testament Law vs. New Testament Grace; fear vs. hope.

 

That inevitable debate, only temporarily postponed in the unlikely event of a McCain/Clinton contest, is sorely needed in America as she struggles from the hidden agendas of a colonialist empire to the freewheeling information age.  Failure to act responsibly as a member of the international family of nations cuts instantly across cultural and class barriers worldwide, from the rice paddies of China to the cotton fields of America. 

 

Aside from acting in poor taste by airing our domestic dirty laundry where it cannot be defended nor retrieved, our swaggering President demonstrated a profound ignorance of history – that of his own family.

 

Robert Perry, in the May 18, 2008 edition of consortiumnews.com, reveals a Bush family secret that would drive any of its descendents to drink:[1] 

 

The archival evidence is now clear that Prescott Bush was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from and collaborated with key financial backers of Nazi Germany.

 

The business relationship continued after Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 and even after Germany declared war on the United States following Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.  It stopped only when the U.S. government seized assets of Bush-connected companies in late 1942 under the "Trading with the Enemy Act…"

 

Protected by layers of well-connected friends, Prescott Bush (the President's grandfather) brushed aside the Nazi scandal and won a U.S. Senate seat (1952) from Connecticut, which enabled him to start laying the foundation for the family's political dynasty. 

 

In recent years, however, the archival records from the pre-war era have been assembled, drawing from the Harriman (Averill Harriman) family papers at the Library of Congress, documents at the National Archives, and records from war-crimes trials after Germany's surrender.

 

At the expense of poor old Sen. Borah, who died in 1940, the Bush family super-appeasement strategy of aiding and abetting the Nazis well into 1942 remains one of America's best-kept secrets, according to Perry. 

 

The righteousness of the free enterprise system masking occasional greed, our President may well enjoy the family fruits of appeasement. 

 

The problem, of course, is that the American people will suffer the consequences for decades to come.

 

 

 

 


[1]Robert Perry, The Bushes and Hitler's Appeasement, http://www.consotiumnews.com/2008/051808.html, May 18, 2008.

Featured Writers

Previous Post



May 8, 2008

An Open Letter to North Carolina Voters

Next Post



June 3, 2008 "GAME OVER"


Browse Our Archives

Select a Category About Us About Us Action Center Advertise Ask a Theologian Ask a Theologian Blogs Books Campaign Blog Candidate Spotlights Commentary Donate Facebook Featured Writers Fellows Fellows From the Pulpit General Information Hillary Clinton Interfaith Blog Latest Media Center Media Center Media Center MyBlog MyBlog News Newsflash Newsflashes Our Team Reader Blogs RSS Sermon of the Week Shop Social Networking Static Items Support Talking Points Test blogs The Basics Theology Uncategorized YouTube

Select a Month November 2020 October 2020 February 2020 August 2019 July 2018 July 2017 March 2017 February 2017 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 January 2006 August 2004


Follow Us!

Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter



TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Hebrews, what two things does the word of God judge?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Truth and lies Good and evil The thoughts and attitudes of the heart Right and wrong

Related posts from Faithful Democrats

Politics Blue

King, Isaiah, and the Politics of Now

Faithful Democrats

Politics Blue

Stone Soup for the Soul: An Intern’s Lesson...

Faithful Democrats

Politics Blue

Secret Confessions from the GOP Nominee: A Response

Faithful Democrats

Politics Blue

Two American Dreams and One Economic Reality

Faithful Democrats

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Politics and Religion

Gas Prices: What Would Jesus Pay?

Many of my conservative Christian friends have been having a field day...

Jesus Was a Social Deviant: A Brief History...

  Americans like to say that this country was founded on the...

On Max Lucado Preaching At Washington National Cathedral

There has been a bit of controversy over the past week about...

Digital Deception: How We Ended Up Here And...

The American experiment has reached its moment of reckoning, and we seem...

“The evangelical vote is more diverse than you...

Rev. Jim Ball, EFB Co-Chair, is one of the voices featured in...

view all Politics and Religion blogs

Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Copyright 2008-2026, Patheos. All rights reserved.

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube