It was tongue in cheek, guys. Calm down. Hardly anyone who knows Wilson's history knows about Col. House. As he would have wanted it.

I was going to say, You wouldn't cut a pit bull who killed your children any slack. It doesn't matter if his 'owner' was an abusive jerk, the dog still needs to be put down.

Given the opportunity which, sadly, I'll never have, the only thing I'd cut for Wilson is a piece of rope.

Cut Woody some slack. He was only doing the bidding of his handler, Colonel Edward Mandell House.

We must rethink democracy: anewtheoryondemocraticestablishment.blogspot.com/?m=1

Don't overlook the Treaty of Trianion which was Austria and Hungary's Versailles. Hungary lost 30% of its territory. Austria lost its emperor which later led to the Anchluss. If Charles could've stayed, Hitler would've had a much tougher time in Central Europe
Don't forget that Wilson was a racist who resegregated the American federal bureaucracy which had a ripple effect everywhere.
As for the 14 points, Clemencau an atheist scathingly retorted that God only need 10. His European contemporaries were aghast what an insufferable smug yahoo he was. They simply couldn't get over how someone that narcissistically self centred could ever be a politician. He was regarded as preacher.

And the whole self determination concept was a debt to pay off the Czechs. They agitated for their own homeland . Too bad the Austrian politicians were such proud dumbasses. Had they given the Czechs a de facto independence in the 1890s within the Empire would've prevented so much.
And this anti empire legacy pervaded under FDR. Most American don't know this but the OSS guys in Indochina favoured Ho Chi Min because of his anti-imperialism. Ironic huh?

xavier