Jim Werbaneth - Line of Departure

When people can't vote at the ballot box against a dictatorship, they often vote with their feet. The Berlin Wall was a monument to this, and a grand attempt by a dysfunctional Communist regime to take away the shoe leather franchise from people who decided that moving to freedom was an alternative to suffering under dictatorship.

Nor was East Germany alone in witnessing the exodus of its best and brightest. The migration of the Cuban middle class to Florida was a consequence of Fidel Castro's… Continue

This is based on something that I just posted on Wargamer.com, in response to the reactions to the death of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop.

Michael Jackson was not a genius on a par with Elvis, the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, or a whole host of legends built on talent. He was a fine dancer, a good showman, and a passable singer. The rest was a testament to the power of hype and celebrity. After all, who gave Michael Jackson the title of The Ki… Continue

Fareed Zakariah can usually be counted upon for excellent analysis of events in the Middle East and the Islamic world. In this week's Newsweek, he offers an examination of the crisis of legitimacy now facing the Iranian theocracy, one well worth reading.

Dr. Zakariah does not see the regime as likely to fall a… Continue

Events in Iran since election day on June 12 have been truly breathtaking. The Islamist status quo faces a crisis of legitimacy, very reminiscent of that which raged through Eastern Europe twenty years ago, and the upsurge of popular rage further calls to mind the popular wrath that drove Shah Muhammed Reza Pahlavi from the Peacock Throne thirty years ago.

In an insightful blo… Continue

With yesterday's shooting at the United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum, attention has to be paid to the museum itself. A few people are going ask, why have one? Why should federal tax dollars, in a tight economy after all, go towards commemorating something perpetrated by foreigners a long time ago?

One reason comes to mind immediately: Deniers. Upon the exposure of the Nazis' crimes against humanity, General Dwight David Eisenhower comm… Continue