October 31

1517 - Martin Luther posted the '95 Theses' on the door of the Wittenberg Palace Church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

The proper name for the '95 Theses' is 'The Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.'

Luther was a Catholic monk, and grew tired of the bastardizations of the Christian faith...Even a strict Catholic would have difficulty denying Luther's claims, because the Church had grown quite fat and abusive.

It's important to note Luther didn't set out to destroy the Catholic Church or to found his own version of Christianity...Instead he wanted to reform the existing church - to cleanse it of abuses of power and un-holiness.

This didn't work out because the Church was far too big for anyone to make demands on, and the Church had Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to lean on for military support...But, both the Papacy and Charles made a huge mistake: They allowed Luther to live. Had they killed him immediately, the Reformation would have likely died with him.

Instead, Luther found refuge in the German states and the Reformation took root - a pivot in European history the likes of which hadn't happened since the fall of Rome.

475 - Romulus Augustulus, last Western Roman Emperor, was elevated to the throne.

What a pathetic figure. He didn’t last long, though, and the Empire was in its last months.

It is interesting to look at the name of this last emperor and its irony: Romulus was the legendary founder of Rome, and Augustus the founder of the Roman Empire...Romulus Augustus proved to be much less than either.

1803 - The USS Philadelphia grounded off Tripoli and was captured by the Barbary pirates.

This event sparked the Barbary Wars, which were the U.S.'s first as an independent nation...It's not surprising it was Muslim pirates who were our first enemy. Just as they are today.

1846 - The Donner party, unable to cross the Donner Pass, began constructing a winter camp.

It was a long Winter - For some.

1914 - The Battle of the Vistula River ended.  Russian troops pushed the Germans back to their original positions:  WWI.

This battle is also known as the Battle of Warsaw.

It was one of the first WWI battles on the Eastern Front, and the Russians were able to overwhelm the Germans due to superior numbers...This was the case for all of 1914 and much of 1915, but it didn't last past that point. After 1915 the Russians found themselves on the opposite end of most of these battles.

1942 - One of the great wartime radio shows premiered, as CBS debuted 'Thanks to the Yanks.' The show, starring Bob Hawk, became one of the most popular of the wartime programs.

This was back in the day when the media and Hollywood were pro-American...Oh how things have changed.

1961 - The body of Joseph Stalin was removed from public display (in Stalin's Tomb). The longtime dictator of the former Soviet Union was reburied in a simple grave, beginning the USSR's 'de-Stalinization policy.'

Uncle Joe is one of the greatest butchers in the history of the world, causing death and suffering for millions of his enemies and his own countrymen...They should have drawn and quartered his dead corpse, then burned the remains in the hope of every part of his existence going straight to Hell.

1968 - President Lyndon Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing in North Vietnam, saying he hoped for fruitful peace negotiations.

Peace never comes through weakness...He should have bombed them into submission and allowed the infantry to force Ho Chi Mihn to surrender.

1998 - President Bill Clinton signed the 'Iraq Liberation Act' which stated it was "... the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime."

Getting rid of Saddam was the official policy of the U.S.

"Today I am signing into law H.R. 4655, the 'Iraq Liberation Act of 1998.' This Act makes clear that it is the sense of the Congress that the United States should support those elements of the Iraqi opposition that advocate a very different future for Iraq than the bitter reality of internal repression and external aggression that the current regime in Baghdad now offers." - President Bill Clinton

So, why didn't Clinton follow through with this official U.S. government policy instead of leaving it to his successor to handle?

It's important to point this out to every fool who questions why Bush took out Hussein. He followed the official policy of the United States, which was signed by Bill Clinton...Clinton wouldn't, Bush did.

I was all for this measure.  The problems began when Bush thought he could bring Western-style freedom and democracy to the Middle East.