Well, here I go again.
Yes, the old guy (me) os once again highly pissed off (better to be pissed off than pissed on, as we used to say in my days as a Marine. Not that we were not ever pissed on, but, oh well......), or if you prefer more polite language (you really need to find other blogs if my language offends you, it is MY blog/corner here) I am totally disgusted, again. Or is that still?
Either way, disgusted/pissed off/offended/sick of the "same old shit" (I DID warn about my language).
OK, so what "set off" the old guy today? Some internet articles is what. Yes, real news/opinion as opposed to total crap, i.e., "mainstream media". First off, a "hat tip" to an old internet/email friend, one Mike Whitney. Mike usually posts on economic issues, but every so often he comes out of his "econ" role and posts some very worth reading items. His latest at the Counterpunch web site today is one of his best ever. www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/31/afghanistan-the-smell-of-defeat/
Now it was not Mike who got me all wound up, nor is it his main source a certain Mr. Lind. I have read much by Mr. Lind when his articles get posted at Anti-war.com. I admit Mr. Lind certainly seems to know what he writes about. Recently, his main focus has been on what he calls "Fourth generation Warfare", which is to say, the types of wars we have been engaged in starting, my opinion, with Vietnam. This type of war is one in which the USA/NATO are pitted against non-state foes, such as the Taliban and/or al-Qaeda. In short what used to be called guerrilla warfare. As with Vietnam, we have lost in Iraq and ARE on the losing end in Afghanistan.
That "we" are having our collective asses (hind ends for those who prefer "polite" terms) handed to us is no surprise to me. The US military did NOT learn the lessons of the Vietnam war/fiasco. All the military "seemed" to have learned from Vietnam was to never allow unattended access to the "press". This is why ALL media has had military "minders" and/or pool reporting of our recent wars. The best(or is that worst?) example would be the "embedded" reporters during and after the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
What bothers me is that it appears that no matter which corporate candidate "wins" next Tuesday, we will have more wars in countries most Americans cannot find on a world map. As is/was true of both Iraq and Afghanistan and may still be the case for many in the USA. Hey, watching the "news" takes away from my time "texting" on my new "smart" phone. Oh America, we have smart phones and dumb people who buy them. And some of you think this isn't a "great" country? Well, we'll show you all who is or isn't "great". As soon as I finish this "text" message, maybe.
Yeah, I AM disgusted with so much in the USA, but in my opinion, that disgust has been earned. The dumbness, as it were, is active, not a passive thing. In the age of the internet, I believe it IS an active thing to be ignorant of world events. What with all the connectivity, cell phones, smart phones, tablets, etc I do believe it takes serious effort to be uninformed, aka dumb.
Back to Mr. Lind. What really bothers me, and has done so since the first time I read his work, is that he is not, or seems to not be, anti-war. He comes across to me as being in favor of "war done right" rather than truly anti-war. I have not looked into his background, so I do not know, nor really care, if he ever served in any military. He seems very good at theory and he is persuasive, or can be. This ties in with some other articles I ran across that mention the possibilities of the coming election next week. No doubt some of you may have read articles by Mr. Ellsberg and Mr. Chomsky telling you to vote for Gobomber IF you live in a "swing" state, vote a "third party" if your state is a "lock" for either wing of the old war party. This is the old "lesser evilism" at work people. OK, easy for me to say as Louisiana is NOT a "swing" state. We Do have more than a few "swingers" no doubt. Hey, we have New Orleans where "swing" is IN. Musically at least, any other form of "swing" is beyond my personal knowledge.
As a Mr. Amos Burritt put things (also at Counterpunch) in an article dated 20 October 2012, Enough of the "lesser evil" voting. Amen sir! Damn right! About time we had some realism on the major web sites. Thanks for posting this one Counterpunch.www.counterpunch,org/2012/10/29/obama-in-2012-american-death-squads-in-2016/
Now, before you say;"Wait a second there old man. You need serious mental health intervention." Consider the basis of such an argument. IF Mittens "wins" next week, how many of you think the anti-war "left" will be revived? How many of you think that the "Occupy Movement" will roar back to life big time, should Mittens "win"? I don't know how you voted on those questions, but as for me, I'd say "bet the farm" on BOTH being 100% true. Hell, even the cliche 110% true. And YES, I am fully aware that one cannot ever give 110%. It is not possible, just consult an elementary physics text book. 100% is THE maximum anybody or system can ever give of itself.
Mr. Burritt makes a damn good argument that re-elected, Gobomber will continue on his merry way. You know how that goes, unlimited drone attacks any where, any time, the "kill list" whereby Gobomber is now judge, jury, and executioner. We now have in the USA unlimited detention for ALL persons (YES even including US citizens) for an indefinite time period. And ALL of this plus more to come, on the sole "say so" of "dear leader" Gobomber. To paraphrase Mel Brooks from his film "History of the World Part One" It's good to be POTUS! Hell yes, he is now above any and all laws. And on his own word he has attained(?) these "heights". I'd say depths rather than heights as NO human being ever should have anything remotely near such authority. And to think, America used to be a democratic republic. Or so it supposedly started out as such. Quoth the Raven; "Nevermore".
So, what to do? Should we all go and vote for Mittens, with the near certainty that this might revive the "left" in America? Do we just follow Mrs. Ellsberg and Chomsky and vote to re-elect "dear leader"? Or, do we vote for the candidate you feel might actually represent you and not the huge multi-national corporations? I would be the last person to tell anybody who to vote for, but my vote WILL go to a third party candidate. Hey, here in central Louisiana, we have NINE (Yes nine) candidates for POTUS who are NOT members of the war party. OK, that was a long winded way to say that on election day, I have 11 choices for the highest office in the land! Wow, an abundance of candidates. I will ask each of you, if you have yet to make a choice, to check how many candidates are running in the state you live, then read the policy statements/platforms of each. After doing so, make your best choice. True, no "third" party candidate has much real chance of winning, but it is YOUR vote, use it as YOU wish. Damn the war party, vote your best interests and not the biggest spenders.
One causation, and here I do agree that re-electing Gobomber may be the worst choice. If he is re-elected, who among the "left" will even try to hold him accountable? Wo among that gang has even tried since 2009? How many protests were there against the ongoing bankster bailouts? How many anti-war protests have there been since January 2009? Yeah, I thought so. What ever did happen to the Occupy movement? Lost in the shuffle? I do not mean to be nasty/critical of the Occupy folks, but I DO wonder what happened to them. Yes, I know, hurricane Sandy just got done with New York city. That is this week, where has Occupy been these last months? They can't all be old and disabled like me. Oh, right, it IS football season. OK, that may be a bot over the top snark, but where is everybody who claimed to be of the Occupy movement? The Meet Up page I bookmarked has no new events even planned for months.
So, in summary, the old guy (me) is disgusted again/still. He says vote the candidate who YOU think best represents YOU. He also says, no matter which war party guy "wins" we will have more damn fool wars of choice, less economic good news (for the common folks NOT the richest), and less freedom, of the net or any other freedom listed in the Bill of Rights. Neither Gobomber nor Mittens will do anything to undo the constitutional mess we are in now days. Neither of them will revoke unlimited detention without Habeus Corpus or access to a lawyer, neither will revoke the "renditions" by the CIA and/or "special Ops" types. Neither will wind down, let alone eliminate, the use of drones to bomb and kill supposed enemies. Drones WILL be common place in the skies of America, no matter which war party guy "wins" next week. Our civil liberties will NOT be restored by either Gobomber nor Mittens. Neither will offer anything worth having to the working class or the poor. Both will continue the all out assault on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid among other social programs, such as Foo Stamps and our schools. What will be done will be whatever increases profits for the richest of the rich and the multi-national corporations who profit from war.
My one big question is; how much of this crap will Americans take before something finally snaps? How far will they allow themselves to be pushed before they push back? Or am I just an old, worn out damn fool for even asking such things? Maybe so, maybe so. And yet, as I live and breathe, I feel compelled to keep asking.
semper fi
12 comments:
I've snapped. This means I'm not voting for a Dem, a Repub, or a third-party candidate. The system is corrupt. Voting for a "leader" is a participation in corruption.
I'm with you, Missy Beattie.
I won't vote.
The big money may control all the levers of power, but I don't have to endorse their lackeys (Obama and Romney)
Count me out.
Missy,
I respect your choice. Honest. I just cannot quit yet. Once this election is over, who knows. Hey, we may not even get one in 2016.
I do detest how they keep hyping POTUS as the "leader of the free world". What a crock.
Mike,
As with Missy, I do respect your voice. On voting we can agree to disagree. Also, as I said, I cannot quit......not yet anyway. Call me old, stubborn, hard headed. No doubt all apply to me. I never learned how to quit.
As I told Missy, we may not even get an election in 2016. We'll see. I almost wish I could quit as this is a good time to do so. Some choice we have this time.
I'm with you on the voting, Charlie. There's a fellow at counterpunch today ... Joshua Sperber ... selling the same don't vote song.
I can't buy it. Nobody but yourself knows you didn't vote. the dum/dee pluralities are unaffected by your non-vote. What's the sound of one hand clapping? I guess they'll all find out and report back.
If you vote for a non-dum/dee your vote is counted ... even if it's counted as spoiled ... and the plurality of dum/dee is decreased.
Not so if you don't vote.
If enough people did vote non-dum/dee the total of votes for the 'losers' can surpass the number of votes for the 'winner'. My hope is that that will flick a switch in enough minds ... even those turned off and not voting ... that resistance is not futile, that the killing can stop, that a saner system can be built.
The idea that voting non-dum/dee somehow validates the election of dum or dee is ludicrous. The media will try to validate dum/dee's victory. It will be much easier with all those who might have voted non-dum/dee staying home instead.
It's true that, Jill Stein for instance, seems like a kinder, gentler BOb ... none of them are up to the really heavy lifting that's required. But none of them ever will be. Only we can do that ... and we cannot do that by staying home.
It's enticing, apparently, not to vote. I can see it. Hell, you don't have to leave the couch, or change the channel.
John,
I will never tell anybody who to vote for. I will also not tell anybody they need to vote. We all make choices. While I disagree with Mr.Sperber, I can understand people who refuse to vote this year with the claim that the entire system is corrupt and why bother.
They made their choice and so be it. I respect that decision. Missy and Mike know this as we have had email exchanges of views over an extended time. I feel they have made their points for not voting and as I said, I respect that.
I also, like you, cannot quite give up, at least not yet.
As for voting third party, I want to keep doing so with the hope, however distant, that some third party candidate will win ANY office. Imagine say the Socialist party winning say a seat in some state government. That one win alone would cause all sorts of fallout. That may be why I was a rather loyal supporter/voter for the Peace and Freedom party back in my SoCal days. I honestly wanted them to win if even for city dog catcher. A win is a win to me.
I could go on and on, but I think I made my view known.
I do respect the choices others make. We all make our own and we live with the results. I would not want to live in a country where voting was mandatory. That would be miserable and I bet there would be even less choice than we have among the "big two" today. Just my opinion.
I hear you, Charlie.
It looks like I will vote for a third party candidate. If one candidate gets enough votes, they will be given funding and included in the debates, next time around. Also, here in California, I must vote to label GMO's. There is also another important education proposition that I must vote for. We are given the right to vote and i intend to exercise that right. I know there are some fascists who only think that only homeowners should be allowed to vote (my husband's boss). I reject that. The vote is a consensus of everybody and I intend to be included. Thanks, Charlie!
Sierra,
Good for you. You made or will make a choice and act on that choice.
I really do respect any choice as to this election. Those who choose to not vote get my respect as you also do for your choice.
Yes, the system IS corrupt, but there ARE items on many ballots that need a vote, such as the one you have in California about GM foods. I hope that vote has not already been sold to Monsanto or Cargill(spelling).
It will be most interesting to see how that ballot measure fares next week.
My opinion is that a vote for a "third" party candidate is NOT wasted at all. If we only had on every ballot the option to pick "none of the above" THAT would be interesting.
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Charlie, you're lucky. You live in a state that's so thoroughly red there's no way Obama will carry it. You can vote your conscience or even sit out the election and know you haven't done any damage. I'm here in Michigan and feeling really torn. It is definitely a case of figuring out which evil is the lesser one. As a woman, I fear the Republicans more so will probably cast a ballot that's against them rather than for the Democrats. (I don't have much use for the incumbent Democratic senator, but she's definitely better than her opponent.)
Over 50 years ago, President Eisenhower warned us about the dangers of the military-industrial complex. The endless, stupid 4th generation conflicts we're mired in today are the direct result of that unholy alliance. As long as there is money to be made by building high tech weapons (most of which are utterly useless against an insurgent guerilla force) and contracting out stuff like food service, building bases, etc., we're going to be enmeshed in stupid wars somewhere. IMHO, the only way to break out of the cycle is to bring back the draft -- if rich kids had to risk dying at the same rate poor ones do, wars like the mess in Afghanistan would become politically impossible.
Well, Charlie, the deed is done and Obomber is back in town, clearly the lesser of two evils but not by much.
The world has to join together to fight American imperialism if it is to survive. We can no longer afford to have a nation of psychos running around the world threatening and bullying and starting endless wars.
Keep your eye on Iran. Israel can't wait to start nuking it!
WW3 is getting closer and closer!
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