This one’s about Winston Churchill, and to a lesser extent Ronald Reagan, and the damage which is done when great nations lack great leadership.

And when arrogance, narcissism and naivete are put forth as a stand-in for character, resolve and a knowledge of history.

The comparison between Chamberlain and Obama is a valid one even though Syria is not the Sudetenland. The same insane vanity which gave Britain “Peace For Our Time” gave America Obama’s Apology Tour.

And with Vladimir Putin taking to the pages of the New York Times to troll not just Barack Obama but the entire United States with insulting lectures about how not only is ours not an exceptional nation but that the entire concept of exceptionalism is “dangerous,” Obama’s hubris has its nemesis just like Hitler filled that role for Chamberlain.

So far Putin hasn’t shown himself to present the kind of threat Hitler did. But with our leadership in such a sad state, the vacuum opening up in planetary politics will be filled by someone. And there is no shortage of tyrants, lunatics and villains willing to take their shots.

As Whittle says, we will need our Churchill or our Reagan. And we’ll need it soon. America flat on her back invites the darkness to come.