Fealty Quotes
Austin renounced his American citizenship and committed himself to Mexico where he was recruiting American emigrants for settlement in what is now Texas as a Mexican territory. Later, he grew disillusioned with the Mexican government and chose Texas independence.
All Spanish newspapers were required to carry this slogan on their mastheads.
The George W. Bush administration was a throwback to an earlier era where such a spoils system was operational. Reforms had almost eliminated this type of contractor political favoritism but a culture of political corruption had developed in Congress and the Executive branch in the early 21st century that was more reminiscent of a more than a hundred years earlier. See {589738} for one of the examples that triggered the editorial.
This is one of the best examples of the Mongol Terror Tactics. They had a completely mobile fighting force. They could evade any large army and attack fixed towns and villages, while opponents could not defend all the locations without enormous expense. The calculus was often that it was cheaper to pay the Mongols tribute than it was to even beat them in the field. In this case, the Hungarians settled and a Mongol satellite group—the Cumans (Western Kipchaks)—moved into Hungary and have been a minority there ever since.
The CIA was uncovering evidence that the military (and one of their key operative in Saigon) were lying about the success of the war effort. See {634521}. As the CIA sent their data to the White House, Rostow and others grew very distressed because it cast doubt on the wisdom of the administration’s Vietnam policy, the President would have to admit that his report to the people were wrong, and the anti-war movement would even be more galvanized in their aggressive protests. It is very hard for politicians to face the truth when it contradicts statement and policies they have been making previously. This quotation also illustrates a human frailty—that in a war or other conflict, the bearer of bad news is perceived as being disloyal. In war in a democracy, bad news, strengthens the enemy’s resolve, and weakens public support for the war. So in a bizarre sense, he who carries bad news is hurting the war effort. However, when the truth is not known or is suppressed, the result is even worse as with Vietnam. Telling truth to power is the highest form of loyalty.
