Was Our Involvement in Vietnam So Wrong?

I was reading National Review, and was struck by the following:

... the words of Gen. Vernon Walters, words I have quoted in this column before. They are (in paraphrase), “For over ten years, bombs rained down on every village and hamlet in South Vietnam, and no one budged. It took the coming of a Communist ‘peace’ to send hundreds of thousands of people out into the South China Sea, on anything that could float, or might float, to risk dehydration, piracy, drowning . . .”

They didn't leave while the Americans were there.  When we left, life became intolerable.

So, who's the Bad Guy here?

Again, from National Review:

You may have heard about Bob Dylan in China. I quote from a Los Angeles Times report, dated April 7:

At a time when many other American performers have been banned from China, Bob Dylan was allowed to play Wednesday night in Beijing, but with a program that omitted Dylan’s most famous ballads of dissent.
Conspicuously absent from the program at the Workers’ Gymnasium were “The Times They Are A-Changin’” and “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Dylan’s set list had to be sanctioned beforehand by the Ministry of Culture, which in its formal invitation decreed that he would have to “conduct the performance strictly according to the approved program.”

Oh, yes. And he apparently had no trouble complying. Which reminds me of how much I admire Björk, the Icelandic pop star. In 2008, she sang a concert in Shanghai. The authorities did not like this one so much. Because she sang a song called “Declare Independence,” and yelled out “Tibet!” several times.

Gutsy gal, Björk. Before that, I knew her as the young lady who wore a swan dress to the Oscars. After that, I knew her as — what’s the word? I’ll say “braveheart.” 

It's not the biggest names, or the strongest bodies that exhibit bravery.  Sometimes, it comes to the weak and insignificant.  Take, for example, the President's actions in hosting foreign countries:

President of China with Obama

Contrast that with his "hospitality" toward the Dalai Lama.

Accidental?  Please!  NOTHING he does is accidental (need I remind you of the incident below, after referring to Hillary?)

That's a favorite, and extremely childish, response to someone he wants to disrespect.

Impudent, but NOT brave.

Share