Bush OKs money for Truman statue

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/breaking_news/7230212.htm


WASHINGTON - Efforts to erect a statue of Harry S. Truman at Union Station in Kansas City got a $50,000 boost Monday from President Bush.

The money is part of an Interior Department spending bill that Bush signed into law on Monday.

Sen. Jim Talent, who asked for the money at the request of Union Station officials, said: "It is past time that we honored this great leader."

Truman's likeness would stand atop a 20-foot limestone pedestal originally designed to support the likeness of a city father, or perhaps a reflection of the city's spirit. It has stood empty since 1914.

"Union Station is honored to provide the backdrop for this respected local and national icon," said Turner White, Union Station's CEO.
<snip>

Truman, when asked why he fired McArthur replied, "Because he's a stupid son of a bitch."

[sprockets]

1. "Because he's a stupid son of a bitch."

Hmmm...I guess that makes Truman a very smart mass murderer,
and there's poor stupid Ike, one of the only people with the
guts to denounce the use of atomic weapons on Japan.

Here's a statue dedication i'd like to see:
"In honor of Harry Truman who holds the world record for wiping
out the most civilians in a single act with one push of a pencil."

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

2. If I remember correctly, there were one or two other people involved in

the Atomic Bomb decision.

It's easy to assign blame to just one man here even though it may not be the correct thing to do.

[sprockets]

5. You're partially correct

Naturally Truman had advisors like any president, but as
evidenced in his own diary, he made the final decision himself-
http://www.dannen.com/decision/hst-jl25.html

From the site-
President Truman told his diary on July 25, 1945, that he had ordered the bomb used.
Emphasis has been added to highlight Truman's apparent belief that he had ordered the bomb dropped on a "purely military" target, so that "military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children."

I find the second part of that excerpt rather hilarious, for it proves one of two things...either Truman was truly the "stupid" one,
or he thought he'd play the "Oops, well would you look at that!
Who could've figured, those scientist gentlemen gave me the idea the bomb would have been much better behaved."

[sprockets]

7. I stand slightly corrected (from Trumans own piehole)

From Truman's diary-
"Anyway we "think" we have found the way to cause a disintegration of the atom. An experiment in the New Mexico desert was startling - to put it mildly. Thirteen pounds of the explosive caused the complete disintegration of a steel tower 60 feet high, created a crater 6 feet deep and 1,200 feet in diameter, knocked over a steel tower 1/2 mile away and knocked men down 10,000 yards away. The explosion was visible for more than 200 miles and audible for 40 miles and more."

So if the douchebag knew that such a small amount of explosive would yield that kind of result, he simply KNEW that the bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki would we do far greater damage than just taking out a military installation.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

9. Considering he wasn't President until April 1945 and the bombs were

dropped in August of the same year, I can't feel that it can be placed at Truman's feet. Another way of looking at it would be that he ended WWII within five months of becoming President. IMHO, he was a good Demacratic President even though in hindsight I still have reservations on the wisdom of the two bombs. We dropped a lot more kilotonnage in Vietnam and Iraq both.

Both Nato and The United Nations came into being during his watch as well.

Consider that he also ran against Strom Thurmond. You would have rather had Strom? Or Dewey?

[DerekG]

13. I'll tell ya who should have been president...

Henry A. Wallace, FDR's former vice president and true inheritor of the New Deal. Wallace would never have signed the god-damned National Security Act of 1947--not in a million years.

God I wish FDR (as weak as he was by 1944) would have stuck it out for Henry. We would not have had one of the great fools of history as president.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

16. I disagree. While I don't agree with every Truman decision or act,

I think he did well for America overall. Great bio: Plain Speaking is what turned me a bit. His candor would be welcome in the current political clime.

[newyawker99]

15. Hi sprockets!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[BiggJawn]

3. "Truman? Yeah, I liked that movie. Go ahead and get a statute..."

"Yeah, I liked that movie...But I think I liked 'Pet Detective' better....Didn't care for 'Dumb an' Dumber'....Didn't understand it...."

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

4. ROTFLMAO! Jim Carrey in bronze. What a picture!

[leesa]

6. Ah. From one war criminal to another

[sprockets]

8. You got that right! n/t

[peterh]

10. Say what you will about Truman

and the pros and mostly cons on using nuclear fission in such a manner….at least he answered to the bitching…it wasn’t passed down the line…

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

11. Interesting clip from his 1949 Inaugural Address:

http://www.lib.msu.edu/vincent/presidents/mp3/truman.mp3

[peterh]

12. Goodwill, Strength and Wise Leadership….

Boy, has that been flushed down the toilet of late…

[tokenlib]

14. Wouldn't a Dubya statue be a lot more fun? n/t

[ScotTissue]

17. Good to see Truman get a statue

He was a good president.