Former Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich may have said it best:
“Never before in modern history have the Republicans considered a more bizarre group of characters, who bear more resemblance to the denizens of the bar in “Star Wars” than to serious leaders,” Reich says in a public forum on Politico.Com. “Their candidacies will only help President Obama, whose favorability ratings — despite a level of unemployment that would sink most presidents – remain relatively high.”
With potential candidates like Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin and perennial loser Ron Paul appealing to the extreme fringe of the GOP, Democrats lick their chops in delight.
“Maybe while Bachmann is hiring staff she should also bring on a geography coach so she knows what state she’s actually in and what happened there,” Democratic consultant Garry South told Politico. “Having already misplaced the battles of Lexington and Concord in New Hampshire, will she also think Mt. Rushmore is in South Carolina, or confuse Iowa for Ohio? Democrats should be so lucky as to have Bachmann as the Republican nominee in 2012.”
In more than 40 years of covering politics as a journalist or working inside the system as a political operative, I have never witnessed such an invasion of flakes, kooks and outright nutcases enter the national limelight. Politics has always attracted the bizarre but the level of loons on the national stage is downright frightening.
Bachmann, Sharron Angle, Sarah Palin and others have turned the GOP into an international joke and broug6ht amazement at the support and enthusiasm they generate.
Legendary journalist H.L. Mencken once said nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American consumer. The same could be said of the American voters who actually cast their ballots for these folks.
Says Dante Scala, associated professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire on Politico:
High expectations are often a curse in presidential politics, and of those Michele Bachmann is blessedly free. Much like Pat Buchanan in 1992, she will be all about sending a message to the party establishment. Many tea partiers, I suspect, want just that: a messenger who will be faithful to their cause. Bachmann will travel light.
Assuming Sarah Palin takes a pass, the other likely tea party ambassador is Newt Gingrich. But like most every person who wants to be president, Gingrich’s campaign is ultimately about Gingrich. In 2012, he confronts his last chance to fullfill the promise of the Wonder Boy of the 1990s. His head is filled with references to Lincoln, Churchill and Reagan, and his hopes to be mentioned among them one day. And as iconoclastic as he imagines himself to be, his campaign is a failure without the blessing of his party.
In other words, it will be style, not substance, that drives the Tea Party faithful.
Barack Obama’s election as President in 2008 proves the failure of style over substance. His memorizing speeches thrilled crowds but his lack of experience and failure as a leader has left voters with buyer’s remorse and America still in trouble.
America deserves better Presidents but until we find a more informed electorate the likelihood of actually electing one remains an impossible dream.
APBYNCYCXGAR
37 thoughts on “The GOP’s invasion of the intelligence-snatchers”
Of course I am familiar with de Toqueville. My kids read his work in French for a clearer interpretation. By the way the translation could be clearer.
Apparently the group here who continue to criticize my words, feels a need for the government to issue standard laws mandating everyone have the same interpretation of life, love and the constitution. In my opinion the government has lost the whole concept of individuality within the citiens of America.
I realize that there is a certain amount of safety when all citizens believe in the same god and a need to cover every American under a safety net of security. This is where I step away and want every individual to have his/her own set of values. The short cut and easiest road has always been to look to the government for our standards.
As a believer in evolution, this acts like a drug on the population through all levels of culture. The Constitution is a document for the indivual American citizen to limit the authority of the government. I understood this from my first political thought. Changing the authority of the Constitution will weaken the authority that comes from the individual citizen.
Carl, the government has not goner rogue but the voters have neglected to demand that all citizens be educated in all levels of survival. We are becoming animals in cages waiting for our handouts and in turn paying for the handouts of others. We know of no other way. If we follow Rand Paul’s agenda millions of illequipped uneducated Americans will simply starve or freeze to death.
There is only one way to correct this predicament and that is to educate all Americans on tools of decent jobs. This came from Aristotle and even Plato and it is not up to the federal government to take on the responsibility. We as family units should invest 18 years in training for each child. Public schools are not doing the job. Cable television cannot do the job. Video games are also not able to the job.
Doug understand the problem of overemphasizing the power of government as he saw it first hand. I only could read about it.
Every 4 years our political parties circle around some candidate who will make the biggest changes in how we all live as citzens and to hell with voters who cannot quality as backers of this new agenda. I see no agenda of change in Americas in general and CHB in particular. The members here run in circles searching for what is missing in our government and stomp all over any plans for correction.
I have no plans except to research what the next generation needs and figure out how to supplement the needs Nearly 50 years ago I was determined to raise my own family in my way. I had never been around children before but I did not like the lack of respect I saw in the local schools or on the local playgrounds. I was not alone The activity to supplement the schools started with civil rights and introducintg individual freedoms. All living things were to be protected and made special in the minds of our own children. If I sound like an old hippie, I might just qualify.
The networks and media sell space and time. If you buy the crap they sell, then stop. If you allow your children to look for joy only in toys and things that make noise, that is all you will get.
I do not have the authority to ask anyone here to describe freedom in America. It is obvious what many of you do not want and it involves honest debate. Issuing labels on television and media in general is all any of your can bitch about. Encroaching tyranny comes from giving in to pressure. Rand Paul is stepping up to stop this pressure but he has no compassion for the millions of Americans who were not educated to make their own decisions.
It is a losing battle unless the people themselves take their family homes, jobs, declare a solid dollar value and stand up as individuals and live their ideals. Sadly, America may be beyond the ability to even describe individual freedoms. They gave up their individual family values and fell headlong into organized religion. It is their choice and their right to do so but to hand them the Constitution to rework into lthe Bill of Rights will be the final stab in the soul of America. This was the plan for the Birch Society and they used it against Communism because they all knew that Communism was the opposite of Christian values.
Many of us in America saw through this and tried to correct this damaging agenda and we may win in the end. Carl, you have caved into the victim role of Americans. You can go from site to site and throw out the dangers of terrorism but you have missed the point. You want that safety net from Big Brother to protect you and your only solution is to pray.
You have the ability to write what you want but do you have the facts straight? You seem to want the wealth from others without earning it. You look to collectivism as a pig wallows in mud.
There is another way but it takes research to understand economics. The CEO of Starbucks came out with a book and I will order it before the day is over. He is also working with Mika and Joe to improve the schools.
The Head Kook on CNN
I realize Anderson Cooper is simply conducting an interview, but his network controllers have made sure he, Wolf et al. that report the news are expert at ‘facial theater’. The whole time he interviewed Paul he had this look of ‘incredulous tolerance’ just shy of having one eyebrow raised… : ))
Congressman Paul is spot-on, but the greater majority of Americans; ie., the “chickenhead’ class could give a rats butt less about the Constitution and the fact we must maintain and honor it and that our entire body of laws who’s roots lie in the Magna Carta and British Common Law requires such in order to maintain a civilized society. Maybe George W. Bush didn’t refer to the document as a g-damn piece of paper, but both he and now Obama surely treat it as such and worse since 9/11.
The networks and media in general are part of the totally compromised “Fourth Estate”. There’s to be no respite from encroaching tryanny on their behalf. Instead of providing a check against a government obviously gone rogue, they are now simply facilitators of regime friendly propaganda. : |
*****
“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves”… Edward R. Murrow
*****
Carl Nemo **==
Almandine, I have spent 40 plus years trying to figure out what the hell happened to American values. I’ve called it as I see it. America had a fair chance at survival as long as the separation of church and state was recognized. I attended revival meetings sponsored by many organizations found in the neoconservative base of the GOP. You don’t like what I found. I should ignore the anger, the threats that these occult members demand from the GOP?
Could it be that you are in sympathy with Al Qaeda? Would you prefer that America continue to kill off those of darker skin or those who refuse to breed with the opposite sex? If you take even a short peek at the actions of this new group of Republican Leaders you cannot miss the movement. Do you buy the notion that God talks to men like Newt and the others? Do you like to read of the murders done by mothers when God tells them kill?
We are talking about the dirtiest little secret in America. It is a repeat of the downfall of most of Europe. Would you rather ignore the facts? Is there nothing to be save in America and we sit back and watch the same atrocities that many of us saw in the past?
I your faith in God so strong that nothing can cut through the supernatural superstitions? Will you be willing to allow the insane zealots take over our nation? You have a bug of your butt when I write something. Please tell me you are not out of high school yet…..
Tommy, I agree with you on the subject of Ron Paul but I do not believe he is strong enough to take the criticism of others. He has been my candidate since 1988 but he has not got the mind set to build on his opinions. May I ask where you were in 1988? Did you even look into Perot’s opinions in 1992?
Where the hell was the fiscal responsibility for the last 40 years? What could wipe out the brains of many active Republicans who wanted serious change? The Birch Society blew away any chance of individual freedoms when they demanded that God replace our Constitution. Hell, I saw through that after Korea.
I’m not certain that everyone here understands the individual freedoms that will be prohibited if this movement of waiting for God to speak continues. Bachmann waited for God’s permission for her to run in 2012 and she got it.
I cannot force anyone to read the history of Christian assault on the nations in Europe. It should not be necessary if our history and civic classes had been taught correctly. We are seeing human nature in action in Bahrain, Tunisia, Egypt and now in Libya. The people want all other religions destroyed and this is the same crap we are seeing in America.
I have taken a very unpopular position on American values. I realize that many here were born and raised as Christians and cannot see another point of view. Strangely, I did see the other side at an early age when I had access to books written for everyone, not just a selected few. I was also in a boarding school when Israel became a nation. The joy that hit our student body was amazing. Many worried that it might force the Christians in an uprising against issuing freedoms to a minority. This was back in the late 40’s long before civil rights became an action in America.
Dr. Paul has no backers in or out of the congress but he could be bought by the religious right if pushed into wanting to win. I was a member of the Republican Libertarian caucus in 1998 when we were in the same position we find today. I spent 3 days with Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul in Atlanta trying to work on a movement that would bring fiscal responsibility back into the GOP. It troubled many of us when Governor Bush was a candidate for POTUS and offered the churches grant money. He was strongly opposed to gays marrying and must be kept out of the military. Bush ran on a list of prohibitions to be added to the Bill of Rights to keep many Americans as underdogs. Pat Robertson was quoted a lot in those 3 days and I came home realizing the harm of the religious right had already been done.
When Orwell wrote 1984, in the 1940s the harm was already in the works. The development of television put the final drugs into the minds of too many Americans. The writers at that time had to use shock and awe to get the attention of the American public. Hollywood went crazy with sci fi scripts showing the hell of losing our individual rights. One great man started a series called Star Trek where individual still had the strength to destroy the bigots, racists and intolerance. Gene Roddenberry was a genius and had some of the best writers, studio designers and special effects people in the industry. He refused to accept a minority as being a lesser character.
He may have been the start of “Secular Humanist” groups all over the USA. I had no television in those days but I read many of the scripts that he used. My son designed the consoles of his ships.
CHB is filled with experts on what is wrong in America but not a single member has even tried to suggest a fix. I asked for this a couple of years ago and told this is not a think tank. So excuse me if I keep trying to make people aware of the weakness we find today. There was always a chance at a new voice, a new opinion and a new policy of individual rights.
Palin, Pawlenty, Newt, Trump and Bachmann are has beens and dangerous.
“Please tell me you are not out of high school yet…..”
Oh my goodness, have I been put down !!!
Well, yes, that is the case, Sandy… but, more to the point, I was reading a work by one of your high school contemporaries, Alexis de Toqueville, a philosopher well-known for his analytical views on America and its differences with Europe, from which it sprang. Maybe you’ve heard of him…
Those socio-cultural differences related, in particular, to the Christian basis of America and the sense of community that common bond substantiated; his associated assault on European ethics/morals was based on the clear lack of purpose and raison d’etre that Europeans exhibited because of their more “secular” approach. Maybe – in opposition to that argument – you’re right… maybe not, and he is.
One thing I do know… there is not, nor has there ever been, any country on this planet that has flourished using the principles you espouse. My bet? You’ll check out before it ever can happen.
Do you mean this Alex de Toqueville…?
“Those that despise people will never get the best out of others and themselves.”
“A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it.”
“All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it.”
“Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.”
One and the same… who also said:
“Socialism is a new form of slavery. Democracy and socialism cannot go together. You can’t have it both ways.”
“Those that despise people will never get the best out of others and themselves.” …extract from post
Seems to me this one is a best fit for Ms. Price’s ‘Snarlene Citrus Funk’ persona. : |
Carl Nemo **==
Draw from it what you will…heehee.
I just simply can’t believe that Ron Paul is still considered an outcast in the political world…He is seriously the only politician to give us the pure, unfiltered truth (like it or not). He talks straightforward in a manner that everyone can understand (while everyone else in Washington likes to keep things vague and they can’t seem to answer a simple question with a straightforward answer). He is an incredibly smart man, and that’s why the Media continues to label him as a ‘kook’.
The fact is; the Media is scared of Ron Paul. The Federal Government is scared of Ron Paul. Big Business is scared of Ron Paul. Given that all three are in bed with each other, it’s no wonder why Ron Paul is considered an outcast. Ron Paul is truly a voice for the people, and he always has been. Ron Paul will give us the “change” that Obama falsely promised us. Howerver, this change would be bad for the elitists on Wall Street and in Washington. He would give the power back to the people, and put an end to all of the corruption that takes place on the federal level.
Unfortunately, as long as the mainstream media refuses to acknowledge Ron Paul as a legitimate candidate, most of the “sheeple” in America will continue to vote based on their propaganda-filled perceptions. It’s also unfortunate that there are more “sheeple” than there are free-thinkers.
The internet is home to the free-thinkers. “Alternative Media” is the only way to find out the truth these days (mainstream media is a complete joke on so many levels). When you factor that in, is there any wonder why Ron Paul has such as large “Internet based” following?
Anyways, I hate the whole two party system. But with that said; most of my beliefs and ideas are more liberal and I tend to lean to the left most of the time…But when I constantly see our government’s incompetence in action, they really give me no choice. There really is only one man who could be President in 2012, AND help us get out of this economic crisis that we have put ourselves (and future generations) in: Ron Paul.
America needs him now more than ever. I hope that he runs again (he’s already got my vote), and hopefully more and more people will open their eyes and see what many of us already see: a country truly in crisis.
Rand has more grit.
Since Doug mentioned H.L. Mencken is this piece, I thought I would offer a few more…
“The men the American public admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.”
“Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule – and both commonly succeed, and are right.”
“Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.”
‘In more than 40 years of covering politics as a journalist or working inside the system as a political operative, I have never witnessed such an invasion of flakes, kooks and outright nutcases enter the national limelight. Politics has always attracted the bizarre but the level of loons on the national stage is downright frightening.” …extract from article
Of late you’ve written a number of these articles referring to prospective candidates as loons, flakes, kooks, nutcases etc.
So my question to you sir is: for whom over the years did you think had their oars in the water and was worth “your vote” or anyone’s for that matter…?
Maybe you can give us some guidance from above with your august wisdom based on experience concerning the political order of the day both past and present.
I was born when Truman was in office, I remember Ike, Nixon, Kennedy etc. in my early years, but didn’t have the political sophistication that I feel that I have in my twilight years, yet my wife and I voted for Obama. Since we are fairly well read, or thought so we were duped and sucked in by his incredibly smooth “snake oil salesman” delivery. Obama juxtaposed against the eight years of national suffering under Bush/Cheney, he seemed like a breath of fresh air into the political room so to speak, then pre and post inaugural he exposed his ‘shapeshifting’ character and its been a downhill “Nantucket Sleigh Ride” into hell itself with he and his close knit seraglio of advisers, czars and hangers on from past administrations. In fact on inauguration day I posted an article on my CHB sponsored blog site which was in effect at that time titled “Rain on the Parade”. I didn’t pull any punches and smelled a rat, a big one, on his very ascendancy to our highest office. Time has proven my indictment based on the article’s content.
https://capitolhillblue.com/node/13830
So again, Sir please edify us on what you perceive to be solid, dependable candidates in these challenging times for the Republic…? : |
Carl Nemo **==
Harry lives here, twas simpler time.
One button,
one outcome, perverted sunshine.
Now,.
you can drop by anytime, innuendo.
Where is that confounded Harry…..?
OK Doug, got it. Agree with the flavor-of-the-day menagerie… and note your juxtaposition with the current “failure of style over substance.”
Question is… “Given the absolute ignorance of our voting populace… especially those for whom ‘education’ has meant nothing more than a social experiment from 8 to 3 a couple days of the week, what possible “seriousness” can matter?
Who can “fool” the fools enough to defeat the Big Zero?
C’mon Big Boy, dazzle us.
As for the question under the picture: “Sarah Palin: Leader of the decline of our political system?”
Surely, hyperbole has taken over…
A veritable hyperbolic hypercatalexis.
I’d like a pennies moment of that too Al.
Doug is it the journalist that sits on the fence withholding opine ?
Or the pessimist avoiding the cristated crescendo of the dying fourth estate
pleading the fifth ?
Griff. We are running out of time. There are caucuses all over America firming up on their candidates. The money is being promised from several sources backed by the big money people. We will, as time goes by, choose between President Obama and a group of utter fools calling themselves Republicans. We caught an important clue a couple of days ago when Trump started questioning the birth of Obama. He needs the votes from the birthers to get in the race. The birthers believe they have it straight from heaven that Obama is not legally eligible to be President. Is that going to be the final litmus test for the voters? Will they put up some weirdo who will ask the government to remove all of Obama’s bills before they throw him out of office? Can you imagine what this would do to the remaining elections in America before the place erupts in a bloody upset?
Will we all be talked into going with Jesus and allowing the tea party Evangelicals to simply appoint their candidates? During the time of the European inquisitions, the Pope laid down all the laws and his most holy Cardinals whipped up the blood in response.
Well, this would save a lot of money as it would close up the war on drugs and war on abortions, gay marriages and war on whatever sins make the list
We will end up with the same 2-party system and we will go on as if there was no need for an election. We have not seen a real commitment to the Constitution for decades. The litmus test has been redirected to having us all commit to whatever label the Evangelicals call for. They have us behind a loose concept of what we are afraid to call freedom.
Obama will promise more handouts for those who need them and that will stop the arguments for jobs. The government has no authority to hire or fire any one of us when it comes to employment. We sat back and watched our own elected government leaders screw us to a level of corruption that had we been awake, might not have been allowed. But we have been told that we are not a think tank and never will be. So what are we?
Will we bend to the least objectionable fool who will bend under the weakest concept of leadership. Will we blindly wander working, supporting and financing the same old shit that has annoyed us since 1999?
The GOP is not looking for any candidate who will defeat Obama because they know that the precarious position America is in at this time cannot afford to bring in another leader compete with another congress.
I believe the GOP is at a compete loss due to the inability to firm up an agenda that would fix a damn thing. They will settle for the prohibitions against gays, women anything else that will be added and they will lose. Let Iowa drop off the list of union members and let them set up their own Christian laws and then leave us the hell alone. They will destroy Americans of strength and virtues and allow the killing of anyone who breaks the law taken from the bible.
I will personally cover the burning of a witch whose family turns her in for fornicating while not married. Hell, I’ll even have a camera on Newt when he lights the burning pile. We will become the Islamic inquisition and there will be dancing in the streets. .
America will be a lot better off as individual states bowing to whatever leader is decided. We might even have a Secular Humanist form of government. My handyman just arrived. I apologize for any typos.
I would have to agree with most of this. But none of these will be serious contenders for the Republican nomination. Unless some one comes out of the blue, it looks like it’ll be Romney or Gingrich. Their purpose is to make the Establishment candidates more palatable and “sane.”
But why you continue to lump Ron Paul in with the rest of these “kooks” is beyond me. Of course I understand your job is to write articles, not research policy positions and the thinking that goes behind them.
Abolishing the Federal Reserve is kooky? There is well established, sound economic foundations for this stance, not to mention the last 98 years of Federal Reserve-induced depressions, recessions, and endless boom-bust cycles. And the only ones that manage to be unfazed by any of this happens to be the big banks. Hmmm…go figure. there was damn good reason why the Founders insisted that only gold and silver be used as currecny, and why they were opposed to not only the monetary system but the entire economy being put in the hands of a private consortium of banks.
Abolishing the Department of Education is kooky? Again, not only history but our founding principles are the backbone of this argument. Before the DOE was created, American education was the envy of the world. It’s been sliding into oblivion ever since. This year’s proposed budget for the DOE is 77.8 billion dollars. I wonder if the individual states could do more with 1.5 billion dollars for education without the federal bureaucracy being involved.
Humble foreign policy is kooky? George Bush won in 2000 based largely on Republican opposition to Clinton’s nation-building adventures. That didn’t last very long. With 9/11 as an excuse, the Republicans who denounced intervention in Eastern Europe and elsewhere were all of a sudden all too eager for a little (okay a lot) of nation-building themselves.
We have had troops in Germany since the end of WWII – almost 66 years. We still have troops in Japan. I don’t think these two countries are going to cause any more problems. I think it might be safe to bring them home now. What do you think? How about the other 130 or so countries that we have troops stationed? Are these countries paying us to have them there? Who gave us the authority to be the world’s policemen, the world’s problem-solvers? We can’t even solve our own.
We spend over a trillion dollars a year on “defense.” That is more than the rest of the world combined. Why is that? Is it really for defense? Why are we so special? What puts us above the rest of the planet? Because we’re a democracy? A Republic? Ha. China calls itself a republic too, but we all know what they really are.
The same can be said about virtually any other federal department. Has the Department of Energy given us cheaper, more efficient energy? No, but it has stymied innovation and protected the profits of its corporate sponsors.
Has the Department of Labor given us more jobs?
Has the Department of Health made us healthier?
Has the Department of the Treasury protected our currency from devaluation and inflation?
As per the Constitution, the federal government has very limited powers, those being the common defense of the United States (not to be confused with neo-colonialism), protecting the individual liberties of its citizens (not to be confused with the Patriot Act, John Warner Defense Authorization Act, et al.), preserving the sanctity of a free and fair market (not to be confused with the neo-mercantilism of today), and a free and fair judicial system (not to be confused with extraordinary rendition, warrantless wiretapping, illegal search and seizure, and “enhanced” interogation techniques).
The rest should be left to the states, or the people.
Those departments that sre under the purview of the federal government have failed miserably, and those that aren’t have failed as well. If you ask me, those that continue to put their trust, their very lives in the hands of these bought-and-paid-for parasites are the real kooks.
Comparing the well-thought and well-researched policy positions of some one that’s been fighting for individual, economic and financial liberty for more than thirty years, who bases these arguments on sound economic principles, research, history, and basic common sense and logic, to these other sound-bite manufacturers is plain offensive to any one that dares pick up a book or think outside the tightly controlled confines of “mainstream” political thought.
Mainstream political thought has dooomed us. The real radical ideology is that of the entrenched two party clusterf**k in Washington, DC.
Ron Paul warned of the impending housing collapse. He opposed the wars before it was politically correct to do so. He opposed the bailouts and TARP. He opposed virtually every failed policy of the last thirty years. What a f**king kook!
Waiting for you to bring up the already debunked thirty-year-old ghost-written “racist” newsletter as your only argument…
Well written and nicely researched griff along with a solid rebuttal to Doug’s one size fits all categorization of the above prospective candidates. : )
Carl Nemo **==
“Well written and nicely researched griff”
WHAT research?
Ha. Go back to sleep. We’ll wake you when it’s over.
What research is necessary?
Dept of Energy…higher energy costs.
Dept of Education…Higher education caosts, dumber kids.
Dept of the Treasury…Weaker dollar, more inflation.
Don’t need much more research than that. What say you?
Please, any thing….Any rational argument whatsoever…Please? I’m asking nicely.
Let’s start here:
Griff said:
“We spend over a trillion dollars a year on ‘defense.'”
The DoD said:
“As shown in Figure 1-1, total defense spending is declining as we complete the combat mission in Iraq. The FY 2012 DoD budget requests a total of $670.9 billion:”
https://comptroller.defense.gov/budget.html and click on overview. Scroll down to page 6.
Griff said:
“We have had troops in Germany since the end of WWII – almost 66 years. We still have troops in Japan. I don’t think these two countries are going to cause any more problems.”
Implication: the troops are occupying powers. The truth: The Germans and the Japanese want us there. Saves them money as well as pumping tons of money into their economies.
“When SecDef Rumsfeld announced the huge downsizing of US troops in Germany back in 2004, German State Governors, City Mayors, et al were flying to Washington to lobby the president and congress to keep the bases in their states/cities/locales open. I was stationed in Germany for 12 years and never had anything but love from the German people.”
https://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/02/2-u-s-soldiers-reported-killed-at-german-airport/
As to Japan:
“Under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, the United States is obliged to defend Japan in close cooperation with the Japan Self-Defense Forces for maritime defense, ballistic missile defense, domestic air control, communications security (COMSEC) and disaster response operations.” wiki article on United States Forces Japan
If Japan wanted the US troops out all they would have to do is say, “sayonara” by abrogating the treaty.
Yes, griff did his research — he listened to Limbaugh.
Limbaugh…Ha. Always the same with you lefties. Can’t make an argument without making assumptions about how I form my opinions. Of course if you had half the brains you think you do, then you would know that Limbaugh is an Establishment hack, and I happen to abhor Establishment hacks.
The DoD isn’t the only agency that spends money on foreign policy…
Independent
I didn’t imply that we were occupying Germany. That’s plain absurd. But you made my point for me. They want us there to save on their own defense costs and to pump American dollars into their economies – “tons of money,” in your words.
Maybe those troops should be pumping tons of money into our economy or protecting our borders.
Welfare-warfare state – gotta love it.
GHL:
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so too for a graph, in this case a pie chart. You referenced $670.9 billion is a canard; ie., the typical warm and fuzzy lies from the DoD concerning their bottomline “total” expenditures.
https://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm
In addition to the budgeted amounts there’s the off budget $200 billion per annum to fight the ‘wars’ in Iraq and Afghanistan. There’s also the cost of our “militarized” Homeland Security efforts in addition to the cost military pensions and when the good times are rolling government employees also have a luxury generally unheard of in the private sector; ie., COLA (cost of living allowance) to counteract the ravages of inflation and it can add up quickly.
In addition there’s “black budget’ monies that don’t show in the pie chart which is estimated at around $40 billion plus per annum for DARPA, NRO, CIA projects etc. generally deposited in USDA accounts which seemingly are benign, but serve a purpose for gadgeteer spendthrifts working on questionable projects that have little utility other than for the waging of seemingly engineered wars in our times and into the future. The actual amount is highly classified, a virtual ‘black hole’ for taxpayer/debtor dollars.
We’re easily blowing with a big ‘T’ a trillion dollars per annum to maintain our emergent garrison state. Militarism and neo-colonialism is the order of the day and supported by the PNAC manifesto for the shadowy elitist controllers’ “New American Century”.
Carl Nemo **==
GHL:
I thought Griff’s piece was well-written and researched; I.E., predicated on his knowledge base thus bringing it all together for a spot-on rebuttal to Doug Thompson classifying Ron Paul with the others.
E.g. : “This year’s proposed budget for the DOE is 77.8 billion dollars. I wonder if the individual states could do more with 1.5 billion dollars for education without the federal bureaucracy being involved.” …post extract
“As per the Constitution, the federal government has very limited powers, those being the common defense of the United States (not to be confused with neo-colonialism), protecting the individual liberties of its citizens (not to be confused with the Patriot Act, John Warner Defense Authorization Act, et al.)” …post extract …read on
It’s a piece of writing such as this that ties various attacks on our liberty and waste in government into nice tidy rebuttal to our site host who seems to have a case of the ass when it comes to Congressman Paul et al. who speak up against such intrusions on such matters. I’ve asked Doug to supply us with some names of those that ran for office in the past that he admired or those in the future that might be worthy of his/our vote. As yet there’s been no reply?
Griff didn’t pull his integrated references for this piece from his butt. So I stand firm with my compliment.
Seemingly you would wish us to publish an enumerative bibliography with our writings along with link references, dates, author etc. in order to support every dot and tittle issued from our keyboards…no? / : |
Carl Nemo **==
Speaking of the DOE, did you see they are going to start suing districts that don’t monitor their students Facebook posts 24/7?
This DOE is out of control!
How is this election of nitwits and dim bulbs any different from any of the previous elections?
Seems to me this is a form of unauthorized surveillance and a violation of “the secrecy in communications” proviso in the The Federal Communications Act of 1934 as amended into the 90’s.
Yep, this is another one that will end up in the courts and most probably will be struck down.
Our problem is we have overpaid bureaucrats run amuck who administer our body of laws. They get their paychecks whether they screw up or not. They are like bed lice imbedded in the very fabric of our government and nation. Where’s the “Orkin Man” when you need him…? : |
Carl Nemo **==
Yeah I saw that. Not surprised in the least. So Orwell got the date wrong.
Kudos…
Easy Griff, the sanity red line taxes all but the oil pressure.
By decree of corporate mastery
too big to fail becomes naturally
whilst special interests drive relentless
the pseudo shiny coffin nail..traeh
110 over 55. I could go on…Ha.
Be here on the morrow,
I’ll supply the rake, shovel, ribs, Glenlivet.
No canteens.
If one searches for the single core cultural association with these Republicans, it can be found in their obsession with the occult. Because so many Americans are drawn into the social connections based on the supernatural, it probably should be taught in the classrooms but not as the truth.
There plenty of Christian schools and even I used one for the first 6 years of my kid’s education but not as the base of education other than the knowledge that so many other kids learned it. It developed cults based on bringing young girls into a cult of Christians even down to the point of furnishing a Jesus Christ.
The solution must come from the parents to choose carefully those teachers who will set the standards of education.
Those kids that grew up under these conditions ended up running as Republicans. We tend to make social culture too complicated to pass on to children who were raised on television. Recognizing right from wrong takes a couple of years to teach and should be done by the parents. To bring in the tricks and toys from the commercial evangelicals only pushes the results of not teaching right from wrong. Hell and damnation are then required to use as punishment. Nothing is as dangerous as waiting for God to speak to an individual before they take any action.
Reason, logic and rational thinking are missing from too much of our public schools. Adding religion will only exacerbate the situation.
Is there any topic for which you will NOT invoke religion as the bugaboo? Is ther not some other idea of which you have an opinion? Can you be anything more than a one-trick pony?
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