Interesting article by Jim Buckley. George Allen Sr. was a great head football coach for the Washington REDSKINS, now the Commanders. Allen Sr. was crafty, smart and unpredictable. Unfortunately for him, he never won a Super Bowl. I followed him closely because he was opposite my favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys and had a fierce rivalry with legend, Tom Landry.
Allen Jr. seemed to be a very savvy and capable politician, too bad he ultimately lost to the slippery and obnoxious, Tim Kaine. Kaine’s recent performance during Senate confirmation hearings of Pete Hegseth should serve as an embarrassment for Dems. Kaine comes off as a truly strange and vindictive guy.
As for Allen’s take on energy, I am in agreement. The method of how we transport oil via trucking compared to having a pipeline is not only archaic, but involves much more risk and cost. Further, the concept of having mini nuclear reactors makes much sense, especially when the alternative is BESS battery storage facilities. Yes, our entire energy policy here in California is over regulated and punitive against fossil fuels, making our cost as consumers much higher.
Great seeing you and other SB conservatives yesterday, Jim.
Glad we are now engaging a serious conversation about nuclear energy. Recent visits to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki last year - powerful permanent memorials to what happened to those two cities in an instant. But this was also contrasted with the fact the Great Tokyo Fire decades earlier caused equal amounts of devastation and death, if one wants to compare only a numbers game.
Nagasaki was the more profound experience because it was more low key and the entire blast site memorial location is now closely surrounded by tall, mature vegetation and multiple high rise apartments with balconies overlooking this ground zero blast marker.
To say this was schizophrenic recognition of the nuclear legacy today is an understatement. Both past, present and potential, wrapped up in single location. Energy production, safe and sure, will certainly usher an historic new era for humankind.
J. did you know that Nagasaki was the heart and soul of Christianity in the East and Catholicism in Japan since the 16th century?
95% of Japan’s Christians/Catholics lived in Nagasaki. The epicenter of blast was 1,650 feet above Immaculate Conception Cathedral.
“On August 9th 1945, as the local Catholics prepared for the Feast of Immaculate Conception, the pilots of the Boxscar were instructed to look for the spire of the Urakami Cathedral as they dropped the 'Fatman' bomb.”
Portuguese and Dutch were among the very first western nations to trade with isolationist Japan in their one allowable trading port at Nagasaki. The Portuguese allegedly even introduce tempura into the Japanese diet. Yes, Christianity and Portuguese priests came along too.
Fascinating to trace the history of those first windows to the West in Nagasaki today, including the post Commander Perry and Anglo/American settlements (Glover Gardens), starting with a very nicely restored visitor center in their former "foreigners" trading and residential site on the landfill island of Dejima: https://www.japanistry.com/dejima/#google_vignette
You don’t find it curious that a Christian nation, as we certainly were in 1945, dropped the atom bomb on top of the largest Christian church/cathedral in the Orient? In a city that contained 95% of Japan’s Christians?
Silly stereotype, L. Angel. I venture most here do disapprove of recent Obama and Biden's wars. Trump did not start any wars during his first term, and he is on a wild hare to bring these left over Democrat wars to a speedy conclusion.
Get new stereotypes, Angel. RINOs are not part the new GOP populist/Trump movement, if you have been paying attention. Peace through strength. Do not get this confused with the Democrat/RINO military-industrial complex that gets a field day under Democrat administrations.
How is it a stereotype? I don't like stereotypes. I'm going exclusively off the comments I have read, including yours. You claim you (and most here) oppose all of Biden's wars, but if memory serves correctly, you supported the genocide in Gaza. I know others here do too because of what they wrote. I do not know how you feel about our invasion of Iraq or a potential war with Iran, but I already know your opinions on Palestine, which were so strong that you argued with those of us who opposed genocide. And what about the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? In all you wrote about it, you really didn't condemn it. I wrote much less, yet said it was wrong.
Nagasaki was not the first target for the second atomic bomb. It was going to be Kokura - but was covered with clouds that morning. The second target was Nagasaki.
...."Groves’s first choice was Kyoto. It was largely untouched by bombing and was psychologically important to the Japanese. Its surrounding mountains would focus the blast and thereby increase the bomb’s destructive force.
Stimson, who had visited Kyoto in the 1920s, knew its status as Japan’s intellectual and cultural capital and considered its destruction to be barbaric. He argued for Kyoto to be dropped from the list and eventually won Truman over to his view......"
...Allegedly.... the Emperor finally surrendered after Nagasaki, fearing an imperial coastal city near Osaka, which was home of the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan, was next on list to be bombed. Destruction of these sacred tokens of his own direct linage to the Sun Goddess and by his representation to the people of Japan itself was, finally too much to risk.
It was a strategic harbor and munitions factory site. War is hell. Best not start them. Otherwise there are few Queensbury rules that apply after the fact . Was it strange the Christians had not already left imperial Japan and its very cruel military machine dedicated only to massive death and destruction? I believe there were last minute weather pattern issues that determined where and how the atomic bomb blast actually impacted Nagasaki, so that more civilians were affected instead of the intended strategic military sites. Nothing is strange in war. Other than the proclivity to keep having them.
J. You sure seem to know a lot about this issue which is utterly unknown to 99.9% of Americans.
The atomic bomb is/was a weapon that indiscriminately exterminates all living things in its blast area. I don’t think it’s a military practice to exterminate your own natural civilian allies in your enemy’s territory. Especially in light of the Christian themes of morality that were used to sell WWII to the American public. If we needed to destroy critical Japanese infrastructure we could have used more targeted/conventional bombs. Not genocide Japan’s Christian minority by dropping the 2nd (unnecessary) atom bomb over the top of the largest Christian cathedral in all the Orient.
But hey, move along everyone. Nothing to see here…
C. There is something to see. No one is hiding this, nor is it the only human tragedy of WWII. The whole point of memorials is to keep sending these very messages. No reason to narrow your focus nor your moral outrage. Forgiveness and grace are also part of the larger equation. Move along is good advice, but there is very much something to see. No one is saying, don't look.
JL is quite versed in history. We trade barbs on many issues but I rarely quibble with their historical background. And sadly the point of dropping both bombs was not to destroy critical Japanese infrastructure - but to demonstrate the crazy power of these devices to force a surrender of a country that wasn't likely to surrender until a grossly bloody ground attack was mounted and won against their forces.
Unfortunately, Allen was the last Republican Senator from Virginia. He lost a very close race to Jim Webb in 2006. It was said he lost because he called an Indian guy from the Webb campaign a "macaca", supposedly a racist term. It was a media hit job that falsely tried to paint him as a racist. Many people may not know that his father was a famous NFL head coach. He was considered a serious candidate for president until he lost the Senate race.
BTW, Jim Webb, former Secretary of the Navy under President Reagan was the last serious and sane member of the Democratic Party. Since then, well we all know…they have TOTALLY gone off the rails!
Great article Jim - love this guy Allen. S o o o sensible - he shouldda been a Republican! :) Sure glad to get his pov on nuclear. I've often wondered why we don't use it - it's obviously safe or it wouldn't be powering our aircraft carriers.
About the only thing I disagree with him on is that @#$%^&^^ Joe Biden! _THE_ most worthless President and human being since Traitor Obama.
Earl: Allen is and was a Republican. As for his kind words about Joe Biden, it's probably that old Senate camaraderie that requires all senators to be courteous to each other. Joe Biden was the absolute worst president in this nation's history and I believe he'll go down that way in the annals of the U.S. Kamala was among the most incompetent vice-presidents, but there have been some real stinkers (Agnew comes to mind) in that category so I can't give her a "worst" status, though she's clearly in the top ten. What a miserable four years they brought us (though the stock market took them in stride).
Hi Jim, sorry to go off topic, but it is my nature posting here.
I'm watching the SB Planning commission meeting live on You Tube right now. I wish everyone here could watch it in real time and we could comment to each other.
The topic is Capitol Improvement Projects for the next few years. I kid you not, the chairman said this, "Did you just say B as in billion dollars?" And so goes the five year CIP plan.
Sounds like a really informed person. I keep asking why the people governing this state don’t take a lesson from the Israelis and use whatever energy source is adequate (not wind or solar) to produce useful quantities of water . Our state desperately needs more energy and water. They supply it to Jordan by the way. Newscum and his Marxist/ Weiner cronies are destroying our state and driving sane people East to live in much less hospitable climates to be free of the madness of Californistan. Who will be the Moses to lead us out of our Egypt ?
California should "take a lesson from the Israelis"? The ones who committed genocide with our money? The ones who destroyed churches and hospitals? How could a medical doctor think this, no less write this?
Interesting article by Jim Buckley. George Allen Sr. was a great head football coach for the Washington REDSKINS, now the Commanders. Allen Sr. was crafty, smart and unpredictable. Unfortunately for him, he never won a Super Bowl. I followed him closely because he was opposite my favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys and had a fierce rivalry with legend, Tom Landry.
Allen Jr. seemed to be a very savvy and capable politician, too bad he ultimately lost to the slippery and obnoxious, Tim Kaine. Kaine’s recent performance during Senate confirmation hearings of Pete Hegseth should serve as an embarrassment for Dems. Kaine comes off as a truly strange and vindictive guy.
As for Allen’s take on energy, I am in agreement. The method of how we transport oil via trucking compared to having a pipeline is not only archaic, but involves much more risk and cost. Further, the concept of having mini nuclear reactors makes much sense, especially when the alternative is BESS battery storage facilities. Yes, our entire energy policy here in California is over regulated and punitive against fossil fuels, making our cost as consumers much higher.
Great seeing you and other SB conservatives yesterday, Jim.
Glad we are now engaging a serious conversation about nuclear energy. Recent visits to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki last year - powerful permanent memorials to what happened to those two cities in an instant. But this was also contrasted with the fact the Great Tokyo Fire decades earlier caused equal amounts of devastation and death, if one wants to compare only a numbers game.
Nagasaki was the more profound experience because it was more low key and the entire blast site memorial location is now closely surrounded by tall, mature vegetation and multiple high rise apartments with balconies overlooking this ground zero blast marker.
To say this was schizophrenic recognition of the nuclear legacy today is an understatement. Both past, present and potential, wrapped up in single location. Energy production, safe and sure, will certainly usher an historic new era for humankind.
J. did you know that Nagasaki was the heart and soul of Christianity in the East and Catholicism in Japan since the 16th century?
95% of Japan’s Christians/Catholics lived in Nagasaki. The epicenter of blast was 1,650 feet above Immaculate Conception Cathedral.
“On August 9th 1945, as the local Catholics prepared for the Feast of Immaculate Conception, the pilots of the Boxscar were instructed to look for the spire of the Urakami Cathedral as they dropped the 'Fatman' bomb.”
https://www.catholicarena.com/latest/2021/8/8/lubyxf9jdoqr8ms29oo755ia1wu2mw
Portuguese and Dutch were among the very first western nations to trade with isolationist Japan in their one allowable trading port at Nagasaki. The Portuguese allegedly even introduce tempura into the Japanese diet. Yes, Christianity and Portuguese priests came along too.
Fascinating to trace the history of those first windows to the West in Nagasaki today, including the post Commander Perry and Anglo/American settlements (Glover Gardens), starting with a very nicely restored visitor center in their former "foreigners" trading and residential site on the landfill island of Dejima: https://www.japanistry.com/dejima/#google_vignette
You don’t find it curious that a Christian nation, as we certainly were in 1945, dropped the atom bomb on top of the largest Christian church/cathedral in the Orient? In a city that contained 95% of Japan’s Christians?
It was wrong. But you won't find many on this page who oppose war or military aggression by the US.
Silly stereotype, L. Angel. I venture most here do disapprove of recent Obama and Biden's wars. Trump did not start any wars during his first term, and he is on a wild hare to bring these left over Democrat wars to a speedy conclusion.
Get new stereotypes, Angel. RINOs are not part the new GOP populist/Trump movement, if you have been paying attention. Peace through strength. Do not get this confused with the Democrat/RINO military-industrial complex that gets a field day under Democrat administrations.
How is it a stereotype? I don't like stereotypes. I'm going exclusively off the comments I have read, including yours. You claim you (and most here) oppose all of Biden's wars, but if memory serves correctly, you supported the genocide in Gaza. I know others here do too because of what they wrote. I do not know how you feel about our invasion of Iraq or a potential war with Iran, but I already know your opinions on Palestine, which were so strong that you argued with those of us who opposed genocide. And what about the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? In all you wrote about it, you really didn't condemn it. I wrote much less, yet said it was wrong.
Nagasaki was not the first target for the second atomic bomb. It was going to be Kokura - but was covered with clouds that morning. The second target was Nagasaki.
...."Groves’s first choice was Kyoto. It was largely untouched by bombing and was psychologically important to the Japanese. Its surrounding mountains would focus the blast and thereby increase the bomb’s destructive force.
Stimson, who had visited Kyoto in the 1920s, knew its status as Japan’s intellectual and cultural capital and considered its destruction to be barbaric. He argued for Kyoto to be dropped from the list and eventually won Truman over to his view......"
...Allegedly.... the Emperor finally surrendered after Nagasaki, fearing an imperial coastal city near Osaka, which was home of the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan, was next on list to be bombed. Destruction of these sacred tokens of his own direct linage to the Sun Goddess and by his representation to the people of Japan itself was, finally too much to risk.
It was a strategic harbor and munitions factory site. War is hell. Best not start them. Otherwise there are few Queensbury rules that apply after the fact . Was it strange the Christians had not already left imperial Japan and its very cruel military machine dedicated only to massive death and destruction? I believe there were last minute weather pattern issues that determined where and how the atomic bomb blast actually impacted Nagasaki, so that more civilians were affected instead of the intended strategic military sites. Nothing is strange in war. Other than the proclivity to keep having them.
J. You sure seem to know a lot about this issue which is utterly unknown to 99.9% of Americans.
The atomic bomb is/was a weapon that indiscriminately exterminates all living things in its blast area. I don’t think it’s a military practice to exterminate your own natural civilian allies in your enemy’s territory. Especially in light of the Christian themes of morality that were used to sell WWII to the American public. If we needed to destroy critical Japanese infrastructure we could have used more targeted/conventional bombs. Not genocide Japan’s Christian minority by dropping the 2nd (unnecessary) atom bomb over the top of the largest Christian cathedral in all the Orient.
But hey, move along everyone. Nothing to see here…
C. There is something to see. No one is hiding this, nor is it the only human tragedy of WWII. The whole point of memorials is to keep sending these very messages. No reason to narrow your focus nor your moral outrage. Forgiveness and grace are also part of the larger equation. Move along is good advice, but there is very much something to see. No one is saying, don't look.
JL is quite versed in history. We trade barbs on many issues but I rarely quibble with their historical background. And sadly the point of dropping both bombs was not to destroy critical Japanese infrastructure - but to demonstrate the crazy power of these devices to force a surrender of a country that wasn't likely to surrender until a grossly bloody ground attack was mounted and won against their forces.
Unfortunately, Allen was the last Republican Senator from Virginia. He lost a very close race to Jim Webb in 2006. It was said he lost because he called an Indian guy from the Webb campaign a "macaca", supposedly a racist term. It was a media hit job that falsely tried to paint him as a racist. Many people may not know that his father was a famous NFL head coach. He was considered a serious candidate for president until he lost the Senate race.
BTW, Jim Webb, former Secretary of the Navy under President Reagan was the last serious and sane member of the Democratic Party. Since then, well we all know…they have TOTALLY gone off the rails!
Terrific interview, questions and answers. I write this from Cottage Rehab. So don't have much to say except looking forward to more.
Thank you. I hope you recover quickly!
Hope to see you home soon. Best wishes!!
Pol - you _still_ at Rehab? Hurry up and get well soon!
This is a great article. I really appreciate the read. Thank you.
AMERICA. IN. GRIPS. OF. OLD. MAN. ON. THE .EDGE. OF. DEMENTIA. HANDING. USA OVER TO FOREIGN. MADMAN.
THE BEST IS YET TO COME!
Is the old man going to fire musk and then resign?
Not likely before mid July…
Great article Jim - love this guy Allen. S o o o sensible - he shouldda been a Republican! :) Sure glad to get his pov on nuclear. I've often wondered why we don't use it - it's obviously safe or it wouldn't be powering our aircraft carriers.
About the only thing I disagree with him on is that @#$%^&^^ Joe Biden! _THE_ most worthless President and human being since Traitor Obama.
Earl: Allen is and was a Republican. As for his kind words about Joe Biden, it's probably that old Senate camaraderie that requires all senators to be courteous to each other. Joe Biden was the absolute worst president in this nation's history and I believe he'll go down that way in the annals of the U.S. Kamala was among the most incompetent vice-presidents, but there have been some real stinkers (Agnew comes to mind) in that category so I can't give her a "worst" status, though she's clearly in the top ten. What a miserable four years they brought us (though the stock market took them in stride).
Good read Jim - thanks.
Agree.
Hi Jim, sorry to go off topic, but it is my nature posting here.
I'm watching the SB Planning commission meeting live on You Tube right now. I wish everyone here could watch it in real time and we could comment to each other.
The topic is Capitol Improvement Projects for the next few years. I kid you not, the chairman said this, "Did you just say B as in billion dollars?" And so goes the five year CIP plan.
Sounds like a really informed person. I keep asking why the people governing this state don’t take a lesson from the Israelis and use whatever energy source is adequate (not wind or solar) to produce useful quantities of water . Our state desperately needs more energy and water. They supply it to Jordan by the way. Newscum and his Marxist/ Weiner cronies are destroying our state and driving sane people East to live in much less hospitable climates to be free of the madness of Californistan. Who will be the Moses to lead us out of our Egypt ?
California should "take a lesson from the Israelis"? The ones who committed genocide with our money? The ones who destroyed churches and hospitals? How could a medical doctor think this, no less write this?
Newscum and Californistan. So much class from an "MD".
Newsom is problematic, but I agree this MD commenting has no class.