A reader sent me a recent item from the LaCrosse (Wisconsin) Tribune that illustrates quite nicely why I sometimes refer to the modern U.S. Army as the armed wing of the Republican Party.
Former JAG calls for Fort McCoy's commander's removalA civilian Army lawyer is calling on the Pentagon to remove Fort McCoy's garrison commander for improper involvement in President Bush's La Crosse campaign rally. Col. Danny Nobles "needs to be removed from command immediately," said attorney Al Novotne, Fort McCoy's ethics counselor. "He's free to resign or retire and get involved in politics, but not while having troops under his command."
Col. Nobles's offense? Attending the Bush rally in uniform:
Novotne said appearing at a campaign event in uniform is "strictly prohibited" by the Army. "When I was a JAG officer, I had a client who went to jail for that," he said.
It would be easy to write this off as the partisan excesses of a single officer - comparable to Gen. Jerry "holy war" Boykin's practice of speaking to conservative fundamentalist congregations while in uniform. But there is a difference, and not just because Col. Nobles boarded the Republican mothership, rather than one of its religious auxiliary craft. In this case, the commander also brought a few hundred of his troops with him:
The Veterans of Foreign Wars District 11 "sponsored" the trip and provided white T-shirts emblazoned with an American flag to 500 soldiers, according to the Wisconsin VFW News. The back of the shirts said, "I am an American soldier."At Copeland Park, the troops were observed walking and running in formation. Novotne said soldiers have told him they were under the direction of senior non-commissioned officers and were not free to go off on their own.
The defense offered by the GOP's local functionaries is that the soldiers asked to attend the rally "so they could show their support for their commander-in-chief before getting shipped out to fight the war on terrorism."
And, of course, they were also given those t-shirts to wear. So at least they weren't in uniform.
So how could anyone - except maybe some pinko terrorist lover - complain about something so innocuous?
Well I wouldn't - if not for the fact that we already have several thousand years of history to draw on for examples of what happens when the armed forces of a powerful state dabble in politics - or, worse still, allow themselves to be transformed into the personal shocktroops of a political leader or party.
It doesn't necessarily happen all at once, or as the result of a traditional military coup d'état. The story of the German army's entry into politics after World War I - first as a source of weapons and freelance talent for right-wing militias (the so-called "Freikorps") then as an actor in the parliamentary conspiracies that brought the Nazis to power, and finally as a key player in the "Night of the Long Knives," which consolidated Hitler's personal rule - may not be directly relevant to contemporary America, but its a powerful lesson in how gradualism can obscure some truly revolutionary institutional changes.
The actors involved don't even need to have a long-run plan. Using the Wisconsin case as an example, it's easy to see how matters might progress, absent external constraints.
Once the precedent has been established that Army soldiers on active duty may be "invited" to party campaign rallies in unit formation and under the discipline of their commanding officers, it's easy to imagine some creative GOP hack developing a standard t-shirt (let's say with a red, white and blue color design) for those troops to wear.
If the t-shirt design catches on, then some other party hack might well develop a proprietary patriotic logo - something distinctly identifiable as a Republican Party symbol - to go on those t-shirts. (With their "I am an American soldier" slogan, the LaCrosse GOP is half way there already)
Having the troops all wear arm bands with the new party logo on them would also look kind of cool.
But standing around in the sun waiting for the leader to appear can be hot work, so it wouldn't be too surprising if some local GOP chapters started giving the soldiers baseball caps with that patriotic party logo on the front.
And since you now have all these splendid young hunks standing around in their snazzy party outfits, and since their drill sergeants are also on hand, why not do something fun to entertain the crowd - like having the troops parade in formation past the leader on his podium. What would be the harm in that?
And if the troops are going to parade, why not have them salute? Of course, using the standard military salute might be a little obvious. So why not create a new party salute - like, say, banging a clenched fist on the heart, or, better yet, extending a stiffened right arm, fingers pointed towards the leader in a gesture of obedience and respect.
Imagine the effect it would have on the crowd - all those handsome young heros, marching in perfect lockstep, showing their loyalty to their commander in chief. And if the leader were to give the party salute back, expressing his dedication to the sacred cause of defending the homeland ...
Hah! Let's see the Democrats try to compete with that!
If you've ever read the folk tale about "stone soup," you know what I'm talking about here. Once a step has been taken, the next may seem logical, even inevitable. Which is why the U.S. military traditionally has been extremely touchy about displays of overt partisanship like the ones we're seeing these days - usually, although not always, in middle management ranks: the colonels, majors and captains who embody the "corporate culture" of the professional officer corps.
I realize this is not, by far, the most dangerous trend at work inside the military-industrial complex right now. The "privatization" of war: the growing role of defense contractors not just as sutlers and camp followers, but as a new type of corporate combat force - beyond both military and civilian forms of accountability - probably holds that rank. By transferring the means of military production from the Pentagon to corporate hands, the administration isn't just trying to replace an "Enronized" military culture with the original model, it's undermining one of the core characteristics of sovereignty - the state's monopoly on organized violence. And that's a much bigger deal, and a much bigger threat to democratic institutions, than the creation of a new t-shirted "Republican Guard."
But the increasingly partisan complexion of the U.S. officer corps was one of the prime causes of the fictional "American military coup of 2012" described in this celebrated 1992 article in the U.S Army War College journal Parameters, which has been getting fresh attention in the blogosphere lately:
Little thought was given the long-term consequences of limiting the pool from which our military leadership was drawn. The result was a much more uniformly oriented military elite whose outlook was progressively conservative.
Of course, in our polarized electorate, conservative now means Republican - even more so than when the article was written. And the Republican Party, in turn, has become enthralled by a kind of GOP cult of the leader - rooted in the theology of Christian fundamentalism, but with militaristic overtones that have become ever more apparent in our never-to-be-ended war against terrorism.
It's easy to see these trends converging - an increasingly partisan officer corps, an authoritarian conservative movement that longs for the leadership of a divinely inspired hero, a private army of corporate contractors answerable only to its Pentagon masters. Mix with an endless, undefined war against a mysterious unseen enemy, then shake.
Chalmers Johnson, the ex-CIA analyst turned anti-imperialist, recently described the imperial archipelago these trends have already created outside the U.S. homeland:
According to the Pentagon's annual inventory of real estate - its so-called Base Structure Report - we have over 725 military bases in some 132 countries around the world. This vast network of American bases constitutes a new form of empire - an empire of military enclaves rather than of colonies as in older forms of imperialism.
Johnson also describes the social environment being created inside these hermetically sealed enclaves - which, perversely, increasingly resemble the "military cities" of the old Soviet Union and its client states:
For their occupants, these bases are not necessarily unpleasant places to live and work. Military service today, which is voluntary, bears almost no relation to the duties of a soldier during World War II or the Korean or Vietnamese wars. Most chores like laundry, KP ("kitchen police"), guard duty, and cleaning latrines have been subcontracted to private military companies. About $30 billion, fully one-third of the funds appropriated for the war in Iraq, are going into private American hands for exactly such services.The military prefers bases that resemble small fundamentalist towns in the Bible Belt rather than neighborhoods in the big population centers of the United States ... Our armed missionaries live in a closed-off, self-contained world serviced by its own airline - the Air Mobility Command - that links our outposts from Greenland to Australia.
The result - or at least a byproduct - of these cantonments is the creation of a separate military subculture, one which has less and less in common with the secular, culturally libertarian side of U.S. society - i.e. "blue state" America. It also tends to shield service people, especially long-service career professionals, from dissenting opinions and non-conservative, non-authoritarian values.
Which no doubt is why some of our Middle Eastern clients states are spending billions to create their own military enclaves:
The [Saudi] government spent huge sums of money to improve the amenities and comfort for personnel in order to increase the attractiveness of military careers. The military cities included excellent family housing for married officers and NCOs, as well as modern barracks for unmarried personnel. The military cities also offered excellent schools and hospitals as well as convenient shopping centers and recreational facilities.
The growth of a separate military subculture - with its own institutions, values and loyalties, and a generally poor opinion of civilian institutions, values and loyalties - certainly isn't anything new, not even for the United States. The main historical differences between the U.S. armed forces and, say, the army of Guatemala, are that the pre-World War II American military was much smaller, relative to size of the country and its economic resources, and, of course, had a more deeply ingrained respect for civilian authority.
But of those two differences the first - relative size - may have been the more important. And has Chalmers Johnson rightly notes, it's no longer a difference at all. Just the opposite in fact: The U.S. military establishment now lays claim to resources that most empires - much less Latin American banana republics - could only dream about.
In a less ideologically divided country - like the America of the middle Cold War years - a huge military establishment may face less pressure to play an overtly partisan role. And even a heavily mobilized society may not necessarily be a militaristic one, especially if its officers must rely on an army of drafted citizen soldiers. But when a country divides along cultural as well as ideological lines, it's no surprise an institution as important and powerful as the U.S. career military finds it hard to stay on the political fence.
Ironically, the loser in these kinds of situations is usually the military itself - which is basically what the author of "The American Military Coup of 2012" was trying to warn about. Few military establishments have placed themselves at the disposal of a specific political party or leader and emerged without enormous damage - or, as in the Wehrmacht's case, total destruction. The American professional military, which sided so openly with the Republicans in the 2000 elections, may be getting a lesson of its own.
But the old loyalty - to the constitution of a sovereign republic - may also prove untenable in the new world order of multinational globalization and military privatization. As in most corporate takeovers, military middle management doesn't seem to have much choice - it can switch loyalties to the new boss (always the bureaucratic default position) or it can quit and go try to earn a living somewhere else. With the rise of the stop loss order, however, the current crop of officers soon may not be able to quit, even if they wanted to.
They could, of course, throw their personal political support - and the prestige that comes with it - behind the opposition, in hopes it might at least preserve the constitutional status quo. But this is psychologically hard - not to mention economically dubious. The bread hasn't been buttered on that side of the partisan fence for a very long time.
While some in the military may put loyalty to the republic above loyalty to the Republicans - the Judge Advocate General's Corps appears to be fighting a particularly fierce rear guard action at the moment - I think for many the tide is already running too strongly the other way. These things always look a lot better going in than coming out.
Like I said at the beginning, it's an incremental process - one of fits and starts, albeit with occasional leaps forward, as in the 2000 election. How long it will take and how it will end up are never clear. There's no master plan - at least, I don't think there is. But while I don't know exactly where the imperial tide is taking the U.S. military, and the United States, I don't think it's going to be any kind of place I would want to go, or produce any kind of regime I would want my children to have to live under.
It is always useful to reread The Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism.
One thing though, they'll need better filmmakers 'cause they've got no one on the level of Leni von Riefenstahl.
This post reminds me of the situation that exists in Bangladesh, as described to me by some neighbors. The military there is disliked; they are brutal and stupid. 50% of that state's budget goes to the military and the military treat civilians with contempt. THese soldiers use the cute phrase "son of a civilian" instead of "son of a bitch" as an insult.
Billmon-amazing post as usual. I have been saying to friends for a long time now, how much the political & social behavior of all the "mainstream" folks in this country resembles the same from people in past fascist and pseudo-fascist nations. The most insidious thing the right/libertarian groups in the U.S. ever did to our citizenry was to systematiclly destroy education. The ability to think critically about an issue is essential to understand it, & to see through the BS rhetoric that accompanies it. I fear it may be a long time(if ever) before we as a nation are capable of grasping the truth that stares us down, and practically dares us to confront it. Thanks again for your fearless insight into these issues.
Wow, Billmon. A true tour de force. Kudos.
Yes, indeed. I think the road to hell is truly paved with gradualism. And we're at least one-quarter of the way there already.
It gets easier to think about REALLY leaving every day. I've been half joking, but there seems to be a sense of panic rising.
Wow, I've now been completely turned against the volunteer army concept. I always thought Robert A. Heinlein was a bit extreme feeling that one should be unable to vote until one serves. But after reading this, I'd have to rethink that. We'd need universal service with the option of civic service, with proper steps to keep at bay the formation of the military cities.
I've lived in a few of those enclaves. Kwajalein Missile Range (now named after Reagan, btw; one of the few places where it makes sense to name it for the man) is basically a small town in the Midwest. The hired help (Marshallese) live (or lived, though I've no reason to believe things have changed much since 1978) in a slum called Ebeye across a small channel from the main atoll.
There was even a caste system; seniority dictated whether your family got a cinder block home or a single-wide trailer. If you were single you were in a dormitory. One big difference was that the bulk of the staff out there was civilian, but the principle applies.
billmon,
thanks (i think) for bringing me back to earth....
i've been planning to go back to palestine this fall as a volunteer with ISM. but, after reading this post, i wonder if i shouldn't take my fall vacation here at home (usa) ... there will probably be plenty of non-violent intervention volunteer work for me.
at moments like these i think seriously about moving to nz. pretty soon i'll be too old and imigrating will be difficult or impossible.
Lupin,
While they may have no von Riefenstahl, they do have an entire gaggle of Speer wannabes out back in the FOX trucks with the Kleig Lights chompin' at the bit.....
I remember when Clinton was president, and some in the military barely disguised, if they did, their contempt.
At that time, I hate the military, because those assholes seem to be the face presented to the public.
It is too ironic to know that Reagan and Bush, whom they seemingly adore, only acted as if they were in the military (if you can get out of duty to go campaign for someone, while any other person would get his ass handed to him...)
As far as governing, Clinton actually had a clue, while Reagan and Bush seem to demonstrate that Republicans prefer braindead idiots.
My kids' passports are up-to-date and they have relatives in Europe if the boot comes down...that's my one consolation these days.
A small conscript/draft/national service Army would lessen the isolation/indoctrination process and reduce the likelihood of execution of orders to shoot the civilian extremist protesters with live ammunition ... :(
Slightly OT, Reposted from previous thread:
The Gitmo four:
Who is major General Geoffrey Miller ?
(you know, that smiling/lying/perjurous sack of shit who dares to wear a US Army uniform)
One of the few stories to leak out of Guantánamo Bay in the past year involved Miller's persecution of a Muslim prison chaplain, Army Capt. James "Yousef" Yee. Miller accused Yee last year of participating in a spy ring and had him detained for 76 days – a large portion of which was spent in shackles and solitary confinement. When further investigation revealed no compelling evidence of Yee's guilt, the charges were first reduced to mishandling classified information and lying to investigators, and then were dropped altogether...
Yee freed - THREE OTHERS AWAIT PROCEEDINGS
Three other men stationed at Guantanamo Bay have been charged with mishandling classified materials:
Ahmad al-Halabi, an Air Force translator, was arrested July 25. The Syrian-born U.S. citizen initially was charged with 30 counts that ranged from sneaking baklava to the prisoners to espionage and aiding the enemy. Last fall, 13 of the charges were dropped; the remaining 17 charges include mishandling classified materials and espionage. He awaits a court-martial, now set for June.
Ahmed Mehalba, a civilian interpreter at Guantanamo, was arrested Sept. 29 at Boston's Logan International Airport after returning from Cairo. A Customs inspector found a CD-ROM in his luggage that appeared to contain hundreds of sensitive documents. He was indicted on federal charges of mishandling sensitive information and lying to investigators. Mehalba is being held without bail in a Massachusetts jail. No trial date has been set.
Army Col. Jack Farr, 58, head of Guantanamo's prisoner interrogation unit, was arrested Oct. 11 and charged with mishandling intelligence and lying to investigators. Classified documents were allegedly found in his luggage at the end of his six-month tour. Farr is now at Fort Gordon, Ga., awaiting a preliminary hearing May 25 that will determine whether he will face a court-martial.
Capt./Chaplain James Yee - the ordeal (must be a Sino-Communist-Muslim-Fundamentalist-terrorist-extremist, poor victimised joe)
Yee speaks on Islam
Airman/Translator Ahmad I. Al Halabi
Barkeep: Walks like a duck. Quacks like a duck. Empire by any other name would smell as foul (fowl).
kherr: "Service guarantees citizenship!" "The only good bug is a dead bug!" I wonder if you haven't been misreading Heinlein's satirical intentions. Come into the light child. ;-)
hey linkmeister!
i lived on kwaj ('72-'74) when i was 12 through 14. i was just as you describe, and i don't think it has changed much. there was an excellent article in harpers mag a year or two ago about ebeye and kwaj.
my experience of living on an army base for 2 years and witnessing the repressive apartheid conditions the marshallese were forced to endure has profoundly affected the way i see the world and the usa.
And I always figured the military takeover would come from the quasi-military (SWAT teams, etc) who spend their careers expecting to shoot at US civilians (even if considered criminals) anyway.
a most interesting post. we have had a politically motivated impeachment, a stolen presidency, and it looks to me that a significant number of people, conservatives, no longer believe in the system of representative democracy put in place by the founders of this country. now if the current admin. decides to suspend the u.s. constitution using some pretext like a terrorist attack, or that the fitzgerald crew [plame investigation]is starting to close in on the oval office and the cheney/bush crew decide that this must come to an end right now........well, what does the military do? i have no doubt that a large majority of republicans will support a suspension. so that leaves the question-what will the key player in this scenario, the military, do? without them the overthrow of constitutional government won't work. they are the key element here. your post is hardly encouraging.
Billmon
The "privatization" of war: the growing role of defense contractors not just as sutlers and camp followers, but as a new type of corporate combat force - beyond both military and civilian forms of accountability - probably holds that rank. By transferring the means of military production from the Pentagon to corporate hands, the administration isn't just trying to replace an "Enronized" military culture with the original model, it's undermining one of the core characteristics of sovereignty - the state's monopoly on organized violence. And that's a much bigger deal, and a much bigger threat to democratic institutions, than the creation of a new t-shirted "Republican Guard."
This is another of Rumsfelds long held dreams - the equivalent of a US 'French Foreign Legion'.
Benefits:
Experienced and hardened (high ratio of veterans),
pre-trained,
ruthless and lethal,
not bound by UCMJ, hell, any laws,
casualties are 'civilains' if reported at all as opposed to bodybags and flag-draped coffins,
generate huge profits from the taxpayers purse for the parent Co providing the contractors,
entirely expendable.
Holy Sulla, Billmon! And maybe a Holy Marius too!
In all these years of right-wing hegemony, while federal government budgets were put under immense strain, forcing cut-backs, the military has been lavishly funded, creating what amounts to an entirely separate world for the military caste, in which expenses are not a problem, and in which (literally) the sky is the limit. The result is that the military is functionally the best funded and most effective branch of the government. And as a result, it has increasingly taken over from other cash-strapped functions of government, most especially in the area of foreign policy and diplomacy. But I think the model to fear is not the old Germany, but modern Israel.
Another reason we can be thankful that John Kerry is the Democratic Nominee. His combat experience gives him cred with the troops, and his transformation initatives will be grounded in reality, rather than NeoCon propaganda.
While the Officer Corps are conservative, there is some hope for the enlisted personnel. I recently read that the troops are less religious than the population as a whole. With a higher percentage (40%?) of minorities in uniform than the average demographic sample, we can expect that their politics will be similar to those not in uniform. When 90% of African Americans vote Democratic, there is no reason to expect the trend in the military to be much different.
In short -- while the military culture might be overtly conservative, the ranks themselves are more diverse.
Wasn't Kos in an artillery battallion? Would his experience be all that unique?
Selise, to be fair to the Army, Ebeye was mostly not their fault. When that base was established there were no Army socio-anthropologists around to consult, so the powers that were didn't know about the extended-family traditions that the Marshallese followed. Early days I think 20% of Majuro moved to Ebeye because an uncle or cousin got a job on Kwaj.
Last year I took my son to an orientation session for the military academies.
The vast majority of the kids who were there were from Christian high schools. It's a plan.
It's also our fault.
Sorrows of Empire by Chalmers Johnson sits on my bedside table, a constant reminder that this nation needs to remain ever vigilant.
I take no pride for having started to use the "F" word as early as 2001, when even on liberal blogs one was politely dismissed as a bit of an extremist. I wish I had been wrong of course. No gloating here. The onlty reason I bring it up is that it demonstrates that the Beast creeps upon us one small incremental step at a time.
I have also written, way too often, that the real problem is not with Bush, or not even the factions that control hikm -- Bush being no Hitler in that respect - can anyone imagine Bush actually writing a book like Mein Kampf? More like "Ten Reasons why I Love Garfield"...
But I digress.
No, the real problem is (and to a large extent has always been) the American People, as it was the Germans in Germany, and the Russians in Russia, and the Spaniards in Spain. (I was there under Franco so I can at least attest to that.)
As long as we see 30% to 40% of the American population roufghly embrace Bush's ideology, unlike say the 15% or so who embrace extreme ideologies in Western Europe, we remain in a very precarious state as a society, mental health-wise.
kherr: "Service guarantees citizenship!" "The only good bug is a dead bug!" I wonder if you haven't been misreading Heinlein's satirical intentions. Come into the light child.
Neither of those sentences were in Heinlein. They came from that abortion of a movie that bears little resemblance to the book.
The movie was satire, the book was not.
Johnny Zucchini: an orientation session for the military academies. The vast majority of the kids who were there were from Christian high schools. It's a plan.
It's also our fault.
How you figger it's our fault, JZ? We didn't lobby for restoration of the draft?
It's our fault? It's our fault that fundamentalists are so cultish that they do not want their children to learn about science, or other people, so they put them in segregated schools?
If I remember correctly, the idea of a standing army was not a favorite of the founders...thus, the true conservative position (by the standard definition of the term) would be one which did not favor a standing army...
militias, or a citizen army was the concept for America's defense.
Johnson points to so many of the real problems. If you haven't read his book, The Sorrows of Empire, it's worth the time.
Why do we have bases all over the world? Why did we continue to have such a large army after the fall of the USSR?
Gore Vidal, in Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, also lists all the places (not the "secret" bases in the UK and Israel, though) where we have bases, and lists the armed conflicts we have engaged since the end of WW2.
Perhaps I am confusing the themes of Starship Troopers with Heinlein's personal views, although he was concerned about the process of democracy and has written more than once about the importance of voters to be qualified. The BBC excerpted from Lazurus Long that touch on this.
Heinlein penned good fiction, but also wrote a handbook called Take Back Your Government. He was very concerned with preserving America's democratic traditions and I'd like to think he'd be right at home participating in the discussions on this site.
Good post, Billmon. I've been arguing a relation to this on Metafilter most of the evening.
The one variable I see here is the degree to which our little Iraq adventure has led to casualties and other problems that, in the long run, need not have happened. The longer this sort of carnage goes on in Iraq, it seems, the more questions will come up from the military as a community - particularly as husbands, fathers, etc. remain off on long deployments, ending who knows when. And then again, if Bush is re-elected and we march into Syria next, they may have to reinstitute the draft - which might begin to change the complexion of the armed forces, if only to a slight degree.
snip>
“And don’t forget, Mr President, if you bounce it, they’ll boo you.” He threw a perfect pitch and the stadium erupted.
“Watching from owner George Steinbrenner’s box, Karl Rove (Mr Bush’s political strategist) thought: ‘This is like being at a Nazi rally’.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4281-489959,00.html
America produces another casualty in Iraq...
Lakhdar Brahimi to quit
What was all that crowing about 'working with the UN'?
Truly terrifying.
I am going to fucking throw up. Rita Crosby (?) on Fox News has a lovely segment on right now about how great Gitmo is. Wow! They get whole roll of TOILET PAPER?? Look! Arrows pointing to Mecca stencilled on the floor!
I'm going to be sick.
Billmon, I am asking you personally: have you read Jane Jacobs Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics? Because this is so, so germane to her thesis.
I keep bleating about this book. But it expains so much about what is going on right now.
I've posted this breif precis before, but here I go again:
When it comes to working life, humans have two general ways of making a living: taking and trading. All animals have “taking;” that is, they go out and find what they need and use it. Hunting and gathering societies are “takers”. To this, humans add trading. Because of the different requirements of these two systems, two separate moral syndromes have developed.
Jane Jacobs call these the Guardian Syndrome and the Commercial Syndrome. The Guardian syndrome applies to work that applies to the administration of territory for the most part – government work, the military, the police, many environmental groups, and aspects of law and education. The Commercial syndrome applies to work involving trade: all commerce, manufacturing, and science.
Here are the moral values associated with each syndrome:
The Guardian Syndrome
Shun trading
Exert prowess
Be obedient and disciplined
Adhere to tradition
Respect hierarchy
Be loyal
Take vengeance
Deceive for the sake of the task
Make rich use of leisure
Be ostentatious
Dispense largesse
Be exclusive
Show fortitude
Be fatalistic
Treasure honour
The Commercial Syndrome
Shun force
Come to voluntary agreements
Be honest
Collaborate easily with strangers and aliens
Compete
Respect contracts
Use initiative and enterprise
Be open to inventiveness and novelty
Be efficient
Promote comfort and convenience
Dissent for the sake of the task
Invest for productive purposes
Be industrious
Be thrifty
Be optimistic
She describes these points in detail; why they go together, and how they interact.
One of her major points is that neither of these syndromes is “right” or “wrong.” They are appropriate or inappropriate. Using the wrong syndrome in the wrong time and place will lead to havoc.
Some examples of syndrome mixing:
The Mafia and other organized criminals: run Commercial enterprises using Guardian values.
Communism: also run Commercial enterprises using Guardian values – but from a “legitimate” position.
Prisons: when run by for-profit companies
Banks: when making international loans at the behest of government
And not the least of my examples:
The whole Military-Industrial Complex. Once you understand the syndromes, the name alone tells you it is morally corrupt and cannot be anything but morally corrupt. You have production being run in accordance with Guardian values, leading to weak, inefficient, deceptive, nepotistic industries that stifle any attempt to change. Even worse, the people this corruption have fostered are now in every level of government, bring the tattered remains of their Commercial morality to corrupt the government; trading what should be secret information, and rejecting such positive qualities of the Guardian syndrome as Loyalty, Fortitude and Honour. Sure; they are efficient, industrious and inventive -–when it comes to creating tools to destroy the planet. They have none of the “conservative” qualities of the Guardian syndrome, which should be exactly that: conserving of the environment, culture and law. They are Guardians who do not Guard anything but themselves.
Book Review
The U.S. government has been syndrome-mixing for 60 years. That's exactly what hiring "contractors" is - syndrome mixing. That's what having politicians come directly from big multinationals is. And the multinationals are just as bad at mixing syndromes as the government. It's an incestuous little puddle of people who no longer understand that there is anything not to mix.
Most of us understand Jacobs' thesis intuitively. But she really thinks it out and lays it out in this book.
This is precisely why there was a 2nd amendment written into the Constitution, folks. It's not there just for hunting and recreational purposes.
I was 11b for 3 months or so in '81 (got busted for weed in the 6th week of basic :-P). There was a Georgia boy in my platoon that would have shot his mother, if he was ordered to do so, and that was before an extended period of their brainwashing.
Remember the Bonus Army.
billmon
thank you , recently i approach your posts with sadness because it appears to me you are a 'reasonable' man & i hear in your voice - the worrying confirmation - of the terrible things that are happening in your country
from the privatisation of security to the 'militarisation' of everydaylife
i have been a convinced anti imperialist since my childhood & i have known chinese & veitnamese society as well as my own. i have seen a dream born of compassion pulped by the incapacities of communist societies to listen to the moral ideal that i feel inform a great many of those who have suppported them. i do not blame them solely. we live in a butchershop & the generations born after the was have had to live lives mediated by fear - of the bomb, of racism, of neglect
& since i was a child there was alway only one imperial power of substance even if sometimes theey behave transnationally. i believe baran/magdof/sweezy taught me some basic things with their book monopoly capital & some of that rest with me today through their conclusions may be short of the mark
i have sd here that i never saw what could be called self correcting mechanisms - especially as far as the oppressed were concerned but i imagined that capitalism had to obey some laws - laws they themselves constructed
the terrible intrusions of your country elsewhere indonesia, greece but especially in latin america constitute for me the commencement of a real degradation
what commences to be absent is decency
& it is that i read in your posts - it is like you are reporting a la i f stone on the frontier of their indecency - i feel through your eyes i am seeing what it feels to be a reasonable man in america to see what he loves turn to shit
& so i see the sense of panic of some of the posters here not as melodrama but as a deeply felt fear - & a sense of not belonging
& like you other posters here - speak reasonably - i cannot for i have been a fanatic & i know the fanatic heart & while it has helped my art perhaps it has reduced me as a man
so reading through yours & many other's post here - i see the beast that your country has become - & yes it is ordinary & perhaps even soft - but it is a beast - all the same
i hear it devouring you
not in a theatrical way but in the manner that does most damage - through the heart & through your breathing. when something tterrible or exasperating has happened i can hear the stillness in your breaths
of you really not believing what is happening is happening
& that sometimes it runs to a form of vaudevill or burlesque does not reduce the terror it contains
i do not know if it is any comfort to have the solidarity of people as different as jérôme or i, teuton or four more wars & many others in europe who suffer with you & are really looking for strategies & solutions
it seems to me implicitly from the post that many of us from our individual position actually work towards that outside the bar but also need the 'comfort' of the bar to not go crazy - to not feel drowned by the tidal waves of shit that seem to be happening on a day to day level
we are with you
still steel
kherr: "Give them a light, and they'll follow it anywhere." And if Firesign Theatre is to your liking we have this from the album: "Don't Crush that Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers" If not, where have you been all your life? LOL I have four albums burned to CD. My baby sister Shari says that I ruined her for life forever by exposing her to FST. But she calls me on the phone and says: "White Lightning? White Lightning! This is ground beef control. Do you read me? Over."
Porgie Tirebiter: "Gather 'round kids, stay on camera. We'll all listen together."
Principal Poop: "So come on, kids. Line up, sign up, and reenlist today. Because we need more schooling, for more students, for More Science High."
Commercial: SHOES FOR INDUSTRY. SHOES FOR THE DEAD. SHOES FOR INDUSTRY! "Hi. I'm Joe Beets. What chance does a returning deceased war veteran have for that good paying job, more sugar, and the free mule you've been dreaming of?"
If you don't know about Firesign Theatre, they're worth a listen. The more things change, the more they stay the same. ;-)
Zucchini,
Imagine an Army where the officer corps was really based upon ability, and that advancement to the top was not predicated on possessing the big West Point ring.
In fact, imagine that service academies and VMI,Citadel, etc. did not exit.
Imagine that it was all ROTC and promotion of the best and brightest from the ranks.
Much more ideologically diverse officer corps, much smarter and proficient too.
Re: religiosity of US military -
Many of the American soldiers of today seem to be very concerned with religion and Bible reading classes are common throughout all branches of the US armed forces.
Unfortunately, like Boykin, they seem to have a belief that there is an 'our' God, rather than a universal one, with the result that their religion is more an extension of their worship of their own society above all others.
A thin veneer of religion mixed with a heavy dose of jingoism certainly does make for a new breed of stormtroopers
It would be nice if this moron's commander brought him up on charges -- or at a minimum gave him non-judicial punishment.
Laws are not there to be broken, whatever policies the administration is culturally encouraging.
Scorpio
Eccentricity
remembereringgiap:
That 93 year-old duffer up in Hanoi studying his maps did not graduate from the French equivalent of West Point, did he?
Didn't he learn his tactics and strategy On The Job?
"A person without any self doubt is a monster. I'm horrified by the torture at Abu Gharib, and I hope those enlisted personnel are not made scapegoats."
Garrison Keillor -- in the "News from Lake Wobegon", on today's Prairie Home Companion.
If you all ever get a chance, check out a 1971 film given various titles over the years: Hail, Hail To The Chief and Washington D.C.. At the time it was filmed, it was intended as an overtly Nixonian satire, but it bares surprising relevence today, more so as time goes on. It involves a power-crazed president who, with the help of a popular religious leader, seizes on a Dangerous Threat to create, yes, a private uniformed army. (I'll always remember the scene where he personally designs those uniforms.) Things go downhill from there, at least as far as the Republic is concerned. Not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but an interesting one. It was evidently released on video, but tracking down a copy may prove to be difficult, and I imagine no network would dare run it today.
Returning to real life: one calculation which should be added to all of this is the Iraqi war. I don't know about the mid-level officer corps which remains safe and well-fed back here in the States, but I have to wonder how eager the grunts will now be to march smartly in unison and salute the Glorious Leader who was responsible for feeding them and all their pals into a never-ending meat-grinder. I suppose some will still rally round, but they ain't all gonna do it.
Johnny Zucchini: Last year I took my son to an orientation session for the military academies.
Why would you do something like that to your son, Johnny? Seems like it would be better to have him read Mark Twain's To the Person Sitting In Darkness, or sing to him from the 1915 song, "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier..."
Ten million soldiers to the war have gone,
Who may never return again.
Ten million mothers' hearts must break,
For the ones who died in vain.
Head bowed down in sorrowin her lonely years,
I heard a mother murmur thro' her tears:
Chorus:
I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier,
I brought him up to be my pride and joy,
Who dares to put a musket on his shoulder,
To shoot some other mother’s darling boy?
Let nations arbitrate their future troubles,
It’s time to lay the sword and gun away,
There’d be no war today,
If mothers all would say,
I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier.
(Chorus)
What victory can cheer a mother’s heart,
When she looks at her blighted home?
What victory can bring her back,
All she cared to call her own?
Let each mother answer in the year to be,
Remember that my boy belongs to me!
(Chorus)
Fort McCoy
Tammy Balwin
Russ Fiengold
are the outspoken Rep's from Wisconsin.
The political gears here in Wisconsin will grind this bum to hamburger.
Many in Wisconsin are no longer Republican in the first place.
Our Wisconsin mayors are already submitting bills for embursement for Bush's campaign visit costs. the State may follow. With our National Guard In Iraq and many small cities and towns flooding and needing Guard aid I'm sure that disaster costs will be forth comming.
FLASHARRY
do you know the biography of giap written by cecil b currey -victory at any cost - the genius of viet nam's gen vo nguyen giap - it's a good read in the french translation - so think it must be good in english
i'm sure the old bugger quite ready for another campaign but i think in iraq he'd have a handful
& yr right he had no military training but a good grounding in poetics & alchemy
what i know of the old darling is that i think the destruction of the museums, libraries & acheology would have had a terrible effect on him - he is that kind of man
sorry if i'm pompous
still steel
Bill, I think you're getting too stoned on your soup.
Yes, overseas US military bases are everywhere around the world. We've got another one going into Australia, and won't *that* be a great duty station! Every one of those bases is fully supported by the local government, and at least half-supported by the local population.
Yes, they're fully-catered, completely-manicured all-you-can-eat little slices of American 1950's, carefully made apartheid from the local population, which serves as the cooks, maids, grounds laborers and hospitality women, but how is that different from any white suburb back in CONUS?
Yes, our US bases overseas are fundamentalist, television and radio carefully rebroadcast over AFRTS to include Leave it to Beaver, and golden oldies of rock, but deny Amy Goodman and Mumia Abdul Jamal, but what do you expect?
Should the mostly poor, Southern, white-Christian male troops be garrisoned in a global village of angry rap music, bootah-bumping black girls, sex and the city, stark graffiti on the walls, drive by shootings and drug trade?
It's just common sense to keep our overseas bases non-confrontational. Everyone has to find a niche, everyone has to get along, months at a stretch, and everyone has to load up, at a moment's notice, and fight hand to hand for who knows how long in some dense jungle or baking desert.
How would you run our overseas bases if you were emperor?
You'd add a little carrot, and a little potato, and a little herbs and spice, simmer gently and serve with rice.
And after dinner, a couple drinks, and old Willie Nelson.
Am I right?
R-giap -- thanks-- it helps to know we still have friends out there in the world who understand what we are going through. This is a terrible time, but I'm afraid it might get worse. On 9/11, I sat and stared at my TV watching the horrific events unfold all morning, and then sat outside for the afternoon. It was a gorgeous day -- perfect weather. I lived somewhat near a flight path for a major airport, and was used to hearing planes high above. It was silent. I wondered at the time if this day was the day that would change the rest of my life, and would change the lives of my kids. I wondered if the best days were behind us, for my family at least.
Then.... nothing... nothing changed for awhile. Life went back to normal. Back to work, kids back to school. Yes, I was more glued to the news, but otherwise, nothing really changed on a day to day basis.
But now, I realize the enormity of what happened. But it wasn't what I expected. My mental projection on 9/11 was an almost WWII-style sacrifice - the world at war together, perhaps a military response (on that day, I think we all wondered- how many more attacks before the day is done? What about tomorrow? The next day?) And in a funny way, I was preparing myself mentally for it. A draft? Victory gardens? War bonds? I don't know why, having growing up in the Viet Nam era, that my frame of reference turned to WWII - maybe there was a comfort in that -- I don't know.
What I didn't expect was that our democracy would fundamentally change. I didn't expect that our government would use this as an excuse to turn against us. This is a fight I was not prepared for, and don't know how to fight.
Agghh - too much Reagan this week. Time for bed.
@Jo-Zukes, were those kids from "Christian Schools" you spoke of from old-time parochial schools, or the new fundie theocracy institutes?
The good news @Bill-'s post is that JAG is on a roll now since things are going so well on prison inquiries that they're moving on more fronts precisely to forestall Nightmare Bill- outlines. Clearly there are still huge honorable segments in the military that are fighting a life & death battle to preserve their institution from NeoCon cabal.
Frankly, I'm less worried about the military right now, than about the Neos having brought in Mossad to operate in our country as Fifth Column. (google Mossad Richard Sale) It takes Zero Imagination to see Neos having them pull caper to justify martial law, if military & CIA on verge of vanquishing them.
Imagine an Army where the officer corps was really based upon ability, and that advancement to the top was not predicated on possessing the big West Point ring.
In fact, imagine that service academies and VMI,Citadel, etc. did not exit.
Imagine that it was all ROTC and promotion of the best and brightest from the ranks.
Much more ideologically diverse officer corps, much smarter and proficient too.
I wish it were that way, and it almost happened. When America was the land of the free and the brave, they almost got rid of the military academies.
Now the miltary academies are a permanent fact of life.
General Tommy Franks, by the way, started out at the bottom, so the military academy grads do not have it all sewn up. I'm not endorsing Franks, just commenting on his career path.
The vast majority of the kids who were there were from Christian high schools. It's a plan.
Well that's comforting. Not. I spend a lot of time bleating about the dangers of the american christian fundamentalist movement, but it's still upsetting to get empiracle evidence that I'm right. I really don't want to be right about this.
And like Billmon, I don't want to live in the society this imperial tide is going to create. The question is, is it too far along to push back? I'd like to say no, it's not too late, but I'd be lying if I said I really believed that.
A good read for the times: Queen Victoria's Little Wars (Farwell). What we can expect -- except even dirtier -- if the US continues on its bizarre "let's relive the 19th century" trajectory. In fact -- let me reconsider that -- what we have been experiencing for the last century, since the US took the sputtering torch of Empire from British hands.
I know many think we are far over the borders of Tin Foil Nation if we speculate about drug money, drug smuggling, and black ops -- a la Sibel Edmonds or 'Barking Mad' Mike Ruppert (previous thread). But hey, it worked for the British in China. Read up on the Opium Wars sometime. These guys have no new tricks up their sleeve, only newer and more obscene technology...
-------------
Billmon's latest is frightening, all the more so because it confirms my own thoughts -- I really would prefer to be further out in left field and not have sensible, well-read, more-moderate-than-myself people agreeing with me. Please, pooh-pooh my fears instead, tell me how silly I am! I've been arguing for 2 years with a dear old intensely literate friend about whether it is appropriate or not to use the F word about current trends in the US. My position has been affirmative, his -- bolstered by casual displays of bravura autodidactic scholarship -- negative. I fear I'm winning, despite my relative weakness as an historian.
I dread the drumbeat of imperium/fascism. I think the peak of my personal fear came right after 9/11 when suddenly US flags sprouted everywhere and mine was one of the very few houses on my block not flying one. Heard from friends in smaller towns that they had bought flags and mounted them because they were afraid not to, afraid to be the only house on the block flagless. A good friend o' mine is a child of Holocaust refugees (barely-made-it-out-in-time-people) and she shared the cold creeps going down my spine: red white and blue, she said, red white and black, it feels the same, it's the same violence in the air. We cringed from the bunting and the jingo bumperstickers, together.
There has been no time since then that I have not been at some level afraid, not been wondering whether it is time to get out, wondering how you decide when it's too late, wondering every time I fly whether I'm going to be pulled out of line at Security and detained. And at the same time there has been no day or night that I haven't been wondering if I'm being silly, if this is a ridiculous degree of paranoia; how can I imagine such bogeys under the bed, am I not getting as foolish as those who imagine Eeeevil Ay-rabs are Out to Git Us? Am I just being the little lefty drama queen, fearing the midnight knock at the door?
I suddenly have total, unreserved, painful empathy for those who could not believe the Weimar Republic was irreparably shattered, who stayed on believing the absurd, crude farce of Nazism could not possibly be taken seriously, must crumble of its own stupidity and ugliness. It's so easy with our 20/20 hindsight to say they should have seen the mene, mene appearing on the wall. They might have been right in their optimism [complacency?], you see -- if that mysterious thing called "public opinion" had tipped a different direction. Those who fled might have been the foolish ones, instead of those who stayed. Here we are apparently on the tipping point, being forced to place our bets. At what point is it rien ne va plus?
Billmon, you eloquent so&so, please stop agreeing with my nightmares.
"OK, boys, go out and shoot me some Reds!"
"Oh, Cap'n, we've been shooting reds and yellows all day long, and we're sooo sleepy..."
I grew up a military brat from 1960-1977. My parents actually got off the base as much as they could to sample the local culture and to live a real life, but I know what life is like on a military base from an observer's POV. As a city planner, I've been struck for years to the similarity of the average U.S. military base to a peculiarly American version of a socialist utopia, with its free health and dental care, subsidized vittles and booze, and modest but clean and well-maintained housing. But all that was amateur-league compared to the security garrisons they've become, with their black box high tech compounds and enforced, religious-based esprit de corps. Billmon is exactly right, and no one else I'm aware of is asking these kinds of questions. I'm sure some in the Pentagon and their consultants are dreaming of the future, but I'm not sure I want to know what kind of nightmare scenarios are being drawn up. For those who are curious, you might try reading Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. I for one no longer believe in the future, particularly an American one.
How would you run our overseas bases if you were emperor?
first, there wouldn't be over 700 of them.
but then, there wouldn't be an empire. hmm. guess that means i'd be out of my job as emperor.
sounds good to me.
DeAnande, semper ubi & four legs good
placing your texts together i feel the sadness that informs them
what i do not hear is bitterness - me i hear deceny's reason in your voices
it might not be much but it is much more than our enemies have
still steel
passports are up-to-date and they have relatives in Europe
...sorry, won't work. Dubya and Neocons just come to "liberate" you at their pleasure and convenience.
--ventura county, ca
They told me Jesus would carry me strong,
They said that he would make me whole.
But when men who speak his name don't know right from wrong
How can I trust Him with my soul?
Billmon,
Do you own shares in Diageo? LVMH? Any other liquor conglomerates? 'Cause this post plays so close to my deepest fears that I need a nice stiff bourbon. Or two. And a good cigar to mourn the passing of the last best hope of earth.
I'm not asking for feel-good news, but it would be nice to think that there was something we could do, besides voting in elections of questionable credibility. Or marching in pointless demonstrations.
Aaargh!
But, all the same, thanks and keep up the good work.
@ DeAnander
Billmon is talking about a possible future, a slippery path yet ? to be commenced ... still your paranoia, we are'nt there yet ... give in to the fear and submit and Bush & Co have won by default.
- Faith.Hope.STRENGTH -
or as rememberinggiap says - Still Steel - .
What I didn't expect was that our democracy would fundamentally change. I didn't expect that our government would use this as an excuse to turn against us. This is a fight I was not prepared for, and don't know how to fight.
This didn't start on 9/11- 9/11 just gave them the excuse to bring it out into the open. This process has been going on since the 70's when they started infiltrating local and state governments. They've just got enough of a power base to throw their weight around.
I don't know how to fight them either. How do you argue with people who are immune to logic and believe that you're wrong because you're going to hell?
Religion is at the root of all evil. We'll know we're beyond the point of no return when we see those trooper t-shirts with crucifixes and fish embroidered on them.
I swear on my mother, my first thought when I woke up and saw the first tower smoking, then the second tower get hit seconds later, was of the Reichstag.
But then, I've been a conspiracy theorist for about 25 years...
Heinlein's 'Revolt in 2100'(also sold as 'If This Goes On...') had a profound effect on me, when I read it as a kid.
I've pretty much lived in Arkansas since I was 6, and I was sent home from the 3rd grade, for refusing to pray at school. And this was a few years after the Supreme Court ruled against school prayer...
Re-reading Bill-'s initial post:
Once the precedent has been established that Army soldiers on active duty may be "invited" to party campaign rallies in unit
formation and under the discipline of their commanding officers, it's easy to imagine some creative GOP hack developing a
standard t-shirt (let's say with a red, white and blue color design) for those troops to wear.
Kerry's making Vets the backbone of his campaign & prominently displaying them @rallies. So, Bu$hCo might follow Billmon's "advice", considering it the power of incumbency!!
Jeff Lawson:
"If this goes on..." is one of my favorite stories from "The Past Through Tomorrow", the anthology I've read at least 7 times.
Just an FYI. ;-)
Yeah, well, I've sometimes pondered about military and the inherent insane risks, and some thoughts would be quite radical and unpopular. But a close look at history led me to see the huge problems of military going back to civil war, of vet armies coming back home with their newly-found strength (think Germany 1919, think Roman Empire), and other issues. And sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be wiser to never let the army come back; people enter the military forever, and can't go back to civil war. And they'll always remain in operation theatre, so that there's no risk they'll come back and cause mischief; otherwise, just wipe out your army once the war is over, so that you're left with only law-abiding peaceful civilians. Of course, none of this is even realistic, and the army would revolt and take power even before fighting the enemy.
Whatever, I'm still convinced we should be wary of any army, including our own, since after all armies are mostly similar and therefore there shouldn't be much differences between our national army and a foreign occupying army. An army feeds on the land it lives in, and the insane military budgets the US has makes me wonder if the US Army shouldn't actually be considered as an occupation army looting the country - or just think of the Israelis saying "Israel isn't a country with an army but an army that found a country". Ultimately, I'm very wary of people who enlist when it's voluntary/pro armies; the only moment where I may be not completely suspicious of an army and of the guys in military is when the country is directly attacked and actually invaded.
"the old loyalty - to the constitution of a sovereign republic - may also be untenable in the new world order" What most people don't realise is that means an extreme loyalty to the state, and with the crappy anti-government stuff from Repubs and loony Libertarians, this has basically disappeared in the US (not to mention the ultra-capitalist "greed is good" meme). People are ready to betray their country, their nation, their homeland, in favor of their company, in favor of their own pockets, when in normal conditions, people wouldn't hesitate to oust their corporation if it was involved in dubious business, and they would be hold as exemplary citizens. What I mean is that there's solid ground to argue that something like Enron is tantamount to high treason - notably with the theft during California energy crisis. But I have yet to hear any Dem who would go on record saying that anti-govt positions weakens the state and are a mild form of treason against the nation.
Though I think things aren't doomed yet for the US. THey could be far worse, for one obvious reason: almost no one could take Bush for "a divinely inspired hero", even Repubs. That's the current lucky situation. The wingnuts have to be annihilated now, when they don't have a decent charismatic and clever leader. If they find one, it will be far more difficult to counter.
Of course, there may be a quite fast way to moderate these tendencies in the US Army, and to ensure a major Republican defeat in Novembre. But having half the US Army literally destroyed in Iraq is quite a heavy price to pay.
Kate: I don't know if people misread Heinlein, but at least Verhoeven's movie is quite obvious in his depiction of a US society gone fascist - including the hilarious cause for the war: moronic missionaries butchered by the natives who didn't want to be pestered with their stupid religion and crass proselytisation.
Lupin: The problem was with the Germans, and they were better after the war, notably because the bulk of warmongers had been frozen to death by the Russian winter and millions of Nazi followers were not there to bring chaos to Germany or the world. And most of the survivors were disgusted. Of course, I still think the de-nazification was mostly a joke and partly failed - the 15% Germans that still have basically Nazi tendencies being proof the process hasn't been done to the end.
Aaron: easy, dismantle the totality of overseas bases and leave the natives settle their problems themselves.
rememberinggiap- I think you're correct about the decency.
The fundamental difference between them and me is that I can't imagine shooting at them, and I have no doubt that they wouldn't hesitate to kill me or anyone else that disagrees with them.
Most americans who have heard this stuff don't believe it. "Here? in america? it couldn't happen here."
They'll be saying that right up to the time the knock comes on their door.
The orientation was at a Catholic high school. The kids came in from the Houston region. I think more than just one county.
But from meeting many parents during the breaks, we're talkin' a lot of evangelical upstarts.
I have also heard a caller to a Houston radio shows brag about how many kids "we've" placed in the academies. This is Delay's town.
I'm not saying everybody was of that ilk, but a lot were. One parent asked the name of my congressman. She is a black Democrat. The man just said something like, "Oh, so you'll be applying through another office?" I mean, it was pretty blatant.
I have no idea how many liberal Democrats had a kid there for the orientation. There may have been a bunch.
undermining one of the core characteristics of sovereignty - the state's monopoly on organized violence.
Sort of wonder how that fits the fascism model. Political factionalism is unkind to centralized control. Rather than garrison state we get a gangland. The privatization of force seems amenable to warlordism rather than fascism. More like first world Somalia.
The Handmaid's Tale.
Margaret Atwood.
1986.
I happened to be in Russia on business last Spring when Bush invaded Iraq. I guess you could say that the Russian journalists were "imbedded" with the Iraqis. The TV coverage I saw there was quite different from what CNN,NBC,FOX,et al apparently showed you here.
I saw many, many Iraqi civilian casualties. And I saw Saddam's "army", who mostly looked like clusters of scared young Iraqi men standing with old AK-47s at different spots in Iraq, waiting for the American juggernaut to come. It didn't look like a very heroic moment for anyone involved.
These images came back to me this past week as America celebrated the president who defeated the Evil Empire.
But how has it come to pass that now I'm a citizen The Evil Empire?
God help us all.
Especially them.
jpalaska
Here's how we fought them back in the winter of 2002-3.
The naval air station at Whidbey Island was working with the local Republicans on "Support our president / Support our troops" rallies.
And there was all this blather on NPR and the rest of the "centrist" media about how vast majorities supported the march to war.
We knew it was bullshit. So we got people out on every freeway overpass for about 50 miles. Every Saturday from 11am to 1pm. And guess what?
More people started coming out every weekend. It started in mid-December. By the first week of February, there wasn't any more spew on the media about the whole damn country supporting the march to war.
See it here
I don't get Johnny Z's comment upstream: "it's our fault."
I been fighting these facist bastards since 1963. And still planning on winning in the long run... Goddamn whining libruls. 'Bout time we got us an armed peace movement.
[incoherent raving that goes on for an uncomfortably long time...]
[calms down a little]
Brandy, please. Anybody mind if I light up this here cigar? Steadies my nerves.
@warbaby
*chuckles heartily* - You enjoy your Brandy, I'm for the Scotch - Hope this ain't a no Smokin' Bar 'cause we can share them thar cigars ...
Once the precedent has been established that Army soldiers on active duty may be "invited" to party campaign rallies in unit formation and under the discipline of their commanding officers . . . .
Not with my tax dollar they don't. Active duty soldiers are employed full time by the US Government to defend America. Encouraging them to freelance at political rallies while on duty is the equivalent of stealing government funds.
Let the GOP spend from their campaign slush funds and hire mercenaries if they want to pad their rally turnouts. Hell, they can dress the contractors up in pink tutus for all I care. But active duty soldiers have no business attending campaign events on the public's nickel.
JZ and RGiap:
Facinating topic Billmon has given us here, but the rack monster calls me seductively.
RGiap, I will check out the book you recommended. I read a lot of history.
FLASHHARRY
remembereringgiap --
General Giap was brilliant at organizing for a war of national liberation; he wouldn't have done well in Iraq.
On second thought, he would have told us not to try -- because we couldn't win.
I remember a PBS program, with a video clip of Giap. I don't remember the question, but his response is still vivid. Giap just laughed and laughed, when asked what the Americans could have done to win.
A few years ago, NPR reviewed a book about a Marine Colonel, who was a very close to McNamara. When he was at Ford, McNamara was famous for knowing the cost of every part on a Mustang, but he didn't understand people, or relate to human suffering.
This Marine Colonel finally put the facts in a form that McNamara could understand -- a simple spreadsheet analysis. At the kill ratios we had, it would take a commitment of 1.2 million men for 20 years to defeat the North Vietnamese.
McNamara knew that was impossible; that was the beginning of the end for him.
@ Deborah (9:25pm)
"...“Watching from owner George Steinbrenner’s box, Karl Rove (Mr Bush’s political strategist) thought: ‘This is like being at a Nazi rally’.”
Great catch!
Had forgotten about that zinger from the previous Woodward Book. If I remember correctly Woodworm actually made light of the comment. Of course crap like that is the real problem because it's the cynics (journos/lobbos/politocos etc.) on the inside that deal in expediency who are truly to blame for this strangling of the age reason....
This post is truly a nightmare and I do see evidence of it everywhere. But as one from the 60's generation, excuse me, but I think if Bush is reelected, we will have to take to the streets. Let bush gun us down. Let him put all of us in prison.
We cannot leave America to these people. We cannot. While I was not a true "flower child" demonstrating everywhere, those kids who were shot on the Kent College campus were my generation. Many have died to keep our contry free, I mean truly free.
My kids our grown and have children of their own. I am mostly in a wheelchair, but gosh darn, I will not sit idly by and let that happen. And say what you will about Wes Clark, howard Dean, and others, but they will not remain silent.
It may be a long road, and people like me and others will have to stand up and be counted, again, but I believe many will stand up.
When I think it cannot get worse, I think about the civil war, when every family lost someone. They were fighting for our country, to keep us free. And think back to those days when blacks were lynched, when segregation was openly practiced, when childbirth often meant death -- yes we have had dark days in the past. We just have to fight. and then fight again.
Democracy is a very prescious commodity, it must be fought for, over and over again.
And I will be silent no longer.
http://www.thehistorynet.com/ahi/bl_bonus_march/
Kent State wasn't the first time.
It won't be the last.
History never sits still, is never over, and although it's been repeated often enough that it sounds trite today, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
The art of politics is getting large groups of people to agree on enough of the basics to keep them from killing each other, even though they may have serious differences. This is simply not possible in an atmosphere of disrespect and fear.
We need someone who can bring us together, not just promise "victory" for one side or the other.
The alternative is civil war. And we've seen what kind of carnage results when Americans decide to start killing each other in earnest. Lupin has a point, like it or not, and Americans have proven to be very, very excellent at killing.
On a slightly lighter note:
Privatizing the Military (Flash Animation
While we're enjoying our drinks, it occurs to me that on-duty soldiers won't show up @Political Rally again if there is a sufficient Outcry. We Need to Get On the Phone Pronto. (Or at least next time they want to pull that stunt they'll have to use excuse of security.)
Karl should know his Nazi rallies:
"Karl Rove has parallel ties. The shadowy Rove serves as "Bush's Brain" in the current White House. He is the political mastermind behind the California coup, and is now in the headlines for outing Valerie Plame, the CIA wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson. A consummate strategist, Rove may have outed Plame in retaliation for Wilson's failure to back up the Bush claim that Saddam Hussein was buying nuclear weapons materials in Africa. According to some published reports, as many as seventy CIA operatives have been put at risk by Rove's retaliatory strike.
"According to Wilson, and to Retired U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Al Martin (www.almartinraw.com), Rove's grandfather was Karl Heinz Roverer, the Gauleiter of Oldenburg. Roverer was Reich-Statthalter---Nazi State Party Chairman---for his region. He was also a partner and senior engineer in the Roverer Sud-Deutche Ingenieurburo A. G. engineering firm, which built the Birkenau death camp, at which tens of thousands of Jews, Gypsies, dissidents and other were slaughtered en masse.
"Rove, who has been based in Utah and associated with the Mormon Church, is widely viewed as the chief engineer of the current Bush administration."
link to Common Dreams article
Ok. So the US military is nothing but a neofacist noodnicks waiting to stomp on the revolution when it happens. That's what I'm getting out of Bill's post and the followup comments.
Whoa, folks. Put on the brakes for a moment.
As a former military guy and far leftist, I ain't buyin' it. Most of the "regulars" (the ladies and gents who are just doing their time and waiting to get out) are actually on our side of the fence - or most certainly, closer to it than you might think.
There are outlyers in every segment of the population, Boykin and Nobles being two great examples. We called them "lifers" and "ring tappers" when I was in the service. The guys (and gals) who do the grunt work don't fit the canvas of an armed Christian Militia that everyone here seems to be painting.
If I was not reading dissent like the Taguba report, if I was not familiar with the repetoire of such recent military ex-pats such as Shinseski and Clark (and there are many more like them still serving), or the enlisted puke who blew the whistle on Abu Ghraib, I might be worried about the military x-factor.
I'm not. The current group of facists want to keep the military as engaged as possible in offshore endeavors. The last thing Bush and his handlers would want is another Kent State. A Kent State would blow this administration (or any in the future that chose such a track) right out of the water. Neocons are not interested in armed confrontation with the citizenry. In fact, they are scared to death of just such a thing.
The military wing of any government will always be a concern in terms of enforcing domestic order. But I truly believe that very few in the military would actually take arms against their brothers and sisters, regardless of where the order to do so came from.
In the final analysis, I think the "powers that be" want you to believe that the U.S. miltary establishment would be willing to take action against their countrymen. If push ever came to shove, I don't think that would happen. Not in a thousand thousand years.
You think Fallujah was bad? Consider all the military capability the U.S. could muster being brought to bear against, say, Philadelphia. Fallujah would look like a Sunday picnic by comparison.
Do the math - number of actual combat fighters in the military (maybe 200-300 thousand) vs population of the U.S.
It ain't close.
Re-fucking-lax.
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned that Washington never told a lie
I learned that soldiers seldom die
I learnd that everybody's free
And thats what the teacher said to me
And thats what I learned in school today,
thats what I learned in school.
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned the policemen are my friends
I learned that justice never ends
I learned that murderes pay for their crimes,
Even if we make a mistake sometimes
And thats what I learned in school today,
Thats what I learned in school
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned that war is not so bad
I learned about the great once we had had
We fought in Germany and in France
And some day I might get my chance.
And thats what I learned in school today,
Thats what I learned in school
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned our goverment must be strong
It's always right and never wrong!
Our leaders are the finest men
And we elect them again and again
And thats what I learned in school today,
Thats what I learned in school
-- Tom Paxton
galiel:
Yes. "The Handmaid's Tale", and "If This Goes On..." and many more. Prescient. I wish they were the cup of tea for more people, but they are not, and I cut my teeth on such stories. Also Harlan Ellison ... "Quiet Lies the Locust Tells".
To the Person Sitting in Darkness, Mark Twain, to the NY Anti-Imperialist League, 1901.
"Extending the Blessings of Civilization to our Brother who Sits in Darkness has been a good trade and has paid well, on the whole; and there is money in it yet, if carefully worked -- but not enough, in my judgement, to make any considerable risk advisable. The People that Sit in Darkness are getting to be too scarce -- too scarce and too shy. And such darkness as is now left is really of but an indifferent quality, and not dark enough for the game. The most of those People that Sit in Darkness have been furnished with more light than was good for them or profitable for us. We have been injudicious.
The Blessings-of-Civilization Trust, wisely and cautiously administered, is a Daisy. There is more money in it, more territory, more sovereignty, and other kinds of emolument, than there is in any other game that is played. But Christendom has been playing it badly of late years, and must certainly suffer by it, in my opinion. She has been so eager to get every stake that appeared on the green cloth, that the People who Sit in Darkness have noticed it -- they have noticed it, and have begun to show alarm. They have become suspicious of the Blessings of Civilization. More -- they have begun to examine them. This is not well. The Blessings of Civilization are all right, and a good commercial property; there could not be a better, in a dim light. In the right kind of a light, and at a proper distance, with the goods a little out of focus, they furnish this desirable exhibit to the Gentlemen who Sit in Darkness..." (much more at link)
Richard Cranium: Most of the "regulars" (the ladies and gents who are just doing their time and waiting to get out)
Why are they doing that, Richard? Why did you? Inquiring minds. Why do something to "just do time"? My question is a serious one. I think interrupting that "just doing time" process is paramount for those of us on the Happy Planet. Why just do time in the military when one could work in social services for equal pay? Why not become a doctor? Why not become a teacher?
This question has never been answered to my satisfaction by anyone, and I really want to know why marking time in the military is a good thing, when at any time the government could create another war and the time markers could be sent off to shoot someone else's child. You know me, Richard. I'm not really being confrontational with you. I really would like to hear. (read LOL)
I don't get Johnny Z's comment upstream: "it's our fault."
The country is going to have a military with an officer corp. Nothing will ever change that. The only way the officer corp is not going to be dominated by one political wing is having kids from all wings enlist and pursue careers as officers.
There is absolutely no way around that.
It's morning in America - and in Iraq...
"As Mr Bush and Tony Blair were speaking this week about a new beginning for Iraq, the supply of electricity in the country has fallen from 12 hours a day to six hours. On Canal Street yesterday, close to the bombed-out UN headquarters, there was a two-mile long queue of cars waiting to buy petrol."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=530692
Warbaby --
If I recall correctly, the Rove-Roverer connection has been discredited.
Prescott Bush's role as a Nazi war profiteer, on the other hand, were further substantiated over the winter by John Buchanan. It seems that siezure of the Union Banking Corporation stock in 1942 was just the beginning.
Of course, there's always that unpleasantness at Auschwitz.
"The Great Escape" just came on the History Channel. The Nazis running the camp were very civlized compared to Am. running AbuG. Cheers!
Anyone remember or read about the Military Coup in Greece in the late 60's? Memory of which is not incidental to any Am. heading to the Olympics this summer - according to Chalmers Johnson the Greeks still Hate Americans. Anyway, the first thing the Colonels did, when they seized power, was pull out the lists compiled & given them by the CIA & start rouding people up. Apropos of which, there was a demo. this wk. @Biotech Conference in SF. W/NO Warning the police moved in & started bashing heads, etc. When subsequently confronted, the police admitted they had over-reacted. They agreed to release everyone & drop charges - IF they were given everyone's names.
richard cranium
think you misread the tenor of billmons post & other people here
what people fear is worse than fascist armies in open assault against their own population - though they are & will be used when other means are not available to them
but they have a repetoire of means - which is the slow death of fascism that people are speaking about here - the vulgarisation of their life & its meaning & that is what happened in weimar & that is why people - absolutely normal people chose the little austrian thug & his company
when you livie inside your head as if it was a garrison - then the physical reality of a garrison is not so very far away even if they never need to go there
but i think you underestimate what your judicial system for example has become - & until i start seeing some of the bigboys with their jackets over their heads - i will not relent from what i'm saying. your justice system is being dismantled & it is being dismantled for a reason & the reasons are connected to the way ordinary americans will live in the forseeable future & that is the prettiest picture i can paint. i think they will go further, much further
prudence & vigilance are necessary
still steel
Richard Cranium has a good summation. Sure the GOP can count on quite a few power point commandos(officers) but they are not trigger pullers and if they gave any sort of order to kill American citizens, the officer in charge wouldn't live out the day.
This is not to say there are some real cold blooded fuckers who wouldn't waste their own people. There is, but luckily they are not in the majority.
The best scenario the Neocons and conservatives can hope for is a Soviet style military where each unit has a political officer to insure the enlisted ranks are properly bullshitted and monitored for politically incorrect behavior.
Of course this would destroy the military for any sort of real combat and hence the GOP dream of world wide war.
Jeff Lawson: "Oh, Cap'n, we've been shooting reds and yellows all day long, man, and we're sooo sleepy..."
What are we gonna do Lieutenant?
WHAT are we gonna do Lieutenant?
What are we gonna DO Lieutenant?
We're gonna lock and load, private.
;-)
Why are they doing that, Richard?
Because it's the option available when we're 18 (or 20) and no other viable options exist.
I'm doing a bit of a reality check tonight, that's all. Civilized nations have armed militias ("the military") to protect their interests. Always have, always will. I think the U.S. has, by and large since the revolution, done a better job than most in keeping a nice separation between the civilian and military wing of the government.
That our military has become a hired gun on the world stage (or "world police" if you'd rather) is another argument for another day.
I don't know if you noticed but the last round of base closings were largely an evacuation of urban areas in favor of rural areas. This conveniently avoids exposing the troops to the intellectual, political and cultural 'pollution' of our cities.
Unfortunately, as we discovered on 911, protecting corn fields leaves us poorly disposed to protect the urban areas which are the nations goddam POPULATION CENTERS.
I saw many, many Iraqi civilian casualties. And I saw Saddam's "army", who mostly looked like clusters of scared young Iraqi men standing with old AK-47s at different spots in Iraq, waiting for the American juggernaut to come. It didn't look like a very heroic moment for anyone involved.
Gad. That's just appalling. You know what else freaked me out? when Saddam's 13 year old grandson was killed along with the sons. I kept imagining how frightened that boy must have been- how truly dreadful the last minutes of his life must have been. Horrifying.
Kate: I can't speak for Richard, but I joined just in case I needed to know that kind of stuff to use here at home to defend myself against the Army, someday ;-)
Seriously.
OK, I'm far from 'normal'. I know it. I've learned to live with it.
The Willing Conscript
Words and Music by Tom Paxton
Oh Sergeant I'm a draftee and I've just arrived in camp.
I've come to wear the uniform and join the martial tramp.
And I want to do my duty, but one thing I do implore
You must give me lessons, sergeant, for I've never killed before.
To do my job obediently is my only desire.
To learn my weapon thoroughly and how to aim and fire.
To learn to kill the enemy and then to slaughter more,
I'll need instruction, sergeant, for I've never killed before.
Now there are several lessons that I haven't mastered yet.
I haven't got the hang of how to use the bayonet.
If he doesn't die at once am I to stick him with it more?
Oh, I hope you will be patient, for I've never killed before.
Oh, there are rumors in the camp about our enemy.
They say that when you see him he looks just like you and me.
But you deny it, Sergeant, and you are a man of war,
So you must give me lessons, for I've never killed before.
The hand grenade is something that I just don't understand.
You've got to throw it quickly or you're apt to lose your hand.
Does it blow a man to pieces with it's wicked, muffled roar?
Oh, I've got so much to learn because I've never killed before.
Oh, I want to thank you, Sergeant, for the help you've been to me.
For you've taught me how to slaughter and to hate the enemy.
And I know that I'll be ready when they march me off to war,
And I know that it won't matter that I've never killed before.
And I know that it won't matter that I've never killed before.
Background and raw source material re US & Greece:
1945-1974: Greece, Questioning the Cold War.
The US creates the Greek secret police (the KYP) and backs military coups in 1949, 1967 and 1973. Dictatorships ruled during the periods of 1949-1952 and 1967-1974.
One can cite the essential brutality of the first US dicatorship in Greece as beyond excessive considering the US's ostensible goals of simple containment of Communist expansion (and I am not in a position to deny that there were Communists seeking control, rather the opposite), but since then US involvement in Greece has demonstrated, if anything, that no element of democratic rule not in strict alliance with US interests was permissible. As far as Greece is concerned the values of democracy, self-rule, and human rights in US foreign policy don't hold much water.
One common misconception is that the creation and continued support for Greek dictatorship was in response to the 1948 Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia:
The Soviet crackdown on Czechoslovakia in 1948 therefore flowed logically from the inauguration of the Marshall Plan program, and was confidently predicted by United States government observers six months in advance of the event.
It is clear from the above that the sudden consolidation of Communist power in Czechoslovakia in 1948 was not a sign of any "new Soviet aggressiveness" and had nothing to do with any Soviet decision to launch its military forces against the West.
--George Kennan; Report to the US Dept of State from American Embassy in Moscow, September 8, 1952 (raw source references - declassified)
On the other hand, as the report describes, it might be quite easy to understand the US's initial zealotry immediately after WWII given the widespread misconceptions that often prevailed in policy making; I see little room for such blindness by the time of the 1967 coup. Among other statements made by Kennan in the Moscow Embassy report, "The attempt to portray the outside world as menacing, whether or nor it actually was so at any given moment, has been part of the stock in trade of Soviet rule." applies as well to Western governments, particularly the US - and such is essentially described in the same document about public statements made by officials in favor of the formation of NATO. Both states exacerbated public fears of the other, misleading and exploiting the domestic populations, and inevitably increasing the likelihood that those same fears would be realized - quite beyond the point where if such fears were realized human life would be extinguished. And all for a popularity contest between two particularly unsavory characters: one a thought-policing butcher, the other a demented, senile madman.
The most obvious question is whether defense against Communist dictatorship (or the "promotion of democracy") required outright and unquestioned support for proto-facist dictatorships - a highly dubious assumption, and an expensive one in this instance, costing some 150,000 lives.
@ Warbaby-- Thanks....although that link from the FreePress is a little over the top I think James Moore (author of Bush'sBrain) nails the essence of Mr. Rove's expedient nature:
"....Rove fancies himself an expert in both policy and politics because he sees no distinction between the two. This matters for a number of reasons. There is always a time during any president's administration when what is best for the future of the country diverges from what best serves that president's political future. If Rove is standing with George W. Bush at that moment, he will push the president in the direction of reelection rather than the country's best interests."
So, if Rove has already done this with a foreign war, what is to stop him from playing a few rounds of SpeerFactor for the TV cameras. May work, may not work and at the outset Karl doesn't really care, but if it gets bounce, look out.
And therein lies the rub Richard C, because in the beginning it only takes a few. Thus, I believe that Billmon is quite right....
".... it's an incremental process - one of fits and starts, albeit with occasional leaps forward, as in the 2000 election."
And that's what Karl, like so many propagandists before him, is always trolling for - the Great Leap Forward.
I'm not at all concerned about this. The guys who are trying to politicize the military keep getting into trouble. Would guess that there's a lot of resentment of some of those political Pentagon appointees by the career military who are more inclined to be realists than yes-men.
There is always going to be a certain elitist attitude especially in a volunteer military. Have to agree that the majority attitude is Republican and serious Christianity. Both because that's who self-selects and because of the social importance of the church in the places where the volunteers come from. However, it seems to me that while they may vote conservative they are still professional.
Was thinking about the Padilla case, what if the Supreme Court decided he should be turned over to the judicial system and the executive branch refused to release him? I think the military still takes the vow to uphold the Constitution seriously.
Jeff Lawson:
I can't speak for Richard, but I joined just in case I needed to know that kind of stuff to use here at home to defend myself against the Army, someday ;-) Seriously. OK, I'm far from 'normal'. I know it. I've learned to live with it.
Yeah. Jeff. I know a handful of guys that "learned to live with it" (sort of) ... enlisting because it seemed the only option is not good enough in my opinion. Like the mother in the song says, mothers need to stop their sons (and now their daughters too) from doing that. Defending one's self against the Army is another matter entirely.
Far from normal? NORMAL. LOL.
My mostly discounted position is that the cost to human civilization is too high ... enlisting because it was "the only thing left." (or seemed so) It's actually very Heinleinesque when you think about it ... Be reconditioned or it's Coventry for you, bucko. Service guarantees citizenship.
The Happy Planet is a pretty fucked up place.
Richard Cranium has a good summation. Sure the GOP can count on quite a few power point commandos(officers) but they are not trigger pullers and if they gave any sort of order to kill American citizens, the officer in charge wouldn't live out the day.
This is not to say there are some real cold blooded fuckers who wouldn't waste their own people. There is, but luckily they are not in the majority.
I think you guys are dreaming. Of course I live in Texas where everyone is crazy.
otherwise, just wipe out your army once the war is over, so that you're left with only law-abiding peaceful civilians.
Well, that's essentially what we used to do - up until World War II. It was called demobilization.
But we've been a permanent war footing more or less for the past 60 years. After each war - Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War - there's usually been a modest attempt to cut back on the military, but those efforts have gotten progressively weaker as the M-I complex has gotten progressively stronger.
"the old loyalty - to the constitution of a sovereign republic - may also be untenable in the new world order" What most people don't realise is that means an extreme loyalty to the state, and with the crappy anti-government stuff from Repubs and loony Libertarians, this has basically disappeared in the US
That's an interesting point, and probably helps explain the increasingly fascist tendencies within the conservative movement, and the Christian fundamentalist wing of that movement in particular.
The movement has invested an enormous amount of political capital in demonizing the non-military side of the federal government - which the Christian right now basically regards as the devil's service bureau. So loyalty to the government - and to the constitution as conventionally interpreted by "mainstream" judges - has become problematic. It conflicts too much with the prevailing ideology within the movement.
As a result, that loyalty - or what conservatives perceive as patriotism - is migrating to more hospitable destinations, such as the person of the leader (who is, after all, a "good Christian man"), to the military establishment (the "good" federal goverment) and to abstract symbols like the flag and the concept of the "homeland," which can defined as a kind of reactionary ideal of America, cleansed of gays, atheists, liberals, etc.
The final step in the process, I think, is the creation of a legal doctrine that negates traditional constitutional doctrines - the separation of church and state, checks on executive power, congressional power of the purse, etc. In effect, this doctrine (which is more propagandistic than legal)becomes the basis for a new authoritarian pseudo-constitution, which can be held up to the movement faithful as the real one.
It's easy to imagine where this might lead: If you can convince enough military people that the real Constitution is whatever the party says it is, then you've converted their solemn oath to uphold and defend the Constitution into an oath of loyalty to the party. And if you can convince them that the party is whatever the leader says it is, then you've turned it into a personal oath of loyalty to the leader.
That's why the legal memos now floating up out of the Justice Department and the Pentagon are so appalling. They're further steps along the road that eventually replaces the Constitution with the leader's will.
Political factionalism is unkind to centralized control. Rather than garrison state we get a gangland.
No, we still get centralized control, but it's through the party and its patronage machine, not the traditional institutions of the state. Rather than gangland, we get more of what we've got now, except without the occasional election.
Tom Lehrer, "Send the Marines"
His intro: "What with President Johnson practicing escalation on the Vietnamese and then the Dominican crisis on top of that it has been a nervous year and people have begun to feel like a Christian scientist with appendicitis. Fortunately in times of crisis just like this America always has this number one instrument of diplomacy to fall back on. Here's a song about it."
"When someone makes a move
Of which we don't approve,
Who is it that always intervenes?
U.N. and O.A.S.,
They have their place, I guess,
But first send the Marines!
We'll send them all we've got,
John Wayne and Randolph Scott,
Remember those exciting fighting scenes?
To the shores of Tripoli,
But not to Mississippoli,
What do we do? We send the Marines!
For might makes right,
And till they've seen the light,
They've got to be protected,
All their rights respected,
'Till somebody we like can be elected.
Members of the corps
All hate the thought of war,
They'd rather kill them off by peaceful means.
Stop calling it aggression,
O we hate that expression.
We only want the world to know
That we support the status quo.
They love us everywhere we go,
So when in doubt,
Send the Marines!
From the Sydney Morning Herald: Stop Clapping, This Is Serious, on Tom Lehrer, still making people crazy after all these years.
That's why the legal memos now floating up out of the Justice Department and the Pentagon are so appalling. They're further steps along the road that eventually replaces the Constitution with the leader's will.
Yeah, but chimpy says that he told'm to act within the law (nevermind that his minions are trying to redefine what the law says) so we oughta be comforted.
Now all you freaky liberals be comforted goddamn it!! Or else. [/sarcasm]
KateS--
Ya know, more and more, I'm thinking it's time to chuck everything else that thud's against my doorstop and spring for a print subscription to the SMHerald.....
Billmon--, maybe I'm just thicker than usual tonight but not sure how your last paragraph describes anything other than gangland, after all they're already running the numbers.
It's interesting to see that the Yee Conspiracy Theory which I posted first back on, lessee, May 18 is taking hold as a meme.
It's also interesting to me that Europe, which *does* have, in many places, mandatory Wehrdienst and always has, *isn't* leaping headlong into neo-imperialism, by notable comparison to us.
--Paul Verhoeven Didn't Get Heinlein. There are several Heinleins, but he Didn't Get *any* of them. (Heinlein married a country-club Republican later in life, as I understand it, and under her tutelage morphed away from his original sf-typical libertarianism.) But the book Starship Troopers is an extremely complicated one, one which no action movie could ever do justice to, and the issues have been debated at great length and with enough heat to power a large foundry for years on Usenet among sf fans of all ages. (Along with the not-unrelated subject of Kipling, who with Jane Austen and lyricist Gilbert ranks among the best-known, most parodied authors in fandom. You don't know what you're missing, if you haven't read The Terminator done as if by JA, or Xena et al recast as the Pirates of Penzance...)
It isn't a simple-minded fascist fable. It isn't a paean to masculine strength.
It does have a troubling philosophy - but that's the overall us-vs-themness that *everyone* almost unconsciously accepts, which is very hard to jolt yourself out of, that "we" are necessarily the good guys, and survival is a moral mandate, only in Heinlein's semi-Utopia (it's a flawed one, not presented as either dys or Utopia) the "we" is extended farther than anyone ever has, practically speaking, because the "us" is all humanity, not broken into petty rivalries of color or creed or lines on a map.
The problem is, that it's essentially moral relativism. Justice is subject to survival, and by that rule, anything goes. That was - really, according to a survivor of the Nazi purge of Universities I once talked to - the root of fascism. But it is also the root of every other "rational self-interest" movement. After all, if you *don't* take it, then you have to admit that maybe you aren't the good guys, and maybe by your own principles you *ought* to get clobbered. Who would *dare* to admit such a thing? You'd say you're *not* obligated to put your own flesh-and-blood over all other beings in the universe? Inhuman!
The only real answer I've read to it (in fiction, not metaphyics) is - Ender's Game.
But this political philosophy, while *central* to the Wisdom Teaching of Starship Troopers, isn't central to the story of the novel. Which comprises a rich kid growing up fast, learning responsibility and losing friends - but a lot more.
Imagine, it's the mid-1950s, and someone writes a milsf book in which not only is the narrator a Latino plutocrat, but it's simply taken for granted that males will be wearing earrings. In which women flying combat is *assumed,* along with the claim that they would make superior pilots.
This is the era of MacCarthy and June Cleaver, and RAH is painting manly warrior dudes in jewelry and female officers on active duty as part of a positive future model.
--When I hit those parts, I instantly understood why the book was so controversial when it came out...almost as bad as The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress with its normative serial polygamy and vision of rebel heroes bombing earth...
Here's the Free Press article debunking the Rove/Roverer fabrication. I should have known better, but... Oh well, both sources cited.
Thanks ck and RossK.
@ JohnnyZ: I get your point now. But it used to be that the officer corps was authoritarian, but politics was pretty much out of bounds. Not that there weren't plenty of right-wing officers, but the service had an institutional tradition of being apolitical. That's changed.
And for the record, I like the military. I like working with ex-military people. And I like drinking in VFW bars. But not because of the politics. I think the military is a necessary thing. And I think it's a damn shame that Johnson and Nixon ruined it in Vietnam and that Bush has gone and wrecked it again.
There could be a time when we need the military. It seems really stupid to wreck it like this. And like a pistol, a gasmask or a handcuff key, when you really need it, you really need it.
I should explain a little, I suppose. My experience in tight spots (mostly doing human rights work) has been that good people come out of the military. And there are plenty of people in the military who are very conscious of the military's role as uncivil society protecting civil society.
That't the point Billmon is making with the reference to "American military coup of 2012" article in Parameters.
Borussky says the best people in the Army are the colonels who never made general.
And using troops for domestic political purposes is about as rotten as things can get. Bad for the troops, bad for the country.
@Outraged: The book you are looking for is Gabriel Kolko's The Politics of War. It has a very complete rundown of the Greek civil war at the end of WWII. Though I also recommend Walter Karp's book of the same title.
Speaking of books, Dave (Orcinus) Neiwert's new book is going to hit the streets next week.
The bar seems awfully busy tonight.
The best ally of the fascists are -- the fascists, the 30% of the population that supports the Beast and will keep the rest of us in line.
I remember reading an article about a year ago in the LA TIMES (I think) about the very large number of ordinary people who turned FBI informants during the 50ies. Surprisingly high.
In East Germany, wasn't about 30% of people spying on behalf of the STASI?
The only critical mass you need to have a fascist regime is about 30%. (Come to think of it Hitler was elected with that number I believe?)
Forget the army. We have met the enemy...
http://www.kevgillett.net/mt/archives/000338.html
Rather depressing exchange.
I forgot to mention that Lehrer wrote most of his songs before 1970.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. (Plus de choses changent, plus qu'ils restent la même chose.)
“Last day of despotism, first day of the same.” – a folk saying
Billmon--, maybe I'm just thicker than usual tonight but not sure how your last paragraph describes anything other than gangland, after all they're already running the numbers.
OK, fair enough, call it a gangland. But a gangland in which one Mafia family has bumped off all the other families, and now runs the police department.
Ross:
I really love the Sydney Morning Herald. But you know the joke the Aussies tell about the US and Australia right? England sent the puritans to the colonies in N. America. They sent the criminals to Australia. They think they got the better deal. ;-)
The Vote-Counting Question is not being taken lightly in this country, btw. I've been urging people to hassle their congresscritters about it with a bullet on my page for weeks.
Now, according to a CNN article, there's a huge rift in the League of Women Voters, with the incumbent president possibly to be ousted over her resistance to the "paper trail" demand.
Meanwhile, over on Making Light, (which was my checkpoint crossing into Blogistan) the discussion is also intense and pragmatic (if sf-themed naturally) on how to ensure honesty in the ballots.
I tend to think as well that the US, not having had much experience of national catastrophe and openly corrupt elections, despairs too quickly of what effects pressure can have even on open despots backed by gun-toting thugs. Are there any about who have had experience working in supervising elections for the UN or other international agencies? Surely if third-world countries can do it, because they care, surely so can we -- are we less than those civil servants and teachers and volunteers who handcuffed themselves to the ballot boxes and guarded them with their own persons, to prevent tampering? Are there no more heroes left?
Personally, I think - so long as we do not give in to the despair that it is hopeless which *ensures* that it shall be hopeless - that there are, and will be. But it requires planning and organization in advance. --But we have a third of a year left.
Kipling was a cautionary poet of Empire, who was at once both awed by, and incredibly saddened by, the excesses and tendencies to which it is prone, I think. Highly recommended reading, and more pertinent every day, it seems. To my sorrow.
http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/kipling_ind.html
Richard C. - Yes, I think there are all sorts of opinions in the military, as the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq showed.
however, what the invasion also showed is the determination by the neocons to remove or destroy anyone who disagrees with them.
Zinni was called a traitor. Shinseki was overruled by the Donald, then pushed out.
The purge ongoing on in the govt right now is the republican attempt to create a one party nation.
That's what the redistricting has been about...Texas, Colorado...of course, the redistricting started as a way to have minority representation, but again the repubs figured out they could exploit the idea to carve out a one party continuous, though unrepresentative "majority."
But you have the "appearance" of democracy when you have a few guaranteed dem seats....but no prospect for a majority.
That's what Arnold was about (and the El Paso/Enron energy manipulation). The recall was paid for by a republican...by one person, basically.
With so many in the military going in straight out of high schools that don't really teach critical thinking...
And with the reactionary radio and fox news personalities to spout the talking points..
btw, I hear people calling this fascism all the time. these are not the usual dreadlocked suspects, but retirees and mothers of young children.
I think the dems need to realize the amount of opposition to the republicans that is out in the land. We want people who also represent us.
Robert Service was very good also, although the website set up for him doesn't work as well, to my taste. It's not as easy to browse individual poems, but you may want to peruse through "Rhymes of a Red Cross Man".
Top Israelis Boycott Reagan's State Funeral
The neo-conservatives are trying to glom George W. Bush's presidency onto Reagan's legacy. Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, Donald Rumsfeld, John Bolton, Elliott Abrams, Dick Cheney, Scooter Libby, David Wurmser, John Hannah, Richard Perle, Michael Ledeen and the other Bush administration officials who carried out Sharon's and the Likud's plan to invade and destabilize Iraq should be asked one very important question: If George W. Bush is so much like Ronald Reagan, why did Reagan, First Lady Nancy Reagan, and Chief of Staff Howard Baker in 1987 purge the administration of the neo-cons who damaged him through their involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal? Is this why Israel snubbed Reagan's funeral? After the neo-cons, like the 17-year cycle Brood X cicadas, re-emerged to infest the Bush II administration and handed him a "Weaponsgate," "Plamegate," and "Torturegate" trifecta of major scandals, they stand poised to actually bring down this administration.
four legs:
I think you guys are dreaming. Of course I live in Texas where everyone is crazy.
Since I'm a Left Coast woman, can I assume I qualify as sane? ROFL! Just kidding...
Jeff Lawson:
My dad used to read Kipling out loud when my sisters and I were kids. The only thing I ever memorized was:
You're a better man than I am Gunga Din. But I agree with you. Kipling had a pre-Frostian love affair with the world. ;-)
Kate, we seem to have remarkably simliar tastes in music and literature ;-)
I can guarantee that I'm no pacifist, however. I will defend myself. Vigorously.
Jeff Lawson:
Robert Service????? Mercy. Have mercy! It was Kipling and Service on long late nights with my father. Are you the brother I longed for so long ago? (I was the oldest of three girls)
Well, you've sufficiently scared the crap out me...
Well folks --
Me and my drinking buddies -- Dr Pangloss and Polly Anna -- are feeling a bit more sanguine than you'all seem to be.
The DoD and DoJ Torture Advisory Memos are horrible, but they may yet lead to the memo Bush signed off on. And if Bush did that, I have a hard time believing their wouldn't be significant defections from the GOP.
I agree that the proto-fascist trends of the Bush GOP are chilling, but I'm not sure the military is along for the ride.
Most of the enlisted personnel are kids, looking for a job and tuition and a way to get ahead in life. While the Black Shirt indoctrination is out there, I'm not sure that the majority of soldiers are good candidates for that crap.
Most of them are apolitical, more interested in beer and movies than GOP rallies.
They've also had a serious consciousness raising by the Iraq FUBAR -- and it's not an awareness that benefits BushCo.
Basically, I think the pendulum is swinging the other way, and the military will be glad when it happens.
Of course, this is all predicated upon democracy and stuff; and with the Osama Factor (9/11: The Sequel) hanging over us like a bad dream, it's hard to be confident in that election thingy working out as planned. Diebold or no Diebold.
But other than the worst case scenarios, things seem to be moving in the right direction.
kinda, sorta . . .
Aw, that happens every time I meet a gal I like, she says I seem like a brother :-D
"Where have you been this while away,
Johnnie, Johnnie?"
'Long with the rest on a picnic lay,
Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha!
They called us out of the barrack-yard
To Gawd knows where from Gosport Hard,
And you can't refuse when you get the card,
And the Widow gives the party.
(Bugle: Ta--rara--ra-ra-rara!)
"What did you get to eat and drink,
Johnnie, Johnnie?"
Standing water as thick as ink,
Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha!
A bit o' beef that were three year stored,
A bit o' mutton as tough as a board,
And a fowl we killed with a sergeant's sword,
When the Widow give the party.
"What did you do for knives and forks,
Johnnie, Johnnie?"
We carries 'em with us wherever we walks,
Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha!
And some was sliced and some was halved,
And some was crimped and some was carved,
And some was gutted and some was starved,
When the Widow give the party.
"What ha' you done with half your mess,
Johnnie, Johnnie?"
They couldn't do more and they wouldn't do less,
Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha!
They ate their whack and they drank their fill,
And I think the rations has made them ill,
For half my comp'ny's lying still
Where the Widow give the party.
"How did you get away -- away,
Johnnie, Johnnie?"
On the broad o' my back at the end o' the day,
Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha!
I comed away like a bleedin' toff,
For I got four niggers to carry me off,
As I lay in the bight of a canvas trough,
When the Widow give the party.
"What was the end of all the show,
Johnnie, Johnnie?"
Ask my Colonel, for I don't know,
Johnnie, my Johnnie, aha!
We broke a King and we built a road --
A court-house stands where the reg'ment goed.
And the river's clean where the raw blood flowed
When the Widow give the party.
(Bugle: Ta--rara--ra-ra-rara!)
i could be wrong about this, but i remember hearing or reading not long ago that until recently it was traditional for active military officers to not vote. apparently this was common well into the post wwii peiod. does anyone know anything about that?
i'm not saying they shouldn't, and i'm sure they were allowed to vote. they just chose not to, i guess because their loyalties were not to a party or individual. like i say, i don't know much about it, or even if it's true.
Jeff Lawson:
I forgot to mention another late night favorite of my dad... The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
Yes, ck, we may get over this fascist kick. However I do think that it's far too late for the Republic, as such, for we are already well and truly along the road to Empire.
Ah, here's to the Republic. I hardly knew ye.
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round :
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
But oh ! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover !
A savage place ! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover !
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced :
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail :
And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean :
And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war !
The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves ;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice !
A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw :
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 'twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome ! those caves of ice !
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware ! Beware !
His flashing eyes, his floating hair !
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
-- Samuel Coleridge
Jeff,
We do have at least similar literary history. But your assumption that I will not defend myself is a bad guess. ;-) I really like finding people who've read the same stuff my dad hammered at us long hours in the 60s and 70s. I'm an "interesting" sort of "pacifist". I actually think the term is oft misused. I'm call myself anti-imperialist, personal secessionist and anarchist... for lack of better words... I do think that violence is a last resort, something the US government has not EVER thought of. But that's what government do. I think there are better viable ways for large groups of people to cooperate with other large groups of people. Of course, that is not what we have now. We have governments talking for us without listening to what we want. I'm for working locally to change minds. I'm for not letting snakes cross my path.
...and some say drugs have no legitimate recreational purpose ;-)
Since I'm a Left Coast woman, can I assume I qualify as sane?
You shouldn't make any assumptions.
For what it's worth: I think it's impossible to overstate the contempt that the officer corps developed for Clinton and Madeleine Albright. This was, in large measure, a direct consequence of the never-ending, non-defense-related missions of that administration. When criticism of the president and his policies seeped out - and it did often in his second term - JAGs would issue strongly-worded "reminders" that such criticism is actionable. In other words: Shut the fuck up.
Well, you only need to learn that lesson once, right? So shut the fuck up, it is.
from Billmon (and I hope he's gone to bed now EDT)..
".....fair enough, call it a gangland. But a gangland in which one Mafia family has bumped off all the other families, and now runs the police department."
Which begs the question.....what don't they run?
______
KateS and JeffL....noticed this affinity between the two of you awhile back on ASZ when you seemed to be marching to the lyrics of a different drummer.....
Something Heinlein wrote has stuck with me. He said that some people spit out the word 'politician' as if it were some sort of curse word, when it's the highest calling there is. Or words to that effect. The alternative to politics is killing people who disagree with you. It may be necessary, but it should always be the very, very last resort.
I was going to bed, but now my heart is pounding so hard...and I'm cold, too...so I'll read the comments after posting this, and hope there's some remedy for this sea change in my emotional state. Damn! This eternal vigilance is nerve-wracking right now!
it's far too late for the Republic, as such, for we are already well and truly along the road to Empire.
I don't think so -- Iraq is the high water mark of the American Empire, and it's all retreat from there.
BushCo has broken the both the Army and the Marines, and the troops know it. It will take years to replace the equipment that has been lost to the Iraq sands, and years to rebuild the morale that has been destroyed by the excellent adventure FUBAR.
American military hegemony is based on our potential lethal threat, rather than our actual ability to deliver. Iraq has exposed the fundamental weakness of American Military Power -- we have neither the troops, nor the stomach, for Empire.
And that -- may be the best lesson from Iraq -- if it can be absorbed by the body politic. My sense is, Bush's falling poll numbers are an indication of a desire to return to a more rational and less aggressive foreign policy.
The Bush Doctrine is deader than a doornail; we will leave Iraq soon enough, and it will be a long time before we are tempted by another pre-emptive war.
Depending on Regime Change here at home, of course.
Oh my gosh... so much to respond to and so few brain cells leftover.
Affinity with Jeff. Yeah I like that. I like affinity. ;-)
Jeff Lawson: When did Heinlein say that about the word 'politician'? Dates, man. Stories. The alternative to politics is not killing people, silly man. You are talking "lesser of weavils" here. Human beings lived long on the earth before the advent of civilization. And before you tromp on that, I'm not advocating a return to primitivism. But we "moderns" think that nothing will come beyond the "civilization" we have now, and I'll arm 'wrassle' you about that. ;-)
RossK: You perceptive fox, you! ;-)
I'll repeat here something I posted in response to Richard at ASZ:
Afghanistan, graveyard of Empires. It bled the Russians dry, and they came from next door. Did anyone really believe we had it (them) under our control??
The last person to do that was Genghis Khan.
They still miss him, there. Talk about a long memory, and viewpoint...
I hope you're right, ck. It's an encouraging thought :-)
And despair is a sin...
Wow.
I just read Lupin's post of 8;30 PM and linked to "The Fourteen Defining Characteristics of Fascism."
As I scrolled down I kept hoping that one of the statements would not apply.
It didn't work out that way.
Yup. They were all there. As the gradualism accelerates...we wait.
Nothing like a little suspense.
Jill B.
@ Jeff Lawson
Re Afghanistan, yep. The British attempt was wiped out to virtually the last man, twice. Then the CCCP. We don't 'control' afghanistan, nor does our puppet, between we control metopolitan Kabul and where the troops are 'that' day ...
Ignore history and one is doomed to repeat it.
some people spit out the word 'politician' as if it were some sort of curse word, when it's the highest calling there is.
This is the essence of GOP ascendency -- exploiting fear and anger of the populace, by demonizing government.
The good news is -- people like the services government (and politicians) provide; and the Big Lie of GOP hate mongering is beginning to catch up with them.
The arrogance and overreaching of BushCo may yet lead to a tsunami of historic proportions -- that will sweep away a generation of GOP vermin.
We can only hope . . .
Greenbird: I was going to bed, but now my heart is pounding so hard...and I'm cold, too...so I'll read the comments after posting this, and hope there's some remedy for this sea change in my emotional state. Damn! This eternal vigilance is nerve-wracking right now.
Yes. It's horrible, Greenbird. I've been badly managing my anxiety since before Sept. 11th. And it's cranked up considerably since then. Rest well. We can all take moments to rest and try to get it all out of our heads - if only for moments or a few hours. Get a warm blanket too! ;-)
@Olaf
Before the Korean War, military was pretty much apolitical. Politics was regarded as bad taste.
Then along came the cold war. But that didn't really end the apolitical tradition. What finally killed it was the end of the draft and the all-volunteer military.
When there was a draft, the military looked like a cross-section of the country. The volunteer military is beginning to develop a political caste system. And that will be a very bad thing for the military if we do bring back the draft to democratize the services.
Which is the one argument for the draft that makes sense. Citizen soldiers are a safeguard against crazy civilians who want to play war games with real lives.
We're going to be decades getting over this -- assuming we do get over it.
Kate: Unfortunately, my memory is not sufficient to permit me to recall off of the top of my head the exact book that bit came out of, and I'm not one to keep old books, I tend to trade them off for new ones, instead :-(
As to the 'getting along before civilization', 2 words: elbow room.
It's a lot easier to get along with your neighbor if he's an hour away ;-)
from Pat-
For what it's worth: I think it's impossible to overstate the contempt that the officer corps developed for Clinton and Madeleine Albright. This was, in large measure, a direct consequence of the never-ending, non-defense-related missions of that administration.
You know, I never understood this rationale when I heard it, but that's because I never thought that Vietnam was a defense mission, propaganda to the contrary.
I never thought Korea was a defense mission, either.
I never thought Grenada was a defense mission.
I never thought Panama was a defense mission.
So I guess the contempt seems a little selective to me.
oh, and most importantly for now, I never thought Iraq 1 was a defense mission.
He's five foot-two, and he's six feet-four,
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He's all of thirty-one, and he's only seventeen,
Been a soldier for a thousand years.
He'a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew.
And he knows he shouldn't kill,
And he knows he always will,
Kill you for me my friend and me for you.
And he's fighting for Canada,
He's fighting for France,
He's fighting for the USA,
And he's fighting for the Russians,
And he's fighting for Japan,
And he thinks we'll put an end to war this way.
And he's fighting for Democracy,
He's fighting for the Reds,
He says it's for the peace of all.
He's the one who must decide,
Who's to live and who's to die,
And he never sees the writing on the wall.
But without him,
How would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone,
He's the one who gives his body
As a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can't go on.
He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame,
His orders come from far away no more,
They come from here and there and you and me,
And brothers can't you see,
This is not the way we put the end to war.
-- Donovan
My God, this is a most troubling post and the following exchange of opinion gives me shivers...
Fact is, judging from the posts here, there is a significant element of the American population who sees the shit comin down the tube.
My cousin, in his seventies, who has always voted Republican, who mainly gets his news from his 70" screen, already, in 2002, was mumbling things like "Goebbels, Hitler" about the Bush regime -- so, if he can see it coming, there ain't no excuse.
My final two bits, before they come to take me away, is this: the title prefered by the Roman Caesors, was Imperator. This, of course, is the root for terms such as: "enpire", "emperor" and so on.
What most people don't know is that "Imperator" was the title of the top military commander -- yes, Virginia, "The Commander in Chief".
Soooo, when I read two years ago that the term "Commander in Chief" was being dised, I trembled...
The point is that, earlier, the commander of the European or the Pacific troops was known as the CIC of this or that area -- but a couple of years ago the word went down that there is only ONE Commander in Chief -- the President of the USA.
I puked all over my 'puter screen when I read that!
When I was in the military, the Homeland was refered to by ordinary grunts as, "The Land of the Great PX and Round Door Knobs".
Regards
CrazyBrd
History is back, boys and girls ... and she is HUNGRY.
Outraged: I'm appalled that you would support a draft. You would remove an invaluable source of opposition to any government's policies by forcing citizens to carry them out - while at the same time advocating one of the most profound violations of conscience.
Jeff Lawson:
As to the 'getting along before civilization', 2 words: elbow room.
It's a lot easier to get along with your neighbor if he's an hour away ;-)
Ah, be careful. You're getting into the notion of lebensraum... "living space" and Hitler and Ariel Sharon would agree with you. (as if we weren't all of the same DNA, on the same lifeboat in space, breathing the same air, and drinking the same water...) We are supposed to be more "civilized" than that, are we not?
You know the triage yes? The death knell for human beings:
3 minutes without air
3 days without water
3 weeks without food
Maslow's hierarchy of needs expands on those simple things, ... We need shelter from the elements. We need to feel secure from attack. We need the nurturing of offspring. We need enough food to grant us the time to seek higher things. We need the community of others and the connection to "another." Beyond these things it is all gravy, but unless we get past all that we can forget anything higher than what we have now. Our gadgets are nothing but gadgets,... according to Maslow, that is. ;-)
I was very aware of how that would sound when I wrote it, and the concept of lebensraum was in my head. Civilization is necessary as soon as more than two families live in proximity, and civilization means politics, of some sort. Politics is the art of living together, without killing each other. Ideally.
Billmon: So loyalty to the government - and to the constitution as conventionally interpreted by "mainstream" judges - has become problematic.
All american governments in the last century made (and renew on each ellection) a contract with it's citizenry: government promised that will make us the richest society in the history. Indeed, governments delivered on their promise. Victims of american riches, SUV's, cheap oil...you name it, are countless topled governments, unjustified wars, billions of malnutritioned people outside the us, robed resources...again, you name it. You guys, american citizenry, apparently signed on this contract. What is your part of a contract is to be loyal to government, if things go bad. Things are going bad now, and you, american citizenry, are not so fast to deliver what you signed to.
Fauxreal: I'm with ya'. Would you list Haiti, Somalia, and the Balkans along with those?
My point was only that the public is unaware of the negative opinions of the officer corps because expressing such opinions openly - or even semi-openly - carries the threat of punishment.
?I'd like to see the government get out of war altogether and leave the whole field to private industry.?
-Milo Minderbinder
http://www.milominder.com/
grrr...why do quotation marks always come out as question marks?
I'd like to see the government get out of war altogether and leave the whole field to private industry.
-Milo Minderbinder
Bomb yourself for $
Yeah, I prefer to keep the decision on whether someone needs killing or not in my own hands, and not rely on someone else's judgement, my own good self :-D
Jeff Lawson:
I was very aware of how that would sound when I wrote it, and the concept of lebensraum was in my head. Civilization is necessary as soon as more than two families live in proximity..."
Thank you for clarifying, although I'm not entirely satisfied. The definition of my "civil rights" (understand that the government has defined this for us)... according to Heinlein was originally posited at what stopped at the end of my (your) nose. Heinlein's view of things was that you could not physically or financially harm another person. (except of course if you were attacked) If we instituted that many of the exalted US corporations would be exiled to Coventry right now. They'd adapt most probably ;-) and make a gajillion dollars behind the barrier.
Damn, you're going to hate this Jeff...
Yeah, I prefer to keep the decision on whether someone needs killing or not in my own hands, and not rely on someone else's judgement, my own good self :-D
Here it is, the thing you'll hate. ;-) You sound like my father and my husband. Talk to me later about this...okay?
lol, ok, although I wouldn't quite know how, I'm starting to feel a bit guilty, for using up so much server space tonight.
I almost always have ICQ on, when I'm online, however, #77079047 :-)
Those 14 characteristics of fascism look almost too convenient, as if someone drew a chalk outline around the body.
I guess it might be time to see about getting my kids on my passport and see where an EU expat might find a safe haven if the brownshirts do make an appearance.
thx billmon....great post
i found it disturbing, when , as a young boy i discovered that many countries use there militaries to protect corporate interests.
i was disgusted when i realized that multinational corps raised/rented private armies to 'protect' their interests in and around their gold and diamond mines.
what's next? private corporate armies attacking countries
scary thought.....would not surprise me
Jeff, I don't have ICQ now, but I used to host chats so I think I can get it... It might not happen right away. I'm not so worried about the bandwidth because we are pretty much on topic. But.
We're truly in Bizzarroland, where the US Army protects corporate interests, and the government uses private armies to carry out the 'defense' needs of the nation...
It's all part of a long and gradual process- the powerful using one more method at their disposal to remain in power. It would be short of miraculous if the U.S. military does not become politicized at some point. But, like the invitation to a seat at the table extended to the Christian Right by the Republicans in the early 80's, another invitation is now being offered up to the military. It is unfortunate that the GOP has become so craven, but not surprising. Once could almost see Democrats following the same course, if not for history's twists that put the two parties with their current constituencies. Hopefully vigilance and strict adherence to military law will win out against whatever leanings exhibited by our troops and their leaders. thank god for the JAGs...let's keep our fingers crossed that they do what they need to.
But, like the invitation to a seat at the table extended to the Christian Right by the Republicans in the early 80's, another invitation is now being offered up to the military.
I don't know if it's so much that the military as an institution is being offered a seat at the table of power -the military has had a seat at that table for the past 60 years, if not before. But now the Republican Party is starting to colonize the professional officer corps, which has is also being increasingly penetrated by the political ideology of Christian fundamentalism.
If the past is any guide, the military as an institution will see its power weakened by this process - even if individual officers gain power through their alliance with the party and the conservative movement.
since we are doing poetry readings tonight, here is a favorite of mine---
i sing of Olaf glad and big
whose warmest heart recoiled at war:
a conscientious object-or
his wellbeloved colonel(trig
westpointer most succinctly bred)
took erring Olaf soon in hand;
but though an host of overjoyed
noncoms(first knocking on the head
him)do through icy waters roll
that helplessness which others stroke
with brushes recently employed
anent this muddy toiletbowl,
while kindred intellects evoke
allegiance per blunt instruments
Olaf(being to all intent
a corpse and wanting any rag
upon what God unto him gave)
responds without getting annoyed
"I will not kiss your fucking flag"
straightway the silver bird looked grave
(departing hurriedly to shave)
but-though all kinds of officers
(a yearning nation's blueeyed pride)
their passive prey did kick and curse
until for wear their clarion
voices and boots were much the worse,
and egged the firstclassprivates on
his rectum wickedly to tease
by means of skillfully applied
bayonets roasted hot with heat-
Olaf(upon what once were knees)
does almost ceaselessly repeat
"there is some shit I will not eat"
our president,being of which
assertions duly notified
threw the yellowsonofabitch
into a dungeon,where he died
Christ(of his mercy infinite)
i pray to see and Olaf,too
preponderatingly because
unless statistics lie he was
more brave than me:more blond than you
e.e. cummings
From Pat-
Would you list Haiti, Somalia, and the Balkans along with those?
Yes, while at the same time there was much weird rationalization in my head--the idea that our govt, via special ops and CIA, had supported fascists in so many places, it seems more positive to get involved in missions that were not associated with those ideas.
However, standing by while genocide occurred in Rwanda, in retrospect, seems like a horrific thing.
My point was only that the public is unaware of the negative opinions of the officer corps because expressing such opinions openly - or even semi-openly - carries the threat of punishment.
Yes, I realize that's what you were saying. But again, in previous missions under Republican leaders you didn't hear about this...or I didn't.
Instead, you hear all about Iraq 1 being the equivalent of an "Up with People" moment for the military after Vietnam.
Kinda like raising your testoterone by going over to a neighbor's who has been abusing his kid and beat the shit out of the kid and call yourself a hero, imo.
One of the most fascinating and bang-on reads I've ever had the pleasure of coming across in the blogosphere. You handled subtle nuances in your comparison beautifully. For more on the subject of fascistic gradualism or militarism and the state read "The Mind of South Africa" by Allistair Sparks and "Berlin Diary" by William S. Shirer.
Very impressive Billmon. Now, for a Talisker with a couple rocks and a spash of water to go with my Cohiba. Thank you. You gotta love that Cubans are available here in Canada...it's a fringe benefit of being so left-wing by definition that we fly in circles.
I think I finally figured out why I hang out in this bar.
Five months ago today, my husband and I packed up two kids, a dog, two businesses, and fifteen tons of household goods; locked up our home by the sea in California; and moved the whole family circus a thousand miles up the coast to Canada.
Everybody asked us why. Almost nobody got a straight answer out of us. The truth just sounded so crazy and weird, and we were afraid they'd take away our Serious Adult badges and start looking for our tinfoil hats.
But here in the Bar, y'all get it. I don't even have to spell it out for you. Someone upthread talked about "seeing the shit come down the pipeline." We'd been watching it gather speed ever since 9/11. And someone else posted a great poem clearly stating the other big push: I didn't raise my son (or daughter) to be a soldier.
I really appreciate that this bar is one place I don't have to be coy, or artful, or find some tactful way to finesse the question. Being here is a daily validation that there really were good reasons for this crazy move -- and those reasons are not going away. Who needs a therapist when you've got a bartender who groks the symbolism of recurring nightmares involving frogs in pots?
Thanks also to those who invoked Kipling and Service. There's comfort for the soul, for sure. It brought back a sweet memory of a beach campfire fifteen years ago, on the night I got married. On into the evening, my father, half-crocked and grinning, stood up and recited the entire "Cremation of Sam McGee" from memory. Dad knew Service by the ream, and had a knack for holding a crowd. But this was a tour de force, even for him.
My husband was not to be outdone. He popped open a Guinness, reached into his own store of memorized treasure, and dragged out two or three of Kipling's epics, which he recited back to back. Dad was impressed. I think they found some unexpected common ground that night. (Though I think it was DH's later recitation of Tolkien's Dwarvish poetry -- evocatively presented in German -- that really sealed the deal.)
Sorry. It's late, and the Left Coast redhead at the end of the bar is getting a tad maudlin. Since it's almost time for Last Call, here's one to the Whiskey Bar: a virtual roadhouse full of kindred spirits sharing both the paranoia and the poetry.
We will get by.
bellatrys at June 13, 2004 12:15 AM
..."according to a CNN article, there's a huge rift in the League of Women Voters, with the incumbent president possibly to be ousted over her resistance to the "paper trail" demand."
yeah, I was somewhat blown away by this, and was wondering if anybody else had seen it... I can't believe anybody let alone "the League of Women Voters" head would not want a paper trail. That seems quite absurd to me. What a blatant betrayal.
that was moi... at June 13, 2004 04:04 AM
@antpoppa- from the Portland Tribune 5/28/04
The John Kerry for President committee should expect a bill for police overtime from the city of Portland.
And the city of Portland should expect the campaign to pay it.
The campaign will get the invoice for Kerry’s Tuesday visit because the Massachusetts Democrat did not appear at any events open to the public. His Tuesday events involved a fund-raising reception and a closed forum on energy policy.
“We’ve not yet received the bill, but when we do, we’ll be happy to pay it,” said Laura Capps, spokeswoman for the John Kerry for President in Washington, D.C. “We’re appreciative of the police support the city provides.”
snip
The largest such OT bill, for $116,756, was generated by President Bush’s August 2003 visit to raise money at the University of Portland. The city did not receive reimbursement, and a Bush staff member told city officials that the overtime was not the campaign’s responsibility.
Isn't that special?
Here's to you Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know
Wo Wo Wo
Vancouver, BC and Victoria...
Joni Mitchell and Neil Young
Peace Arch celebration June 26th
Canada is only an hour away!
From way up stream:
I don't know if you noticed but the last round of base closings were largely an evacuation of urban areas in favor of rural areas. This conveniently avoids exposing the troops to the intellectual, political and cultural 'pollution' of our cities.
It also protects bases from encroachment by surrounding urban areas that are growing. Various problems are caused by base encroachment; overflight issues, changing flight patterns, use of ordinance on live-fire reservations. The military can be sued for a taking on the basis of a overflight pattern that becomes a nuisance or danger, even if the victim came ot the nuisance. So the reasons for closing urban bases need not be pernicious; they are often simply decisions about cost and mission effectiveness of the base.
i enjoy reading billmon's essays (and fellow readers' comments) because they make me think, evoke emotions; the literary references often cited here are fun to follow and enhance the experience...
...time well spent. this post about "suburban american idealism" of life on military bases is obvious, but not evident until someone tells you about it. there was an undertone of angst; ie., you should be concerned about Republican activism and all the Christian Theocrats in the military in the essay...
...but then, that was one of the intended effects of the essay writer, and in that regard ~ he was entirely successful. i was feeling all kinds of alarm until i got to the followup posting referring to the Firesign Theater
oh, my! i had not connected those two brain-cell dots in a long, long time {grin}
thank you, thank you... for that blessed relief / reality check. for the truth is, this great modern military monolith thing is just getting its ass whupped by far more humble, incessantly creative means...
...men who know that their "victory" is simply to survive. there is no feasible military solution, to begin with -- this whole War On Terror thing, is pretty absurd: Firesign Theater ;-)
why the kids (and grownups) who tune into FOX NEWS nowadays don't break out laughing at the pasty-faced old fogies and makeup-plastered "ladies" is a mystery. they are so square, so very uptight, and un-hip; they're just not cool, baby. thirty-five years ago: we would have taken one look at the FauxFolks, and laughed our asses off .
Laughter would be good.
they (you know, them) seem incapable of shame.
Laughter would be good. this whole polarized-pundit thing is tedious; a tiresome conversation of angry base instinct opposites: the whole dynamic struggles to move a minority of apparently malleable market share minds in some imaginary "middle" ?
naw... come on, now ~ pundits are just preaching to their pre-converted choirs. more volume and velocity, simply numbs us with noise. outrage is just more rage. humor is a great antidote to fear.
Laughter would be good: wit inspires.
Tom, if 95% of those in the military right now said "screw it", and went home, I'd be happier'n Cheney in an oil bath. We don't need a huge standing army, we don't need foreign adventures, we don't need an empire. We got along fine without them before WW2, and when WW2 did come, we mobilized on the go, and did just fine.
I still remember that Georgia boy saying, "Hell, yeah, I'd shoot my momma, if they told me to" - yep, I think we could get along just fine without most of the army we have now.
@ Tom Cleaver
Considering that you seem to think of yourself as a 'creative' individual it may be the case that your muse has deserted you at present. Given that your background and experiences - idealist turned realist turned activist - could have much relevance to debate here, your decision to be abusive will just have to go down as a missed opportunity to engage with people patiently.
For all your years and experience you do not seem to have been able to throw off a tendency to generalize about a whole swathe of people, many not even from the USA, and this is a limiting way to approach dialogue. Maybe it's a throwback to your military indoctrination, but Tom, you should know better than most that it's not helpful to talk at people but rather it's best to talk with people, for that way you come to an understanding that your own views are not some dominating force that others have to accept.
It seems that you are almost trying to validate your own life and experience to stake a claim to being the only truly authentic voice among us. I won't speculate about this for I don't know you well enough and speculation would bring me to your position, that of making assumptions about people I do not really know.
And Tom, institution worship is not in and of itself a good thing. To offer your unswerving respect for the US armed forces is touching, perhaps, but in the light of history, in the light of all the psychologically disturbed veterans, in the light of well-documented facts re atrocities, torture and other abuses it is somewhat foolish to give blind loyalty to an institution that clearly has not always been the shining light that you evidently fervently want it to have been.
As with any relationship, concern and a desire to see things become as good as possible can mean that criticism is not only healthy but essential. And never forget, the American military is not divorced from the lives of poster here as if it was some monolithic band of Spartan warriors. It is made up of the sons, daughters, nephews, nieces, grandchildren, cousins, husbands, wives, uncles, aunts, friends, lovers in-laws and neighbors of people who post here. It is their safety that the US military is supposed to be protecting and serving and there is a reciprocal wish, on the part of the American people, to serve and protect the best interests of their military.
The US military, and yourself Tom, are not some 'band apart'. You are part of a community and to expect that community to hold monolithic views is anathema to the respect for difference and a pluralist society that the military is intended to uphold. Freedom is a precious thing Tom, and whatever it is it is not 'your' definition of it, or mine, that has to be imposed on people to 'get their minds right'.
Perhaps you are tired Tom, or jaded by life. I am sure that your principles are not really founded on any desire to dismiss the views of others with hostility and abuse, so I hope that your creative muse will return to you soon and with it a recognition that all our lives are tied together more intimately than you seem able to divine at present.
tom cleaver, i can see your point to a certain extent, but you gotta admit that the idiots in the sds 35 years ago did much less harm and much more good than the idiots in the pentagon 35 years ago.
The good news is that the US has never had a national police force nor a coherent police force that is organized beyond local geography. It is just connected enough to chase criminals but not connected enough to run any reasonable kind of police state. (The occasional local lapses into police state practices not withstanding.)
The other good news is that the military incapable of effectively ruling Iraq would fare poorly if ever cast in role of martial law stateside.
Dept of homeland security, which is the kind of organization from which one would expect incipient fascist police structures are content to bully random air travelers and otherwise get into turf wars with other agencies.
The group of people that have not missed a beat and have a whole lot to answer for are the statist lawyers both civilian and temporarily uniformed who have been irresponsibly creative with constitutional interpretation. It's really a shame that they will go unpunished or even called to account.
Tom
In normal times, I would tend to say that "moderates" are more effective than "activists" to shape policy. But these are not normal times.
In normal times, political and policy debates take place in a peaceful context where you can expect the other side to listen to your arguments, either because you control some instruments of power, or simply because they are not unreasonable people. In that case, "moderates", "centrists", i.e. people willing to give up some of their goals in order to achieve others, seen as more important than those given up, can get results with similarly minded people on the other side. (- I want no more than 10. - I want no less than 30. - Okay, let's agree on 20.) Sometimes it's horse trading, some times it's powerplays, and sometimes it's even genuine bipartisanship. In that context, "activists", who focus on purity are not happy, but they can easily be marginalised. And policy, whoever is in power, is mostly centrist and reasonable, while leaning slightly more to the side of those that have the (temporary) upper hand in the power centres.
Now, if one side stops listening, and starts focusing only on its "pure" activists, what do you do? If you continue to negotiate in good faith with them, you are going to be steamrolled (- I want no more than 10. - I want no less than 100. - Okay, no more than 20. - 100. - Well, 30. - 100. - If you really insist, 40. - 100, etc...). If one side hardens like this, you usually hope that they will push things so far that there will be a backlash and things come back to normal as the extremists are voted out. But what if it does not happen? What if you have extraordinary circumstances that make that correcting mechanism ineffective?
You have to get out of the compromise mode and into battle mode. Not give in on anything; push your ideas, your agenda, your language relentlessly, until you get the other side to listen to you again, whether because you outshout them or because you manage to decredibilise them and they have to change their tune. That's the situation we're in today.
Now, I am of course simplifying things grossly. "Moderate" negotiators are never more effective than when they can say "take this deal, that's the best I will be able to get the crazies on my side to swallow; otherwise, they'll kick me out and you will have to deal with them!), so in effect activists help to improve things at all times for their side by influencing the negotiations, even if they are themselves unwilling to negotiate. Recognised activists/hardliners also have more legitimacy to impose compromises, and can thus make effective negotiators, if they accept to enter into such discussions with the other side.
Maybe my point is that there is a time to shape public opinion and common wisdom, and a time to negotiate the most advantageous deal within the framework permitted by such public opinion and perceptions. The right has spent a lot of the past decades to relentlessly shape opinion the way they want it, and thus forced the negotiators on their side to adopt positions close to theirs and compromise very little.
At this point, activists on the left are needed to change public opinion, and mobilise a large enough group (i) to influence and guide the discourse on the left while (ii) attracting enough support from the overall electorate. (i) requires strong activism, but (ii) requires that you do not alienate the constituencies that beieve in the CW. In particular, the most official face of the discourse (i.e. your candidate, Kerry today) must have a profile compatible with current CW, until you have managed to change that CW.
So my suggestion today is that activists act as partisanly as possible to change public opinion while accepting to support the only candidate under whom things have a chance to move in the good direction, evne though his discourse is wishy-washy. If you capture the public mood, the candidate will naturally adopt the corresponding policies, even if he has not said he would. If you don't, he will stay in the middle, which is quite far to the right these days, at least according to CW. Don't undermine him, in any case. (And I would also suggest, do not underestimate him. Kerry is currently doing the right things to not lose the election. Activists will help to shape the policy debates, but only after someone from their side is in place. Today, it means Kerry)
jerome is right. vive la france!
i don't know if jerome is french. i'm just going by the decorations on the letters of his name.
the french love to decorate letters.
i'm not making fun of france. i love france. i even considered joining the foreign legion once upon a time.
Read this comments section with a cold chill.
If you are thinking about making the move out - do it. Or at least make some plans. Have passports ready for all family members and papers current for all animals.
Inertia or wishful thinking now may be deadly later.
I knew it was time to go when some poor bastard got three and a half years in jail for merely making a joke in a bar
about Bush.
So many things are precarious including the economy. Very odd things going on in the stock market.
At the very least, make some plans.
Billmon,
Your comment at 12:12am
What you have just described the United Kingdom!
What is happening is the transfer of this regime to the United States by means of the Bush/Windsor connection.
A connection going back to Bert Walker and the Duchess of York (now known as the Queen Mother).
It is not the US/israeli dual nationals that you must watch, but the US/British duals. Like Ronnie Raygun.
John
1. Billmon rocks. Atrios may have the numbers, but Billmon has the goods.
2. Concur with YY. Perhaps the only good news from Iraq is that an abused, half-starved, and demoralized populace can't be crushed under the boot heel of even the biggest, best-equipped military ever to stalk the earth -- as long as it's armed. As a result, I'm re-evaluating my criticism of so-called 2d Amendment "nuts". Maybe I'll even join the NRA!
I'd like to leave.
1. No money saved up
2. No job for me waiting elsewhere
3. No job for spouse waiting elsewhere (he's not a college grad)
So I guess that means we po' folks will fend for ourselves after y'all leave. What that means, I don't know. Guess we'll find out.
If things get freaky here, they'll get freaky everywhere. There isn't a single place on the planet to go that won't be affected by freakiness. But I guess you can watch from Canada or Mexico or NZ and get a bit of a heads up.
Don't get me wrong -- I'd leave in a second if I could. But all I can do is sit here and make the best of my life and try to change things and take risks and hope to freaking Maude that my kids don't have to grow up like this.
I've seen it coming for the last few years, too, Mrs. Robinson. I wish now I'd been more strident about trying to get out, saved more money, that kind of thing -- the classic dumb Amurkan coulda shoulda woulda. But... well...
Lisa -- I lived overseas for most of my adult life -- though not as a deliberate escapee from American politics and culture.. But one thing is clear: You don't get away from what's happening in America when you live overseas! Things are a lot better there, but you're not automatically protected from American excesses! What you do find is more people who think the way you do or, if they don't, still find your point of view completely legit, interesting, discussable. Our problem is not just polarization, it's the loss of respect in this country for education and "thinking outside of the box" in all but market-related activities.
On war and the good ol' US of A, I wrote this several months back. It has to do with how the US became addicted to war.
26 ex-diplomats and military leaders say his foreign policy has harmed national security. Several served under Republicans.
By Ronald Brownstein
LA Times Staff Writer
June 13, 2004
http://tinyurl.com/3yk9q
WASHINGTON — A group of 26 former senior diplomats and military officials, several appointed to key positions by Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, plans to issue a joint statement this week arguing that President George W. Bush has damaged America's national security and should be defeated in November.
The group, which calls itself Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, will explicitly condemn Bush's foreign policy, according to several of those who signed the document.
"It is clear that the statement calls for the defeat of the administration," said William C. Harrop, the ambassador to Israel under President Bush's father and one of the group's principal organizers.
Those signing the document, which will be released in Washington on Wednesday, include 20 former U.S. ambassadors, appointed by presidents of both parties, to countries including Israel, the former Soviet Union and Saudi Arabia.
Others are senior State Department officials from the Carter, Reagan and Clinton administrations and former military leaders, including retired Marine Gen. Joseph P. Hoar, the former commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East under President Bush's father. Hoar is a prominent critic of the war in Iraq.
Some of those signing the document — such as Hoar and former Air Force Chief of Staff Merrill A. McPeak — have identified themselves as supporters of Sen. John F. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. But most have not endorsed any candidate, members of the group said.
It is unusual for so many former high-level military officials and career diplomats to issue such an overtly political message during a presidential campaign.
Ferdzy - Thank you for your concise summary of Jane Jacobs' important book. I have always felt that 'Systems of Survival' is one of the most important books written on politics in the last few hundred years, and like you I often post a summary of it on websites when it seems appropriate, in order to inform more people of it. The precis you have written here really sums it up nicely. I hope more people read her work.
For those planning to get out before Kristalnacht...
I always remember the story of the family in the UK in 1970s who decided to leave because they were convinced there was going to a nuclear war in Europe. They moved to a place in the ocean, very isolated.
Falkland Islands.
Relating that to running up north: The water supply situation in the US is increasingly desperate, Americans are really oblivious to how bad it is. There is a good chance the US *will* go to war over water in the next twenty years. Now where do you invade to secure water supplies? Hint: Not Mexico, and not the Middle East.
Don't run away. Stay here and fight for your kids' future. It is as much the complacency of the middle class as the machinations of the fascistic Christian fundamentalists that is to blame for what is going on now. Get involved in politics, f'Chrissakes, run for the school board, campaign on election day, do something!
well well! so much sympathetic pessimism and guarded optimism since I gave up and tried to go to bed [but the undergraduate party animals in the n'hood kept me up until 0300 again, I really do believe the Geneva Convention when it says sleep dep is a form of torture]. fascinating thread. really glad to hear some voices challenging my despair, thanks.
random thoughts
The point is that, earlier, the commander of the European or the Pacific troops was known as the CIC of this or that area -- but a couple of years ago the word went down that there is only ONE Commander in Chief -- the President of the USA.
I know someone inside the Beast (mil/ind thinktanks) and there was an hilarious email message going around the mil intel and maybe some officer cadres, to the effect of One CIC to rule them all . . . Needless to say it was quickly quashed from On High.
I often wonder if history would have been somewhat different had Kipling been a Lefty. Jeez, that man could craft a sentence that sings like a musical saw, high and eerie.
Re: one Mafia family gets control of the police -- well yeah, that's called monarchy folks. Bourbons in France, Hapsburgs in Germany, Tudors in England. Aristos, mafia, what difference? All great landed gentry's fortunes were made by bloody conquest (i.e. theft and murder). Taming the bloody barons to the rule of a single king is an achievement in the direction of peace and order; taming the rule of a king to the will of (some of) the people is another achievement. In our day, imho, the corporations are becoming the new bloody barons and we are desperately in need of a new Magna Carta and a world-wide authority to curb their theft and murder as they amass the fortunes of the New Age's gentry. In other words it's the wildcat late 1800's again, but this time the rail and timber barons are operating planet-wide, felling forests and levelling mountains in provinces we can't even pronounce.
what's next? private corporate armies attacking countries
Say after me: The Raj. The Raj. The Raj. Private corporation licensed by imperial government to attack a country -- several in fact.
I guess this thread is dead now, but one last thought occurs to me and wanted to get it into the fossil record: how some of us on this list are feeling, the dread, the despair, the sense of having woken up transformed into a giant bug -- I've been reading The Other Israel and realising that progressive/liberal Israeli Jews have been feeling this for decades.
"Their country" has morphed into something else, a regional imperial power, a satrapy of the US empire, an instrument of repression, a militarised state seeking Lebensraum, a racialised state slouching towards full-on Apartheid. Imagine their heartbreak. And they are still fighting, still demonstrating, still filing lawsuits, still going to jail, publishing challenging essays and op/eds that you couldn't even get published in the US mainstream press, still saying loudly that the Sharon government and the Occupation are illegitimate. They are doing these things, making this resistance, in the face of emotional and political insults and blackmail beyond anything flagwaving US dittoheads can come up with -- accused of betraying the memory of Shoah, of being "self hating Jews," of aiding and comforting antiSemites, etc. Vanunu, out of jail after almost 2 decades of imprisonment to shut him up, emerges defiant. I think if Gush Shalom, Bat Shalom, Yesh Gvul and the refuseniks and their supporters can keep fighting in a society that has become so ideologically repressive/dogmatic, so infected with religious fundamentalism, and so deeply militarised, then perhaps we can too.
And sure, we can make the case that the founding of Israel was a colonialist and racist crime/error in the first place -- but we can make that point about America as well. However it started, we're here now, the rough beast is slouching, we have to flee it or tame it: ladies and gentlemen, place your bets.
Kate this why I went in the military. Job training went in right after Viet nam at a time when we still made things in this country. A good place to be, good tech training, you get to play with millions of dollars worth of stuff and if you break it no big deal. Plus free medical dental room and board. In the Air Force it was just like a civilian job. Now the army marine corp different game.
we can make the case that the founding of Israel was a colonialist and racist crime/error in the first place
Yep.
i always wondered why they called it 'debriefing', until i saw the abu ghraib pictures.
Culture wars metric.
I just attended a HS commencement. A valdictorian speech closed on a humorous one-liner: the student found Pres Bush impossible to understand in spite of the best efforts of teachers over 4 grueling years, etc. There was a long pause, followed by a collective gasp from the WingNuts (75% of voters here are registered GOP). Another shorter pause followed; and then the place broke out in applause, whistles, and cheers.
The kids are catching on.
kherr: "Service guarantees citizenship!" "The only good bug is a dead bug!" I wonder if you haven't been misreading Heinlein's satirical intentions. Come into the light child. ;-)
Kate, kherr makes a common mistake among Heinlein readers.
Read what Lazarus Long thought about conscription and slave armies.
I do think this might be our last genuine national election. I mean if Kerry loses I believe that there is the strong possibilty that the Repugs will make it impossible to elect a Democrat to the PResidency in the foreseeable future. But we also need to consider how career military people are contributing right now to Bush's difficulties. Think of all the retired military people, former or current Republicans , who are vocally criticizing Bush, sometimes far more forcefully than Democrats do: Co. Tom Ritter, Gen. Wesley Clark, Gen. Zinni, etc. Their criticisms are kosher because they are retired, of course, but their criticisms show that military people are capable of critical thinking, and of standing up for democracy. I'm not writing a very coherent essay here, I know! My point is that before we get too paranoid we need to remember that the armed services are full of current and former members who support democracy and oppose the politicalization of the military. And many of them oppose Bush.
The bartender has laid out chillingly a most clear and present danger. With ck, I'm seeing all the leaks bubbling to the surface now and hoping they are signs that a healthy respect for the limited role of the military is still alive within the ranks.
At the same time, perhaps there are other evolutionary (devolutionary?) paths to consider, besides simple fascist cooption, other currents in the mix, besides the will to power of the wealthy right, which may increasingly appear in the U.S. military, as the U.S. becomes a chronic net debtor nation with a declining pay scale and benefits for anyone other than a CEO.
The third world offers some interesting cases, which may be more germane than we are willing to realize, as the gap between wealth and poverty in the U.S. grows, and we move away from the middle class towards a more 3rd world distribution of wealth and power. Maybe these other armies should be considered proto-fascist, but not in a simple, unitary and ideological way.
Several comments in this string have suggested that the motivation for some young people enlisting in the volunteer army has everything to do with economic opportunity, and much less with exercising military muscle. I've known a few of these ones, who entered through ROTC to finance college and professional educations. Politically, they are as diverse as any random group of U.S. citizens, and perhaps a little more aware and liberal. It's not simple to guage, since their political comment is restrained and indirect, as they are deeply respectful of the principle of a nonnpolitical military, subservient to an elected government. Most will probably leave the military when their debt is paid down.
In the third world, the military has often been the best chance for education and upward mobility for talented but poor young men. Sometimes these armies become the loyal enforcers for local plutocrats and imperialists; occasionally they have acted to balance the power of wealthy elites.
TURKEY as one model. Through the middle of the 20th century, the Turkish generals saw their role as the protector of Turkish democracy against powerful, kleptocratic, and ineffective civilian excesses. While their own power was not uncompromised, the Army did, several times seize power for 4-7 yrs from civilian governments, clean up what it saw as dysfunction, then announce elections and turn government back over to elected officials.
VENEZUELA, another variation. Hugo Chavez, the U.S.' current nemesis in Venezuela, is an example of a poor boy who took the military route to education and power, who has attempted to stand up to U.S. imperialism and oil interests, and is supported by the poor because they believe that he is their voice. Whether he is providing good government is a separate question. Whether his government is any less effective than previous governments may be a related question. Whether it is possible, in the U.S. sphere of influence, to provide any of the benefits of good governance, while opposed by the U.S., may be the key question.
One profoundly desires that the U.S. will devolve into none of these military models, neither Turkey nor Venezuela, nor German-style fascism. But to protect our most remarkable scrap of rule by law, the Constituion, with all its balance of powers and enumerated rights, shouldn't we consider the military broadly, as the potential tool of a range of competing powers, voices, and needs within a broader social order/ disorder?
The greatest danger to democracy is still an uninformed people, esp a cosseted, fearful, and willfully uninformed people. And silence.
I particularly found this statement from the Parameters article alarming: "Soon, it became common in practically every community to see crews of soldiers working on local projects.[44] Military attire drew no stares." I live in New York and see military personnel everywhere I go. Is it the same in the rest of the country? I can't say that I've become accustomed at all to the sight of M-16s in the train station, but there they are.
It bothers me most that it's been two years since 9/11 and nothing has happened and yet there seems to be no phase out in mind or progress. Frankly the Homeland Security Department frightens me more than any other American institution precisely because it is not the police and it's not the military. There's a strange para-military pall to the whole thing.
Nonetheless, the thing I find hardest to believe about an American military coup -- though your arguments for gradulism are smart and persuasive -- is that American civilians who go into the military have been rigorously taught about the greatness of freedom and democracy. To compare our military to a military (the Germans) made of citizens who had experienced dictatorship I think stretches the possibilities a bit. Even many current Russian citizens claim they miss the old days. I'm not so sure that any American could be convinced that military rule is a good thing. Then again, as you accurately point out, apathy is a dangerous thing.
I'm just now dropping in and quickly trying to catch up. This is a good post on a truly vital topic. You may be interested in an article in the 6/14 edition of The Guardian that you can check online. An article by Paul Harris on the impending Supreme Court decisions on the 3 cases pending on the status of prisoners (Guantanamo, Padilla, and Hamdi) suggests that the court will soon rule against the Bush Administration. A couple of paragraphs from the article:
"Its rulings have defined some of the most momentous events in US history, from school desegregation to abortion rights. Now the Supreme Court is to examine conditions at the controversial Guantánamo Bay prison camp and question some of the fundamental principles of George Bush's 'war on terror'.
In the next fortnight observers believe the court will deal a massive blow to an administration already reeling from the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison, and which has endured international outcry over the sprawling Guantánamo Bay prison, whose 700 inmates are held without charge or access to lawyers."
If indeed the SC rules against the government's case, this will be encouraging.
one of the least talk about aspects of the 2000 election was the implied backing of military of Bush. I remember vague threats coming from Republican politicians and even top military people if the illegal military votes weren't counted.
The irony of course is while the Right wing cabal was standing up for Military votes that were not legimate votes under Florida Law , in democratic leaning counties , right wing lawyers were in court successfully making sure those same kind of Military votes were being thrown out.
@ ScottXYZ
Thanks for commenting so kindly on my post. It's nice to know I am not the only "Janiac" around! :P
I'm a bit surprised that more readers in the Bar don't seem to be familiar with her.
Possibly apropos, Question 46:
"Question 46. The stated scenario
46. The U.S. government declares a ban on the possession, sale, transportation, and transfer of all non-sporting firearms. A thirty (30) day amnesty period is permitted for these firearms to be turned over to the local authorities. At the end of this period, a number of citizen groups refuse to turn over their firearms.
The statement that the U.S. Marines were asked to respond to:
I would fire upon U.S. citizens who refuse or resist confiscation of firearms banned by the U.S. government.
No opinion, Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree
The Responses
Of the 300 U.S. Marines asked this question, 264, or 88% of them responded.
The outcome of the survey was as follows:
Strongly disagree: 127 (42.33%)
Disagree: 58 (19.33%)
Agree: 56 (18.67%)
Strongly agree: 23 (07.67%)
No opinion: 36 (12.00%)
Total: 300 (100.00%)
Summary of the responses to question 46
The survey results indicated that 61.66% (42.33 + 19.33) said they would refuse to fire on U.S. citizens, whereas 26.34% (18.67 + 7.67) indicated they would fire."
[edited for presentation, emphasis mine]
Re: the difference between Haiti/Balkans and Grenada/Panama.
The main difference I see is that Grenada, Panama, and Gulf War I were primarily PR stunts. They seem to have made the military feel good and they definitely made the more Darwinistic citizens feel good about the military ("By God, we've licked the Vietnam Syndrome for good", said Bush I-- as if common sense and decency were a disease or opponent that had to be "licked"!).
They were *wins*, and winning feels good to people who are into all that macho competitive dominance stuff. We came, we saw, we kicked ass. We applied the Powell Doctrine-- overwhelming force-- specifically so that we could win quickly then get the hell out. Mission Accomplished! So what's not to like?
Whereas the Balkans, Haiti, and other Clinton/Albright "humanitarian" interventions were fuzzy and had no clear win. Definitely not a loss, though. More like a "draw". Maybe we captured a bad guy or two. We arguably improved the lives of many people. Much more shades of gray than black and white. These were engagements for liberal peace corps types, not for virile action heroes.
This interpretation could explain why significant chunks of the militaristic corners of our country (both civilian and military) are breaking off from Iceberg W over its disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are not clean, crisp, hard, clear, decisive wins like Grenada, Panama, or Gulf War I-- all though they were intended to be. In the best case they'll be a draw like the Balkans or Haiti. In the worst case, they are quickly turning out to be failures like Vietnam or Somalia.
As the saying goes: where a win has many fathers, a loss is an orphan. So is a draw.
You know, there are plenty of 2nd 1/2-3rd world countries recently removed from or still in troubles of their own of this sort that wouldn't be adverse to new immigrants that can provide skills and talents to benefit the futures of their countries.
Sure, you might be going from one dicey dictatorship to another, but the cost of living is cheaper and the "personal tracking technology" is less well-developed.
Whoa! As a former active and reserve military officer, this 'event' disturbs me, YES, the guy should be relieved, and his behavior stinks, but do not draw broad conclusions from it. Several factors are ignored by the writer: US military personnel are drawn from the general population, and remain citizens, with all the rights attached. Our current military is "professional", and there are some 'military families' (both for officer and enlisted) but the vast majority of our military comes from the general population. The officer corps of the military, despite the 'high' percentage of Academy graduates, COMES FROM THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASSES, and is as diverse as America itself. The corporate plutocracy/kleptocracy and the political elite, DO NOT send their children into low paying (relatively) potentially dangerous jobs, such as the military (to the best of my knowledge, Joe Biden, is the ONLY member of Congress with a child currently in uniform). The cruel hypocracy and moral cowardice of the Democrats in the 70's, who 'punished' the military for Vietnam (I was there, it happened)(a war a Democratic administration , and Congress started and controlled) lead to a general distaste for the 'liberals' by those in uniform, AT THAT TIME. This has had some long term effects; the military has become more 'conservative' than the general population, but only a bit. Despite this, the military is not a 'pro Fascist' body (except to a very paranoid old left type) it is still a part of America, connected less than in tha past, perhaps, but hardly isolated, as the number of Reserve/National Guard, unquestionable "citizen soldiers" serving in Iraq would tell you without hesitation.
I'll post my own poetry:
((TITLE))Peace Hymn of the Republic((/TITLE))
((TEXT))
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:/
He is trampling out the vintage/
Where the grapes of wrath are stored;/
He hath loosed the fateful lightning/
Of His terrible swift sword:/
His truth is marching on./
Glory, glory, hallelujah!/
Glory, glory, hallelujah!/
Glory, glory, hallelujah;/
His truth is marching on./
We lived in ease and splendor/
And disdained the huddled poor,/
Raping soils and seas and foreign skies,/
In arms and gold secure:/
Now we've lost our proud twin towers,/
Now we fear the dark of war;/
God's truth goes marching on./
Glory, glory, hallelujah!/
Glory, glory, hallelujah!/
Glory, glory, hallelujah;/
God's truth goes marching on./
Unhappy world, you grieve for us,/
And yet for you we mourn;/
Some billion souls seek sustenance,/
A tithing of our corn:/
From dying fields, from teeming slums,/
Fresh terrors will be born -/
Can truth go marching on?/
Glory, glory, hallelujah!/
Glory, glory, hallelujah!/
Glory, glory, hallelujah;/
Can truth go marching on?/
((TEMPO="SLOW"))
Our strength lies not in battle gear/
But in humility;/
Through anguished meditation/
We discern our destiny:/
Our city on a hilltop/
Shall embrace humanity;/
God's truth shall lead us on./
Glory, glory, hallelujah!/
Glory, glory, hallelujah!/
Glory, glory, hallelujah;/
God's truth shall lead us on./
((/TEXT))
((TERMS-OF-USE_NOTE))
Freely usable,
without intellectual-property
encumbrances, in the spirit
of the GNU Documentation License.
Version control information
and background notes are archived
on the Web pages of the author, Toomas Karmo,
at ((http://www.metascientia.com)).
((/TERMS-OF-USE_NOTE))
I know we're talking about something else now, but way back up top, outraged posted about Capt. Yee and three other Gitmo staff who've been arrested. Col. Jack Farr was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on May 25. It's June 14. A quick google gave me no report on his hearing. Does anybody know or know how to find out what happened to Jack Farr and the others?
Liquor and Hookers at Abu Ghraib
What can we do in this time of growing darkness?
(1) Poetry does help. Perhaps someone can strengthen the voice of resistance by, e.g., copying to his or her own Web site my 'Peace Hymn of the Republic' (posted on this blog at 2004-06-14 12:24 PM EDT). And thanks a million to all the people who posted pro-peace poems to this blog over previous days!
(2) It is helpful to recall the struggles of Eastern Europe. My own country, Estonia, acquired some experience of brownshirted fascism from the 1941-44 Nazi occupation, and in a mild and indirect sense also from its own occasionally unpleasant 1930s government. Further, my country had extensive experience, spanning two human generations, of communist totalitarianism during the Soviet occupations of 1939-41 and 1944-91. The following lessons suggest themselves:
(i) Violent resistance to totalitarianism, for instance in the guise of a 'Forest Brethren' movement such as was attempted by Estonia's armed and bunkered partisans over the approximate period 1944-59, is futile.
(ii) The essential battles are battles of the interior, fought within one's skull. The objective is to keep truth, and thus hope, alive. An ally in such battles is time. The sheer passage of time brings change, to the benefit of those who possess the willingness to remember and the strength to wait.
I have a few practical notes on the tactics of the nonviolent Estonian resistance, including the hilarious story of dissident Mart Niklus's release from the reformed Gorbachevian gulag, in Chapter 3 of my 'Utopia 2184'. In the same chapter, I draw some parallels with the situation into which we are currently moving. 'Utopia 2184' is available as open content (i.e., as content unencumbered by the conventional intellectual-property restrictions) in the 'Literary' section of my http://www.metascientia.com.
I did not remark in 'Utopia 2184', but will remark here,
that during the Nazi occupation, students in Tartu (that's our scientific and scholarly capital, our modest Cambridge or Berkeley) were heard singing to the tune of 'On Top of Old Smokey' 'Es geht alles forueber/ Es geht alles forbei/ Auch Adolf Hitler/ Und seiner Partei' ('Everything will pass, everything will finish up, including Adolf Hitler and his Party').
Tom Karmo
(born in Estonian emigre family in Nova Scotia in 1953,
but currently living in Ontario)
Andy I found your comments on the military refreshing. I'm from Wisconsin and have always wondered how such things come about, given the history of progressive government from that state.
Regarding Dems shunning and blaming returning forces, you seem to have left out Nixon and Kissinger from the VIetnam equation. My anti-war sentiments of the time were whipped into an absolute rage by those two. I knew it was an inherited war from Dems; but it took Tricky Dick and the Mad Bomber for the public to reach a tipping point and oopenly oppose goernment policy. When Nixon was in office, we knew that the guy who once assisted Joe McCarthy was calling the shots, and he, like his mentor, was tuning out any loyal opposition completely. He ignored us and our opinions; and in the resulting outrage we scapegoated the poor soldiers in the front lines. It was an inexcusable mistake, not justified by the parallel dissing we also got from Westmoreland and various military spokesmen. To to pin the blame on "liberals" misses the Nixon era. Both sides can stand to be corrected on the outrage-directed blindness of that time.
Remember, there's all sorts of reasons for joining the military. But once you're in, things get a bit more complicated:
Watkins: [...] So I'd like to leave, sir, before I get killed, please.
Colonel: Watkins, you've only been in the army a day.
Watkins: I know sir but people get killed, properly dead, sir, no barley cross fingers, sir. A bloke was telling me, if you're in the army and there's a war you have to go and fight.
Colonel: That's true.
Watkins: Well I mean, blimey, I mean if it was a big war somebody could be hurt.
Colonel: Watkins why did you join the army?
Watkins: For the water-skiing and for the travel, sir. And not for the killing, sir. I asked them to put it on my form, sir - no killing.
(Hey, the rest of you have already hogged all the good Firesign Theatre quotes.)
sirs;
enjoyed reviewing your data. enclose my requet for info, subscibes, ect..
current working volunteer, dva
Just passed through La Crosse and Western Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago. And boy, did things look a little poor. God knows what obscure parts of Mississippi look like (sorry this is OT). Definitely 2nd World stuff. And I live just over the river!!