Happy Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day or if you lived in the first half of the Twentieth century Armistice Day.

So the big military news is that the bestest general ever got caught with his pants down and had to quit his new job at the CIA.  Apparently Lincoln's advice to McClellan is wrong.  Generals no longer have to win wars or even battles to set themselves up as dictators.  Or at least to be considered by all the serious people as the next candidate for the top spot.

I no longer comment on people's Facebook posts when they tell me that I need to thank a soldier for my freedoms.  The reason being that they may have a family member who is a soldier.  Probably a higher percentage around here then nationally.  At least more then the Romneys who apparently are too busy with other matters like converting the heathens in Paris, I guess.

The point is that since the end of World War II, all those of us who served in the military have been are the muscle (as General Butler said in an earlier time) for our neo-colonialist corporate empire.  That's it.  Kind of sad really,

Arghhhh

Well, managed to tear myself away from the Facebook before I became:

The ignorance of the average American about history and economics make me feel like a genius.

UPDATE:  Several people in that thread, which I've stopped commenting on have insisted that their relatives accepted no government help during the Depression.  That would have been impossible if you were any kind of a less then wealthy family or individual, they would have almost not been able to have gotten by without some sort of government help.   Farmers of course got price supports, workers got unemployment insurance, everybody got Social Security.  People lower down the income level got to live in the subsidized housing here.  The WPA built the auditorium that is still in use in this town and the baseball field, also still in use.  So we know that people who lived here in the 30s were employed by the government in construction projects (which would of course include the subsidized housing which is still in use).

Once again I guess I shouldn't be so disgusted about people believing the idea that we can't spend ourselves out of a recession since almost without exception that appears to be what the governments and the opposition parties all over the world now believe.  

There were a couple of comments that disturbed me greatly:  first, people who said that we didn't spend ourselves out of the Depression because we didn't get out of the Depression until we we started spending on WWII.  Spending on war doesn't count as government spending apparently. Second, that G.I.s coming out of WWII got busy without help to speed the economy forward, completely ignoring the G.I. Bill.  

Memorial Day and Perpetual War

Although I do not quite feel like making the explicit kind of statement that Whiskeyfire and The Beast did today I can certainly see their point.  Perhaps it is just the fact that I was one of those kids forty-seven years ago, who was convinced that I was going to protect our great country (which was not yet referred to as our Homeland, at least not outside of a small group of fascists here and there) from the red menace.  Just as they are now convinced that they are protecting the Homeland from the Muslim menace today.  Some of us got educated, most didn't.

Now I know that no American service person has died since 1945 to protect our precious freedoms.  Hell I'd go so far as to say that no American service person has died to protect any body's freedoms in that period of time.  In fact just the opposite; they have died to prevent those freedoms from being gained or exercised by the swarthy brown masses.  And of course it seems that what we fight for and against overseas eventually we accept as good and right right here at Home[land].

So we fight a perpetual war as Gore Vidal calls it and what our Perpetual War is is a perpetual colonial war.  Not it turns out a colonial war for the greater glory of our Homeland and for the riches for the state that those wars always promise, but a colonial war for various corporations many of which (I'm looking at you B.P.) are not even American corporations and the riches that those wars deliver to the power elite that rule us all.

Ok, so we've been doing it for quite a while.

A Little Sunday Sleeping Music

House Keeping

I've added a blog and removed a blog on the right. The addition is the ACLU torture blog which subsumes the torture memos I had up.

The New Guy

Well one can only hope our beltway media royality ends the same way.

Well its down to work for the new guy. And the MSM continues much as it did yesterday. By mistake I read this article without first noticing that it is from the Politico.

First, the authors bemoan the fact that so far Obama hasn't had his "Sister Souljah" moment where he could repudiate his base (by attacking a straw [wo]man) as Clinton did. With the thought I guess that that worked so well for Clinton. Then he points out that Obama is unlikely to screw his supporters the way Clinton with NAFTA. This is apparently a bad thing. I mean NAFTA did turn out so well for the working and middle classes and in fact this country in general.

Second, he very briefly quotes "one recent report" which claims that Social Security will go into steep decline after 2011. However, everything I've read is that is just hooey. Most of the reputable economists (those who did fore see this financial collapse) say that Social Security will be fine for the fore see able future. The authors do not even bother to mention that many economists (including the most recent Noble winner) disagree strongly with that "recent report."

The people who own DC or at least think they own DC are going to fight like cornered rats to keep their power. This will include simple lies like the one about Social Security and just listing something as a "good thing" which is in reality a very questionable thing like Clinton's pushing for NAFTA.

Apparently, once a moderate/progressive/liberal is elected to office it is necessary for him to repudiate his base to show he can really govern. Like a real American. They can't stop themselves. It's just as though we aren't in the middle of the greatest financial crisis in the last 75 years. But then of course, they aren't going to hurt. Just the rest of us.

Torture again.

Well it appears that it isn't just a few bad apples.

Good God. I was reading yesterday at different places Our All American Torture program was being justified by several commentators on various web pages.

"You know don't you that it might sometimes be necessary to harshly interrogate some very bad people who might be about to kill numerous innocent 100% Good Patriotic Americans much like Yourself. Also, that harsh interrogation might just cross the line. Although it wouldn't be the fault of the 100% American (much like Yourself) who is doing the torture (I'm sorry interrogation)."

Is it really necessary to say that I reject the basic premise of that scenario. How does the torturer know that the person they have in front of them knows anything about a plot to kill people? How does the torturer know that in fact there is a plot? If there is a plot, how does the torturer know that there is a plot? Why does the torturer know that there is a plot, but knows nothing about where or when or how the plot might come to fruition? And why can he (or lets be non-sexist she) only find this information out through torture?"

Of course, then we look at the real world and see that the vast majority of those tortured by your 100% Real Americans are not in fact guilty of anything except being brown. Of course that information was all available before yesterday. That does not dissuade those who make those arguments. Apparently, facts are irritating things and should not be considered when Real 100% Americans (much like Yourself) are discussing serious matters concerning Your safety.

God I'm glad I live in a country where mere facts do not intrude on discussions of serious policy by serious people, much like Yourself. I of course am completely non-serious and if I may say so myself something of a jerk. Otherwise, I would not be raising these matters.