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Entry: Ross Douthat's Chutes and Ladders Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/ross_douthats_chutes_and_ladders#32671 Post contents: If Franco had been less ruthless or less modern, his country would likely have fallen to communism (the strongest party of the evil Republican coalition, but the others were no prizes either) instead of being a buffer against it. His Catholicism was no more coercive than that of his country's forefathers and foremothers, who also had good reason to do what they did. In that sense he was a traditionalist, but I think the coercive nature of conservative Spanish Catholicism has been fairly exaggerated. It is true that he was a pioneer in strategic bombing and the destructive horrors that come with it, but I can understand his explanation that he would rather see Madrid destroyed than see it fall to Marxism. I am not saying this absolves him, but his admittedly cruel methods should be seen in light of the sort of savages he was up against. Even if you do not agree with my admiring view of Machiavelli and Franco, I hope you can agree that they do not deserve to be mentioned in the same light as Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, or Jim Baker and Henry Kissinger. Sent at: 2008 12 01