It’s no big secret that George Bush, by his very nature, drives those who hate him insane. Just look at Former Vice President Algore. However, I think a non-partisan holiday (lest you be a self-hating American who is ashamed of the country’s economic and military power) such as Memorial Day — and the current state of our superior military brought on by the sacrifices and achievements that we remember on Memorial Day — deserves better chatter than that of Oliver Willis (who by the way is not a self-hating American who is ashamed of the country’s economic and military power). Says O-dub:

In World War II, the thing that amazes me most is that we didn’t know going in that we would win. Think about that. It’s very different from nowadays, where regardless of the merits of the battle — it’s a given that we have the firepower to win. We didn’t know that when we invaded the beaches of Normandy, or when we entered the Pacific theater. It wasn’t a perfectly fought war, but it was a right war for the right reasons.

Today, we are threatened by an ideology with much in common with the Nazis, and the policy we’ve prosecuted to date would have lost us WWII. The response to fanatical terrorism isn’t to invade and occupy unaffiliated nations and make them into terror havens, but it is to seek out those who want to destroy us and eliminate them wherever they are, cut off their money, and secure the homeland.

— Oliver Willis: The Lesson of WWII

What would amaze me most is if we entered into a right war for the right reasons while not keeping in mind that the merits of battle include the application of overpowering power and force. What would amaze me most is if we entered into a right war for the right reasons while, in order to learn the lesson of WWII, we cut down our military capacities and reduce “the firepower to win” perhaps in the name of amazing Oliver Willis. Because, between shooting a guy approaching you with a knife in a dark alley, and engaging him in a knife fight in order to relive the glory of winning an uncertain battle, the knife fight would amaze Oliver Willis. Amazing desire for amazement, this man has, on Memorial Day.

(Hat tip: Sean, who also notes that Matt Yglesias continues to bray like an ass, as I noted previously.)