Justice Potter Stewart in his opinion in the Pentagon Papers case in 1971:

In the absence of governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the area of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry... Without an informed and free press, there cannot be an enlightened people.

It was Justice Potter in a 1974 speech who explained that the "primary purpose" of the First Amendment was "to create a fourth institution outside the government as an additional check on the three official branches" but that was just a personal opinion. We are guaranteed a press free from government censorship when it wants to print material that casts the government in an unfavorable light but not a true press. And preventing the press from casting the government or some other entity in a more favorable light than it deserves is apparently a bit harder to guarantee.

But there are also people who actually believe all this stuff, have insane ideas they want to turn into realities, and/or have deep contempt for the citizens they allegedly serve

I'm former military too, a Vietnam era draftee who never went to Nam.

It's my sober opinion that the people you describe in the sentence above are the majority in today's military. I've been talking (or trying anyway) to vets I know and none of them want to talk about the disaster in Iraq.. And I haven't talked to one yet that had any strong objection to going on to Iran..

They have drunk deeply of the neocon koolaid, every single one.

"does sort of leave out the 50% (or so) of us whose obsession was more inclined toward "pricks". ;-}"

T

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M O N A !!!

... When I ask what seem to me to be perfectly natural questions out loud often even people who know me look at me like I've sprouted an extra eyeball in the middle of my forehead.

I did plenty of skirt chasing and at the same time wondered what made women tick.. The answers I eventually figured out to some of my questions greatly enhanced my success in chasing skirts.

I've raised a family already and I'm helping raise grandkids now. During the entire time I never stopped wondering about everything I looked at and everything I heard. -- Aycharaych

There are far too few of folks like you. But then, you already knew that I wager.

I think that asking questions is life and I wish more of the youngsters I am around did far more of it. But, they do ask enormous amounts of questions.

I have taken side trips into certain subjects over the years and investigated at length and deeply. I think many more Americans than you realise do this, but life gets in the way.

I also notice that there is a real difference in what women and men are interested in, even if we are not supposed to say that in this modern era. You can see it in early childhood. You can also see the investigators and the ones that want to socialise.

My answer is the same as before. It is our roles in society (man, woman, family) that prevent most of us from continuing to look below the surface all the time. Everyone? No. Most people? Yes, most definitely.

I didn't know him well enough to address him as Justice Potter

I think bucky1 meant by his title to his comment that it was the possibilities of sex that are the reason for folks not continuing to educate themselves (he was not calling Aych a name)

because it seemed to me the higher in rank you went the more corrupt it became

Of course, that is the way humans operate. I've explained this before and had Derbig take pot shots at me but no one else significantly disagreed.

Those who are politically adept (some characterize this as "butt kissing" I think) are more likely to make rank than those who lack political adroitness.

My respect for military personnel is almost always in inverse proportion to their rank.

One must also assume that they had a list of water carriers in Congress too, those elected officials they could count on to have an "impact on the television media network coverage of military issues. They have now become the go to guys not only for breaking stories, but they influence the views on issues. They also have a huge amount of influence on what stories the network decides to cover proactively with regard to the military. . . ."

And not only that, but the members of Congress the administration could count on to not investigate things as they went south.

Sure would be nice to see that list of names.

I don't necessarily think you intended it in a derogatory manner, but the implication that all teenage obsessions about sex can be lumped under the term "pussy" does sort of leave out the 50% (or so) of us whose obsession was more inclined toward "pricks". ;-}

-- Pedinska

I was not going to point out that the girls do as much of the chasing in those years as do the boys, but you have a point. :-)

I think we all get too hypersensitive over the choice of a word these days; especially since the ladies at lunch are known to use that particular word once in a while. "Prick", not so much. They use "cock" mostly. Yes, it is a wild bunch. I once pulled a muscle in my side laughing at one of the ladies have on about her ex-hubbie.

"My respect for military personnel is almost always in inverse proportion to their rank."

An excellent rule. I was once at a military cemetary from ww2 in eurpose and I went looking among the thousands of tombstones, looking at all of the one at a time, as a kind of act of respect: and I began to notice something strange. I could find no one above the rank of captain on the tombstones. And I became almost obsessed, looking at tombstone after tombstone, looking and looking. Never found any. I know there are some good folks at higher ranks, because I have met them: but they are the exceptions that validate your rule. I started out as a private and then went to sergeant before I became a Lt., and then went to cpt. I never had a desire to go higher: it looked too strange up there with the brass, to dangerous to one's soul.