The Other Half of History Daily Blog
Thoughts on modern politics from a historical perspective.
President Obama and the Divine Right of Kings
The origins of American ideas of freedom go back to at least 1215 AD. In that year a group of English nobles forced King John to renounce the concept of the “Divine Right of Kings,” a doctrine under which medieval kings claimed the right to do literally anything they pleased, under the belief that their absolute power was bestowed upon them directly by God.
If recent events are a guide, most Americans don’t understand what a pernicious doctrine this was. If we understood the dangers of the Divine Rights doctrine we would react more strongly when our current President shows similar tendencies. More »
History of Women in Combat
The Obama Pentagon’s recent decision on putting female soldiers in harm’s way in combat zones is the latest example of the Left’s determination to use our military for something other than national defense. The sole Constitutional purpose of the military is to stand ready to defeat America’s enemies on the battlefield, but when leftists like President Obama get into the White House they quite often impose a less practical, more political agenda. More »
Friday Links and Notes for Feb. 17
Lots of interesting items in the news this week.
Republicans in Congress have had to threaten a subpoena to get Whitehouse officials to answer questions about the half-billion dollars in taxpayer money the executives of Solyndra got after donating to President Obama’s campaign war chest. More »
History of Political Interference with Military Agendas
The recent news about the Obama administration putting servicewomen in combat zones is re-opening an old debate about the clash between practical and political agendas in military decision making. Radical feminism is certainly not the only political idea that ever interfered with a nation’s combat readiness; political agendas have plagued the world’s armies for centuries. More »
Women in the Military – Policy Enslaved to Politics
The Obama administration announced last week that it is rolling back Army and Marine Corps policies that have kept female soldiers and marines out of combat areas. “This,” said one unnamed officer quoted by the LA Times, “is the opening salvo in the debate over assigning women to combat.”
This is another illustration of Fullers Law: When the government is in control, decisions are made politically. In this case the military is being used, not for the defense of the nation from foreign enemies, but as an institutional demonstration of the Politically Correct doctrine that men and women should fill identical roles in society. More »
