I read this article 4x as I am guilty of many things in this article and abhore the wars, mainly of oil in Gulf 1 which I was ignorantly apart of the murican Empire but no more as I have outgrown the desire to be the 19 yo kid I used to be and I desperately hope that young adults resist the urge to "be somebody".
Some of this, mainly about Vietnam and the Domino Theory in my opinion, article is observed through the lens of hindsight which is always 20/20. And yes I have visited the WALL in DC and ran my fingers down the names of 58,272 names and also visited the TRAVELING WALL. The war for resources, oil, is at best an Empires grasp at dominance.
The "parade" is a travesty and Eisenhower, who said "absolutely not", and many more people living and dead are ashamed at what this country is and had been for 325 years.
Norman Podhoretz pointed out in his book, “Why We Are In Vietnam,” that the policy makers at that time lived the reality of the spread naziism in WW2 and communism in Korea. They saw Vietnam as another domino in communism’s advance. Podhoretz also saw the fallacy of that argument. Ho Chi Minh wanted us as an ally in the fight against China much like we fought against England for our freedom in the Revolutionary War. But the deep purpose behind that war was that war was good for business. Profit was and remains our true patriotism. Trump’s parade is a perfect example of that point; it is a show of his wealth, that “this is all mine.” There is no objection from our military leaders. Not only is this most concerning, (I thought they would be our ally against trump’s tyranny), but it’s also damning evidence of our nation’s obliterated ideals. So much blood and treasure paid, and for what?
Bravo my brilliant kind friend. Empathy and discernment are a hard cross to carry in these dystopian times. Thanks for articulating out loud what so many of our souls are burdened with.
My sympathies go to the women and men in uniform who must understand that their commander in chief is unfit and that the generals, admirals, commandants, and senior officers are cornered in positions of supplication. Will they be put in harm's way on a whim or for purposes unrelated to national security? Will they be asked to fire upon forces which, until a few months ago, have been allies? Will they be asked to violate their oaths? And if/when they return to civilian life, will veterans' benefits be available?
Exactly what I’ve been hoping. I was also hoping he was headed to prison on numerous charges that would have sent any of us away and look what happened, he got elected! So unfortunately there’s enough ignorant people in this country for him to get a military parade crowd I’m sure. But one can hope.
Wonderfully put!
I read this article 4x as I am guilty of many things in this article and abhore the wars, mainly of oil in Gulf 1 which I was ignorantly apart of the murican Empire but no more as I have outgrown the desire to be the 19 yo kid I used to be and I desperately hope that young adults resist the urge to "be somebody".
Some of this, mainly about Vietnam and the Domino Theory in my opinion, article is observed through the lens of hindsight which is always 20/20. And yes I have visited the WALL in DC and ran my fingers down the names of 58,272 names and also visited the TRAVELING WALL. The war for resources, oil, is at best an Empires grasp at dominance.
The "parade" is a travesty and Eisenhower, who said "absolutely not", and many more people living and dead are ashamed at what this country is and had been for 325 years.
Norman Podhoretz pointed out in his book, “Why We Are In Vietnam,” that the policy makers at that time lived the reality of the spread naziism in WW2 and communism in Korea. They saw Vietnam as another domino in communism’s advance. Podhoretz also saw the fallacy of that argument. Ho Chi Minh wanted us as an ally in the fight against China much like we fought against England for our freedom in the Revolutionary War. But the deep purpose behind that war was that war was good for business. Profit was and remains our true patriotism. Trump’s parade is a perfect example of that point; it is a show of his wealth, that “this is all mine.” There is no objection from our military leaders. Not only is this most concerning, (I thought they would be our ally against trump’s tyranny), but it’s also damning evidence of our nation’s obliterated ideals. So much blood and treasure paid, and for what?
Bravo my brilliant kind friend. Empathy and discernment are a hard cross to carry in these dystopian times. Thanks for articulating out loud what so many of our souls are burdened with.
My sympathies go to the women and men in uniform who must understand that their commander in chief is unfit and that the generals, admirals, commandants, and senior officers are cornered in positions of supplication. Will they be put in harm's way on a whim or for purposes unrelated to national security? Will they be asked to fire upon forces which, until a few months ago, have been allies? Will they be asked to violate their oaths? And if/when they return to civilian life, will veterans' benefits be available?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if no one, zero, zip, nadie went to “the parade”?
Exactly what I’ve been hoping. I was also hoping he was headed to prison on numerous charges that would have sent any of us away and look what happened, he got elected! So unfortunately there’s enough ignorant people in this country for him to get a military parade crowd I’m sure. But one can hope.
Read Chris Hedges “War is a force that gives us meaning” last summer. Your excellent article reinforces these cold, hard facts about our nation.
Excellent, just excellent writing. Why can’t we get our shit together?