[Fwd: Ceremonies of Innocence, or, a Secret Affinity with theLynchers]

[Brad De Long]

> >no one i've read has spoken
> >of atoning, no one has said "americanism" is to be embraced,  said they
> >were "horrified" by Julius Rosenberg's act,
>
>Well I will. I *am* horrified by Julius Rosenberg's act. Certainly
>Hitler is number 1 bad guy of this century. But history and all of
>Lenin's other close associates attest that Stalin is number 2.
>
>To work to give the #2 bad guy in the twentieth century access to
>nuclear weapons seems to me to be a horrifying act.
>
>Brad DeLong
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
>If Ike or JFK had done a first strike on a nuclear-free
>USSR, just on general principles, would that make
>him the #3 bad guy?
>
>mbs

Yep.

Eisenhower especially really scares me. Truman's view was that the 
U.S. had to spend a fortune on the military so we could fight a 
conventional war in Europe against an aggressive Soviet Union. It was 
Eisenhower who cut the defense budget, and went for "we'll nuke em 
first."

Brad DeLong