November 9, 1989: The Marxist Flub That Crushed That Wall

Life as it occurs is usually far richer that fiction. 

I wonder how many Americans under the age 50 know what the “Fall of the Berlin Wall”  refers to!  Do any of them know what that “Fall” meant and caused?  

What happened on this fateful date, November 9, 1989 gave rise to the most crushing defeats of Marxism ever!   Yet, Marxism, like evil, has never disappeared from the Earth.  It is alive and well on America’s university campuses and in Washington D. C.  One of the main reasons no one under 50 knows anything about November 9, 1989!

The world was divided East against West.  Europe was divided East against West.  Germany was divided East against West.   Berlin was divided East against West.

All, a result of World War II.

The world of Marxism called “People’s Republics’, having slaughtered over 120,000,000 people in its 70 years of existence striving to create the “Democracy” of the “Dictatorship of the Proletariat”  to sculpt its creation of  “Equality of the People” was still surrounding itself with an “Iron Curtain”.  

Earlier on November 9, 1989 Gunter Schabowski was attending his own government bureau’s meeting to develop a policy to loosen, very slightly,  restrictions forbidding East Germans from traveling outside Communist countries.  Mr. Schabowski was a member of this dictatorships Politburo (the Communist Party government management office).   

The East German dictatorship had been under siege by many of its citizens especially those living in East Berlin.  In this “peace-loving Marxist dictatorship where equality was forced upon its citizens by the Harry Reids and Nancy Pelosis of their day, a wall was built in 1961 around the peace-loving portion of Berlin (the section controlled by the Soviet Union’s military forces) to keep its peace-loving citizens from escaping to the West and Freedom. 

One of the most moving days ever in my life was when I visited the Wall Museum at Check Point Charlie in 1994.  Google  Check Point Charlie and you will discover why.

Mr. Schabowski had to excuse himself for a moment from the Politburo meeting  to visit the men’s room.  While away, his fellow bureau Marxists had clarified  the miniscule changes in the country’s travel restrictions outlined  in  the Executive Order.  They gave Mr. Schabowski  a  copy of the new regulations when he returned to the meeting.  It was to be his responsibility to present this Executive Order  to the press and general population at a news conference later in the day.

The news conference later in the day arrived.  These were tense times in Eastern Europe.  Poles and Hungarians were already causing trouble for the Marxist dictators.  Foreign reporters attended.  Questions were asked about the details of the Executive Order.  Could East Berliners travel beyond the Wall to West Berlin?….forbidden by Marxist Law for 28 years with  pain of imprisoment or death.  Would the border be open or will passports be required?  When will these new regulations begin?  Will it apply to families or only individuals?

Mr. Schabowski faltered in his answers.  He had missed the discussions  clarifying details of the Order.  He was a bureaucrat who had failed to read his homework.  His stuttering and confusion passed on to the reporters a suggestion that the restrictions were lifted.

He flubbed.

The Executive Order offered to the public became unclear to all, including the border guards at each of the eleven, if my memory is correct, check points between East and West Berlin. 

Tens of  thousands of East Berliners rushed to the check points believing the unbelievable, that the borders were to be opened at last!

Border guards were besieged.  They had orders to shoot to kill.  But those orders assumed the usual, that the victim or victims would be told to halt first.  They pleaded with their overseer Marxists to give them clear instructions how to proceed.  None arrived.

The border guards decided not to shoot.  Many laid down their arms and joined the crowd.

I had been a student of Soviet Studies.  I had studied Russian, taught Russian, and spent much of the summer of 1966 in the belly of the beast, the USSR.   I never thought that in my lifetime Soviet Marxism would collapse.  The week following November 9, 1989 was to many many people as magnificent as the end of World War II, August 14, 1945. 

The Iron Curtain had been broken.  In that wonderful week the Berlin Wall was taken apart, in some places bit by bit, by the survivors of German Marxism.  May God Bless Them All.

NO ONE WHO HAS ANY RESPECT FOR HISTORY, FOR TRUTH,  FOR  THE STRUGGLE OF MANKIND TO BE FREE FROM TYRANNY SHOULD EVER GO TO THEIR GRAVE WITHOUT SEEING THE GERMAN FILM,       “THE LIVES OF OTHERS”   

Learn all you can about Marxism….making people equal through dictatorship!

Victims of Marxism made famous the truism:  In Marxism, “The Future is Known.  It’s the Past That Keeps Changing.”

Baucus Obamacare: Some Pigs Are More Equal Than Others

According to certain Democrats, the more Marxist types, some states are sicker than others.      (Or is it some pigs are more equal than others?)

Harry Reid is running behind in the polls for reelection in Nevada.  In New Jersey Republicans have a good chance of winning the governor’s spot.  Charlie Schumer smells money no matter what the source.  And their sufferings have been noticed by other Marxists determined to destroy the American free enterprise system.

As in Orwell’s inciteful but depressing writing, “Animal Farm” pigs are more equal than others.  Check out this bit of quick reading about Marxist rule.  It should have been required reading during your high school years as it was during mine.

 

One Plan, Two Plan, Red Plan, Blue Plan?

After further review, the Baucus plan (and its residual amendments) seems to create two “reform” plans, one for red states and the other for blue states. In classic have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too form, Senate proponents of government-run health care have passed mandates, but not fully funding the legislation. As a result, many states that are already facing significant budgetary shortfalls will soon be forced to contribute $37 billion to finance ObamaCare. Unfunded mandates are onerous enough, but it’s particularly upsetting to learn that some (red) states are expected to contribute more than other (blue) states. Consider this:

• Nevada. Home to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada won’t pay increased Medicaid expenses for the first five years under ObamaCare. Thanks to a deal structured by Mr. Reid, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island and Michigan each qualify for a provision requiring the federal government-and by implication, other states-to pick up the tab. As Mr. Reid explained, these states are “suffering more than the most.”

• New York. New Yorkers must be suffering, too, because Senator Charles Schumer, member of the Senate Finance Committee, has managed to ensure that his constituents-and those of 17 other mostly blue states-don’t pay the 40% tax on their health benefit plans at $21,000, like most Americans, but instead at $25,000.

• New Jersey. Home to Senate Finance Committee member, Senator Bob Menendez, as well as the facilities of 15 of the world’s largest 20 pharmaceutical companies, Mr. Menendez made sure to include in the Baucus Bill a $1 billion tax credit for companies investing in drug research and development.

• Michigan & Massachusetts. Working in tandem, Senators Stabenow and Kerry protected unions, too. They included in the Baucus bill a provision which set aside $5 billion for a reinsurance program designed to defray the medical costs of union members.

Join the Light of Day Campaign! The blue-state-subsidies embedded in the Baucus Bill aren’t about health care, they’re about subsidizing political allies and punishing political enemies. Imposing harsher taxes on political opponents and their constituents – Americans who don’t want government-run health care in the first place – simply doesn’t pass the ‘what’s right’ test.

Fortunately, you have a way to fight back: join the Light of Day Campaign. Encourage your Congressional representatives to support a three-day waiting period before any vote on the health care legislation, instead of producing a bill one week after the vote. Exposing middle-of-the-night, you-scratch-my-back amendments such as those discussed above will place legislation before the light of day and let Congress and the American people understand what American taxpayers are buying and who will be paying the price.

(Jeanette Nordstrom sent me this note.)