Daniel Oliver, writing in American Greatness, finds fault with a recent Washington Post column of mine: “Ramesh Ponnuru, now editor of National Review, says Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (who opposes the war) is ignoring the lessons of Neville Chamberlain. Ponnuru needs to brush up on World War II.”

That’s not what I wrote. I noted that “some hawks” were accusing DeSantis of ignoring the lessons of Neville Chamberlain. A paragraph later, I mentioned that “advocates of a more restrained foreign policy” had a response to that claim: “It ought to be possible to place firm limits on our assistance to Ukraine, they think, without drawing accusations of repeating 1938.” I then added my own thought: “A policy of maximal opposition to aggression abroad, regardless of circumstances, cannot possibly be the right lesson to take from history.”

I was rejecting the Chamberlain analogy. As I also noted, “DeSantis did not endorse cutting off aid to the Ukrainians.” The governor does not “oppose the war” in the sense that Oliver does.

I am happy to follow Oliver’s advice: There’s a book about World War II I’ve been meaning to pick up. My counter-assignment for him is to re-read my column.