It's working great because it is the truth. I read them and would never say there was no value in it. But in the end I lost respect for Daniel Ellsberg because I saw him as nothing more than an "outer" and then outing was in vogue. At a certain point being a squealer becomes somehow heroic and patriotic and distinctions of right and wrong are lost; it's always right and nothing is always right. I really, really, hate to disappoint you but I'm not a Bush admirer. I never thought he should've returned the surplus - I'm kind of conservative in that respect, and the Iraq war wrong for all reasons. As ex-military I was very vocal as to how stupid it was. You should use your complex and nuanced way of seeing to see the current administration for what it is - I do. Quoting Bush, Bush, Bush, only gets you so far and that is all the way to dupe.
Maybe we deserve to be swept away as we demonstrate on Wall Street we are divided and clueless and falling for the glamor of marxism. It all sounds so good when your 20, and you get to wear your red starred Mao hats and Che t-shirts. We all have a bone to pick but they're all just bones and everyone is carrying their own. Right now, in this country today, we are proving that democracy doesn't work. Maybe we should secede from this "union" and start over. Me on this side, you and that. Oh, you're in the middle? Sorry, try Canada. The federal government is a failure on a massive scale.
You have no idea how dictatorships start. Worse, you equate the notion of "aristocrat" with certain things and fail to see those things in others. Study the French revolution, the rise of the Nazis, Bolsheviks, and you will see paralells to our country today. The mob - OWS for example, becomes by turns, the tool of unethical, power hungry people. The press follows and becomes a tool themselves having failed to live up to their own mantra. They support attacks on other media outlets. What you can say, think, and hear becomes controlled. Most importantly, disarm the people. It started here when the British went to Lexington - gun control. Like criminals, the government loves unarmed citizens. Class warfare is agitated for by corrupt and violent unions and even el presidente himself. Your leaders become divisive and actively agitate against the other side. Sound familiar? The totalitarian state the left spent all their bumper stickers warning on is here; they've brought it themselves. Don't bother being surprised, the German people did that for you long ago when they woke up one day to find all that hope and change they'd supported was an evil nightmare in disguise.
You sound incredibly young and out of touch - except with yourself, otherwise you would have had something to say. Some ideas and values have stood the test of time, if you're like 20 and making it up as the situation fits good luck, by the time you reach 30 it will all, hopefully, start to change. Be careful, you could end up looking like those 60 year olds from '68 that still ain't got a freakin' clue.
But they don't shoulder the burden equally do they? In terms of your process then shouldn't we pay the same taxes no matter how much we make? This equality thing sounds great on paper but running to that paper to conveniently support an argument when others are running the other way just doesn't square. Raising the playing field brings one group up to be as equal - compensation equal to the sacrifice. I know so many people who say they would not let their kids go in the military and in one sense who can fault them, no parent wants their child to die or worse on some god forsaken battlefield a world away - however it is okay for others. There are parents who have lived their lives having lost a son long ago in Vietnam for 100 bucks a month and then have lived with the pain of having this sacrifice spit on. It's an inconvenient truth but it is the truth that we've grown apart in this society. One half of our nation has become incredibly spoiled and nasty in the bargain.
The only wars we one where we weren't lavishly over equipped was our very, very, first one and our second, the War of 1812. The rest, we outproduced and made better weapons and fielded a military that had the time and money to train.
Is taxpayer nuts? We choose, most of us, our monikers wisely - what is "taxpayer" saying with his label?
But I don't disagree that generals should speak up more and even refuse the most ridiculous orders by the CiC. If Hitler's generals had we might all be speaking German. But that leads to a problem, an officer corp that argues too much and does too little. It is a blade that cuts both ways and usually deeper in the opposite.
I too am concerned about all the high tech. How will soldiers lob their shells if GPS is taken out? If you were a super power and we were your enemy how would you defeat us? What would be in your strategic planning against a technology dependant military?
But as to the military contractors the real problem in Washington are the politicians and associates who become lobbyist and send taxpayer dollars down the tubes. Surprisingly, military contractors despite their former connections have a very difficult time getting just anything through.
Is itfunk a total idiot? I don't think we should be in Afghanistan for the Afghani's, but we should be there to keep the lid on and drain al' qaeda's resources. We've found'em, fixed 'em, now all we have to do is keep hittin them. We only lose wars when people like itfunk get listened to. Fortunately, even the media restrains itself because the country has regained it's sense and the slimey, distorted, hack job done on us by people like Cronkite in '68 just isn't popular anymore. But give Occupy Wall Street enough time and they will turn their focus back on us, back to lies and an enemy supportive media that cost us lives and a war. The left is sick and tired of being exposed for what they are and now it's time for them to try a comeback.
Lives have always been cheaper and that's a sad, sad, fact. Used to be you could draft people and depend on the "citizen" soldier mentality of being under served, and under paid because you're doing it for your country, it's expected, it's your duty. Lives are still cheap but at least the one's who won't serve, won't fight, are paying more for it and soldiers are finally get what they deserve, good pay and benefits, the best equipment. One thing more needs to be done - non-service related families and individuals should pay more. Why should military connected families pay the same taxes as nons? It's really troubling when you look at the cost in lives, there always seems to be a higher up arrogance involved - like from the ones who don't do the bleeding and dying.
Ain't that the truth. I don't know what the F. Apart from Herman Cain I don't think the other s can get elected nationwide. Perry is in free fall and Romney just hasn't got national phenom written on his face. Probably because perry and him are such politicians they just don't know how to connect. The liberals hate Newt so much they'd sacrifice their children to Baal just to keep him out. Too bad because he's exactly what the country needs. Chris Christie is the only one after that.
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