Is Truman the Model for Obama?

Roeser, the historian.

While current myth-makers about the greatness of Harry Truman ignore it now, let someone who lived through his era tell you: The disastrous foreign policy mistakes that were made in the Far East during his time live with us yet. The fact that he has become an unjustified myth does not obscure the truth. The Marshall Plan was brilliant but it is more than overbalanced by the fall of China which was largely our doing, our miscalculation.

Under Dean Acheson and George Marshall, the forces of Chiang kai Shek were deprived of massive U. S. aid to force a “coalition government” between the Red Chinese and the Chinese nationalists....

You know the rest of that story. Korean War, millions massacred by Mao, Commie aggression in VietNam (remnants of same now bothering the Philippines)....

Rapidly the dissatisfaction with our foreign and defense posture robbed Truman of the high stature he had by winning against almost insuperable odds his election over Dewey in 1948. Successive scandals led to the slogan mouthed everywhere “To err is Truman.”

...The toppling of Truman’s reputation from a plain-spoken little man…representing Everyman…to a symbol of incompetence and corruption…was the most complete turnaround I ever saw.

...Still and all, the congressional elections didn’t see Republicans capture control of either house but the number of Democratic falloff was terrific. The Democrats lost 27 seats in the House and five in the Senate, barely managing to hang on by two seats. Here in Illinois, a senator viewed as impregnable…much as Dick Durbin is now…the Democratic majority leader of the Senate, Scott Lucas was defeated in a near landslide by Everett Dirksen (the Democrats elected Arizona Senator Ernest McFarland as majority leader and he lost reelection two years later).

The issues were Democratic mismanagement of foreign and defense policy and corruption in the Truman administration.

Interesting thesis, no?

But as for Obama, will he change from the Lefty he is to one determined to save his presidency by becoming a tougher critic of the Palestinians and more assertively pro-defense? Will he?

No such luck. He is a media creation; he is a Leftwing creation. And it is as a Leftwing creation he will be defeated.

Oremus!