Books

Among the mighty mountain of books on my night table, there’s always a few volumes about war.

To any clear thinking person it should be obvious that war is the final arbiter of all great conflicts. Those who speak of negotiated peace speak of fiction.

The great World Wars have made this world what it is and there are numerous lessons to be learned militarily in terms of the present War on Terrorism. Thus I draw your attention to two very fine books.

The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, and A World at Arms by Gerhard L. Weinberg.

Tuchman’s volume is about World War I, and Weinberg’s about the World War II. Tuchman is a riveting historian who has the ability to tell a great story and make history come alive. Weinberg is more academic, there are thousands of footnotes. But he does detail, oh boy does he do detail.

An interesting theme crops up in both books, it’s timely and intensely important.

Pacifists, Peace Movements, and their murderous aftermath.

Tuchman points out that the peace movements in France and England that preceeded WWI practically immobilized both countries’ heavy industries to such an extent that when war finally did break out, France and England were at least sixteen months behind the Germans in heavy production. You see, the peace movements advocated a policy of–surprise–appeasement. Give the Germans what they want and they won’t go to war.

As if.

Tuchman also points out that France and England were tragically behind Germany even in small manufacturing so that her soldiers marched to the front with not even proper winter uniforms. Her soldiers froze to death on the Western front.

Yes, it is true, millions of soldiers perished on the Western front from the new technology of machine guns, from Generals impaled on outmoded military doctrine.

But on a deeper level, millions were slaughtered because of the peace movements that self-righteously refused to recognise reality, that refused to confront evil.

By the way, one of the best films about WWI is King Vidor’s The Big Parade, 1925. Also, not to be missed is Stanley Kubrik’s Paths of Glory. The loooooooong tracking shots through the trenches were done before the Steadicam was invented and you can see Kubrik’s obsession with long takes even at this stage in his career.

But I digress.

You would think that lessons would be learned from World War I. You would think that the pacifists and appeasers and so-called peace activists would have lost all credibility, but truth has a funny way of getting buried in the avalanche of big lies.

And, I suppose, the word “peace” has an almost narcotic effect on man. They hear the word often enough and they get, well, kind of stupid.

The peace movements that preceeded WWII were an almost carbon copy of the nonsense spewed before WWI — except that communications had improved greatly. Newspapers like the NY Times wielded immense power. And of course, The NY Times, then as now, astonishingly dim, saw no reason to get involved in foreign conflicts. The peace movements in America, France and England were utterly penetrated by Hitler’s and Stalin’s ruthless agents. And Hitler in a replay of the Kaiser’s attitude, well, Hitler absolutely adored the peace movements. He kept a close eye on them, and smiled the whole time. They were, he understood, his best allies. As long as these fools kept up their blather Hitler would be able to swallow whole countries.

Once again, the pacifists and peaceniks advocated appeacement. Just give Herr Hitler what he wants and surely he won’t go to war.

Rule # 1 of Peace Movements: They cannot imagine nor confront evil.
Rule # 2 of Peace Movements: They do not care about history.
Rule # 3 of Peace Movements: They are always secretly financed and penetrated by the enemy.

Weinberg points out that by the time Great Britain declared war on Germany, England (and America) were two full years behind Germany in armament production. Once again, the peace camps made sure that the great Democracies were at their weakest at a time when they were literally fighting for their very existence.

Thus another world war dragged on for more years than should have been necessary and millions and millions of lives were lost when again, these lives could have been saved if evil had been confronted at an earlier stage.

It’s not a great leap to the Viet Nam War. Because of the “peace movement” at home, we betrayed our allies and the North Vietnamese slaughtered hundreds of thousands of “political enemies.”

After that, The Khmer Rouge were emboldened to commit genocide in Cambodia: a million men, women and children were murdered, mostly suffocated with plastic bags. These barbarians knew that America would not interfere, not after Viet Nam. Not after the Peace Movement.

And now the Peace Movement is on the march again.

About Iraq.

About the War on Terror.

God protect us.

And so, the next time you see a “peace demonstration,” cloaked in all their moral vanity, keep in mind that these people will probably end up committing mass murder.

Seraphic Secret friend, Neil Kleid is coming out with Brownsville, a powerful and original graphic novel. Neil has been working on this book for three years.

Here’s some information from the publisher, NBM.

BROWNSVILLE HC
(Mature Themes)
HC,6×9, 200pgs, B&W
SRP: $18.95
Diamond Order Code: DEC053126
by Neil Kleid & Jake Allen

Written by Xeric Award winner Neil Kleid. In the 1930’s, life in Brooklyn was murder. “Jewish gangster” isn’t a term you hear much in post-Holocaust society … but back when the Dodgers played in the East, and licorice cost a penny a bag, Brooklyn corners were lousy with semitic young toughs looking for adventure and excitement — none more so than in Brownsville. Follow the intertwined lives of Allie Tanennbaum, Abe Reles, and scores of hoods organized by Louis Lepke Buchalter into the deadliest hit operation in Mafia history, “Murder, Inc.”, as they escape the mean streets and lonely tenements of East New York, and make themselves into the most dangerous men in America, only to eventually send their best friends and closest allies up the river.

Here’s what people are saying about BROWNSVILLE:

“Jewish gangsters are almost unheard of these days. This taut and suspenseful drama takes people to an era that no longer exists. I’m not saying Jews are untainted by crime these days – but at least they’re not out knockin’ heads like they used to be!”
Harvey Pekar, writer, AMERICAN SPLENDOR

“Most of the material you’ll find about the ‘Jewish mafia’ is garbage. This book examines a piece of the history of organized crime, and does so with grace, style and power. BROWNSVILLE carries history. Read it.”
Carla Speed McNeil, creator, FINDER

Check out more about BROWNSVILLE at: rantcomics.

The full color cover is available for viewing here.

There’s a hefty interview about BROWNSVILLE at Newsarama .

Neil sent me a PDF of the first few pages of the book and I was dazzled. I felt as if I was watching the Jewish version of The Godfather. Yes, it is that good.
Neil is writing and illustrating Migdal David for Seraphic Press. It won’t be finished for another two years. But it will be worth the wait for Neil is a great talent.

The world of graphic novels is the richest literary vein in our culture. And within that world there is a tiny group of Jewish artists who are, with great courage and determination, creating graphic novels with authentic Jewish content.

I am in awe of their work.

Plunge into JT Waldman’s version of Megillat Esther. Order Neil Kleid’s compelling and painstainkingly researched Brownsville. For while the chattering classes are in their ivory echo chambers singing the praises of the tedious but oh-so-predictible works of the latest most fashionable but oh-so-forgettable novelist, it is Kleid and Waldman and a few others who are the true geniuses at work today.

It’s a real treat when you sit down to read a book and it absolutely rivets you, draws you into its world–and refuses to let you go. So much contemporary writing is positively anemic, devoid of plot, and contemtuous of drawing an accurate portrait of society. The writing workshops in our universities bear much of the blame for this. In my first creative writing workshop at Bard College, it quickly became apparent the kind of writing our Professor favored; anything else was considered “retro.” I was given, subtle and not so subtle hints that I was not considered a “serious” writer; my interest in plot, character and good old fashioned story-telling was simply not acceptable. I got a C in the course and never took another creative writing workshop ever again. But, as far as I know, I’m the only student from that class who actually makes a living as a writer.

In any case, this brief and mildly bitter introduction brings me to Tom Wolfe, one of our great writers. Naturally, he is not beloved by the elite. His latest work, I am Charlotte Simmons has received less than glowing reviews. The reason? He is unabashedly honest about what goes on in our universities. The very places our cultural elite spring from. He is also an outspoken cultural conservative, and for the NY Times Book Review this is one rung above child molestation. I am about a hundred pages into the book and it is wonderful.

Charlotte Simmons, the main character, is a scholarship student from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Her people are “mountain folk.” They are pious, poor, and proud; yet they know who they are and take pride in “not doin’ what others tell us t’do when it goes again’ what we believe.”

You can see how a character like Charlotte Simmons speaks right to my soul. I went from the confines of an all boys yeshiva to the Sodom and Gomorrah of Bard College.

Charlotte enters Dupont (modeled on Stanford, University of Michigan, and Chapel Hill) wide-eyed and innocent. She expects an enobling experience. Instead she gets an education in drunken frat boys, loutish athletes, the vast world of impersonal sex, AKA: hooking up — and of course unisex bathrooms. What would the Ivy League be without this magnificent cultural achievement? Charlotte’s first experience in the boy/girl bathroom is funny, painful, groteque, gross beyond imagining, and very true.

In Bard, a Wahhabist liberal college, I was, for one year, sentenced to a dorm where men and women shared bathroom and shower facilities. My solution was simple: I sprinted to the bathroom in the basement of one of the main buildings (not fun in the freezing winters of upper NY State) thereby assuring myself some privacy. I took showers at three or four in the morning. Why unisex bathrooms? I used to ask.

The answer was sheer gibberish: “tolerance,” “comraderie,” “equality,” and as a way of preparing students for the “real world.” I suggested that the only thing unisex bathrooms really prepares you for is a career in porn movies. Naturally, I was shouted down by these bratty, priveleged kids. I was labeled: a misogynist, a homophobe, uptight and, oh yes, a religious fanatic. Thus tolerance.

Tom Wolfe is our Charles Dickens. Let the NY Times gush over Jonathan Safran Foer and all his his dreary post-modern tricks. Give me Tom Wolfe any day. I can’t wait for tonight: Shul, Shabbos dinner, conversation with Karen and then reading the rest of I am Charlotte Simmons. It’s going to be a great Shabbos.