Years ago in my nebulous past I saw or read an item that claimed the Austrians, much like Lucy Ricardo, had “a lotta ’splainin’ to do”. Many people commonly assume that the Nazi’s annexation of Austria (the Anschluss) back in World War 2 was just another in a long line of fascist outrages from the era. No doubt that was true for many, but the fact remains that when Nazi troops marched into Austria they met, to their surprise, no resistance. Rather, they were treated to throngs of cheering locals giving fascist salutes, waving Nazi flags, and throwing flowers. The event has been referred to as the blumenkrieg-the war of flowers. The author of that long-ago piece wanted an end to the Austrian silence about those days. Most of all, he wanted to ask those cheering throngs: Exactly what were you cheering about?
I find myself asking that same question about my fellow Americans as we skip and dance blithely toward Obamageddon. An ocean of warnings about the man have gone unheeded, if not unnoticed. In a nutshell, they reduce to, “We know almost nothing about this man and the little we know is bad.” I watch my fellow Americans react to the Obamessiah and I see orgiastic scenes of my national brothers and sisters foaming at the mouth with mindless, virtually orgasmic ecstasy. I must admit, I truly didn’t realize how bad it was until an exchange I had with my best friend of nearly 30 years. I made a casual, and mild for me, comment about Obama and was shocked and astounded when he nearly bit my head off in anger. He is the most intelligent man I know. If he was sucked-in to the madness, what chance do we mere mortals have?
I have my theories about why this is, and I hope they’re all wrong. I’ve already been forced to revise my opinion about my country downward too many times already. For a man virtually defined by his patriotism, to do so is pure torture.
There have been any number of atrocities committed throughout history: the Holocaust, the Reign of Terror, bloody purges of all kinds, and so on. I’ve heard thoughtful people look back at history and ask: “How can an entire nation simply lose its mind?” I fear they soon we have all the empirical evidence that they will ever need.
