Eighty-four years ago today, Billy Mitchell was court-martialed for telling his superiors what he knew in his heart to be true. The airplane was here to stay…it was going to revolutionize the development of the world and the world’s armies and his superiors were pompous douchebags who wouldn’t (or couldn’t) see that obvious fact. Even back in the day it wasn’t a good idea to piss off your boss. Mitchell got demoted and eventually resigned from the U.S. armed services. Too bad. Sixteen years later the Japanese proved him right by bombing the bejeezus out of Pearl Harbor. So much for “I told ya so’s.”
But that’s why Mitchell will always have a place in my heart. Ya see B-Mitch was the kind of guy who could see the future without taking his eye off the present while remembering the lessons of the past. And he wasn’t reticent about his thoughts. He called ‘em like he saw ‘em and more often than not he was right. Alas…we’ve got nothin’ like that now and we sorely need it.
Afghanistan…Pakistan…Iraq…Iran…North Korea…the economy…the insurance and banking cartels…tinfoil hat wearin’ teabaggers…homegrown terrorists…torture…Gitmo...healthcare...the national debt. There are a million December 7ths out there and no one sees ‘em coming. Wish you were here General Mitchell...we could use someone like you. Problem is, if you were, you’d still be vilified and December 7th would still be on the way. True dat.
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