Somewhere, George Santayana just has to be smiling.

It was Santayana who wrote "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." That was in 1905, the last time the Cubs won the Series.

And by God, there it is, plain as the nose on your face: An absolutely amazing example of Santayana's observation.

The troops returning home are worried. “We’ve lost the peace,” men tell you. “We can’t make it stick.”

On ... [the regime], which plunged the ...[area] into its misery, falls the blame for its own plight and the plight of ... [the region]. But if this winter proves worse even than the war years, blame will fall on the victor nations.

Forgive me the Dowdified elipses, but those quotes could have been taken from any one of a number of current stories in mainstream newspapers and magazines. They weren't. They are from two stories in Life magazine dated January, 1946, one by novelist John Dos Passos and the other introducing the Dos Passos article.

January, 1946. That's about six months after V-E Day.

The complete quote that I altered to make my point:

"On Germany, which plunged the Continent into its misery, falls the blame for its own plight and the plight of all Europe. But if this winter proves worse even than the war years, blame will fall on the victor nations. "

A question for those Senators who voted to convert half of the reconstruction aid into a loan: Did the Marshall Plan involve any loans?

From Jessica's Well, via the prof.