BoiseBYU wrote:I'm sure most of you have seen the clip of an interview between Bill O"Reilly and President Trump in which he expressed "respect" for Putin and in response to O'Reilly's statement that Putin is a killer said that America is no different. It was shocking and disturbing.
I think you folks need some historical perspective. Did Trump really say there in "No difference" between the USA and Russia? No.
Take a step back and gain some historical perspective. Who was the worst killer in modern history? Many of you would say Adolf Hitler. Hitler was responsible for the deaths of 11 million in his death camps. Including the murder of 6 million Jews.
But, Joseph Stalin was far worse. It's generally accepted that Stalin killed 20 million. But: "Indeed, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the literary giant who wrote harrowingly about the Soviet gulag system, claimed the true number of Stalin’s victims might have been as high as 60 million.
Most other estimates from reputed scholars and historians tend to range from between 20 and 60 million.
In his book, “Unnatural Deaths in the U.S.S.R.: 1928-1954,” I.G. Dyadkin estimated that the USSR suffered 56 to 62 million "unnatural deaths" during that period, with 34 to 49 million directly linked to Stalin."
So, Hitler was responsible for killing 11 million while Stalin was somewhere around 45- 60 million.
http://www.ibtimes.com/how-many-people- ... ll-1111789
Did you folks know about the "Bromance" between Stalin and FDR? Yep.
In a book: "Roosevelt and Stalin", the author details the surprisingly warm relationship of an unlikely duo." FDR and Stalin had suck a friendly relationship Winston Churchill felt left out. Interesting.
A summary of the book:
"On one side of the equation is President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a consummate charmer who’s as full of manipulative bonhomie as ever when he twice meets with the Soviet leader. For his part, a short and stocky Joseph Stalin grins and bursts into a delighted laugh when he first walks up to FDR."
"Stalin grins and laughs? Stalin? This is just one of many surprising moments in “Roosevelt and Stalin,” which intricately tracks the World War II negotiations between three powerful men over the future of the planet."
"Stalin in person turns out to be much more complicated than the common depiction of him as a ruthless monster. Armed with Clinton-style charm – yes, you read that right – Stalin is suspicious and paranoid too. But he has plenty of reasons to be both. So does the third big shot whose name doesn’t even make it into the title of this book: Winston Churchill, the British prime minister and odd man out who can’t break through the cozy FDR-Stalin twosome."
"
But FDR still accomplished plenty. The unlikely cooperation between the capitalist and the communist, the product of human warmth and trust, created the flawed but essential United Nations. As Churchill sulked, Roosevelt and Stalin grinned and charmed and arm-twisted their way to victory and the world beyond the war. We all live in their legacy."
Any of you think FDR was a simplistic fool? Not so. Any of you think Trump doesn't know exactly who Putin is? Of course he does. He also knows he needs to work with Putin to destroy ISIS in the Middle East, and resolve a whole host of world wide issues (Ukraine?).
The fact is, Lincoln said "you can catch more flies with a bucket of honey than a bucket of vinegar." Trump didn't build a $10 billion dollar empire by being a fool. Why piss off Putin when we need to work with him in the critical Middle East, etc. Think he's looking down the road just like FDR did? Count on it.