The problem is that once the bullets started flying, even Chamberlain saw the truth, and changed course entirely. Too late to prevent the war, but still, when Hitler gobbled up the rest of Czechoslovakia, he became a convert. He stood by Poland, declared war with Germany, and led the nation into the conflict.

Buchanan was a southern appeaser throughout his term, but still, he didn't evacuate Sumter, he didn't accept actual secession.

But today, after 9/11, after Afghanistan and Iraq and continued terrorist attacks and Hamas and Hezballah - the left, and the democratic leadership is still in appeasement mode. And they've taken huge swaths of the public with them. What on earth will it take for them to have a Chamberlain-style Come-To-Jesus moment?

Ethan,

I have a lot of thoughts on why Democrats have not had this moment yet. Today I'm in kind of a pessimistic mood so here is a pessimistic thought for you:

Chamberlain had his moment because he desperately wanted to save his country and preserve his way of life. What if the left simply doesn't feel that way anymore? How many Democrats did Cindy Sheehan speak for when she said, "This country isn't worth dying for."

I haven't gotten to the point yet that I believe she spoke for many, but I am starting to have such thoughts.

It's not only Europe that has been infantilized by the protection of America's military might and nuclear shield. So have large numbers of Americans.

They rely on it unconsciously; they never imagine that they themselves might ever be in danger. They can become appeasers and pacifists and every sort of Eloi, because they are like children assuming that the parents will deal with the real stuff.

I think you've hit the nail on the head, John.

I've posted my rant on "political Taylorism" here in the comments section several times, so I won't do it again. :)

Suffice it to say that we're so accustomed to the "rule by experts" that we've forgotten how to rule ourselves, and all that self-rule implies-- things like thinking for yourself, and looking out for yourself in a world full of dangers.

And, alas, it's the Democratic Party that's more fully "bought in" to "rule by experts", "political Taylorism", "the New Deal", or whatever you want to call it.

It was Munich (followed as it was by the invasion of Poland)that made appeasement a bad word. Before that, it was just another tool in the diplomatic bag. Like "ceasefire" today.