Althouse: "I'm torn on how this video affects my view of Jeb Bush. On the one hand, he didn't remember the name of the Back to the Future trilogy..."

November 10, 2015

"I'm torn on how this video affects my view of Jeb Bush. On the one hand, he didn't remember the name of the Back to the Future trilogy..."

"... but on the other hand, at least he's apparently seen it (and has taken Doc's warnings seriously)."

Writes my son John, linking to the video where Jeb Bush picks out an email of his to answer, one where he's asked whether, if he could go back in time, would he kill baby Hitler, and Jeb says, "Hell, yeah, I would" and — "Even if he was cute?" — "Ya gotta step up."

24 comments:

Anonymous said...: ¡Jeb! still around?; 11/10/15, 7:54 AM
Brando said...: I don't know how I'd answer the Baby Hitler question--sure, Hitler would grow up to cause untold death and destruction. But would such death and destruction possibly have been worse without Hitler, maybe under a different Nazi leader? Or would the Nazis only have gained power with Hitler leading them, and without him would have fizzled out? Does man make history, or history make the man?

But it's telling that Jeb is all "yep, do it". If he put much thought into his answer, it's not clear from his response.; 11/10/15, 7:58 AM
MisterBuddwing said...: Go to YouTube, and watch an episode of the new-new "Twilight Zone" titled "Cradle of Darkness."; 11/10/15, 7:58 AM
traditionalguy said...: Unlike Carson, I believe Bush. He is a killer.; 11/10/15, 8:01 AM
MikeR said...: Silly idea. If (a) you can go back in time, and (b) actually change the past affecting the future, - you don't need to kill Baby Hitler. Just make some small change in the environment, anything. Over time, its effects will snowball and WWII will never happen. 'Course, what you end up with might be worse, no telling.
This seems to be the standard theory for earth's weather; it's mathematically chaotic and any small change will snowball over time to change the entire planet's weather within a few weeks. It's one reason that weather prediction is so hard beyond a few days. Each time you run any weather model, even with the tiniest change you get a completely different result within weeks.
I think it is likely that the flow of human history is at least as chaotic as the weather.; 11/10/15, 8:17 AM
Hagar said...: The original Star Trek had an episode about this, I think, and it was not a good idea to kill Hitler because that led to an even worse timeline for Germany and the world.; 11/10/15, 8:19 AM
narciso said...: Bradbury wrote 'Sound of Thunder' before they came up with the Multiverse, Timeline dealt with this well in the novel, and poorly in the film,; 11/10/15, 8:31 AM
MadisonMan said...: The original Star Trek had an episode about this

No. In the Edith Keeler storyline, her survival delays the US's entry into WWII and Hitler wins.

The other Hitler parallel, in a different episode, is the one where the old History Professor/Star Fleet Scientist adopts Hitler Germany programs -- and efficiencies -- on a different planet but it goes awry and interplanetary war results. I think it's the one with the Zaions.; 11/10/15, 8:33 AM
azbadger said...: Hagar: Not a Star Trek expert, but that was the Joan Collins episode where Kirk let her get killed rather than save her and her pacifist movement that would have delayed U.S. entry into WWII, which would have led to Germany and Hitler winning the war.; 11/10/15, 8:37 AM
azbadger said...: Apologies for the long, run-on sentence.; 11/10/15, 8:37 AM
MisterBuddwing said...: The other Hitler parallel, in a different episode, is the one where the old History Professor/Star Fleet Scientist adopts Hitler Germany programs -- and efficiencies -- on a different planet but it goes awry and interplanetary war results.

Er, not exactly. In "Patterns of Force," the benevolent professor tries to recreate Nazi Germany without its inhumanity in hopes of saving the planet, but one of his underlings takes advantage, turns the professor into a drugged figurehead and prepares for war. In the end, the professor sacrifices himself to keep the war from breaking out.; 11/10/15, 8:39 AM
narciso said...: 'City on the Edge of Forever' it was a Harlan Ellison script; 11/10/15, 8:41 AM
Big Mike said...: Jeb's way past his pull date.; 11/10/15, 8:46 AM
Hagar said...: I think George Ferko is right, or most right.

Anyway, the moral is, "Be careful what you wish for!"; 11/10/15, 8:58 AM
MadisonMan said...: , but one of his underlings takes advantage, turns the professor into a drugged figurehead and prepares for war.

That's what I said. It goes awry :)

Thanks for the clarification. That wasn't one of my favorite episodes (unlike 'City on the Edge of Forever', which was). Although we did get to see Spock's green blood in it.; 11/10/15, 9:07 AM
Bill Peschel said...: My favorite example is the Trousers of Time from Pratchett's Discworld series:

“Do you ever wonder what life would have been like if you’d said yes [to marrying me]?” said Ridcully.

“No.”

“I suppose we’d have settled down, had children, grand-children, that sort of thing ...”

“What about the fire?” she said.

“What fire?”

“Swept through our house just after we were married. Killed us both.”

“What fire? I don’t know anything about any fire?”

Granny turned around.

“Of course not! It didn’t happen. But the point is, it might have happened. You can’t say ‘if this didn’t happen then that would have happened’ because you don’t know everything that might have happened. You might think something’d be good, but for all you know it could have turned out horrible. You can’t say ‘If only I’d . . . ‘ because you could be wishing for anything. The point is, you’ll never know. You’ve gone past. So there’s no use thinking about it.

So I don’t.”

“The Trousers of Time,” said Ridcully, moodily.; 11/10/15, 9:13 AM
Will Cate said...: This is the new, edgy Jeb! Bush, who says things like "hell" and "damn" ... I expect we'll see more of this on the debate tonight.; 11/10/15, 9:42 AM
Thorley Winston said...: Putting aside the moral question of murdering an innocent child because you fear that s/he’ll grow up to be a mass murderer, isn’t the danger in killing baby Hitler that someone else will grow up and become chancellor of the Third Reich who might be much more competent? Imagine if Germany doesn’t attack the Russians and instead only has to fight a war on one front (and leaves the Soviets to ravage Eastern Europe). Or who doesn’t persecute German citizens because they’re Jewish and as a result develops atomic weapons before the United States.; 11/10/15, 10:45 AM
Tofu King said...: Remembering the name of the Back to the Future trilogy impacts someones view of a presidential candidate? That says a lot about the times we live in.; 11/10/15, 11:03 AM
damikesc said...: Without Hitler, the Nazis would've never gained power. He was the key for it all.

However, there were plenty of similar groups that would've taken power instead as the Weimar government had no interest in doing anything to deal with the problem of the far-left International and National Socialist groups.; 11/10/15, 12:32 PM
bbkingfish said...: But, would Jeb have aborted the first trimester Adolph fetus?

That question is more germane to the GOP primary electorate, it would seem to me.; 11/10/15, 3:10 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: Without Hitler the West would never have developed the military power necessary to oppose Stalin, and the whole world would be like North Korea by now.; 11/10/15, 4:16 PM
The Godfather said...: On changing history: I read somewhere within the last month or so that Churchill said, late in his life, that it would have been better if the US had not entered the First World War. Under those circumstances, Britain and France would have been forced to negotiate peace with Germany and Austria. I think the implication was that all involved states would have gone back more or less to their pre-war borders. The German people would not have regarded themselves as stabbed in the back by their leaders, and a punitive peace treaty wouldn't have ruined their economy, so Hitler and Nazism would not have risen to power.

Anyway, if Jeb is going to run on a I'll-kill-Hitler platform, I may have to reconsider my lack of support for his candidacy.

Let's ask Hillary!, Sanders, Carson, and Trump the same question (yes, I know what The Donald would say, but we should still ask).; 11/10/15, 4:38 PM
Guildofcannonballs said...: The undefined process of going back in time would destroy any possible moral reasoning for killing someone we call Hitler, but wouldn't actually be Hitler, in a world where time travel is available.; 11/10/15, 7:22 PM