It is also a brain-strain that war continues in Afghanistan to what end? Is the U.S. remaining for reasons beyond the jagged rugged surface of the original purpose? As written in the past, and understood by most, that particular land is where the war should have stayed back in the day…before the foolish ghoulish stray to Iraq.
(Yes, I've written of this concern several times over the months. So, what's wrong with a little refresher with new elements, eh?)
When President Obama promised to return the military focus to Afghanistan, it made a great deal of sense. Bin Laden had not been found. The Taliban was regaining ground. But now, the beat goes on with a gathering pound to get the hell out of there! What, again, is the point of staying? If the U.S. needs an excuse to have its huge finger on the trigger lest tensions with Pakistan gets out of hand, then, well, okay. Sorta.
I’ll now add my voice to the chorus of at least cutting troops by more than half, saving lives and money in the process. If the USA is so bloody broke, then we need the money to fix our own country, pump up the neglected infrastructure = JOBS = Money. And so on and on....
And then there is Libya. WTF are we doing there?
Although summer is in the air, it’s really getting chilly and even wintery-frosty with Democrats (and Republicans) in Congress threatening to file a lawsuit against the Obama administration for purportedly waging a war without their consent. Hey, Gaddafi is a brutal dictator. We don’t like him. We want to support those in that country who want him to go away, already! Got it. But beyond not actually declaring war and, according to the legal people in the White House, the U.S. is merely providing assistance and not waging a full-on war; therefore no laws have been broken.
The justification may be technically correct, but what is happening is no less suspect than Bush, Rumsfeld, and Cheney’s jones to jump on Saddam Hussein’s sorry bones. (And that decision has turned out so very well now, hasn’t it?)
The legal-ease of such a stance reminds me of my former career as a book abridger -- erase a word here, a sentence there, cross-out a T and lose a dot, then create a new story without the subplot.
Brrrrrr. I feel very, very chilly now.
(Note: A lively and informative response to a comment made by John, a friend who likes to take me to task on my Liberal views, has been rebutted by another friend, Philip, in the "Comments" section of this post <posted under my name as it was sent to me via email>. For those interested, please read the discourse. Philip's blog is linked on this site to the right.)
Good morning Shauna. Truer words were never spoken, and as a retired U.S. Military man, I agree with you 100%. However, what I can't figure out, is during the Bush administration, the left wing liberals were out in full force, with their war protests, and Hitler signs of Bush, over the two wars we were involved in. What I'm wondering now, is where are those protesters, now that with Libya and Yemen added to our war list? Also, with four wars going on, doesn't that kind of nullify Obama's Nobel Peace Price?? Just wonderin...........John
ReplyDeletePS: i HAVE A GREAT IDEA!!! Let's bring out troops home, and station every one of them along our southern border. Being that they're already on the government's payroll, no matter what they're doing, we could completely and effectively control our borders, and it wouldn't cost us one extra dime.
Getting back to your previous comment about George Soros vs. the Koch Brothers. Having never heard of them, I spent some time doing research this morning. And you're right. They're just as guilty as Soros of throwing their money around, and fronting groups that cater to their interests. And yes, they have waged an all out war against Obama and his radical socialist agenda. Thank God Somebody has!! But I do see SOME differences though. The Koch brothers are not trying to destroy the capitalist economy, The United States of America, or establish a one world order.
ReplyDeleteSoros stands on his own record. Through his Quantum fund, he was responsible for collapsing the economies of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, and Russia. His Open Society Fund, opened in 1979, helped fund the Velvet Revolution in the Chec Republic, The Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, The Rose Revolution in Georgia, and helped engineer coups in Slovakia, Croatia, and Yugoslavia. Oh...and by
the way.....He's the one who broke the Bank of England, in 1992 and made billions. That is his hobby, his main purpose in life. Ruin a country and make money off of their misery. (just like he did in his youth when he aided the Nazi's confiscating Jewish property)
Go to youtube and look at his interviews. In his own words, The United States is next on his agenda. He has called for the devaluation of the U.S. dollar, and has waged a war against capitalism. In his own words, The United States
is the main obstacle to his idea of a new world order. From this American's point of view, no thank you. I'll keep my country, and all that is precious and sacred to me within it's borders. John
Oy! Thanks for details. Every "side" has its not-so-great-evil-doers. The Koch info available to the public is a mere run- through of a house of mirrors. They have been around for a very, very long time - and their financial and political arms make the nightmare of an Alien creature from a grade C- horror film look as if they are awfully thin.
ReplyDeleteSoros is not a saint. Nor are others who like to use the same colour of paint for those they hate.
Hey, that's a bummer-politico-containment, ain't it?
Agreed dear lady, but when they try to take down my county, and everything that my brothers in arms have fought and given their lives for,that's where I draw the line. PH1(A/C) John Howard
ReplyDeleteU.S. Navy Retired
Note: The following comments were sent to me via email from my friend, Philip Cramer. He has allowed his comments to be posted here. It is long response - so I will post it in individual sections:
ReplyDeletePart 1 - The comments about George Soros are a complete fantasy dreamed up by Glenn Beck and other on the right.
Nazi conspirator - Soros was 14 when the Nazis invaded. His parents bought forged papers claiming their son was the godchild of a local official and friend of theirs. The local official was forced to confiscate Jewish property. His refusal would have led to him being executed so he had no choice. George Soros had to accompany him doing this. Jewish children were forced to hand out deportation papers to Jews. Were they also collaborators?
The allegation that Soros collapsed the economies of Asian countries is another myth. The SE ASian countries had seen a huge influx of capital but along with that their debt exploded to over 150% of GDP. When Thailand decided to float their currency instead of pegging it to the dollar the shit hit the fan.
Part 2 - Currency traders did play a part and Soros did both short and buy currencies at the time but there is no proof he caused the crash. His financial resources, however large were not nearly enough to cause the crash by himself.
ReplyDeleteThe Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, a Muslim who had previously often made anti-Semitic comments accused Soros and a larger Jewish conspiracy of orchestrating the collapse. In 2006 he apologized to Soros and admitted that Soros was not responsible for the crash.
Glenn Beck, in his crusade against Soros ignores these facts. Interesting that someone who goes on about the Muslim Caliphate wanting to control the world accepts the words of an anti-Semite when it's convenient.
Instead of believing everything said and written in the right wing echo chamber do some research from sources that don't have an agenda.
As for the Koch brothers, their father was a founding member of the racist John Birch society and they still quietly support them. More to the point they have amassed a vast fortune (I have no problem with that) and use it to support a far right wing libertarian agenda. Their refineries are one of the biggest polluters in America yet they pour millions into denying climate change and into fighting any attempts at controlling pollution. They pour hundreds of millions into fighting Unions, fighting any and all government oversight, opposing Wall Street reform because, hey Wall Street did nothing wrong except cause the worst recession since the depression.
Part 3 - (contiuing re: Koch)
ReplyDeleteThey supported the Citizen's United case which allowed corporations unfettered campaign funding and they fully funded the so-called grass roots Tea Party. They are waging war against the government, the middle and lower classes in America and health care reform because our current health care system is perfect. BTW, a new report shows America has dropped to 37th in the world in longevity behind such advanced countries as Mexico, Honduras and Peru and to get there we spend more than twice as much as any other country to get there.
This is all in the pursuit of profits, not a bad thing in itself but when they aim to achieve that by decimating the bargaining and earning power of the middle class, the backbone of Americas rise as the most powerful nation on earth, they are killing the golden goose. The economy cannot and will not recover as long as the buying power of the middle class is being eroded and that is what's happening in America, accelerated by the housing crisis that has wiped out the single largest asset of millions of Americans.
That's what their Randian philosophy has wrought with the biggest Ponzi scheme the world has ever seen, the outright fraud perpetrated knowingly by Wall Street in their securitization and over-leveraging of sub-prime mortgages for instant profits regardless of the real value of the securities. They did this without regard to the legal niceties such as the correct transfers of title, betting against the very securities that they created, knowing they were worthless and then resorting to outright fabrication of hundreds of thousands o title deeds to facilitate foreclosures. See the 60 Minutes expose of the robo-signing sweatshops where the banks forged title deeds because they had lost track of the actual title deeds.
Part 4 - This is the America that the Koch brothers dream of and spend their fortune on. It's an America where corporations can run rampant with little regard to the environment, the economy or the welfare of the average American.
ReplyDeleteCapitalism works best when the vast majority of people feel they have a stake in the future. It's why Henry Ford paid his workers well enough so they could buy his products. It's when a worker knows he/she can afford to buy a home, send their children to college, belong to a Union to bargain for them, have access to health care and pay into a pension so they can retire in comfort.
The Koch brothers hate pensions, they hate Medicare, they hate Social Security, the very things that made getting up in the morning and going to work worthwhile for the average American.
Instead they want to destroy Unions, eviscerate pensions, privatize Medicare and everything else, turn Social Security funds over to a profligate Wall Street, privatize every other government service so corporations can squeeze out even more profits.
They pay lip service to deficits but in reality are happy to bankrupt government. Witness Tim Pawlenty's radical tax proposal that goes even further than Paul Ryan's. His proposal is estimated to increase the deficit by between $7 and $11 trillion over the next decade were it to be enacted in the never proven belief that low taxes for the wealthy will generate millions of jobs. If Paris Hilton doesn't have to pay any estate taxes how many jobs will she create. GE has gamed the lobbying game so well that thanks to a tax department of almost a thousand ex IRS employees the company pays few if any taxes. Last year the company paid no taxes and got a $2 billion credit on top of that. In the last decade as they have engineered fewer and fewer tax obligations while cutting their American work force by 20%. So much for that theory.
At the same time they have suddenly found deficit religion and oppose raising the nations debt limit despite voting for it in lock step without a squawk seven times during George W. Bush's eight years in office. Taxes and tax revenue as a percentage of GDP are at 60 year lows yet that isn't enough for them.
Part 5 - One need look no further than Wisconsin, where the Koch brothers have spent over $5 million to support Governor Scott Walker's agenda. While trying to break public employee Unions in the state to "balance the budget" Walker handed out over $120 million in tax cuts for corporations.
ReplyDeleteBuried deep in Walker's just passed budget is this little gem. The Governor can, without legislative approval, without oversight and without any hearing into whether it's in the state's interest sell off any state owned utility without bids to any private entity of his choosing at any price he chooses.
The Koch brothers must be licking their chops at those easy pickings. That $5 million investment will prove to be the biggest bargain since the Indians sold Manhattan and who will suffer, the people of Wisconsin who will no doubt see their utility bills go higher and higher.
The distribution of wealth in America is heading towards third world proportions. While income for 90% of Americans has stagnated over the last decade, wealth for the top one percent has skyrocketed.
When the middle class has been squeezed dry, as it will were the Koch brothers to get their way, where will they and their corporate friends find customers. China, India and elsewhere but not here. The American Empire will be no more. The end for previous empires has come quickly, America's will be the same until the Koch brothers and their ilk wake up to the fact that we're all in this together.
Thank you for the info Shauna. You know, with all the shit that's going on between the right and the left, I GIVE UP!!! I yearn for the time when it was "My country,right or wrong." I guess what I'm saying, is that for once I'm grateful to have lived as long as I have, and experience the things that have given me a pretty great life. I probably won't live long enough to see the collapse of the country I love so much, and that suits me just fine. But, I still hold on to some of my beliefs. Think what you want about Beck, his track record of predictions has been pretty impressive, and right on the money. But, I'm to the point where I'm not taking ANYBODY'S word anymore. Time to pick up the Strat, and get back to making music. John
ReplyDelete