On Dec 13, 2010, at 10:54 AM, Wojtek S wrote:
> Are you trying to make a counter-point or you just missed mine? The
> only
> reason I made a reference to the two gentlemen in question was to
> provide
> an illustrative example that political views and moral courage (or
> lack
> thereof) of individual government functionaries were irrelevant for
> the
> establishment of their respective regimes.
And my point was that Pétain and Quisling were not "government functionaries." They were fascists of long standing who helped enable Hitler's victory and used it to seize power and establish fascist regimes, not opportunists who chose to collaborate as the lesser evil for their countries. If you had said Laval and Horthy instead of Pétain and Quisling I would have had no objection.
Shane Mage "Thunderbolt steers all things." Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 64