The Obama administration will be remembered in history as the one that brought Osama bin Laden to justice. Its handling of the situation was practically flawless.
Nevertheless, there are two things in which the government erred slightly. With respect to these two matters, the Obama administration’s mistake was to tell the truth. In this cases, it would have been better for the United States if the government had told lies.
The scene was portrayed in War & Remembrance and again in Mr. Cruise’s Valkyrie.
Here is the real man from this story, who escaped with his life. The last survivor has died in Munich.
Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist, who volunteered to assassinate Hitler with suicide bomb, dies at 90
Despite his family’s opposition to the Nazis, younger von Kleist joined the German army in 1940, and was wounded in 1943 in fighting on the Eastern Front.
During his convalescence, he was approached in January 1944 by Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, another officer from an aristocratic family, and presented with a plan to kill Hitler. Von Kleist had been chosen as the officer to model a new uniform for Hitler, and von Stauffenberg proposed that he wear a suicide vest underneath, and detonate it when he stood next to the dictator.
Years later von Kleist remembered explaining the suicide plot to his father, who paused only briefly before telling his 22-year-old son: “Yes, you have to do this.”
Raise a toast of your choice to the bravery.
And remember, Hitler was Hitler. Don’t make Mike Godwin make another meme.
cross-posted in orange.
First off, I hope you all know I’m an admirer of America (why else would I blog here) and particularly of its Constitution which, along with the Declaration of Independence, is one of the jewels of political thought and practice anywhere in the world.
However, the terrible murders in Tucson, the attempted assassination of Representative Giffords, and the connection between various acts of violence towards certain politicians with violent rhetoric seems to bring two key constitutional amendments into an unseemly clash.
Not a lot of details yet, but we know that Gabrielle Giffords, the Democratic Representative for Arizona’s 8th congressional district has been shot:
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was among as many as 12 people wounded in a shooting at a Tucson, Ariz., grocery store where she was holding a campaign event.
ABC affiliate KGUN-TV in Tucson reported that as many as 12 people had been shot, including Giffords. A law enforcement source told KGUN that the shooter was in custody.
Giffords, a Democrat, was scheduled to hold a “Congress on Your Corner” event today at a supermarket in northwest Tucson.
Her condition is not currently known. Other sources reporting on this tragic turn of events:
U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head outside a grocery store in Tucson while holding a public event, U.S. National Public Radio reported Saturday.
At least three of her staff members were also shot by an unidentified gunman who ran up and began shooting indiscriminately, according to media reports.
Giffords was taken to University Medical Center in Tucson, according to the report. Her condition was not immediately known.
Twelve people were injured in the shooting shortly after 10 o’clock local time, according to Jason Ogan, a spokesman for the Pima Country Sherrif’s department. The police are sweeping the area for any other possible suspects and currently have one person in custody.
Why on earth would somebody do something like this?
UPDATE: Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has died.
Screenshot from the (now removed) Mspace page of Jared Lee Loughner, the suspect in custody.
UPDATE:
2:37 PM ET Giffords Alive And In Surgery
A hospital spokeswoman tells MSNBC that Giffords is alive, still in surgery.
