He has written a three-volume history of World War II that is simply terrific by all reports. I have read part of the third installation, The Guns at Last Light. His research is impeccable, and his writing is nearly flawless. (I used to teach a class that included a great deal of military history, and I've read a lot of good stuff. His ranks right at the top.)
And now he's begun another three-volume military history, this one on the American Revolution. It's called The British Are Coming, which covers the first two years of the war, 1775-77. (Please, for future reference, note the years.) The two reviews of it that I've read are both glowing.
Here I'm going to do something I rarely do, though: Discuss a book I haven't read yet. I just glanced at it the other day. It has 564 pages of text and over 180 pages of footnotes and sources. Suffice it to say that it's definitely well-researched, again.
"Well-researched" means thorough. No stones unturned. Nothing he has written has had any of his digging challenged for inaccuracy, at least nothing I've read.
Suffice it to say that as a historian, the guy has chops. Now I'm going to make a bet with you.
I'm going to bet everything I own that, even though I haven't read any of this new book, this phrase doesn't exist within it: "the Continental Army, led by George Washington, opened up the airports."
This is a reasonably accurate paraphrasing of what the president of your country said on July 4, in front of the Lincoln Memorial, in front of his major supporters--that is to say, the people with the greatest dollar amount of campaign contributions. Yes. He said that.
On the most important day of our history, on a day in which history becomes the major focus, the leader of our country said something so completely ridiculous that it defies credulity--not just the statement, but the fact that anyone would feel free to say such a thing. If this is true, for instance, the painting of Washington crossing the Delaware River, for a completely different reason besides the one quoted in an earlier blog, is preposterous.
It's obvious, now, that since the Continental Army took over the airports, Washington didn't bother to cross the Delaware on a dangerous rowboat, standing or seated. Instead, he took a helicopter.
That might have engendered this conversation, now considered world-famous:
Aide-de-camp: General, Washington has taken over the airports.
Cornwallis: What the hell is an airport?
There are three possible explanations that I can think of for such a statement from our president:
- He's incredibly stupid.
- He's just kidding.
- He's just saying whatever he wants and doesn't think it matters.
Let's eliminate the second one. That would take an actual sense of humor. He has none. That's actually one of the worse parts of him; he means everything he says and he's almost always angry about it. If he's not angry, he's lying. That's about it. Not pleasant to be around, but we knew that.
It could be the first one. One of his professors didn't think much of his brains. We know he doesn't like to read. That means that like some students I had, he's ignorant on purpose because somehow it's supposed to be fun, and never got over it.
In fact, adding the first two gets you to number three. The first may be always true because it takes brains to have and understand a sense of humor, and the second is never true because even though he may say so, it's a lie when he does.
Now, in traditional logic, a true statement cannot imply a false statement, so this doesn't logically follow. However, a false statement can imply a true statement, so if you just keep going, you'll be fine, because the third has been true for a very long time.
Follow that? If you do, congratulations. If you don't, have a drink. If you don't drink, start drinking.
For that matter, I wonder if Rick Atkinson drinks. He's just had a major work of history diminished by a jackass who snuck into the White House by a glitch in a system developed with the help of people who lost their lives for it. Now he would have a reason to drink.
Be well. I'll see you down the road.
Mister Mark
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