Sunday Comments open
March 2, 2025
Hi, everyone.
This short note opens the Sunday Comment section to everyone.
On Saturday, Jill and I visited the Churchill War Rooms in London. The Churchill War Rooms are part of the Imperial War Museum, which houses the Cabinet War Rooms, “a historic underground complex that housed a British government command center throughout the Second World War.”
Many factors contributed to the defeat of the Nazis in WWII, but the alliance between the UK and the US was among the most important.
Mutual trust and candid communication between Churchill and FDR were essential to the “special relationship” that allowed the wartime leaders to achieve victory. To foster that trust and communication, Bell Laboratories developed an encrypted telephone system. The US Army Signals Corps installed encrypted telephone terminals in the Cabinet War Rooms and Washington, D.C.
The existence of the encrypted communications system was kept secret from the cabinet ministers, military staff, and civilian personnel who worked in the Cabinet War Rooms. To maintain the secret, Churchill’s encrypted terminal was kept in a room marked as a private bathroom to be used exclusively by Churchill.
I took a photo of that cramped communications room disguised as a bathroom (below), which now includes a re-creation of a war-time Churchill using the handset by which he communicated with FDR.
On the glass partition separating museum-goers from the secret communications room is a statement by Churchill describing the UK’s special relationship with the US:
The special relationship between the UK and the US helped to defeat the Nazis and maintain a post-war peace for eight decades.
On Friday, February 28, 2025, Trump and JD Vance destroyed 80 years of trust and respect that the US developed through thoughtful and steady diplomacy.
We will need new leaders of the caliber of Churchill and FDR to repair the damage inflicted by Trump and JD Vance.
Friday was a sad and infuriating day for every American. But we must begin the path to recovery immediately.
To support Ukraine, see these links, posted by Timothy Snyder in his Substack essay on Saturday. Snyder writes:
"If you are thinking today about how to help Ukrainians, here are some possibilities: Come Back Alive (Ukrainian NGO that supports soldiers on the battlefield and veterans), United 24 (the Ukrainian state platform for donations, with many excellent projects), RAZOM (an American NGO, tax-deductible for US citizens, which cooperates with Ukrainian NGOS to support civilians), and Documenting Ukraine (a project that helps to give Ukrainians a voice, also tax-deductible for Americans)."
https://u24.gov.ua/
Every day I think it can't get any worse, and every day I am wrong.
Trump wants us to all talk about his performance as if it were a wrestling match. He wants to entertain us. Don't let him entertain you. Be disgusted by him. Don't talk for hours about what he's done; take action to counter his actions.