About that item concerning support for a war: really? I don’t think so. I don’t think most Americans have the stomach for a new war, especially after we were lied into the last useless, expensive and ultimately futile war in an area of the world where our interests, except oil, are quite limited.
America is an island, far away, and we’re supposed to shoulder the burden so the Dutch and the Germans have cheap natural gas? I don’t think so. What about he rest of NATO, and everyone else in the Middle East who claims to represent civilized society? It’s their problem, and they’re planning on mooching again.
American society has often been referred to as a sleeping bear. We are slow to anger, but quick to want to help, in a real pinch, and generous to a fault. To a very large degree, we still represent the notion of “live and let live,” until we get stung in the nose by a bee. But we also don’t like being played for suckers. That is what is happening today.
I’m not an isolationist, but this needs to be said. The people who are leading the charge on this thing are the Warhawks. I noticed that in the forefront, in the Vanguard, is that war criminal Dick Cheney. I wonder, is he still collecting money from Halliburton? Because he has to know, as all of us–fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters and friends of those who served in the last war know–that there is no stomach for sending Americans over there.
They’re planning on contracting out the war. And who would be the primary beneficiary of this? It would be people like Halliburton. Shell Oil. British Petroleum. US arms manufacturers, the corporations propping up NRA. American corporations that are planning inversions so they benefit from taxes paid by suckers like you and me while avoiding making any contributions, much less bearing their fair share of the cost. Rapacious stockholders, moochers all.
They must be thinking that they need to make the already rich richer.
So if the neocons actually think that most Americans support of war, fine, go ahead and try. I want to watch.
1. Get a resolution passed through Congress under the terms of the War Powers act of 1973. It needs to be introduced in both houses, and passed by both houses. If Congress thinks this is a good idea, let them vote for it openly, in an on the record roll call vote.
2. Reinstate the draft. That’ll be popular. The point is not that we need more men – the recession is still going on, so there’s probably enough man. The real point is fairness. And while they are about it, change the draft law to include registering all women, eliminating all deferments, and getting rid of all exemptions. I am sure that if they truly support this, these politicians will be more than happy to have their sons, and their daughters, and those of the rich contributors, go off to die in some sandy hellhole in the Middle East.
3. Institute a 10 cent surcharge on every dime that transfers hands in this country. Personal. Corporate. Stocks and bonds and real estate.too, not just interest and dividends, but on transfers. The only thing that should be exempted is line item one on people’s income taxes– that would be the part of wages, tips and salaries, and sales taxes on food and clothing. I’m sure if the American corporations and rich people are so in support of this, they’ll be more than happy to pay the increased taxes.
You might wonder why the Virginia Lady is so vehement about this. It’s simple: after he graduated from college, my son enlisted in the Marines. He did two combat tours outside the wires in Fallujah. He wasn’t a POG ( person other than grunt). He was a combat infantryman who did 127 combat missions, that would be 127 days in a row, no days off– outside the fences, getting shot at daily, on the most dangerous territory at the time on the planet.
He as injured during his first tour (blown up in an ambush by an IED) and sent back in that condition for a second go because there weren’t enough men, and came home finally to be immediately declared 40% disabled. He was in that condition at the beginning of his second tour. That’s for life. Among other things were PTSD, tinnitus, and brain trauma, which at first the military denied even existed. He was lucky. It didn’t damage his thinking capacity.
So was I. A lot of parents, and a lot of soldiers, were way less lucky. Instead of going to Camp Lejune for a joyful reunion, they drive up or down the road to Dover, to meet a casket. And for information, it is still going on.
Do these three things, Congress and the neocons who control it, and convince me as to how, exactly, the American people, ordinary Joes and Janes, will benefit. I do not believe this is possible.
Don’t talk to me, politicians of all stripes, for one nano second about starting another war until you’re willing to send your children. I saw the reality of it, up close and personal. You did not.
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