Day: November 20, 2018

Closing Thought–20Nov18

For some time now Libertarian has been a lock step with the GOP on many issues especially on the economic side…..but a Libertarian think tank has made an observation that many of us have made in the past….it is a “one trick pony” ideology…….

Seems the Libertarians agree with me and others……

For millions of people, ideology is the lighthouse in a dark sea of politics. An uncompromising vision of how the world is supposed to work, and how to fix it, is just too alluring for partisans to ignore. Political parties’ most frenzied supporters are demanding ideological purity from their candidates as they push out moderates, especially on the right. As a result, ever fewer temperate souls are left to hold the middle ground in politics.

Yet the libertarian think tank Niskanen Center in Washington, DC, argues the moderate middle is the future. Niskanen president Jerry Taylor wrote in an Oct. 29 essay that he is dropping the libertarian banner the center has shared with the likes of the more conservative Cato Institute. In a 3,595-word farewell to the libertarian world, he says libertarianism, and ideology itself, is a dead end. “I have abandoned that libertarian project…because I have come to abandon ideology,” writes Taylor, who invites readers to flee the “clean and well-lit prison of one idea.”

https://qz.com/1443787/a-libertarian-think-tank-just-gave-up-on-libertarianism/

Really?

If I have any Libertarian followers please weigh in on this turn of events…..are they right about the politics of the party?

“Making America Great Again”–Part 20

The series is finally catching up with our times…we have been through the wars, the healings, the government and the failures of the people….now we enter into what has been called the “progressive era”…..The Progressive Era is a period of widespread social activism and political reform across the United States that spanned from the 1890s to the 1920s. The main objectives of the Progressive movement were eliminating problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and political corruption.  (not much has changed, huh?)

What started the “Progressive Era” was the industrialization of the world…..and let me throw a little simple history at you first…..

The Industrial Revolution brought about bigger and better problems and solutions……

Part 20 of “American History for Truthdiggers.”

The Gilded Age. The American Industrial Revolution. The Progressive Era. Call it what you will, but one salient (Dickensian) fact about this period endures: It was the best of times, it was worst of times—depending on one’s point of view. Industrialization brought immense wealth for some and crippling poverty for others. Mass production might result in savings for the consumer, but working wages remained low. The boom-and-bust cycle of laissez-faire capitalism was in full swing, resulting in national banking panics and, from 1893 to 1897, the worst financial depression up to that point in the country’s history.

The key story of this era revolves around various attempts—by rural farmers and urban workers, by women and blacks, Republicans and Democrats, Populists, Progressives and even socialists—to mitigate the excesses of industrialized American capitalism. It would not prove to be an easy task, and, one could cogently argue, it is a task Americans still grapple with. The two-party system nearly fell apart in this period because neither major political brand seemed to have a viable answer to the key question of day: how to maintain peace and the basic standard of living during a time of massive industrial growth and rising economic inequality. It is a question familiar to supporters of Donald Trump and supporters of Bernie Sanders.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/american-history-for-truthdiggers-wealth-squalor-in-the-progressive-era/

Plus with the industrialization comes the need for more resources and that need drives the necessity for armed conflict.

Sue The Bastards!

Staff Sgts. Matt Lewellen, Kevin McEnroe and Jimmy Moriarty….do those names mean anything to you?

Unless you read a lot those names mean nothing.

They are the names of Green Berets killed in Jordan by an ally…they were gunned down returning from a training mission…..well the families are suing Jordan for their deaths…..

The families of three Green Berets killed by a member of the Jordanian Air Force as they entered a base in Jordan filed a lawsuit against that country’s government, charging it attempted to cover up the incident and slander their fallen sons.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington seeks monetary damages from the Kingdom of Jordan, where the Special Forces soldiers were stationed when they were gunned down Nov. 4, 2016 by Jordanian Air Force 1st Sgt. Maarik al-Tawayha. The Green Berets – Staff Sgts. Matt Lewellen, Kevin McEnroe and Jimmy Moriarty – were driving onto King Faisal Air Base in southern Jordan midday after training Syrian rebel forces when al-Tawayha inexplicably opened fire on them.

https://www.stripes.com/news/families-of-slain-green-berets-sue-jordan-charging-a-cover-up-attempt-in-2016-deaths-1.556931

More useless deaths in a war that should have ended years ago.

I hope the families get satisfaction for their loved ones deaths…..deaths that did not need to be a statistic….endless wars and preparations are what killed these men…..and the country shrugs and allows the stupid to continue.

Wonder Where The Money Went?

I like to know where my tax dollars are being spent….how about you?

War seem to be the big drain on our national budget…..that is right the waging of war is flipping expensive…..right, how damn expensive could it be?

Glad you asked and I have the answer for you……

A new report from Brown University is aiming to provide a close estimate of the cost of the overall cost to the US government of its myriad post-9/11 wars and assorted global wars on terror. The estimate is that $5.933 trillion has been spent through fiscal year 2019.

This is, of course, vastly higher than official figures, owing to the Pentagon trying to oversimplify the costs into simply overseas contingency operations. It is only when one considers the cost of medical and disability care for soldiers, and future such costs, along with things like the interest on the extra money borrowed for the wars, that the true cost becomes clear.

That sort of vast expenditure is only the costs and obligations of the wars so far, and with little sign of them ending, they are only going to grow. In particular, a generation of wars is going to further add to the medical costs for veterans’ being consistently deployed abroad.

Starting in late 2001, the US has engaged in wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Yemen, and elsewhere around the world. Many of those wars have become more or less permanent operations, with no consideration of ending them under any circumstances.

Those wishing to read the report can find it here.

Those are just words…….try this on for size……$5,900,000,000,000

That is right…..more damn “zeroes” than most of us can imagine……

The Pentagon has lied to us for years, grossly underestimating the cost of its military operations against enemies largely manufactured by intelligence agencies.

“That sort of vast expenditure is only the costs and obligations of the wars so far, and with little sign of them ending, they are only going to grow. In particular, a generation of wars is going to further add to the medical costs for veterans’ being consistently deployed abroad,” writes Jason Ditz.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/heres-youll-pay-neocon-wars-5900000000000/5660051

Something else for taxpayers to watch……the Pentagon FAILED a recent audit……that’s right FAILED!

After years of empty promises and demands from frustrated members of Congress, the Pentagon finally conducted its first-ever comprehensive audit—and unsurprisingly failed it, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan revealed Thursday.

“We failed the audit, but we never expected to pass it,” Shanahan told reporters at a press briefing. While expressing irritation with the poor money management, he added, “it was an audit on a $2.7 trillion dollar organization, so the fact that we did the audit is substantial.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/11/16/insult-american-people-outrage-after-pentagon-fails-first-ever-audit

Just some of the sh*t in DC the waste of American taxpayer funds and NO ONE cares….why is that?

Are Americans ignorant, lazy, stupid or just plain moronic…..or could it be all of the above?

Afghanistan–What Is The Reason?

Even though my fellow Americans have seemingly forgotten that the US military is ass deep in many many wars…..and our first war after the 9/11 attacks was Afghanistan….we entered into that one to get the bastards that attacked the US.

That was the call….GET THE BASTARDS!

Now after 17 years of constant warfare what is the final goal the US is working toward?  AQ is a group that is a shadow of its former self….the Taleban is still the Talebane…..and ISIS is making in-roads into Afghanistan…..so if to get the Bastards and that would have been AQ pretty much marginalized why do we stay?

Nation Building?  Well not according to the rhetoric coming out of DC.  Then why?  To bring democracy to a country that at the best of times would have been in early Iron Age?  Hahahahaha!  (Good one)

If Afghanistan is a democracy how can the US consider postponing their elections?

Say what?

The Trump administration is considering pressuring the Afghan government to postpone next year’s presidential election as it seeks a peace deal with the Taliban to end the 17-year war, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing people briefed on the talks.

Why it matters: Some officials in Washington fear that voting irregularities and violence that routinely occur in Afghan elections could undermine or destroy the prospect of a peace deal. But this request “would be a contentious move that runs counter to the long-held U.S. objective of promoting democracy in Afghanistan,” and it could potentially create friction between both countries, the WSJ writes. President Ashraf Ghani has already come out against such a proposal.

https://www.axios.com/afghanistan-election-united-states-postpone-add753b3-dc63-4797-91d7-710213c3461c.html

Wait!  Postpone one of the major rights of a democracy?  Really?

That comedic skit out of the way…..was victory in Afghanistan evder the goal?

When Lt. Gen. David Petraeus returned from an inspection tour of Afghanistan in 2005 to brief then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, he began with a simple image.

“The very first slide in the briefing that I gave to him was, ‘Afghanistan ≠ Iraq.’ And I then laid out to him the areas and issues in which you could compare and contrast the two countries and situations,” Petraeus recalled in an interview this month. “That comparison clearly established why, frankly, Afghanistan is a tougher nut to crack.”

Events have vindicated his warning. As the seemingly intractable war stretches into its 18th year, military commanders who argue that any end is in sight are finding it a harder and harder sell.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/why-victory-isnt-the-goal-in-afghanistan

After 17 years and the goal is NOT a victory….then time to call the war and bring our troops home….NOW!

If the length of this year is not enough to demand an end then how about the amount of money being spent on all our “wars on terrorism”?  To the tune of $5.9 trillion…that is trillion with a “T”……

A new report from Brown University is aiming to provide a close estimate of the cost of the overall cost to the US government of its myriad post-9/11 wars and assorted global wars on terror. The estimate is that $5.933 trillion has been spent through fiscal year 2019.

(antiwar.com)

Those wishing to read the report can find it here.