To be specific, I think only a small, but vocal, proportion of Americans actually 'love' war, though they do probably have a disproportionate effect on presidential races. ... (omooex)

I respectfully disagree.

Perhaps it is a matter of semantics, so let me state my beliefs as opposed to the fellow whose article I linked to. I believe that Americans love war and fighting, even if they do not want to admit it. They will decry 'Country A' invading 'Country B' for whatever the reason, but they believe that the good old USA should be the bully of the world; always ready to knock heads and kill all those 'evil ones'. (and their kids too)

It is, of course, all in the name of the "good", and we only kill when we have to do so. (need a used bridge?) The fact that we used armed interventions in dozens upon dozens of countries over the last hundred years just shows how many "Hitlers" there are out there in the mean old world, not that we as a people are war-prone. (really, I have many lovely bridges 1/2 off)

The fact is our entire economy rests on "defence spending" and the rest of the fascist system. I do not use "fascist" in the usual way Americans use it as an all purpose smear -- I use it to mean an economic system as practiced by pre-war Italy under Mussolini. Our system is modified to be uniquely American and not just a clone of Italy's system, but it is the same under the skin.

Americans of all political stripes falsely believe that Laissez-faire capitalism is a failure, but we have not practiced it in this country --- only claimed we have. Well, we may have practiced laissez faire in the first 50 years or so, but that is a long, long time ago.

To sum up. Ask an American if he wants a war and he will say no since that is what he thinks you expect. Ask him if America should intervene for "good reasons" of "national interest" and/or "humanitarian concerns" and you have a "Hell Yes, lets kill those mother fuckers!"

Just in the American genes.

PS: Glenn has shown over and over here in his blog that the MSM will always support the most outrageous government claims. ("You going to believe the Media or your own lying eyes?") So, the Americans are always "in the right" even when they are not. See?

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13329

or click on sig

Journalism in the age of perpetual war

by Justin Raimondo

The degeneration of journalism into "infotainment" has been bemoaned by the mandarins of the profession ever since the cable news revolution knocked the networks off their pedestal. Now the Internet is overtaking the cable channels as the place news consumers go to get their infotainment fix – or, alternatively, where they go to find out what the mainstream media isn't telling us. In any case, the perception of a rapid degeneration of the news-gathering business into something other than journalism is not exactly a new complaint. What is new is that this long-standing complaint has a fresh angle on it. With the entire concept of reporting the "news" already endangered, the hysterical warmongering that followed in the wake of 9/11 completed the process of degeneration begun long ago. In the post-9/11 world, the news, as such, no longer exists: what we have now is a "narrative."

Listen long and hard to the talking heads on TV and you'll hear that phrase echoing down through the cable-vision canyons, bouncing off the walls and endlessly repeated by reporters, bloggers, and water-cooler savants: It's the narrative, stupid.

The meaning – and danger – of the narrative was masterfully demonstrated in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. The facts were tossed aside, or else cherry-picked and arranged in such a fashion as to mimic the truth while telling a brazen lie. The tallest of tales were woven around a story line, in which the central figure was a power-mad dictator whose quest for "weapons of mass destruction" posed a danger not only to his neighbors, but to the whole world. ...

much more at link

This blog by Glenn, "The Whiskey Bar" by Billmon, the many columns by Raimondo, and numerous others at numerous little way stations on the net have been telling us this for a long, long time. The truth dies in war, and we have been at war somewhere all my life. I was born in war and, at my age, am likely to die in war.

The hard part to accept is that the majority of what they told you in school, in church, on TV, in meetings at work, in briefings, and most all other situations is ... well, not true. For most people, just accepting the faux-truth is better --- they just want to be happy.

Take shooter, he told me last week (or thereabouts) that we all need to not worry, just be happy. The real truth would kill him.

So, Glenn and many others hammer at the edges of the truth and do a fabulous job of spoon feeding the masses some of the truth. Thank you, Glenn.

Please stop by Moon of Alabama and say hi to the gang, we have missed you. I hope you have had a great vacation from blogging and are rested and ready to share your wit and wisdom again.

That comment using an old quote (dated and sourced) was classic. Good to see your work again.

Please think about opening the old blog, or a new one.

Salon could use you. Glenn and Billmon at the same net news-mag! Dude!

Peace unto you.