Author: William Astore

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission.

It’s Friday the 13th, and though I’m not superstitious about the date, I’m not liking this headline in today’s New York Times:

Top News

The topic will be on the agenda Friday with the first official visit to Washington by Britain’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer.

That’s a headline that proves once again that America is led by the best and brightest. (Sarcasm alert.)

Vladimir Putin has already said that long-range weapons striking targets in Russia means war between Russia and NATO. I don’t think he’s bluffing. And, lest we forget, Russia has nearly 6000 nuclear warheads in its inventory.

Continue reading “Escalation in the Russia-Ukraine War”

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission.

In July 1943, the Nazis launched a colossal assault at the Kursk salient on the eastern front. The Soviet Red Army was ready. After roughly two weeks of massive battles, the Red Army prevailed as the Nazi offensive stalled. Hitler’s army never again took the offensive in a major way on the eastern front. Two years later, Hitler had committed suicide as the Soviet Army reduced Berlin to rubble.

In August 2024, Ukrainian forces launched a far smaller assault into Russian territory near Kursk. The limited offensive seems to have taken Russia by surprise; what remains unclear is the objective and staying power of the offensive. Meanwhile, Russian forces are advancing further into Ukraine, with some reports suggesting that Ukraine unwisely weakened its forces on the main battlefront to launch its assault near Kursk.

Continue reading “Kursk, 1943; Kursk, 2024”

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission.

World War I made Adolf Hitler.

Before the war, Hitler was aimless, a failed artist, essentially a nobody with little chance of rising in society.  The war gave him purpose as well as a respectable identity as a war hero. As much as one thing can create another, the war created Hitler. It was the cause of his euphoria in 1914 when he enlisted and led to his mental collapse in 1918 when Germany surrendered. Hitler vowed vengeance against the “November criminals” who he believed had stabbed Germany in the back, including most infamously Jewish elements as well as communists, socialists, and indeed anyone against war.

Continue reading “World War One Made Adolf Hitler”

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission.

America has two war parties, Republican and Democratic, ensuring the death of democracy since war is the most insidious enemy of freedom and liberty.

When I wrote recently about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a longtime reader sent me this insight:

People just don’t realize how ugly war really is and how ugly everyone at war gets to be, and that goes for us as well as the Japanese. 

How true! Ugliness is everywhere in war because war actuates the very worst impulses of the (in)human condition.

Continue reading “War Is the Enemy”

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have something in common.  They both embrace colossal Pentagon budgets and both celebrate the “lethality” of the U.S. military, which, they agree, must be the strongest, bestest, in the world.  They also agree on giving a blank check to Israel and its leaders to do whatever they want in Gaza to the Palestinians and will continue to provide whatever weapons Israel desires to kill massive numbers of Palestinians while flattening and destroying the Gaza Strip.

With respect to Iran, Harris appears to be even more hawkish than Trump, and indeed criticized him for not being aggressive enough with Iran’s leaders.  Harris is also a strong supporter of Ukraine, seeing war as its best option to defeat Russia, whereas Trump is more skeptical of war and more open to diplomacy with Putin and Russia.

Continue reading “Cheerleaders of the Military-Industrial Complex”

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission.

I remember watching The Phil Donahue Show with my dad. Informative and willing to tackle controversial issues, the show proved remarkably popular, a tribute to its host, Phil Donahue, who recently died at the age of 88. The show was briefly revived in 2002 on MSNBC, where it was the network’s highest-rated offering until it was cancelled.

Here’s what the Boston Globe had to say yesterday about Phil Donahue’s show in 2002 and why MSNBC cancelled it:

Donahue returned briefly to television in 2002, hosting another “Donahue” show on MSNBC. The station canceled it after six months, citing low ratings.

Continue reading “A Lesson From the Death of Phil Donahue”