W.J. Astore
So, Republicans now control the Senate as well as the House. As we the people endure the forced march to 2016 and the next presidential election, our new political landscape is sure to produce more military escalations.
The reason is as obvious as it is sad. De-escalation of military conflicts is defined, especially by Republicans, as “losing” whereas escalation is defined as “doing something,” as being “decisive,” even when decision is nowhere in sight. Even when military action just makes matters worse.
Once again, as we approach 2016, the Republicans will bash the Democrats as appeaseniks. And the Republicans will be right. The Democrats are appeaseniks — to the national security state.
You can almost guarantee that the hawkish Hillary Clinton — doing her best imitation of Margaret Thatcher — will be the Democratic candidate. Meanwhile, Republican candidates will run to the right of Attila the Hun as they blame Obama for having “lost” both Iraq and Afghanistan (even though both of those countries were never ours to “win”). Dishonest (or disingenuous) the Republicans may be, but they know how to win elections via the Big Lie.
As Tom Engelhardt noted this week, the national security state has built a militarized escalation machine that will execute its function of perpetual war regardless of whom is sworn in as the next commander-in-chief.
As my wife said to me today, our country is in big trouble. Yes, we are, because as James Madison pointed out, perpetual war is the enemy of democracy and freedom.
As for me, I’ll vote for any candidate who has the spine to stand up for an end to perpetual war. Show me a candidate who’s willing to abandon fear-mongering about overseas threats while telling the truth about the threats we face right here at home from America’s power brokers and I’ll show you a candidate worthy of being elected. Either that, or show me a candidate who’s so worried about those overseas threats that he or she takes up arms (I mean literally) in the trenches against the enemy, and I’ll show you a candidate who at least is not a hypocrite.
But I fear 2016 will be the year of Benghazi! Benghazi! and who lost Iraq/Afghanistan/and similar countries we never “found” to begin with.
Did I mention my smarter wife said our country is in trouble?
Bracing Views 
Reblogged this on Vox Populi.
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Your wife is only partially right . When OUR country is in trouble, it’s not just our country but the whole world is in trouble. Politicians all over the world understand that when their economy is heading towards disaster the best way to divert attention of the masses is to discover an external threat and go to war! Mike Murry has tracked that very well in his comments to the previous article. We have pretty well been in perpetual war for the last hundred years.
The European economy is very shaky as a result of “austerity” cuts to social programs that can sustain an economy when capitalism goes through one of its its periodic and predictable collapses. Our stock market is only of interest to the 1-3% who still own the bulk of equities. It only tells you how well they are doing ,. It says very little about the health of the economy.
Turn your eyes to Europe,not to the Middle East, to see if the hornets nest the US released with our neo-liberals meddling in the Ukraine.will provoke Western European leaders, to let the U.S. light a conflagration with Russia over that situation and bring them into the game. There will be a big impetus from the war hawks in our country too start something with Russia since even with troops on the ground in Syria-Iraq, that game is now lost.The big game is our attempt to encircle both China with Obama’s “pivot” to the Pacific of our military assets, and the destabilization of Ukraine to bring an anti Russian, pro fascist government into power.
I would not count on Obama and the /Democratic Party to suddenly make a 180 degree turn and throw water on attempts by the Republicans to escalate those two situations.
And the Republicans are ready!
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/05/republican-hawks-already-have-a-war-plan-for-isis-ukraine-and-obama.html
Republican Hawks Already Have a War Plan for ISIS, Ukraine, and Obama
Call it the neoconservatives’ revenge. But even the dovish side of the GOP now acknowledges the election was a win for their party’s hawks.
View on http://www.thedailybeast.com
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I believe I heard on NPR News today that Sen. James “Every word of the bible is literally true and global climate change is a commie hoax” Imhofe of the Great State of Oklahoma will assume chairmanship, come January, of the Senate committee that oversees environmental matters!! This immediately brought, ahem, “fond” memories of Reagan’s Secretary of Interior James Watt! But before a wave of nausea could get the best of me, it hit me: “OUR” CONGRESS ISN’T DOING A G*DDAMN THING ABOUT CLIMATE CHAOS ANYWAY, SO WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL THIS MAKE?!?!?!?
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Greg: I think our power brokers are in favor of global warming. It opens up the polar regions to resource exploitation. There’s so much money to be made in raping new regions of the earth — all they care about is short-term profits. They just don’t give a damn about any future longer than a generation.
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Totalitarianism in most countries within two decades to control climate change effect unrest amongst populations. Civilizational collapse across most if not all of the globe within 5 decades. All the CH4 soon to leave sequestration status, thanks to increasing temperature and digging in sites with accessibility challenges, will screw the planetary environmental pooch long before greedy bastards can get to everything still underground. Thanks to this group’s economic power there is little chance of top down leadership able to avert this catastrophe. Over half of American’s still place faith in conservative doctrine and authority spokespeople (Fox! Rush! Sara! James Inhofe, Louie Gohmert, et. al.: Authority figures!)
Bottom up rebellion at some point in near decades is likely. Hell, even dunderheaded conservative born followers (well, some, at any rate; maybe) eventually realize when they’re being abused. Think of it: anti-Kenyan Commie Muslim right wing gun/ammo hoarders finally get to take on powerful oppressive government, winner take all, and even the most ubiquitous and effective propaganda machine ever dreamed up by B. F. Skinner can’t instead continue to mold their every thought into support for economic elite’s policies any more.
Of course, the government these freedom loving patriots take is prepared for worse than them after decades of perpetual war. This federal military force will have drone recon/weaponry, aircraft and armor, and soldiers & mercenaries and satellite surveillance and intelligence plants (not to mention unlimited resupply from the arms/munitions industry), adding up to overwhelming military assets by at least an order of magnitude, manned with personnel motivated by sheer survival against the hordes, interested in self and family first and only and democratic representative government not one whit, vitally aware they stand to lose everything anytime revolutionaries should prevail.
Unfortunately for the overwhelming majority of federal forces, only the necessary minimum security personnel/managerial support staff will be retained when ruling elites decamp to more climate-habitable locales somewhere north of the lower 48 along about this time; most of the grunt fighters and business support staff will be let go then, fated after all only to be ordinary minimum-asset prole’s just like the rest of us. All that fighting, accomplished only to provide time for the perp’s to make their getaway to lives of luxury in a new location, free of any possible government restraint forever. An amoral libertarian’s wet dream come true.
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Well, all I can predict with confidence is that the Ecosphere will collapse before even the most pessimistic scientists predict. Where will the elite flee to? Research “Biosphere” if you’re too young to remember this experiment directly: I’m pretty sure the very wealthy Bass brothers sponsored this attempt to prove that a fully closed micro-environment could sustain human beings, providing all food, clean water, oxygen and energy needed. I think that was early 1980s. The experiment was abandoned after the media called into serious question whether the enclosed spaces were really sealed off from the outside world and really self-sufficient. What were the Bass brothers trying to prove? I believe they wanted to show that billionaires could afford to relocate to and survive on another planet after a terrestrial catastrophe! You and I won’t be invited to join them, of course. Reminds me of a minor sci-fi movie classic called “When Worlds Collide,” in which there’s a struggle over who gets to board the very limited spaceship fleet evacuating Earth as a rogue planet or planetesimal approaches on a collision course. The percentage of the US population that actually believes the drivel about climate change being a hoax probably exceeds the percentage that thinks Obama is a socialist. And that’s saying something! This is why I have referred to U.S.A. as MORON NATION since the Reagan era.
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You might enjoy the recent sci-fi movie, “Elysium,” Greg, since it deals with the ultra-wealthy having relocated to an exclusive orbiting space colony while the rest of humankind remains below on Earth, living in disease and squalor.
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Mike–“Elysium” was pretty disappointing for me, especially since it was from the director of the mind-blowing “District 9.” Wasn’t exactly a “big concept movie,” devolving into an action flick as it went on. Can’t win ’em all.
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