Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Pertaining to Texas (Bear With Me)

One thing (of many horrific things) that struck me about the battle for Stalingrad was this:

The German situation was dire in part because they were cut off from their supply chain - yes, armies run on their stomachs. Beans and bullets, or whatever pithy phrase captures the importance of making sure the people out on the front lines have the supplies they need to fight. Guns are almost useless without bullets, tanks not very helpful without fuel, and soldiers not very capable of fighting when they're starving. All of which were demonstrated in the battle for Stalingrad, and is probably why 'Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics' is a famous quote.

But there was a moment where if decisive action was taken, they might have broken through the surrounding forces and reconnected with their supply chain. It would have meant giving up on Stalingrad and withdrawing, and it probably would have been a pretty horrible fight, but it probably would have been better than losing their entire force.

But at the moment when Hitler should have made that decision, when he was exploring his options, he decided that he could supply his forces by airlift.


It could be that Hitler only heard what he wanted to hear, ignored all the caveats that went with the assessment that it was, possible, and basically forced Hermann Göring to accept the plan. 

Still, the initial villainization of Hermann Göring seemed... Believable. 

After all, history is full of fools promising more than they can deliver. Especially if they think they'll get some sort of benefit from it. And many of them don't seem to care about the consequences of failing, especially if they aren't the ones who suffer for it. 

When you have a former Texas governor declaring that “Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business,” did he actually check with anyone who had been living without power for the last couple of days? 

Was he currently trying to live without power? Or heat? 

Or was he saying that from a nice heated room, with clean water and easy access to a working kitchen? 

Because I think we all know that he's not one of the Texans dealing with burst pipes, freezing homes, and more. The stuff I'm seeing online is outright horrific... But sure, he can speak for the entire state, and push for an agenda that he won't have to suffer the consequences of. 

It's kind of exhausting, how often the ones in power show how completely callous and uncaring they are. 

Like, why? Why is it so hard to genuinely 'love thy neighbor'? 

How can they be so completely and utterly lost, that when people are dying of carbon monoxide poisoning in desperate attempts to stay warm, and icicles are growing inside Texas homes... 

These guys are going around trying to blame Democrats, and wind power, and doing pretty much anything other than taking care of their people. 


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