re: #159 Mostly sane, most of the time.

I have always hated Realpolitik, or embracing practicality over idealism.

Sooner or later, you end up doing or condoning something ghastly in the name of “moving the dialogue forward” or some such silliness, just because you’ll call the guy who’ll be your friend an ally.

Don’t like it.

But can you honestly say you would have done something different, if you’d been in charge, in the same situation? The fact is the Russian people were bearing the brunt of the struggle against the Nazis, paying an incalculable cost in blood and treasure while the American people and to a lesser extent even the British and French were spared the pure hell that was the war on the Eastern Front. The fear of losing Russia as an ally (as had already happened once) was palpable. Maybe we could have handled this better (we certainly could have after the war was over). But I find it difficult to judge or second-guess decisions made during the war itself. One major exception is our abject failure to do more to save the Jews. That was inexcusable.