Entertainment Overnight -- Of A Sort

46 years ago today.



Links:  Kent State shootings

46 years later: Remembering the Kent State shootings

Kent State May 4 prepare-to-shoot controversy needs to be resolved by National Academy of Sciences

Memorial Day, 2015

A question for Americans

At what point do we learn?

At what point do we demand our government get us out of war and "perpetual war"?

Who is our Gloria Emerson of today?

I wrote yesterday, briefly, about the mistakes we made--and learnede nothing from--as a nation, regarding the Vietnam War. I also mentioned a very famous, brilliant writer named Gloria Emerson of The New York Times who wrote an equally brilliant book about our nation and the Vietnam experience in "Winners and Losers: Battles, Retreats, Gains, Losses, And Ruins From The Vietnam War".

In it, she wrote, rightly, that we, as a nation and as a people learned nothing, really from Vietnam. If anyone didn't agree with her when the book came out in 1978, by now, they would have plenty of proof she was correct, what with our attacking Iraq in 2003. She surely must be spinning in her grave.

So my question now, today, is, who, exactly is our so-needed Gloria Emerson of the day? Who is out there doing the research, on the ground in Afghanistan, getting the information, writing about what's going right--if anything--and what's gone and is going so terribly wrong for our that country, those people, our military and our country and people?

I can't think of a conflict that needs "lessons learned" any more than this one.

Can you?

And doesn't it seem we've made a great deal of mistakes and have plenty we do need to learn? And as soon as possible?

Link: http://gloriaemerson.com/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Emerson; http://www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/reporters/emerson/; http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gloria-emerson-6163682.html; http://vietnamwarfromatoz.blogspot.com/2011/02/winners-losers-by-gloria-emerson.html; http://www.amazon.com/Winners-And-Losers-Battles-Retreats/dp/0393309258

What America is creating with our heavy investments in war

I've written here, at least several times, I think, about the gross insanity of our US military spending and how obscene and even unwise to the point of ignorant it is. To briefly resprise, we spend at least an estimated 711 billion dollars per year on war, in one form or another. We heavily outspend the entire world on what we call "defense."

The two biggest factors, I think, that need to be emphasized are that, first, the United States accounts for a total of 43% of all military or "defense spending", nationwide and that a full 39% of our entire budget goes only for this spending, for all those bombs and planes and weapons. It's all negative, it's all destructive and beyond that, it's not sustainable in at least a few ways. We can't go on like this. Instead of making us strong and stronger, our military spending is not only weakening us as a nation, it is, I think it can intelligently, legitimately be argued, destroying us both financially and physically. Following are some of the worst results of all that emphasis on war:

From The New York Times today (see link below): "An American soldier dies every day and a half, on average, in Iraq or Afghanistan. Veterans kill themselves at a rate of one every 80 minutes. More than 6,500 veteran suicides are logged every year — more than the total number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined since those wars began." To close, I want to quote an American Founding Father because it seems so clearly relevant to where we find ourselves today, unfortunately, sadly and tragically: "Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes … known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.… No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." — James Madison, Political Observations, 1795 Links: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/opinion/sunday/kristof-a-veterans-death-the-nations-shame.html?scp=1&sq=a%20veteran's%20death,%20the%20nation's%20shame&st=cse; http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending; http://www.realclearworld.com/blog/2011/04/us_military_spending_vs_the_world.html

We think of ourselves as "a peace-loving people"

Indeed, I think we Americans think of ourselves as peace-lovers and beneficent and a peace-loving people, yet, according to author John Pilger, "Since the Second World War the US has 1) Attempted to overthrow more than 50 governments, most of them democratically-elected; ) Attempted to suppress a populist or national movement in 20 countries; ) Grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries; 4) Dropped bombs on the people of more than 30 countries and, finally, at least here, 5) Attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders." And that's just SOME of what we've done, as a nation. We need to make it clear to all of our national leaders that this is beyond unacceptable and demand that our country stop its militarism completely and as soon as possible. It's absurd. It's obscene. The only thing it's doing is supporting the "military-industrial complex" President Eisenhower warned us of. Face it, folks, for the last 50 years, we have been the warmonger of the world. It needs to stop and the only way it will is if we demand it. Links: http://www.newstatesman.com/global-issues/2012/01/pilger-obama-war-britain; https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-War-You-Dont-See-a-Film-by-John-Pilger/164138183607202

One of Phil Ochs best songs, to me

Phil Ochs--60's singer, songwriter, performer, activist and war protester. Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Ochs; http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/phil-ochs-there-but-for-fortune/about-the-documentary/1954/

Entertainment overnight

More of America's history on tonight

Watch Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune on PBS. See more from American Masters.

Links: http://kcpt.org/blog/2012/01/18/american-masters-phil-ochs/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Ochs

What they really need

So CPAC's annual meeting is over.

You know, the Conservative Political Action Committee's annual meeting, deciding who they are now, where they are, where they're going and what they ought to do next.

It brings up so many thoughts.

Some of the information that came out of the meeting was blatantly laughable and, if you're a Conservative, sad.

The fact is, the Republicans and Conservatives have been damaged--almost destroyed--by George W. Bush, his administration and their 8 years of antics.

If being conservative means shrinking government, forget it. George shot that to heck.

Why didn't we just give the CIA and FBI the tasks we needed as a nation, instead of creating the new, bloated Department of Homeland Security. No one asks that question, it seems.

If being conservative means spending less and being financially responsible and downright thrifty, again, forget it. W laid budgets to waste. George inherited a budget suplus and turned it, after his blown-out 8 years, into the boondoggle deficit we have now.

If being conservative means keeping government out of people's lives, again, forget it. George reached that same government further into people's lives than any President in the nation's history since at least Abraham Lincoln, and at least President Lincoln had the Civil War as his reason.

W had no such excuse. History will prove that out.

So here we are, at the beginning of 2009 and conservatives are trying to figure out what happened to them and what to do next.

Here's what they have to do:

Recover from George W. Bush, like the rest of us.

Don't get me wrong, he isn't the reason for EVERYTHING that's wrong in the world. (Almost, sure, but not everything).

But yeah, conservatives need to disavow everything W did that flies in the face of what they're about.

They need to say that government cannot and should not reach into people's personal lives via the internet and phone searches, etc.

They need to say--and mean it--that they won't preempt the Supreme Court and the court's need for warrants to get information.

It worked for the previous 300 years.

Government must play by its own rules, too. And that includes the Executive Branch and all others.

They need to get government out of religion.

And they need to get religion out of government.

Shrinking what we pay out, as a nation, is a great idea.

And to do it, Conservatives should help us shrink the military and the Department of Defense.

We need to stop fighting WWII and the Cold War.

And this starts bringing up exactly what was wrong with the Republican Party and Conservatives.

They are both too much in bed with Big Business and corporations. They've given both of them too much of what they ask for. (It doesn't even have to be what they want or need. All Business has to do is ask for it and the Rebubs and Conservatives give it to them, usually for a campaign contribution of a mere $2,000.00 to $5,000.00. A pittance.)

Repubs and Conservatives need to then go much further.

Go back to the way they both used to be in their heyday--think Barry Goldwater and President Eisenhower--and REALLY get government out of people's personal lives.

Get government out of homes and bedrooms.

That gay problem they have?

Lose it.

A woman want to have an abortion?

Butt out.

Look, in the first place, IT'S BEEN THE LAW OF THE LAND FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS. For pity's sake, be realists. Wake up. It's done.

But it's much more than that. The fact is that poor women need the option of abortion.

Should there be lots of them? No. Certainly not.

Should we, as a society, use abortions as birth control? Again, no.

But instead of trying to go against those nearly 40 years of legal precedent, why not put a ton of energy and resources--very publicly--into sex education and helping people adopt?

Both these things make much more sense. Then maybe we could all work together to reduce the number of abortions in the nation.

There's a thought.

Americans working together.

Wouldn't that be refreshing?

So sure, shrink government. Reduce spending. Shrink the military. Get us out of Europe--Germany and Italy, for starters.

Sell Camp Pendleton, California. Can you imagine how much all that Southern California beachfront property would sell for, in a recovering market, hopefully in a few years from now? Then move those Marines to some unused part of Arizona or Nevada or somewhere. They don't need and shouldn't be on the beaches of Southern Callifornia.

There are a ton of good, positive things Conservatives could do for themselves and the country that would make them vital and positive again.

Being divisive, separatists is not one of them.

But listening to and taking direction from Rush "Porkulus" Limbaugh isn't, either.

Why?

After writing a bit yesterday on America and the Vietnam War, I was reminded, too, of a book on the subject.

The book was "America's Longest War: United States and Vietnam", 1950-1975 by George Herring (Nov 1985).

And that really set me back.

Vietnam.

America's longest war.

And here we are, still in Iraq after 6 years.

Fortunately for the soldiers and for America, the human toll hasn't been nearly as bad, of course, but does this make any sense?

Does it make any sense for us to still be in Iraq?

Does it make any sense at all for us to still be committing men, women and materiel to this far-flung, sand-blown outpost?

If you've read anything by me at all, you'll know my answer would have to be a resounding no.

But my point in bringing this up is that, here is this book from so long ago on Vietnam, calling it our longest war and the average American on the street today really doesn't seem to have any big feeling, one way or another, about our country being in Iraq.

Soldiers are over there, living and dying for our country and most of us are just concerned about our jobs, our bank accounts and how the weather is going to be in the next 24 hours.

That's not right, to say the least.

The previous leadership from the White House got us into this stupid, deadly, costly war and then didn't lead the American people.

Thank all that's good that he's gone.

Now, let's do all the right things and get out of Iraq and the Middle East.
________________________

Within an hour or two after writing the above, a news article came out from Associated Press and Yahoo! News telling of an alarming rise in January this year, in the number of suicides by American Soldiers.

A year ago it was bad enough at 8. This year it was a shocking 24.

Clearly, this seems to point out exactly what I was saying.

Why are we in Iraq?

And why don't we get out?

Link to full story here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/army_suicides