good morning justin

  

 C O M I N G     U P     R O S E S

 

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Alger Hiss

  

Alger Hiss fit comfortably into a role one would expect

coming from an East Coast, Ivy League background.

A graduate of both John Hopkins and Harvard Law,

he was chosen by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes 

to be his legal secretary at the Supreme Court .

Hiss was a successful New York lawyer before trading

 it all in for doing public service in Roosevelt's New Deal.

By 1945 he worked his way up to be an assistant

to the President, personally briefing Roosevelt 

at Yalta.

Who would have thought this man to be a communist?

Whittaker Chambers.

What a character.  Appearing before the 

House Un-American Activities Committee, HUAC,

Chambers looked like he had slept in his clothes

the night before.  Everything about him was wrinkled

and out of order.  And yet, here was Time magazine's

Senior Editor, a former communist, fingering Hiss as

part of his DC spy ring that was active during the war.

Hiss was the group's contact man with Colonel Bykov, 

a Soviet spymaster.

Committee members were stunned.

That was unexpected.  Hiss had powerful friends

in Washington, on both sides of the aisles.

Could Chambers be trusted?

Hiss demanded a retraction.

 Prior to the war Stalin was a villainous dictator.  Then, 

as an ally against Hitler, he became good old Uncle Joe.

Now he was, once again, the treacherous thug he had

always been.  Communists everywhere were Stalin's

subversive agents, preaching an alien gospel that

would bring an end to individual freedom.

It was up to the Congressional members of the HUAC

to prevent the government from harboring such communists.

Members of HUAC did not limit themselves to

overseeing government employment.  Their

investigations ventured out into the general public, 

checking on private citizens, who only appeared

to be going about their usual daily business.  

Everyone enjoys a good motion picture.

In the 1940s there was nothing more popular

than going to the movies.  And that was causing

concern among members of the Un-American

Activities Committee.  The evidence grew daily

that communists in Hollywood were inserting 

Leftist themes into American films.

A group of motion picture writers, producers and

actors called to testify before the committee,

became known as the Hollywood Ten.

They were found guilty of contempt of Congress

for not naming names of communists they knew.

They each served sentences and were subsequently

blacklisted from the entertainment industry.

Show biz was always sensitive to public opinion.

The case against Alger Hiss had stalled...

boiled down to Hiss denying Chamber's accusations

and Chambers calling him a liar.  That is where the

story was likely to end, inconclusive and forgotten.

But Alger Hiss was stopped short of slipping away

by Richard Nixon, a first term congressman from

California.  It took dogged hours of Nixon's cajoling

of members individually before the committee was

persuaded to continue its pursuit of branding Hiss

a spy.

The Hiss saga ends in a manner fit for a mystery

drama heard over the radio.  It involved a long lost

spool of microfilm that was hidden by Chambers

in a pumpkin patch growing on a Maryland farm.

This evidence provided enough proof to convince

a jury of Hiss's guilt.  He would spend the next

four years in prison for perjury, as the time allowed by

the statute of limitations for charging Hiss with spying

had passed 

Nixon was suddenly a household name.

Here was a national hero.

 

 Richard Nixon was a man in a hurry.

Elected to Congress in 1946 at age 33.

Four years later Nixon was elected a Senator of 

California.  Now in 1952 he was Eisenhower's 

running mate in the General's campaign 

for the presidency.  

Everything was happening so fast.

*  *  *  *  *

©  Tom Taylor

 OVER   EASY

 

coldValentine

good morning jacob

  

 M  O  T  H  B  U  L  B

 

 

coldValentine

Berlin Air Lift

  

Berlin was the first East-West flash point of the

Cold War.  For the first time a dispute between

Washington and Moscow became a high stakes

faceoff between their opposing militaries.

Life had yet to return to its normal, humdrum existence.

Three years following the end of one colossal war 

and the world was suddenly threatened with another.

Once again, it was all about Germany.

 Berlin became a pawn in superpower strategy

when the West combined their occupied zones

into a new German nation and created a new threat

for Stalin.  The Kremlin responded by blockading

all land routes feeding West Berlin, a city of over 

two million people.  It was an island of western

democracy within a sea of the Soviet Army.

Here was a vulnerable outpost a hundred miles

on the inside of the communist Iron Curtain.

The ten thousand troop garrison assigned to defend the

city was but a pittance, a token force, for the Red Army

to quickly dispatch.  Their mission was to demonstrate

their resolve in the face of certain defeat.  There was

no other recourse.  Imagine Europe's reaction if America

abandoned Berlin without a fight.  Washington's promise

was mere talk.  

Western Europe would be lost.

The Potsdam agreement gave the West occupied zones

in Berlin, much as it had with all of Germany.  The contract

gave France, Britain and the U.S. a piece of Berlin

real estate, but that didn't guarantee these capitalists

access to their properties; all so isolated.

So terribly far out of reach.

Stalin posed Washington with the dilemma of either

surrendering the city or watching these Berliners starve.

A third option was to call Stalin's bluff.  Uncle Sam 

could run an armed convoy through the blockade,

daring Soviet forces to open fire.

Did the Kremlin really want to start a war with the U.S.?

Recently, a flight of sixty B-29 bombers from the States

landed in the U.K.  They were all capable of carrying

atomic bombs. 

General Clay was the highly regarded administrator

of American policy in Germany.  He provided the solution

to Berlin's supply problem with an audacious plan to airlift

thousands of tons of food and coal daily to meet the city's

needs.

Clay also lobbied the President to call Stalin's bluff

and send an armed convoy to Berlin.  Truman said no.

It was an unnecessary risk.  Also, Truman was up for

reelection and voters were in no mood to take on war.

And Truman had his own bluff.  Not one of the sixty

B-29 bombers contained an atomic bomb.

This was something Stalin also knew.

West Berlin relied on twelve thousand tons of food, coal and

the like to get through the day.  They could get by, though, 

on four thousand tons.  There were about a hundred C-47s

available to transport necessities into the city.  The planes

were worn leftovers from the Second World War, but

they could each transport up to three tons.  

100 x 3 = 300 tons.

Even deliveries twice daily didn't begin to fill the need.

It was an all hands on deck moment.  Where were 

the resources necessary to save Berlin?

Failure was not an option.

Stalin created NATO.

The NATO treaty was signed in Washington as 

this first Berlin crisis would come to a conclusion.  

The U.S. had just agreed to come to the defense

of Western Europe.  Clearly, Stalin's aggressive

behavior had spooked isolationist Americans

into fearing a threat beyond the water's edge.

About this time an American reconnaissance plane  

discovered a dramatic leap in radiation levels while

flying the Pacific rim route along the coast of Russia.

America's atomic monopoly was over.

Stalin had the bomb. 

*  *  *  *  *

©  Tom Taylor

OVER   EASY

coldValentine

good morning jack

  

 B A C K U P    O N    T H E    4 1 0

 

love

   dad

  

  

coldValentine

Containment

  

 Stalin demanded his fleet have guaranteed access

to the Mediterranean through the Turkish Dardanelles.

Compliance meant Russian troops would control this

strategic area of Turkey.  Saying no to Stalin

was a possible declaration of war with the Russians.

Truman sent his largest battleship to the Dardanelles

to demonstrate his support for Turkey.

The President had seen enough.  From this point

forward, the gloves were off when dealing with Stalin.

 FDR's third vice-president, Henry Wallace, was

among those characterizing Truman's position as

belligerent.  We're breathing down Stalin's neck.

No wonder he's paranoid.  Who wouldn't be.

We need a return to Roosevelt's patient,

understanding, negotiating style.

A Missouri mule resides in the Oval Office 

at a time when the country needs reasoned

restraint, and the vision of greatness.

 State Department hired this whiz kid named

Kennan.  They trained him to be their Russian

expert, then assigned him to their embassy

in Moscow.  They gave him a desk and 

probably expected to never hear from him again.

February, 1946.  Evening.

The teletype at State chatters to life.

Page upon page of fanfold paper is filled

with analysis of current Soviet strategy in what

has become known at the 'Long Telegram'.

It's from George Kennan, the Russian expert

stationed in Moscow.  His conclusion becomes

the basis for Truman's containment policy.

Negotiations are a mere stall tactic for Stalin.

The Soviets respond only to strength.

The U.S. must prepare for a protracted struggle

with the Russians.

Russia's ancestors were farmers of a vast plain,

peasants who were periodically pillaged by

marauding neighbors.  There was constant fear

of what lay just over the horizon.

To the west, civilizations developed into

organized nation-states that benefitted from

wealthy economies and large militaries.

Russia was weak by comparison and their

people paid the price with invasions from

Sweden, Poland, France and Germany,

among others.

Be aware.  You have no friends.

 Imagine being governed by a fiction.

The people are told only the news that fits the

government's narrative.  Your own eyes and ears

contradict what is officially certified fact.

None the less, you spout the make believe.

It's for your own good.

Stalin allowed his citizens little access to the

outside world.  No need to expose Russians to

troubling contradictions posed to them by foreigners.

After all, what do you believe when you no longer

believe what it is you know?   

 MAD.

This is a strategy based on the will to survive.

When negotiations fail and the military option

appears to be the only logical recourse left,

then it is time to consider the consequences.

A nuclear exchange between the U.S. and Russia

would destroy both nations.  Even if one side 

surprised the other side with a nuclear attack,

there would still be enough nuclear offensive remaining

for a response big enough to obliterate their attacker.

Moscow and Washington found themselves

bound in a pact of mutual suicide.

*  *  *  *  *

©  Tom Taylor

 OVER   EASY

coldValentine

Happy Birthday Jacob!

   

 Happy Birthday to You!

S  T  R  I  C  T  L  Y      P  E  R  S  O  N  A  L

 

 

H A P P Y     B I R T H D A Y

J A C O B !

love

   dad

coldValentine

good morning jessicca

  

  

R  O  A  D     T  R  I  P

 

love

   dad

 

 

coldValentine

Marshall Plan

  

 You would have to go back a hundred years 

to find a winter as harsh as the one that hit

Europe in 1946.  This was a time of vast

homelessness.  People were hungry and cold.

Many froze.  

By 1947, two years after the war ended, Europe showed

few signs of economic revival.  The governments of

Europe were failing to provide.  Folks were miserable.

They wanted change.

 The Communists provided the fighters to resist

ruthless Nazi oppression in occupied lands.

Their performance in the war gave them credibility.

Moxie.  People you knew would be with you through

thick and thin.

Now the resistance fighters were running for office.

Victory at the ballot box could turn the countries of

France and Italy over to the Communists, and to 

Stalin.

Voices of alarm began to be heard about Washington.

There could be no further Communist victories in Europe.

A line was drawn.  The U.S. would remain in force 

across the pond.

The eyes of Europe turned to America, land of plenty.

They provided half of the world's economy and hoarded

much of its gold.  Uncle Sam had deep pockets, loaded

with the billions in cash needed to revive Europe.

Washington would agree to the aid but there were rules.

Two years experience proved the futility of throwing 

money at problems.  What governments needed was

a clear, efficient course of action that would revive 

Europe's economy.  

Do it for under $20 billion.

The Marshall Plan provided critical industries funds to bring

their factories back to life - providing jobs.  Paychecks

flourished and new business rose up to meet the need.

The nations of Western Europe all wanted in on the action.

So did Poland and Czechoslovakia of Eastern Europe.

They had a problem.  Stalin wouldn't tolerate it.

How could a Communist government repudiate

Marxism?  That is how Stalin read Uncle Sam's

contract.  Here was the poison pill to keep the

East out of the cookie jar.  On top of this, 

Washington wanted the receiving country to 

cede economic control to the U.S. 

Once again, Stalin saw this as outrageous.

Truman took this as a victory.

He wasn't about to ask American taxpayers for

money to fund recovery for Communist nations.

Fiat's factories reopened with U.S. machinery 

purchased from Americans with U.S. aid.

Most of the $14 billion in Marshall Aid sent to Europe

quickly found its way back into the U.S. economy.

This export income sustained tens of thousands of

manufacturing jobs across the nation.

European aid actually improved America's

Gross Domestic Product, a measure of wealth,

for those years.

NATO and the European Union trace their beginnings

back to the Marshall Plan.  Western Europe ultimately

thrived.  The East did not.

Satellite nations were like colonies to the Kremlin.

Subjugated people do not perform at their best.

They have no reason to.

What is the reward?

*  *  *  *  *

©  Tom Taylor

OVER   EASY

coldValentine