Thursday, June 26, 2008

Body Odor: 1942 America as a Republic

The American Republic had a reserved tolerance for eccentricity. There was respect for independent mountain men, gangsters and rebels the great unwashed. Part of this extended to naval intelligence personnel who rarely bathed and who never knew what day it was.

They had cracked the Japanese Imperial War Code and had determined the next target was Midway Island. Since there were only three American carriers between Midway and the West Coast, the Washington officials urged a defensive posture based on Pearl Harbor. Admiral Nimitz rejected this approach and took on an offensive strategy that hung on Midway.

Out-numbered and out-gunned, the Americans seized the day as they had more flexibility than their Fascist-blinded opponents.

World War Two was a battle between republican character and fascist spinelessness.

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