69, regarding your idea (post 111) that the US stayed out of WW 2 too long, I have to respectfully disagree. When I was in High School I was told the US stayed out of that war because we were "left out of the peace" after WW1. In college I was told that FDR was afraid to get too far out in front of public opinion. At 61, common sense tells me that both those notions are pure bs.
America stayed out of the war until they were good and sure that Britian had bankrupted itself singlehandedly fighting the Germans. We entered the war only when we could guarantee that the world's currency would be the dollar, not the pound. I'm quite sure Churchill called FDR a ruthless ********** on more than one occasion. He **** well knew the game the US was playing. No other explanation even comes close.
I grew up knowing America was the good guy, and it's still my knee jerk reaction to defend her. But too many times over the course of the last 70 years, the "defender of democracy" has squashed democracy at its convenience. Think Iran '52-'79, Iraq till '89. Hell, how many times have we abandoned the Kurds now?
I guess the big takeaway here is that American Business does what it needs to do regardless of the consequences for the country, and American Business IS the governing power right here right now.
Respectfully,
Jim