December 24

1942 - The first powered flight of a V-1 cruise missile:  WWII.

This was the forefather of every modern rocket...Imagine if Hitler hadn’t shipped out or killed all of his Jewish scientists, and they invented the atomic bomb before the Americans? Which was very possible.

There is little doubt the Mad Corporal would have loaded them on the V-1’s and V-2’s...If the Germans had the time to perfect these weapons, the world would be a much different (more horrible) place than it is today.

1144 – Muslim forces re-captured much of the territory originally taken by the Christian Crusaders. This resulted in the Pope calling for a second Crusade.

The Perpetual War...I bet they never thought it would still be going almost 900-years later.

1814 - The War of 1812 officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.

America firmly established its independence in this ‘second Revolutionary War’...Unfortunately for the Brits, word didn’t reach the South before American forces could wipe out their force in New Orleans.

Ok, this is popular mythology...The Brits in New Orleans knew perfectly well of the war's status, but the British government hoped to pull out a victory in the battle, which would have given them a stronger position to bargain or restart the war from.

In my point of view the Battle of New Orleans was a nice little way of saying ‘Don’t return, ya limey bastards.’

1865 - Several veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, called the Ku Klux Klan.

A terrible organization, but an almost natural offshoot of the period...And my favorite Civil War general (for his skill and battlefield innovations, not viewpoints) soon became its first Grand Wizard: Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Oh by the way, these KKK clowns were primarily Democrats - Just as they were in the 20th Century, as well...Now they are just a couple hands full of nutters with no clout at all.

1943 - President Franklin Roosevelt appointed General Dwight Eisenhower as Supreme Commander of Allied forces for 'Operation Overlord':  WWII.

Ike was the perfect 'political general'...No other commander could have pulled off the European invasion as well.

Per normal, America was graced with the presence of ‘the right man, in the right place, at the right time.’

1946 – U.S. General MacNarney granted 800,000 'minor Nazis' amnesty.

We had a choice:  Remove all the Nazi's or leave Germany to be run by inexperienced leaders.  Under normal circumstances going with the new blood might have been the better choice, but circumstances were anything but normal...Never forget the Russian bear was in a feeding frenzy at this time, and we didn't have the luxury of allowing Germany to suffer as long as they deserved.

It's too bad we didn't follow these methods after removing Sadaam Hussein from power in Iraq...Things likely would have progressed much better if we had.

1968 - The 'Apollo Eight' astronauts (Lovell, Anders and Borman), orbiting the moon 250,000 miles from home, reading verses from their bible and transmitted a message to all of mankind calling for "peace on earth."

Oh my GOD! Liberal ‘separation of church and state’ nuts must have had spontaneous strokes and heart attacks.

2003 - Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf agreed to step down as head of the armed forces by the end of 2004, part of a deal with the hard line Islamic opposition to end a long standoff which had stalled the nation's return to democracy. Musharraf also agreed to scale back some of the special powers he decreed himself after taking power in a 1999 military coup.

Never forget this is a country with nuclear weapons and advanced delivery systems...With millions of radical Islamists chomping at the bit trying to take control of them.

They can hide behind the facade of democracy, but the reality is the world cannot afford to allow a fundamentalist Pakistani leadership to evolve...Which is why we play patty-cake with the Paki Military and their crazy Taliban creation.