The Ballad Of East And West

It's been a rather busy day, so we're a bit late to the game on this, but the occasion does require some comment.

It's come almost as a surprise that there have actually been some comments made on this, the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall. The Old Sarge had some rather poignant observations on it, he having actually been there and seen it.

Aside from the rather disgraceful refusal of PrezBO to take time out of his busy schedule of taking over every aspect of your life to pop over and congratulate the German people on 20 years of peaceful reunification, it's rather sad to see that what little commentary there is in the mass media is rife with inaccuracies and outright lies.

Many years ago, someone described to The Old Sarge the design of that whole border. No honest person could possibly believe that it was constructed for any other purpose than to keep people in. The few pieces that have been left standing are a shameful reminder of the failure of the West to truly defend freedom.

The political reunification of the country seems to be largely complete. The psychological reunification might well take another 20 years or so. What's truly sad is that the most independent, freedom-loving, self-reliant people of Europe were sold down the river to Socialism. The difference between East and West is really only a matter of degree.

In a larger sense, one cannot help but wonder if anyone has truly learned the lessons of that monstrosity of stone.

Ford Has A Better Idea

Is the irony lost on very many people that the only automaker that didn't participate in the Ca$h For Clunker$ program is also the only one turning a profit?

How odd that they saved the most telling piece of the article for the last paragraph:

Ford also... benefited from consumer goodwill after it declined government bailout money and didn't go into bankruptcy over the summer as GM and Chrysler did. Ford grabbed sales from its rivals, posting the largest increase in market share of any automaker in September.