Letters to the Editor
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Here's another parallel to consider.
Forget Viet Nam for a minute. Think about the U.S.S.R. in Afghanistan. The Soviet Union had no free press. They did not permit the publication of any news that could cause the public to question either the justification for or the success of their invasion of Afghanistan. And what happened? The people figured it out anyway. Even in a police state like the U.S.S.R., even without any sentimental inhibitions about causing civilian casualties, the government could not win a long, bloody war of attrition fought by insurgents on their home turf against invaders. And they fought dirtier than McCain has even imagined (I hope). You don't hear many Americans suggesting that we should plant children's toys with explosive booby traps, not yet, anyway.
But you can't win if the population of your own country doesn't support a war. And the population won't support it if they realize that it's a hopeless, endless quagmire. And they will figure that out no matter how you control the press and feed your propaganda into the public discourse. Sun Tsu knew that thousands of years ago. But Bush probably thinks Sun Tsu was the guy who invented that Chinese chicken recipe.
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Joel_G (very first comment) touched on something important
There are too many darn words in Glenn's post. Seriously. For the same reasons Chomsky doesn't gain traction on television, this argument is unlikely to gain traction w/ most "voters".
Where is the Lakoffian individual who can translate so many of Glenn's (and others') arguments into bumper sticker sized sound-bites?
How do we get at the underlying reality of this love-affair with more and more War?
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McSame is scary for a lot more than his military power beliefs
If McSame doesn’t end up cutting ties with Hagee, he is an idiot or is willing to do or support anything to get elected. Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone went undercover for five months to learn firsthand about Hagee’s church and demented beliefs. Alternet.org has posted a lengthy excerpt from his new book.
An Atheist Goes Undercover to Join the Flock of Mad Pastor John Hagee
By Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com
The following is an excerpt from Matt Taibbi's new book, The Great Derangement" (Spiegel and Grau, 2008).
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/84043/?page=entire
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Yes and yes
Dear gods, do this idiots really think this occupation is "winnable" in any meaningful way? Or are they simply trying to run out the clock and hand the mess to the next Administration?
If you want to occupy the land like the Nazis did, it is winnable. You just deport the indigenous population to camps and kill them. It's called genocide. Forcing a foreign indigenous population to bend to your will because you know what's best for them is another matter all together.
And yeah, that's not the only time bomb, booby-trap or minefield these dickweeds have left for the next administration.
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Who stabbed who?
American conservatives weren't "stabbed in the back", more like they "cut their own throats" by completely abandoning conservative principles.
They (anti-conservatively) decided they could bomb the hell out of whoever they pleased, entangling themselves in inextricable, costly, violent foreign engagements.
They (anti-conservatively) proposed to pay for it all with the idiotic idea of borrowing as much as they might need. Since there were no more limits on spending, they then proceeded to spend 3-4 times as much as the ENTIRE WAR on nothing but PORK.
Now these "conservatives" have put us so deep into debt that it is impossible to get out from under it in my lifetime, short of re-basing the currency and effectively skipping out on our debts.
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I dislike liberal policies on general principle. However, they are simply misguided. Conservatives knew better (or should have, if they've read any of the books they claim to) than to run the country the way they have. No one should be surprised by the way the war has gone OR how the economy has gone.
This outcome was inevitable once the conservatives became neocons. I got nothing but disrespect and contempt for someone who betrays their own values like that and refuses to admit they've done so.
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Fog of war and the foggy headed.
What a farce.
I know it's hard to see when you're in it (Scooter), but the notion of a 71 year-old former POW who can't get over losing an old war making the case to recapture glory in a new war is absurd. Who in their right mind would trust this guy as Commander in Chief? Whether it's a "senior moment" confusing the key players on the battlefield or deliberate war-mongering, McCain simply lacks evidence to support confidence in his abilities to weigh options and make decisions. He clearly demonstrates a lack of diplomacy skills and any capacity to understand complexity or nuance. History has shown with remarkable consistency that a guy like this shouldn't even be on the short list for a war time leader.
He can't make a coherent case why the war was worth fighting in the first place, just that it can't be given up now, no doubt tapping all sorts of feelings from his POW experience. Meanwhile, whatever sense of identity the man had has been washed clean by Neo-con ideology, as he has repudiated any principled stands he once had in order to accept the nomination of the Republican Party. He doesn't know much about the economy, he'll flip flop on any social issue, he'll embrace any hate-filled demagogue, but he knows war, god damn it. He's an old, hollowed out man, easily manipulated by a cadre of sociopaths who can't let go of a vision of American imperial rule in the Middle East.
It's really amazing that anyone is taking him seriously. Respect him for his past service, most definitely. Respect for him as a presidential candidate in '08? Disaster.
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How?
Where is the Lakoffian individual who can translate so many of Glenn's (and others') arguments into bumper sticker sized sound-bites?
How do we get at the underlying reality of this love-affair with more and more War?
A good start would be to avoid words like "Lakoffian". And no hedging please.
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Susan Wood @ 7:12.
@ 6:51, 7:01. and @ 7:04.... Prunes. I say, "Whoa, keep it up."
sysprog can't hurt, and he/others can assist with the hard deadened heart.
People can speak from the inner gut, and Loosen Hard Compacted Bowels.
Sun Tsu. Yes. Susan Wood. Read some of his wise comments. okay.
Back to dear prunes. Have a glass of sun ripened Sunsweet prune juice.
It's got a Gold Label. It's sun ripened juice, not from a dense concentrate.
A bottle that's one 32-oz full liquid can't hurt. It's 100% pure prune juice.
I'm trying to only read.
Prunes. No stop. Stop?
Visit here for poached quail eggs?
I've plenty of morels and asparagus.