Today is December 7th, a day that, as Franklin D. Roosevelt put so aptly, will live in infamy. He couldn't have guessed that it would live in infamy among the conspiracy theorists.
Well after the end of the war, conspiracy theorists were observing that the Japanese diplomatic and naval codes had been broken and therefore FDR knew that the attack would happen in time to warn the military. History shows that there was no smoking gun here.
Yes, the last diplomatic message before the war was deciphered hours before the attack, but it's meaning was unclear, even to the diplomats who were to deliver it.
The war department had told the command in Hawaii and elsewhere to be on a heightened state of alert. No one understood that the threat might be naval aviation. The concern was saboteurs from the Japanese population on the island.
Consequently, the planes on the airfields that might have provided defense against air attack were parked close together for easy destruction. If the military had understood the threat, they would have been dispersed.
History shows that we always try to fight the last war, and Pearl Harbor was no different.
Random Thought #2 FDR was the first "initial" President. Since then, we have had JFK and "W." Other Presidents have three or four initials, but weren't routinely referred to in the press by them. If Hillary manages to become President, she will be the first one name personality.
Random Thought #3 This isn't really a random thought, as we've offered to make a presentation to a select audience on the issue. This blog appears to have been surprisingly effective in turning events, more effective than this author would have guessed a few months ago. We can't and won't ever write about our successes because that would make us less effective.
Those who would emulate us would do well to keep two words in mind: Persistence and ethics. Bloggers who lack either are almost wasting their time. Note that we "ate crow" yesterday. The easy thing to do would have been to ignore our obligation to set the record straight. Few would have known that we had that obligation.
Random Thought #4 In the history of human conflict, no organization, army, or country has ever won employing a purely defensive strategy. High citadel walls have weak foundations. Attackers who remember to attack the foundations and ignore the imposing walls will always beat those who try to build the walls ever higher.
That is a message that is applicable on so many levels, to so many American readers. The word "conflict" was chosen carefully. It applies to business, politics, and war. It even applies to legal ethics reform.
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