#US History Woodrow Wilson World War I

[liberty1776]

Another Christmas and there is still no peace on earth. And the proximate cause of that vexing reality is the $1.3 trillion Warfare State planted on the banks of the Potomac—along with its web of war-making capabilities, bases, alliances and vassals stretching to the four corners of the planet. So positioned, it stands in stark mockery of John Qunicy Adam’s sage advice to his new nation 200-years ago: Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters … Continue reading →

[porterdavis]

From a man who knows

Your Excellency, Mr. President,

We watched the report of your conversation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with fear and distaste. We find it insulting that you expect Ukraine to show respect and gratitude for the material assistance provided by the United States in its fight against russia. Gratitude is owed to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world. They have been dying on the front lines for more than 11 years in the name of these values and the independence of their homeland, which was attacked by Putin’s russia.

We do not understand how the leader of a country that symbolizes the free world cannot recognize this.

Our alarm was also heightened by the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation, which reminded us of the interrogations we endured at the hands of the Security Services and the debates in Communist courts. Prosecutors and judges, acting on behalf of the all-powerful communist political police, would explain to us that they held all the power while we held none. They demanded that we cease our activities, arguing that thousands of innocent people suffered because of us. They stripped us of our freedoms and civil rights because we refused to cooperate with the government or express gratitude for our oppression. We are shocked that President Volodymyr Zelensky was treated in the same manner.

The history of the 20th century shows that whenever the United States sought to distance itself from democratic values and its European allies, it ultimately became a threat to itself. President Woodrow Wilson understood this when he decided in 1917 that the United States must join World War I. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood this when, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he resolved that the war to defend America must be fought not only in the Pacific but also in Europe, in alliance with the nations under attack by the Third Reich.

We remember that without President Ronald Reagan and America’s financial commitment, the collapse of the Soviet empire would not have been possible. President Reagan recognized that millions of enslaved people suffered in Soviet russia and the countries it had subjugated, including thousands of political prisoners who paid for their defense of democratic values with their freedom. His greatness lay, among other things, in his unwavering decision to call the USSR an “Empire of Evil” and to fight it decisively. We won, and today, the statue of President Ronald Reagan stands in Warsaw, facing the U.S. Embassy.

Mr. President, material aid—military and financial—can never be equated with the blood shed in the name of Ukraine’s independence and the freedom of Europe and the entire free world. Human life is priceless; its value cannot be measured in money. Gratitude is due to those who sacrifice their blood and their freedom. This is self-evident to us, the people of Solidarity, former political prisoners of the communist regime under Soviet russia.

We call on the United States to uphold the guarantees made alongside Great Britain in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which established a direct obligation to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for its relinquishment of nuclear weapons. These guarantees are unconditional—there is no mention of treating such assistance as an economic transaction.

Signed,

Lech Wałęsa, former political prisoner, President of Poland

[victusinveritas]

WARSAW, March 3 (Reuters) - Lech Walesa, the former Polish president and Solidarity trade union leader who played a leading role in the fall of Communism, signed a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump expressing "horror" at his argument with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winner posted the text of the letter, which was signed by 39 Polish former political prisoners, on Facebook on Monday:

"Your Excellency, Mr. President,

We watched the report of your conversation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with fear and distaste. We find it insulting that you expect Ukraine to show respect and gratitude for the material assistance provided by the United States in its fight against russia. Gratitude is owed to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world. They have been dying on the front lines for more than 11 years in the name of these values and the independence of their homeland, which was attacked by Putin’s russia.

We do not understand how the leader of a country that symbolizes the free world cannot recognize this.

Our alarm was also heightened by the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation, which reminded us of the interrogations we endured at the hands of the Security Services and the debates in Communist courts. Prosecutors and judges, acting on behalf of the all-powerful communist political police, would explain to us that they held all the power while we held none. They demanded that we cease our activities, arguing that thousands of innocent people suffered because of us. They stripped us of our freedoms and civil rights because we refused to cooperate with the government or express gratitude for our oppression. We are shocked that President Volodymyr Zelensky was treated in the same manner.

The history of the 20th century shows that whenever the United States sought to distance itself from democratic values and its European allies, it ultimately became a threat to itself. President Woodrow Wilson understood this when he decided in 1917 that the United States must join World War I. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood this when, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he resolved that the war to defend America must be fought not only in the Pacific but also in Europe, in alliance with the nations under attack by the Third Reich.

We remember that without President Ronald Reagan and America’s financial commitment, the collapse of the Soviet empire would not have been possible. President Reagan recognized that millions of enslaved people suffered in Soviet russia and the countries it had subjugated, including thousands of political prisoners who paid for their defense of democratic values with their freedom. His greatness lay, among other things, in his unwavering decision to call the USSR an “Empire of Evil” and to fight it decisively. We won, and today, the statue of President Ronald Reagan stands in Warsaw, facing the U.S. Embassy.

Mr. President, material aid—military and financial—can never be equated with the blood shed in the name of Ukraine’s independence and the freedom of Europe and the entire free world. Human life is priceless; its value cannot be measured in money. Gratitude is due to those who sacrifice their blood and their freedom. This is self-evident to us, the people of Solidarity, former political prisoners of the communist regime under Soviet russia.

We call on the United States to uphold the guarantees made alongside Great Britain in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which established a direct obligation to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for its relinquishment of nuclear weapons. These guarantees are unconditional—there is no mention of treating such assistance as an economic transaction.

Signed,

Lech Wałęsa, former political prisoner, President of Poland"

[klbmsw]

Former President of Poland Lech Walesa wrote the following letter to Trump.

Your Excellency, Mr. President,

We watched the report of your conversation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with fear and distaste. We find it insulting that you expect Ukraine to show respect and gratitude for the material assistance provided by the United States in its fight against russia. Gratitude is owed to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world. They have been dying on the front lines for more than 11 years in the name of these values and the independence of their homeland, which was attacked by Putin’s russia.

We do not understand how the leader of a country that symbolizes the free world cannot recognize this.

Our alarm was also heightened by the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation, which reminded us of the interrogations we endured at the hands of the Security Services and the debates in Communist courts. Prosecutors and judges, acting on behalf of the all-powerful communist political police, would explain to us that they held all the power while we held none. They demanded that we cease our activities, arguing that thousands of innocent people suffered because of us. They stripped us of our freedoms and civil rights because we refused to cooperate with the government or express gratitude for our oppression. We are shocked that President Volodymyr Zelensky was treated in the same manner.

The history of the 20th century shows that whenever the United States sought to distance itself from democratic values and its European allies, it ultimately became a threat to itself. President Woodrow Wilson understood this when he decided in 1917 that the United States must join World War I. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood this when, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he resolved that the war to defend America must be fought not only in the Pacific but also in Europe, in alliance with the nations under attack by the Third Reich.

We remember that without President Ronald Reagan and America’s financial commitment, the collapse of the Soviet empire would not have been possible. President Reagan recognized that millions of enslaved people suffered in Soviet russia and the countries it had subjugated, including thousands of political prisoners who paid for their defense of democratic values with their freedom. His greatness lay, among other things, in his unwavering decision to call the USSR an “Empire of Evil” and to fight it decisively. We won, and today, the statue of President Ronald Reagan stands in Warsaw, facing the U.S. Embassy.

Mr. President, material aid—military and financial—can never be equated with the blood shed in the name of Ukraine’s independence and the freedom of Europe and the entire free world. Human life is priceless; its value cannot be measured in money. Gratitude is due to those who sacrifice their blood and their freedom. This is self-evident to us, the people of Solidarity, former political prisoners of the communist regime under Soviet russia.

We call on the United States to uphold the guarantees made alongside Great Britain in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which established a direct obligation to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for its relinquishment of nuclear weapons. These guarantees are unconditional—there is no mention of treating such assistance as an economic transaction.

Signed,

Lech Wałęsa, former political prisoner, President of Poland

[sjerzgirl]

Former President of Poland Lech Walesa wrote the following letter to Trump.

Your Excellency, Mr. President,

We watched the report of your conversation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with fear and distaste. We find it insulting that you expect Ukraine to show respect and gratitude for the material assistance provided by the United States in its fight against russia. Gratitude is owed to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world. They have been dying on the front lines for more than 11 years in the name of these values and the independence of their homeland, which was attacked by Putin’s russia.

We do not understand how the leader of a country that symbolizes the free world cannot recognize this.

Our alarm was also heightened by the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation, which reminded us of the interrogations we endured at the hands of the Security Services and the debates in Communist courts. Prosecutors and judges, acting on behalf of the all-powerful communist political police, would explain to us that they held all the power while we held none. They demanded that we cease our activities, arguing that thousands of innocent people suffered because of us. They stripped us of our freedoms and civil rights because we refused to cooperate with the government or express gratitude for our oppression. We are shocked that President Volodymyr Zelensky was treated in the same manner.

The history of the 20th century shows that whenever the United States sought to distance itself from democratic values and its European allies, it ultimately became a threat to itself. President Woodrow Wilson understood this when he decided in 1917 that the United States must join World War I. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood this when, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he resolved that the war to defend America must be fought not only in the Pacific but also in Europe, in alliance with the nations under attack by the Third Reich.

We remember that without President Ronald Reagan and America’s financial commitment, the collapse of the Soviet empire would not have been possible. President Reagan recognized that millions of enslaved people suffered in Soviet russia and the countries it had subjugated, including thousands of political prisoners who paid for their defense of democratic values with their freedom. His greatness lay, among other things, in his unwavering decision to call the USSR an “Empire of Evil” and to fight it decisively. We won, and today, the statue of President Ronald Reagan stands in Warsaw, facing the U.S. Embassy.

Mr. President, material aid—military and financial—can never be equated with the blood shed in the name of Ukraine’s independence and the freedom of Europe and the entire free world. Human life is priceless; its value cannot be measured in money. Gratitude is due to those who sacrifice their blood and their freedom. This is self-evident to us, the people of Solidarity, former political prisoners of the communist regime under Soviet russia.

We call on the United States to uphold the guarantees made alongside Great Britain in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which established a direct obligation to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for its relinquishment of nuclear weapons. These guarantees are unconditional—there is no mention of treating such assistance as an economic transaction.

Signed,

Lech Wałęsa, former political prisoner, President of Poland

[darkmaga-returns]

Last week marked the 108th anniversary of the US declaration of war on Imperial Germany. The First World War was supposed to be the war to end all wars. Instead, US entry into the war on the side of the Allies led to the punitive Treaty of Versailles which gave birth to Nazism in Germany, ensured the victory of Communism in Russia, and led to a Second World War that cost the lives of nearly four times more people than died in the previous world war, including five to six million Jews. At the time the Treaty was signed in June 1919, British Prime Minister Lloyd George despaired that it would lead to a future war worse than the last within twenty-five years due to its harshness and injustices towards the defeated Germans. They had surrendered to the Allies on the basis of President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, but the final Treaty excluded seven of them, including most notably the five most favorable to Germany.

The many injustices of the Treaty of Versailles are far too numerous to list here but I have covered the main ones in a previous article. The treaty led to the loss of eighty-six percent of Germany’s territory, including her overseas colonies, annexed by no less than eight different countries, It mandated the artificial creation of the Polish Corridor which split Germany in two while depriving Germany of a self-defense force capable of defending it from even comparatively insignificant nations like Belgium. French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau sought to partition Germany and deprive it of twenty-five percent of its European territory but British Prime Minister David Lloyd-George threatened to resign from the conference if he continued to insist on doing so, which led to the Germans losing just thirteen percent of its European territory.

[tanadrin]

A challenge: which unimportant US presidential election would you go back in time to change the outcome of? You can't name any of the top 20 genuinely history-defining elections; it has to be a relatively forgotten one.

It's sort of a contradiction, right? Like by definition elections that have outcomes interesting enough to change are excluded. Some elections which might feel like trivia to most people, like the 1876 one that ended Reconstruction, would probably still be rated as pretty highly consequential by historians. Elections like the 2000 election, which didn't seem like it would be extremely consequential at the time, are now widely agreed to be hugely consequential. And it's hard to know how very recent elections, which are important to us, might go down in history.

I am also assuming I only get to pick between the actual major-party nominees--that I don't get to fiddle with the nomination process at all, and very minor candidates don't have a shot. So depending on how you define the "top 20 most consequential elections" I might pick (besides 2000 and 1876)

1912, because Woodrow Wilson was a phenomenally racist son of a bitch (but this might be too close to World War I to not be "history-defining"), and a third-party win by Roosevelt would be fun.

1920, because Warren G. Harding was just a really bad president

1900 or 1896, because William Jennings Bryan winning would be a fun alternate history scenario

1824, because Andrew Jackson was also a huge asshole

1988, because I like Dukakis better, and to reduce the political weight of the Bush family name

1984, because I dislike Reagan, and it would be a huge upset (fun!)

1980, because again fuck Reagan, and I like Jimmy Carter (even though objectively he was not a terribly effective president)

1968, because Richard Nixon was kind of a disaster for how we think about the American presidency

1952, because Adlai Stevenson seems fun, and somewhat less of a paranoid anti-communist that most Republicans (including Eisenhower) at the time.

[georgefairbrother]

When the Versailles Peace Conference convened in early 1919, US President Woodrow Wilson presented an idealistic 14-point plan for 'a new world order' described by Oxford Professor of Modern History, Sir Michael Howard, as furthering democracy and 'national self-determination', and so that 'out of the ashes of the old order of imperial powers there should emerge new self governing nations'.

These ambitions were immediately at odds with European leaders wholly intent on securing their own countries, expanding empires, and enacting revenge on 'a German state that no longer existed'.

French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau was dismissive of Wilson's plan, while British Prime Minister David Lloyd George wasn't a fan either. He wrote;

"…Whilst we were dealing everyday with ghastly realities on land and sea, he was soaring in clouds of serene rhetoric. This was President Wilson’s first contact with Europe, for ages the favourite hunting ground of beasts of prey and poisonous reptiles creeping and springing on their victims…."

Lloyd George also described Europe on the eve of the conference as 'a seething cauldron of hate'.

It didn't take long for senior British diplomat and adviser, Harold Nicholson, to see which way the wind was blowing;

"...Clemenceau, Lloyd George, and President Wilson pulled up armchairs and crouched low over the map…It is appalling that these ignorant and irresponsible men should be cutting Asia Minor to bits as if they were dividing a cake…There was the final revision of the frontiers of Austria; Hungary is partitioned, indolently and irresponsibly partitioned, then the Yugoslav frontier, then tea and macaroons…"

Great War specialist and author, Professor Jay Winter;

"...The way in which Versailles was conducted was disastrous, in that it didn’t provide anything that could be called worth the sacrifice of even a fraction of those who had died in the First World War. So the idea of why, what for, has no answer…It becomes…a continuation of the nightmare of the war rather than the breaking of a new dawn…"

But perhaps the most ominously significant reaction was from a 30 year old corporal in the German army;

"…When the old gentleman began to tell us we were throwing ourselves on the mercy of the victors, I could stand it no longer. Everything went black before my eyes, I tottered and groped my way back to the dormitory, threw myself on my bunk and dug my burning head into my blanket and pillow. And so it had all been in vain. All the sacrifices and privations…The hunger and thirst of months which were often endless. In vain, the two million who died…Would not the graves of those who with faith in the Fatherland had marched forth never to return, would they not open and send the silent mud and blood covered heroes back as spirits of vengeance to the homeland which had cheated them with such mockery…Hatred grew in me for those responsible for this deed, in the days that followed my own fate became known to me. I decided to go into politics…"

Source: The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century - BBC-Imperial War Museum, 1996

[loneberry]

Notes on Palestine

The geopolitical situation right now is extremely unstable. In such moments it always feels like incentive structures are such that all parties are pushed toward war and escalation. I saw how this all unfolded with 9/11; it left an indelible mark on my psyche–to observe the world careening, the hysteria, the march toward endless war. The Iran hawks in the US are out calling for war with Iran (US intelligence and even the IDF have said Iran did not help *plan* the Hamas attacks, though the idea that Iran was behind the attacks is being presented as fact). 

Days before the Hamas attacks, I was in an article + podcast rabbit hole focused on Iranian nuclear politics, Saudi-Israeli relations, and the current situation in the “Middle East” (I prefer the term “South West Asia and North Africa”/SWANA but will use “Middle East” for readability). I had also been reading that the US’s attempts to broker a US-Saudi-Israeli deal would piss off the Palestinians. It filled me with immense grief—nobody, not even Muslim Arabs, seem to care about Palestinians anymore. The international community has failed. Now it seems that the world has consented to a protracted genocide of Palestinians. It used to be the case that Arab countries would not considered normalizing relations with Israel without Israel making concessions to the Palestinians. The sad reality is that since the Arab Spring, the resolution of the Palestinian issue has become a low priority for many countries in the Middle East, many of whom have their own feud with Iran and see pivoting toward Israel as a path toward greater security. Of course I’m talking about the Abraham Accords, the so-called “peace deal” brokered by the Trump administration that enabled the normalization of relations between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain, yet excluded any input from Palestinians. That event had brought me so much grief. It really felt like any hope for the Palestinian cause was dying. There seems to be little political will from any side to put pressure on Israel.

In moments of crisis like these I try to be sober and pedagogical, but such a task feels nearly impossible when it comes to the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict”. People say the conflict is “complicated” and rooted in hundreds of years of religious hatred. It is really not that complicated and only requires basic knowledge of 20th century history. Prior to WWI, the territory of Palestine (and much of the Arab world) was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for over 400 years. The Allied Powers (Britain, France, Russia, and others) were at war with the Central Powers (Germany, Austro-Hungary, the Ottomans, etc). The Brits saw Palestine as a crown jewel and coveted Jerusalem in particular. They recruited Arab assistance in the war by whipping up hundreds of years of resentment against the Ottomans and promising the Arabs that they would break up the Ottoman Empire and help the Arabs create their own nations (see theMcMahon-Hussein correspondence). Yet the Brits were also keen on recruiting Jewish support on the side of the Allied Powers. In 1917 the British government made a declaration (the Balfour Declaration) that announced British support for the creation of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. At the end of WWI (which, as you likely know, ended in Allied success), the European empires on the winning side sought to expand their empires while Woodrow Wilson believed more in self-determination. The compromise was the “mandate” system, where the Europeans on the winning side took administrative control of territories lost by the Central Powers—France and Britain carved up the Middle East. Enter the British mandate for Palestine. The Arabs had been betrayed by the Allied Europeans (no surprise there). One form of colonial rule was swapped for another. 

Prior to the end of WWI, the Zionist movement was gaining momentum, partly as an answer to the perennial problem of European anti-Semitism and partly because of the 19th/early-20th century discourse around nationalism. The idea of creating a Jewish state in Palestine began in the 19th century, but it was really in the 1890s that modern political Zionism began with the figure of Theodor Herzl. European Jews began to immigrate to Palestine to form settlements. Yet when the mandate was established, the Jewish population was still relatively small—around 9%. While the territory was under British rule, the Brits facilitated a dramatic increase in European Jewish immigration to Palestine. Between 1922 and 1935, the portion of the population that was Jewish grew to 27%. It’s hardly surprising that violence broke out between Arabs and Jews, as well as Arabs and the Brits (see the Arab Revolt of 1936-39). 

The Brits promised a territory to an oppressed people (the Jews) that was never theirs to give away in the first place. The Arabs were quickly being displaced from their home. All of this would come to a head in WWII, when Europe’s vile anti-Semitism was on full display with the Holocaust. How would Europe atone for the atrocities committed against the Jews? There was much momentum around creating a physical state for the Jews in Palestine. This was also a convenient solution for deeply anti-Semitic Europe, as they preferred that the Jews leave rather than be integrated into their societies. In 1947 the UN voted to partition Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, with Jerusalem coming under international administration. 13 voted against the partition (basically all the countries in the Middle East, plus India and several others). 55% of the land would be set aside for the Jews. War broke out soon after the UN resolution. The (WWII) battle-hardened Zionist paramilitaries (backed by European countries) undertook a campaign of ethnic cleansing and captured additional territory. Between 1947-49, 750,000 Palestinians became refugees—around 40% of the entire Palestinian population. 78% of historic Palestine was taken by Zionist forces. This is the event of settler violence and ethnic cleansing that Palestinians refer to as the Nakba (or catastrophe). 

There is so much obfuscation about the roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict. What ultimately happened: Europe decided it wanted to create a nation for Jews. It picked the territory of Palestine for this project (other territories were also considered) because the Brits controlled the territory and because of its religious significance. There were already people who lived on the land that was to be used to create a Jewish state. Now Palestinians are stateless and live under a brutal military occupation (the West Bank) and even more punishing blockade (Gaza)—or as refugees. Palestinians were ultimately made to suffer for the sins of European anti-Semitism. 

*

There is a lot more I can say here, about the history of the Cold War and how it relates to the US’s alliance with Israel, about internecine conflicts in Palestinian politics (the split between Hamas and the PLO/Palestinian Authority), about the current geopolitical situation, about contemporary domestic politics in Israel (which currently has the most right-wing govt in Israel’s history) and the Hamas attacks themselves. I see friends gleefully posting about the murder of Israeli civilians. I just can’t get on board with that. Neither can I get on board with Israel bombing hospitals and shelters in Gaza, or calling Palestinians “animals.” All life is sacred, all life is grievable. (People are right to point out that most of the world does not grieve the loss of Palestinian life.)

Events do have a context. Gaza is one of the most unlivable places on the planet. Around 67% of Gaza's population are refugees displaced during the Nakba. It has been under a brutal blockade for 16 years. It’s the 3rd most densely populated place on the planet—over 2.1 million people are crammed into a space half the size of London. The residents have been deprived of electricity, clean drinking water, medical supplies, and food. Nearly half of residents are unemployed and civilians have died by thousands under Israeli bombings (6,407 Palestinians have been killed since 2008). It is referred to as an “open air prison” because the residents are literally hemmed in by a high-tech fence. Given these dire conditions, an eruption of violence did seem almost inevitable. 

What I fear: a ground invasion of Gaza. A broader conflagration involving Lebanon and Iran, and potentially the rest of the world. The US going to war with Iran. If the world genuinely wishes to see the end of the “cycle of violence,” Palestinians must be free. Any attempt to bring about “regional security” while ignoring the Palestinian situation is destined to fail.

[sadanandaom]

MUST READ

This is the text we signed:

Your Excellency Mr President,

We watched the report of your conversation with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenski with fear and distaste. We consider your expectations to show respect and gratitude for the material help provided by the United States fighting Russia to Ukraine insulting. Gratitude is due to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world. They have been dying on the frontline for more than 11 years in the name of these values and independence of their Homeland, which was attacked by Putin's Russia.

We do not understand how the leader of a country that is the symbol of the free world cannot see it.

Our panic was also caused by the fact that the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation reminded us of one we remember well from Security Service interrogations and from the debate rooms in Communist courts. Prosecutors and judges at the behest of the all-powerful communist political police also explained to us that they hold all the cards and we hold none. They demanded us to stop our business, arguing that thousands of innocent people suffer because of us. They deprived us of our freedoms and civil rights because we refused to cooperate with the government and our gratitude. We are shocked that Mr. President Volodymyr Zelenski treated in the same way.

The history of the 20th century shows that every time the United States wanted to keep its distance from democratic values and its European allies, it ended up being a threat to themselves. This was understood by President Woodrow Wilson, who decided to join the United States in World War I in 1917. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood this, deciding after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 that the war for the defense of America would be fought not only in the Pacific, but also in Europe, in alliance with the countries attacked by the Third Reich.

We remember that without President Ronald Reagan and American financial commitment it would not have been possible to bring the collapse of the Soviet Union empire. President Reagan was aware that millions of enslaved people were suffering in Soviet Russia and the countries it conquered, including thousands of political prisoners who paid for their sacrifice in defense of democratic values with freedom. His greatness was m. in. on the fact that he without hesitation called the USSR the "Empire of Evil" and gave it a decisive fight. We won, and the statue of President Ronald Reagan stands today in Warsaw vis a vis of the US embassy.

Mr. President, material aid - military and financial - cannot be equivalent to the blood shed in the name of independence and freedom of Ukraine, Europe, as well as the whole free world. Human life is priceless, its value cannot be measured with money. Gratitude is due to those who make the sacrifice of blood and freedom. It is obvious for us, the people of "Solidarity", former political prisoners of the communist regime serving Soviet Russia.

We are calling for the United States to withdraw from the guarantees it made with the Great Britain in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which recorded a direct obligation to defend the intact borders of Ukraine in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons resources. These guarantees are unconditional: there is no word about treating such aid as an economic exchange.

Lech Wales, b. political prisoner, Solidarity leader, president of the Republic of Poland III

[innervoiceartblog]

WARSAW, March 3 (Reuters) - Lech Walesa, the former Polish president and Solidarity trade union leader who played a leading role in the fall of Communism, signed a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump expressing "horror" at his argument with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winner posted the text of the letter, which was signed by 39 Polish former political prisoners, on Facebook on Monday:

Your Excellency, Mr. President,

We watched the report of your conversation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with fear and distaste. We find it insulting that you expect Ukraine to show respect and gratitude for the material assistance provided by the United States in its fight against russia. Gratitude is owed to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world. They have been dying on the front lines for more than 11 years in the name of these values and the independence of their homeland, which was attacked by Putin’s russia.

We do not understand how the leader of a country that symbolizes the free world cannot recognize this.

Our alarm was also heightened by the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation, which reminded us of the interrogations we endured at the hands of the Security Services and the debates in Communist courts. Prosecutors and judges, acting on behalf of the all-powerful communist political police, would explain to us that they held all the power while we held none. They demanded that we cease our activities, arguing that thousands of innocent people suffered because of us. They stripped us of our freedoms and civil rights because we refused to cooperate with the government or express gratitude for our oppression. We are shocked that President Volodymyr Zelensky was treated in the same manner.

The history of the 20th century shows that whenever the United States sought to distance itself from democratic values and its European allies, it ultimately became a threat to itself. President Woodrow Wilson understood this when he decided in 1917 that the United States must join World War I. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood this when, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he resolved that the war to defend America must be fought not only in the Pacific but also in Europe, in alliance with the nations under attack by the Third Reich.

We remember that without President Ronald Reagan and America’s financial commitment, the collapse of the Soviet empire would not have been possible. President Reagan recognized that millions of enslaved people suffered in Soviet russia and the countries it had subjugated, including thousands of political prisoners who paid for their defense of democratic values with their freedom. His greatness lay, among other things, in his unwavering decision to call the USSR an “Empire of Evil” and to fight it decisively. We won, and today, the statue of President Ronald Reagan stands in Warsaw, facing the U.S. Embassy.

Mr. President, material aid—military and financial—can never be equated with the blood shed in the name of Ukraine’s independence and the freedom of Europe and the entire free world. Human life is priceless; its value cannot be measured in money. Gratitude is due to those who sacrifice their blood and their freedom. This is self-evident to us, the people of Solidarity, former political prisoners of the communist regime under Soviet russia.

We call on the United States to uphold the guarantees made alongside Great Britain in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which established a direct obligation to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for its relinquishment of nuclear weapons. These guarantees are unconditional—there is no mention of treating such assistance as an economic transaction.

Signed,

Lech Wałęsa, former political prisoner, President of Poland

[aressida]

My entry: "The battle with the Australian Constitution, and the history of the Versailles Treaty." - Aressida. 25.6.24.

I know They work for the firm, not the monarch. They will not answer to the King.

What I recently discovered is that following World War One, Australia was given independence by the Treaty of Versailles. It was kept secret from the public at the time by the Australian politicians.

A few individuals have accumulated a substantial amount of documents and proof regarding the theft of Australian sovereignty.

From that point on, all laws, rules, and taxes are void.

We do not own any securities that the government sold to us after they altered the constitution without an authorized referendum, so we have no claim to ownership in the corporation.

What I have learn about this, here is an overview of the Versailles Treaty:

1) World War I ended on June 28, 1919 (correct?) with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. And, the Armistice was decided upon on November 11, 1918, around five in the morning.

2) In January 1919, 32 countries met in Paris to discuss how to make peace. The main decisions were made by three leaders: David Lloyd George from Britain, Georges Clemenceau from France, and, Woodrow Wilson from the USA.

3) Because their nations experienced the war in different ways, the three leaders differed on how to deal with Germany. A lot of things have to be compromised.

4) Rather than seeking to punish Germany or attributing all responsibility for the war to the country, Woodrow Wilson proposed the creation of the League of Nations to promote and preserve peace.

Georges Clemenceau’s intention was to deliver a brutal punishment to Germany, in order to make them pay for all the suffering endured by France. His priorities lie in seeking both protection and revenge.

David Lloyd George wanted to preserve Britain's navy's supremacy and to punish Germany, but not excessively. 

When the treaty was ready, Germany was forced to sign it without any chance to negotiate or object.

5) All things considered, Germany and the men who drafted the Treaty of Versailles were not fond of it.

6) Hitler later openly and covertly changed its provisions, which led to the start of World War II in Germany.

Why do we Australians still not know about this? All of that is about to change.

The crucial point they miss is that the restoration of the constitution and the establishment of judicial tribunals is a core argument. And, rather than investing in and deceiving us Australians with a fraudulent Constitution, we shall restore the original one. They are done for good.

[biblenewsprophecy]

EU President says because of Donald Trump ‘The West as we knew it no longer exists’

COGwriter

Euronews reported the following:

‘The West as we knew it no longer exists,’ von der Leyen says amid Trump tensions

16 April 2025

Europe is still a peace project. We don’t have bros or oligarchs making the rules. We don’t invade our neighbours, and we don’t punish them,” Ursula von der Leyen said in a wide-ranging interview with the Zeit newspaper.

“The West as we knew it no longer exists,” Ursula von der Leyen has declared amid rapidly deteriorating relations with the United States under Donald Trump’s administration, which has forced Europe to look elsewhere for allies and partners.

In the aftermath of Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which Brussels has decried as “neither credible nor justified”, the president of the European Commission has been working the phones with representatives from Norway, Iceland, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Von der Leyen has also spoken with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, fuelling speculation of an imminent thaw in EU-China ties after years of tensions.

“The world has become a globe also geopolitically, and today our networks of friendship span the globe, as you can see in the debate about tariffs,” von der Leyen told the German newspaper Zeit …

“Right now, I could have these conversations 24 hours a day. Everyone is asking for more trade with Europe – and it’s not just about economic ties. It is also about establishing common rules and it is about predictability. Europe is known for its predictability and reliability, which is once again starting to be seen as something very valuable,” she said.

“On the one hand, this is very gratifying; on the other hand, there is also of course a huge responsibility that we have to live up to.” …

Asked if America was a friend, a former friend or an opponent, the Commission chief avoided “these kinds of classifications” while admitting the relation was “complicated”. …

“Europe is still a peace project. We don’t have bros or oligarchs making the rules. We don’t invade our neighbours, and we don’t punish them. On the contrary, there are twelve countries on the waiting list to become members of the European Union. That’s about 150 million people,” she said, referring to the accession process. …

when asked if Europe should “trust the Chinese”, she did not refute the growing speculation of a rapprochement. https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/04/16/the-west-as-we-knew-it-no-longer-exists-von-der-leyen-says-amid-trump-tensions

Yes, the EU is interested in more trade deals and more nations want to make trade deals with the EU.

The EU is looking less and less favorably towards the US and seems to feel it no longer really leads the West–and that is has less need for the US.

Ursula von der Leyen is basically publicly stating that the US is no longer part of the West’s leadership, is not really a friend anymore of Europe, and that the rest of the world is looking to Europe.

This is a big deal.

It is also consistent with a prophecy in Lamentations 1:1-2 that the one that was great among the nations (the US) will be conquered by friends who became enemies (the final European Beast power).

Notice something that came out after Donald Trump was elected the first time:

America Has Abdicated Its Leadership of the West

14 November 2016

For 100 years, the United States was the leader of the free world. With the election of Donald Trump, America has now abdicated that role. It is time for Europe, and Angela Merkel, to step into the void.

Even history sometimes leans toward pathos. In January 2017, when Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, the American Age will celebrate its 100th birthday — and its funeral.

The West was constituted in its modern form in January 1917. World War I was raging in Europe at the time and in Washington, D.C., President Woodrow Wilson told his country that it was time for Americans to take responsibility for “peace and justice.” In April he said: “The world must be made safe for democracy.” He declared war on Germany and sent soldiers to Europe to secure victory for the Western democracies — and the United States assumed the leadership of the Western world. It was an early phase of political globalization.

One hundred years later: Trump. …

What will happen to the West, to Europe, to Germany without the United States as its leading power? Germany is a child of the West, particularly of the United States, brought to life with American generosity, long spoon-fed and now in a deep state of shock. The American president was always simultaneously our president, at least a little, and Barack Obama was a worthy president of the West. Now, though, we must come to terms with a lack of Western leadership. …

America was long the benchmark for the West. But if Trump governs as he promised he would during the campaign, the land of the free will abdicate its role as leader of the free world. Then, it will be Europe’s turn. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/trump-election-means-europe-must-now-lead-west-a-1120929.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook#ref=rss

Notice that Der Spiegel stated that if Donald Trump keeps his promises, it will be Europe’s turn to lead the West.

Donald Trump has concerned, and offended, the Europeans.

And it is worse now than the first time he was in office.

As far as trade and Europe go, notice something from my latest book available at Amazon Kindle: Unintended Consequences and Donald Trump’s Presidency: Is Donald Trump Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic, Greco-Roman Catholic, Buddhist, and other America-Related Prophecies? as well as Amazon print Unintended Consequences and Donald Trump’s Presidency: Is Donald Trump Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic, Greco-Roman Catholic, Buddhist, and other America-Related Prophecies?:

Trade

Historically, Donald Trump has called for “fair trade” and indicated that various nations, including several in Asia, are not engaged in fair trade, so he has proposed high tariffs.[i]

Donald Trump has called tariffs, “the most beautiful word in the dictionary” and even proposed massive tariffs (up to 2000%) on Mexico if it will not do what he wants.[ii] He has basically also proposed a minimum of 10% tariffs on goods from much of the rest of the world.

Some believe that Donald Trump’s positions on trade will lead to a global trade war.[iii] Europe has said it will hit back against Donald Trump’s tariff policies.[iv] It is my position that trade disputes will be a factor in Europe taking military action against the USA one day.

One of the unintended consequences of Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs and other trade matters is that it is motivating nations he has threatened to look to trade more with each other. … (pp. 51-52)

The USA itself, as well as Donald Trump specifically, have repeatedly shown the Europeans that it does not trust them, yet it sometimes will trust them too much. According to the Bible, the time will come when the USA will find that continental Europe will be an enemy (cf. Isaiah 10:5-11) and not an ally (Ezekiel 23:4,9-10; Lamentations 1:1-2). (p. 58)

The USA will be attacked by “friends” consistent with the following:

1 How lonely sits the city That was full of people! How like a widow is she, Who was great among the nations!

The princess among the provinces Has become a slave!

2 She weeps bitterly in the night, Her tears are on her cheeks; Among all her lovers She has none to comfort her.

All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies. cf. Lamentations 1:1-2).

Notice the one who was “great among the nations” will be conquered by friends, who will become enemies. (pp. 140-141)

Pushing tariffs and other policies that foreign nations do not like is contributing to other nations looking to bypass the USA dollar, as well as trade more with each other and less with the USA. This will further push various globalist’s moves forward without the USA. This is also helping set the stage for the coming European Babylonian Beast to dominate international trade. (p. 210)

[i] Trade: Donald J. Trump’s Vision. https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/trade accessed December 16, 2016

[ii] Pan J. Donald Trump calls tariff ‘the most beautiful word,’ threatens up to 2,000% tariff to block Mexican car imports. Yahoo News, November 3, 2024

[iii] Islam F. Will Trump’s victory spark a global trade war? BBC, November 7, 2024

[iv] Vella JH. EU’s game plan for Trump trade war: ‘Hit back fast and hard.’ Polico.eu, October 21, 2024

(Thiel B. Unintended Consequences and Donald Trump’s Presidency: Is Donald Trump Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic, Greco-Roman Catholic, Buddhist, and other America-Related Prophecies? Nazarene Books, 2025)

Yes, as I warned, “One of the unintended consequences of Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs and other trade matters is that it is motivating nations he has threatened to look to trade more with each other.”

According to the Bible, Mystery Babylon the Great will rise up in Europe and be the world’s major trading power per the 17th and 18th chapters of the Book of Revelation.

Donald Trump has inadvertently accelerated the process for this to happen as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has stated, “Everyone is asking for more trade with Europe.”

And according to biblical prophecies, Europe is going to benefit financially from trading around the world. Related to trade and prophecy we made the following video:

14:49

Trade Wars – and the Winner will be …

US President Trump imposed tariffs on a global scale. Those tariffs were imposed on friend and foe alike. It seems as if President Trump is no respecter of nations. But how will this work out for the United States? Will these tariffs result in other nations drawing closer together that have had rather cold, and even not so cold, relations in the past? Will global tariffs result in trade wars? Were the events which are happening predicted by any in the Continuing Church of God? Is Europe drawing closer to China? Is Europe drawing closer to Latin and South America? With the exception of a few of America’s allies, is the net result of these tariffs a worldwide scramble to create new alliances and new trading partners to the exclusion of the United States? What will be the future result of these new alliances? Many of the nations that are now seeking new alliances were just recently America’s allies. They were her friends. Dr. Thiel brings to light the fate of America and her allies at the hands of her former friends, as revealed in the book of Lamentations. As we rapidly approach the end times listen in as Dr. Thiel brings to light world events. Then listen as he shines the light of Bible prophecy directly on the questions raised from these world events.

Here is a link to our video: Trade Wars – and the Winner will be …

A massive shift in the world is happening. Mystery Babylon is about to rise in Europe.

Are YOU paying attention?

Related Items:

Trade Wars – and the Winner will be … US President Trump imposed tariffs on a global scale. Those tariffs were imposed on friend and foe alike. It seems as if President Trump is no respecter of nations. But how will this work out for the United States? Will these tariffs result in other nations drawing closer together that have had rather cold, and even not so cold, relations in the past? Will global tariffs result in trade wars? Were the events which are happening predicted by any in the Continuing Church of God? Is Europe drawing closer to China? Is Europe drawing closer to Latin and South America? With the exception of a few of America’s allies, is the net result of these tariffs a worldwide scramble to create new alliances and new trading partners to the exclusion of the United States? What will be the future result of these new alliances? Many of the nations that are now seeking new alliances were just recently America’s allies. They were her friends. Dr. Thiel brings to light the fate of America and her allies at the hands of her former friends, as revealed in the book of Lamentations. As we rapidly approach the end times listen in to this video as Dr. Thiel brings to light world events. Also listen as he shines the light of Bible prophecy directly on the questions raised from these world events.

Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is are links to related videos: European history and the Bible, Europe In Prophecy, The End of European Babylon, and Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European? Here is a link to a related sermon in the Spanish language: El Fin de la Babilonia Europea.

25 items to prophetically watch in 2025 Much is happening. Dr. Thiel points to 25 items to watch (cf. Mark 13:37) in this article. Here is a link to a related sermon video: 25 Items to Watch in 2025.

Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about the peoples of Africa, Asia, South America, and the islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

Unintended Consequences and Donald Trump’s Presidency: Is Donald Trump Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic, Greco-Roman Catholic, Buddhist, and other America-Related Prophecies?  Is Donald Trump going to save the USA or are there going to be many disastrous unintended consequences of his statements and policies? What will happen. The link takes you to a book available at Amazon.com.

Unintended Consequences and Donald Trump’s Presidency: Is Donald Trump Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic, Greco-Roman Catholic, Buddhist, and other America-Related Prophecies? Kindle edition is available for only US$3.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to Unintended Consequences and Donald Trump’s Presidency: Is Donald Trump Fulfilling Biblical, Islamic, Greco-Roman Catholic, Buddhist, and other America-Related Prophecies?

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[nursingwriter]

Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918 was truly a world-shaking event. The numbers of dead are estimated to be somewhere between 50 and 100 million people, and it is estimated that the numbers of those who were infected and survived may have reached as high as five to ten times the number of dead. Almost one in three human beings alive in 1918 would be infected by the virus. But in particular, the epidemic had a number of longer lasting effects on the history of America, which it is worth examining in closer detail. From a scientific standpoint, the Spanish influenza was nothing remarkable: it followed the standard path of an influenza virus, in making the leap from an animal host population into infecting humans. The best contemporary efforts to reconstruct the disease's origin suspect that it either leapt directly from birds to humans, or else the avian flu transmitted to swine first, and thereafter to humans. In any case, its origins and methods of transmission were no different in basic features from earlier and later influenza epidemics: the chief difference was the ability of the Spanish Flu to involve pneumonia, making it particularly fatal. Yet the largest historical irony of the epidemic, as noted by Crosby, is that the Spanish influenza pandemic came at a time when medical science had been making huge advances in the aetiology and handling of infectious disease. Crosby gives the details of medical progress unto that point: Remedies for, or vaccines against, or, at least, methods of limiting the spread of smallpox, typhoid, malaria, yellow fever, cholera and diphtheria had been devised and proven successful….Welch's superior, Army Surgeon General William Crawford Gorgas, had led the forces that controlled and almost eliminated the scourge of the Caribbean, yellow fever, from Cuba and the Panama Canal Zone. Yet these doctors now stood nearly as helpless in the presence of this epidemic of Spanish influenza as Hippocrates and Galen in the presence of epidemics of their time. Welch, Vaughan, Cole, and all the physicians of 1918 were participants in the greatest failure of medical science in the twentieth century or, if absolute numbers of dead are the measure, of all time. (Crosby 10). As Crosby's invocation of the U.S. Army's attempts to contain and control the disease -- it had, after all, infected U.S. "doughboys" who had been sent en masse to France to fight in World War I -- will remind us that the U.S. Army was perhaps the only governmental organization capable at the time of dealing with a public health crisis. Barry has noted in particular that the increased immigration and urbanization of the late nineteenth century had created a sort of "perfect storm" of demographic overcrowding and governmental mismanagement. In particular, Barry observes that mismanagement and graft in the political machine system in Philadelphia -- then America's most populous city, ahead of New York City -- had rendered the city "…fertile ground for epidemic disease. So did a city government incapable of responding to a crisis. Muckraker Lincoln Steffens had called Philadelphia 'the worst governed city in America'." (198). The epidemic might have given rise to greater unrest of governmental inability to respond to the crisis, had it not struck in the middle of the colossal casualties of World War I and continued on into the period after the Armistice, in which the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were being negotiated. This may have been the largest lasting political effect of the Spanish flu -- as Pettit points out, one of those who contracted it and survived (much weakened) was U.S. President Woodrow Wilson during the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Pettit writes: There has always been much controversy about the nature of President Wilson's illness in April of 1919. Both medical and non-medical writers have suggested that the malady was much more serious than influenza…Woodrow Wilson returned from Europe less capable of carrying out the duties of his presidency….There was little doubt in Dr. Grayson's mind that President Wilson had had influenza, and certainly the weight of evidence suggests that this was the case…. (Pettit 171-2) While historians are still divided as to whether it was influenza or a stroke like the one that would later incapacitate Wilson almost completely -- hamstringing his presidency and the political process in Washington, D.C. -- it is undeniable that Wilson's role at the Paris Peace Conference was a disastrous failure. It is not surprising that Wilson's high ideals and public promises entering the negotiations may also have been one of the many casualties of the Spanish influenza epidemic. Works Cited Barry, John M. The Great Influenza: The story of the deadliest pandemic in history. New York: Penguin Books, 2005. Crosby, Alfred W. America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918. New York and London: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pettit, Dorothy A. A Cruel Wind: Pandemic Flu in America 1918-1920. Murfreesboro: Timberlane Books, 2008. IDENTIFICATION: GENERAL "BLACK JACK" PERSHING. General "Black Jack" Pershing was placed in command of the U.S. Expeditionary Forces sent to fight the Central Powers during World War I by President Woodrow Wilson. Pershing's earlier military career had entailed territorial warfare against Native Americans, including participation as an officer in the Wounded Knee Massacre   https://www.paperdue.com/customer/paper/spanish-influenza-epidemic-of-1918-and-two-120324#:~:text=Logout-,SpanishInfluenzaEpidemicof1918andTwoIdentifications,-Length3pages Read the full article

[gay-kurapika]

Im reading this book called A Fever in the Heartland that I would really recommend. It's outside of my normal realm of reading, because it is nonfiction. It's about the rise and fall of the kkk in the "heartland" of the US, so basically the Midwest and parts of the north in the 1910s and 20s. It focuses on a few people to narrow the scope, obviously, but includes a LOT of insight from people who lived during the time and after, like views from Langston Hughes and W.E.B. Du Bois. The story is entirely built from accounts in diaries, news stories, court case minutes, political analysis by people at the time and after, art and music discussions of the time, like it is pulled from history. The story it specifically follows is the actual rise of the kkk leaders of the time, and then a court case that brought them down. I kind of ruin the story if I say which court case, but I will say it heavily involves sexual assault which is described graphically, so huge trigger warning there. I would also give a huge trigger warning for racial violence, this is about the kkk in the 20s and it doesn't pull punches.

One thing I would say is that while I had a vague awareness of how the kkk had an influence on American history (and present) I had no idea how deep it went, and exactly how far they shaped American politics as they were and are. It changes your view on so many things. Woodrow Wilson, yes, the guy who won a Nobel peace prize, was likely a member of the kkk, or at least a huge sympathizer. He segregated the white house in a way previously unseen after Lincoln's death, he was absolutely awful in so many ways. Calvin Coolidge was a huge sympathizer, and that old joke about how it was hard to get him to talk was originally about how it was hard to get him to talk about anything important. The NAACP asked him to condemn the kkk so many times and he literally wouldn't even do that. During his presidency, the congress was 70% members of the kkk. All of their policies passed. This is why there was a eugenics movement, and why there were anti immigration policies that both resulted in huge amounts of deaths in the next world war, considering Jewish people were almost entirely barred from entering the US.

And the part that struck me the most was the feminist movement at the time. I KNEW already that this feminist movement was incredibly white and threw women of color under the bus for their voting rights. What I didn't know, is that the kkk women's group had purposely planned this. A LOT of suffragettes had ties to the kkk, or were actually members. They very specifically wanted white women to vote because that would be more white people to vote for white supremacist policies. It wasn't an "I'm looking out for me first then you" thing, as I've seen it told before, it was very specifically "I'm doing this so that you'll never be able to" thing. The book just makes you actually look at things up close.

It also talks about prohibition as well, which is interesting because I had no idea how heavily prohibition was literally enforced by the kkk. Like...it was one of the kkk's private militias that was in charge of most of the enforcement, which included invading people's homes without any prior reason, planting evidence, arresting people, and publicly whipping them or otherwise humiliating them. Sound familiar? Yeah, modern police take a lot of inspiration from them, as well as the kkk controlled police at the time.

[intothewildsstuff]

Former President of Poland Lech Walesa wrote the following letter to Trump.

Your Excellency, Mr. President,

We watched the report of your conversation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with fear and distaste. We find it insulting that you expect Ukraine to show respect and gratitude for the material assistance provided by the United States in its fight against Russia. Gratitude is owed to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world. They have been dying on the front lines for more than 11 years in the name of these values and the independence of their homeland, which was attacked by Putin’s Russia.

We do not understand how the leader of a country that symbolizes the free world cannot recognize this.

Our alarm was also heightened by the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation, which reminded us of the interrogations we endured at the hands of the Security Services and the debates in Communist courts. Prosecutors and judges, acting on behalf of the all-powerful communist political police, would explain to us that they held all the power while we held none. They demanded that we cease our activities, arguing that thousands of innocent people suffered because of us. They stripped us of our freedoms and civil rights because we refused to cooperate with the government or express gratitude for our oppression. We are shocked that President Volodymyr Zelensky was treated in the same manner.

The history of the 20th century shows that whenever the United States sought to distance itself from democratic values and its European allies, it ultimately became a threat to itself. President Woodrow Wilson understood this when he decided in 1917 that the United States must join World War I. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood this when, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he resolved that the war to defend America must be fought not only in the Pacific but also in Europe, in alliance with the nations under attack by the Third Reich.

We remember that without President Ronald Reagan and America’s financial commitment, the collapse of the Soviet empire would not have been possible. President Reagan recognized that millions of enslaved people suffered in Soviet Russia and the countries it had subjugated, including thousands of political prisoners who paid for their defense of democratic values with their freedom. His greatness lay, among other things, in his unwavering decision to call the USSR an “Empire of Evil” and to fight it decisively. We won, and today, the statue of President Ronald Reagan stands in Warsaw, facing the U.S. Embassy.

Mr. President, material aid—military and financial—can never be equated with the blood shed in the name of Ukraine’s independence and the freedom of Europe and the entire free world. Human life is priceless; its value cannot be measured in money. Gratitude is due to those who sacrifice their blood and their freedom. This is self-evident to us, the people of Solidarity, former political prisoners of the communist regime under Soviet Russia.

We call on the United States to uphold the guarantees made alongside Great Britain in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which established a direct obligation to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for its relinquishment of nuclear weapons. These guarantees are unconditional—there is no mention of treating such assistance as an economic transaction.

Signed,

Lech Wałęsa, former political prisoner, President of Poland

He's 100% right