When I accompanied my father to Europe, I was able to prevail upon him to visit the World War 1 memorials. Above is my picture from the Tower of London, where they were marking the centennial of their entry into WW1.
I was a member of my high school’s first Academic Decathlon team, in the Dallas area. Our history project was World War I, so we studied that in some detail. In later years, I maintained my interest in it, reading:
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie
Dreadnought by Robert K. Massie
The Arms of Krupp by William Manchester
I recognize the pull toward conflict, and I recognize how unpopular a perspective this will be, here.
For me, there is a precedent in the declaration of war in 1914. Everyone thought it would be “easy.” While they’d had some clues from the unfolding of the American Civil War and The Crimean War, Europeans were totally unprepared for war in Europe, backed by industry.
I get it. Republicans have been shameless in their partisanship, going even so far as to borrow rubles to spend against democrats. Republicans regard democrats with more animosity than Russians, that much is clear. I don’t know why that is, but we should stop deceiving ourselves about republicans being uneducated democrats. They’ve treated us as the enemy since Vietnam and Civil Rights, and we’ve been sleeping.
Even so, when England declared war in 1914, there was cheering in the streets.
In Germany:
Although many people in Germany had felt apprehensive about war during the July crisis, once war had come, almost everybody accepted it and nobody looked back. Support for the war was nearly universal, and it was for once more than a pathetic phrase when Wilhelm II announced to the Reichstag: "I do not know any parties any more."
In London:
In London, the people's enthusiasm culminated outside Buckingham Palace when it became known that war had been declared ... The news was received with tremendous cheering, which grew into a deafening roar when King George, Queen Mary and the Prince of Wales appeared.
The Guardian
The rush to war can be heady, and the pull of righteous anger is hard to resist. It is attractive for kossacks to the same degree that kossacks are partisan, and let’s face it, we’re very partisan. Even so, I hope we are not so committed to (War) Impeachment that we are unable to demobilize, that we are beyond reason.
I’ve seen several claims of “republicans paid no price for Clinton’s Impeachment.” That’s revising history and it’s inaccurate. To be sure, by 2000, republicans and democrats were at a stalemate, politically, but everyone was tired of vulgar references to President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. It was a staple of The Tonight Show, and even Jay Leno was tired of telling Clinton jokes.
Amidst all this, republicans were somehow able to run against partisanship. How this happened is beyond my ability to understand, but VP Gore didn’t inspire and the backlash against eight years of Clinton took its toll. People who are here were sick of him, and blamed him for cuts to Welfare programs (though it was passed on a veto-proof majority) and Hillary using the term “superpredators.”
To bring you back to the national mood during Impeachment:
The New York Times 12/21/1998
IMPEACHMENT: THE POLLS;
Public Support for the President, and for Closure, Emerges Unshaken
A solid majority of Americans want the Senate to resolve President Clinton's impeachment case without a trial and without removing him from office, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll. A majority of the respondents disapprove of the House's decision to impeach Mr. Clinton but, now that it has done so, believe he should be punished no further, the poll showed.
The poll, which began right after the House voted the first article of impeachment on Saturday, and continued into this evening, found that the more than 12 hours of debate about the perjury and obstruction of justice charges had no effect on the public's opinion of the President or the case against him. Mr. Clinton's popularity remains as high as it has been at any point of the six years of his Presidency, while the public view of the Republican Party continues to plummet.
CNN 12/20/1998
Poll: Clinton's approval rating up in wake of impeachment
(AllPolitics, December 20) -- In the wake of the House of Representatives' approval of two articles of impeachment, Bill Clinton's approval rating has jumped 10 points to 73 percent, the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows.
That's not only an all-time high for Clinton, it also beats the highest approval rating President Ronald Reagan ever had.
If we are going to begin Impeachment proceedings now, taking it on faith that Americans will “see reason,” I think we’re going into Impeachment with an unfair view of its outcome. Let’s be realistic about the history of partisanship, Impeachment, and conflict.
Know the enemy: The enemy isn’t just Trump, it’s ingrained money interests and the fundamental unfairness of our economy that money reinforces.
Know yourself: We don’t speak for all democrats, here.
Know the terrain: This is a struggle that will play out in the minds of American voters, primarily. Americans have some tendency toward idealism, so lifting up those at the bottom isn’t always anathema to them the way it is to the wealthy. That said, the American population also has right-of-center elements, or our problem with homelessness wouldn’t be the disgrace that it is.
Above all:
Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory. — Sun Tzu
Let’s go into this with our heads and not our hearts.
