The other thing I'd like to see in college is more study of propaganda. Jacques Ellul's book of the same name really changed my way of looking at the way information is presented and I would recommend it as a primary textbook. Although propaganda is so ubiquitous in our society I can see why those in charge don't want to study it. It would blow their cover, so to speak.
As I understand it they didn't actually "purchase" that property in the usual sense. What they did was obtain the property in exchange for an $11.75 million contribution to the owner's favorite charity. I don't know what the charity was or if the Obamas took a tax deduction for it. Nice move if you can get it.
Some people think that to study something is to approve of it and people don't like to think of themselves as approving of war. Although, and recent experience supports this, people disapprove of war in general but end up approving of war in particular. As in, "I disapprove of war but we need to stop Putin." War approval it seems to me always ends up with that formula. I disapprove of war but we need to stop (Hitler, Putin, Tojo, Hirohito, Sadam Hussein, Communism, Gaddafi, etc.). Once you get an evil person into the picture critical thinking about war stops as our tribal fight or flight takes over.
Scott Ritter nails it again with his insightful analysis of what our Generations must face directly, or be steamrollered into oblivion pretending otherwise.
Vladimir Putin’s address at the Valdai Club last week, coming on the heels of the Biden administration’s release of its National Security Strategy, shows how the battle lines have been drawn.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s keynote address at the Valdai Club last Thursday appears to have put Russia on a collision course with the U.S.-led “Rules Based International Order” (RBIO).
The Biden administration two weeks earlier released its 2022 National Security Strategy (NSS), a full-throated defense of the RBIO which all-but declares war on “autocrats” who are “working overtime to undermine democracy.”
These two visions of the future of the world order define a global competition that has become existential in nature. In short, there can be only one victor.
Given the fact that the main players in this competition comprise the five declared nuclear powers, how the world manages the defeat of the losing side will, in large part, determine whether humanity will survive into the next generation...........
[...] But at what cost? The end of American singularity does not have to mean the end of America. The American dream, once removed from the need to dominate the world to sustain it, can be an attainable possibility.
The alternative is grim. Should the U.S. opt to resist the tides of history, the temptation to use the final weapon of existential survival — America’s nuclear arsenal — will be real.
And no one will survive.
In the end, the decision of whether to “burn the village in order to save it” is up to the American people.
We can buy into the flawed “democracy versus autocracy” suicide pact inherent in the 2022 NSS, or we can insist that our leaders use what remains of American leadership and authority to help guide the planet into a new phase of multilateralism where our nation exists as one among equals.
Before every Young American can ask that question, their Parents and Grand Parents, their Teachers, Mentors, Leaders, and Heroes need to ask and answer that Question, as well.
It is not the Youngs' responsibility to fix this Goat Fuck. That's what they have "Adults" for.
Dennis: All "young" kids who have joined the Army did so voluntarily as their full-time job (I know that's simplified - but you get my drift)
Me: No Dennis, what IS Your drift?
D: The likelihood that a majority of these "young" kids telling the miliary to take a hike if a war in the Ukraine was announced is probably zero!
M: So? What’s Your point? And it wouldn’t take a “majority” of these “young kids” to screw things up. It would only take a Critical Mass of troops who followed their Commissioned and Noncommissioned Officers who had told the military to take a hike.
D: In the late 30's the US Army had around 200,000 officers and men. Actually 187,893 active-duty Army soldiers as of June 30, 1939, ballooning to nearly 8.3 million active-duty soldiers by the end of May 1945 in WW2. (By the conclusion of the United States's involvement, over 3.1 million Americans had been stationed in Vietnam.)
M: Source?
D: What's the chance that in 2022, that 3.0-million Americans would sign up to be cannon fodder in a WW3 GoatFuck - don't you think there would be zero chance of that?
The point I am trying to make, poorly…
M: Yeah; very poorly.
D: … is that if this WW3 GoatFuck did start, with the history of Vietnam in its rear-view mirrors, the US Army would have an icebergs chance in hell of getting Americans to sign up like they did in WW2. And a Vietnam draft would also be a non-starter.
So the chance of the US being able to match Russian troop manpower levels is extremely unlikely. And the military knows that!
M: What makes You think that “available troop manpower” will be THE ~ let alone even A ~ deciding factor in WW III? Ever hear about drones, ship-to-shore naval gunfire and missiles, close tactical and long-range strategic air support, chemical/biological warfare, and so forth?
Bill, except for the edit function on substack, overall I prefer your Wordpress site and it appears with the noticeably reduced activity of the regulars here, I'm not alone in that opinion.
The best way to know if that's the reality is to allow discussing your thought provoking articles on Wordpress for a Time again.
As for me, I resolve to proof read my comments more thoroughly instead of the more reflexive submitting with the last typed word.
Even The Washington Post allows 5 minutes to edit and refine a comment.
Included in the required reading of a course of study enabling Americans to Study War A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT MORE and begin to come to understand it would be:
1. Joseph Heller’s CATCH-22, [Which, incidentally, i first read in month nine of my first of two years in Vietnam.]
“The age-old call to glory held no charm for German pacifist Ernst Friedrich (1894–1967). In 1924, he founded the National Anti-War Museum in Berlin, where a radical new method of protest was born. To illustrate a need for universal peace, FRIEDRICH QUICKLY DISPLAYED HUNDREDS OF DISTURBING PHOTOGRAPHS WHICH FULLY REVEALED THE HIDDEN HORRORS OF WORLD WAR ONE. FOR THOSE WHO COULD NOT PERSONALLY ATTEND HIS GRUESOME GALLERY, FRIEDRICH PUBLISHED A BOOK CALLED WAR AGAINST WAR, WHICH FEATURED ANTI-MILITARY SENTIMENTS JUXTAPOSED WITH SOME OF HIS MOST GRAPHIC IMAGES. In 1933, with thousands of copies in circulation, Friedrich encountered the wrath of the aggressive and newly formed National Socialist party. Soon, the war museum was destroyed, and its curator was forced to flee to Belgium.” ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_against_war [EMPHASIS added.]
5. Thich Nhat Hahn’s LOTUS IN A SEA OF FIRE [Which i wish i had read when it was first published in Vietnam in 1967, also during my first year there.]
6. Chris Hedges’ just-published THE GREATEST EVIL IS WAR; his follow-up to WAR IS A FORCE THAT GIVES US MEANING mentioned by Bill.
I agree: violence and voter intimidation are wrong.
But the theme of "standing up for democracy": If only we had a democracy. There's more to democracy than casting a vote for bought-and-paid-for politicians.
i was particularly struck by almost the exact same thought, Bill, when Biden declared:
“Democracy means the rule of the people — not the rule of monarchs or the monied, but the rule of the people.
“Autocracy is the opposite of democracy. It means the rule of one: one person, one interest, one ideology, one party.
“To state the obvious, the lives of billions of people, from antiquity until now, have been shaped by the battle between these competing forces: between the aspirations of the many and the greed and power of the few, between the people’s right for self-determination and the self-seeking autocrat, between the dreams of a democracy and the appetites of an autocracy.”
What is particularly interesting about this assertion is that Biden ~ for 50 years ~ has been and is an integral cog in the machinery and machinations of America’s Ruling Political Class, the oligarchic, patriarchal, plutocratic autocracy that owns, operates, commands, and controls this nation’s systems of government and governance, and the elected politicians, entrenched bureaucrats, and anointed political appointees who run them.
It's going to be an interesting couple of days leading up to Tuesday, November 8. And an equally interesting couple of months between now and January 3, 2023, when the next, 118th Congress is scheduled to be seated.
And anybody who thinks that Trump and his Spawn of "MAGA Republicans" ~ as Biden dismissed them ~ are not just as equally and totally owned, operated, commanded, and controlled by that same Ruling Political Class as Biden and his Gang are....; anybody who thinks that has simply not been paying attention to what has happened in this nation since the Dawn of The Age of The Donald, aka POTUS Maxximmuss XLV.
The Washington establishment is considering a risky and ill-defined intervention in Europe.
Col. Douglas Macgregor
When Napoleon Bonaparte began his 1812 campaign to conquer Russia, he led the largest “coalition of the willing” in history. In addition to its French core, Bonaparte’s army of more than 400,000 consisted of Italian, Dutch, German, and Polish soldiers. They were at best unenthusiastic. Frankly, other than the French, only Napoleon’s Polish allies were truly eager to march on Moscow.
By the time Bonaparte’s multinational force reached Moscow, paralyzing cold, ruinous battles, exhaustion, disease, and poor logistical planning reduced the original invasion force to less than half of its original strength. It was not long before Prussia and its North German allies defected to the Russians while the remainder (minus the Poles) deserted or died on the march home.
Today, the Biden White House appears to be considering the use of a multinational force aimed at Russia. The NATO alliance is unable to reach a unanimous decision to intervene militarily in support of Ukraine in its war with Russia.
But as signaled recently by David Petraeus, the president and his generals are evaluating their own “coalition of the willing.” The coalition would allegedly consist of primarily, but not exclusively, Polish and Romanian forces, with the U.S. Army at its core, for employment in Ukraine.................................................
Thank You, Bill, for another nominee for inclusion in THE BEST OF BV. Lots and Lots to chew on, think about, and reflect upon there.
The first thing is whether or not the American People would, as You concluded, “all do well to study and understand [War] better.”
i would propose that the American People need to not Study War merely “Some More” so as to understand it merely “better.”
Rather, they need to study it and come to understand its historical, present, and future Realities a WHOLE HELL OF A LOT MORE if they, their Children, and their Grandchildren are going to have anything to celebrate on “USA-CCL,” July 4, 2026.
In Other News besides the latest from the Old Testament…; Or, So what does this have to say about the direction in which this country is headed?... :
'DROWNING OUR DEMOCRACY': US BILLIONAIRES HAVE PUMPED NEARLY $900,000,000 INTO MIDTERMS
"Billionaires represent 0.000002% of the American population, but they're responsible for 7.4% of all political donations so far this cycle," according to Americans for Tax Fairness.
Bill, this is the equally important part of Eisenhower's MIC retirement speech on Universities and Education
"Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.
In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.
Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.
It is the task of statesmanship to mould, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society."
The Old Testament is rife with so many accounts of WAR.
When the People of God did things God's Way, Peace, Truth, Justice, Prosperity and Equity permeated the whole Society.
When the People of God departed from doing it God's Way, WAR was the inevitable result.
That Old Testament God was a jealous, wrathful and vengeful god. Much like the Greeks with their Olympian gods.
Miracle of miracles, the New Testament introduced a god of peace and love. No matter. His followers today still pretty much prefer the Old Testament version.
Dennis, Jews, Christians and Muslims claim to be the descendants of Abraham when there was no Jewish, Christian or Muslim Religion. The Pope visited Ur in Iraq in March last year, the birthplace of Abraham to point out our Common Human Heritage.
Unfortunately he did not visit Nineveh where ISIS blew up the Islamic Mosque in 2014 containing the Tomb of Jonah in the whale fame from the Jewish-Christian tradition.
That record tells of God instructing Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn the People if they did not change their ways and values, they were on the Path to Destruction.
Not wanting to be a buzzkill, Noah tried to get away until there was no place left to run or hide. That was the same year the US orchestrated the Coup/regime change in Ukraine setting this World on that Path to Destruction again.
In the Bible Timeline, Abraham was the Individual having great Faith and Trust in God on Earth before there was a Chosen People. God told him to leave Ur making this promise, "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed. The 1st part was during Abraham's Lifetime. The 2nd part is for the hereafter.
That was1996 years before Christ, over 4000 years ago in Human History.
Abraham's grandson Jacob, God renamed Israel as the Individual, and his 11 sons arrived in Canaan, the 'Promised Land' seeing it for the 1st Time as recorded in Genesis 34 in 1789 BC.
Dinah, the only named daughter of Jacob went into the city where she met the king's son who swept her off her feet and payed attention to her like no man did before and got her into his bed.
The record is very clear Shechem was madly in love with Dinah and went to his father the king to try to arrange a marriage.
The king went to Jacob inviting the descendants of Abraham to intermarry and share the Land with them doing business in it, essentially fulfilling God's Promise Peacefully. The son offered the Patriarchs anything they wanted as a Dowry.
They said they couldn't do that unless all the men were circumcised as they were.
Shechem immediately agreed as alien as the idea was to their culture and convinced all the men of the city to be circumcised as well, saying these people were Peaceful.
The record goes on saying on the 3rd Day when the men were "sore" the Patriarchs swooped down on the city and slit the throat of all the men, took all the flocks and wealth, along with Dinah. and got out of town fast.
What you describe 400 years after that with Joshua was just more of the same, WAR because the so called People of God did not take the chance when they had it offered to them Peaceably 400 years earlier.
The kingdom of Israel did not appear until some 800 years after Jacob/Israel. It's in the Book of Kings where I saw is rife with WAR for the reasons I posted.
The Christ was crucified because he said in the Common Era, Jews no longer had exclusivity with the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob based on being only flesh descendants without having the Living Faith of Abraham and Jacob/Israel.
Moses gave us the Law and he didn't enter the Promised Land. That comes by Faith!
So I just see it from a different angle than you do, Dennis.
For NOW we have Faith, Hope and Love, these 3, but the greatest of these is Love!
I had the patience to read your reply to my original comment.
A myth to you Dennis, but I know the unexpected Day in my life that changed my outlook from BC to AD. Since that February 1, 1975 I have seen enough proofs, signs and wonders for me that serve to increase my Faith in this Faithless Society.
Even so, though you don't believe it, God loves you more than you can imagine and more than I can convey.
I was dead to God before that February 1. Now God lives in me and I am living better at 78 with internal Peace and Satisfaction on $1777/month for everything, than when I was 24 making in '68 dollars what costs $200,000 in Today's Dollars.
When the Israelites wanted to take over the land and occupy it it's no surprise that God was on their side. I understand that during the American Civil War both sides thought that God was on their side. I guess only one side was correct.
Fifty-nine years ago, Bob Dylan recorded “With God on Our Side.” You probably haven’t heard it on the radio for a very long time, if ever, but right now you could listen to it as his most evergreen of topical songs:
“US Boots On The Ground” was initially cited and discussed [including Petraeus] here at BV back on Nov 2 under the last article: “Thinking About the Russia-Ukraine War”:
And another piece is added to The Chessboard… :
Pentagon Confirms US Boots Are On The Ground In Ukraine by Tyler Durden
Two bombshell reports by the Associated Press and Washington Post Monday and Tuesday have confirmed that the United States has boots on the ground in the Ukraine conflict. Crucially, these troops are performing tasks separate from mere embassy security.
Too bad Karl didn't come along sooner. Austria-Hungary was first out of the box with a declaration of war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. The rest of Europe followed, according to their treaties. According to Wikipedia the Austrian populace couldn't care less about the assassination of Austria's Archduke Ferdinand, generally though of as the first shot in the war, although Austria "had little choice but to credibly threaten war and force Serbian submission if it wished to remain a Great Power." Ah, the responsibilities of a great power. In the event, of course, WW I resulted in the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian empire, so that ended up being a bad call (hey, everybody makes mistakes). Leaders - you can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em.
How did my article on the importance of critical military history morph into a discussion about religious faith? God truly works in mysterious ways.
Thank You!!! i was about to ask the same question.
The other thing I'd like to see in college is more study of propaganda. Jacques Ellul's book of the same name really changed my way of looking at the way information is presented and I would recommend it as a primary textbook. Although propaganda is so ubiquitous in our society I can see why those in charge don't want to study it. It would blow their cover, so to speak.
As I understand it they didn't actually "purchase" that property in the usual sense. What they did was obtain the property in exchange for an $11.75 million contribution to the owner's favorite charity. I don't know what the charity was or if the Obamas took a tax deduction for it. Nice move if you can get it.
Some people think that to study something is to approve of it and people don't like to think of themselves as approving of war. Although, and recent experience supports this, people disapprove of war in general but end up approving of war in particular. As in, "I disapprove of war but we need to stop Putin." War approval it seems to me always ends up with that formula. I disapprove of war but we need to stop (Hitler, Putin, Tojo, Hirohito, Sadam Hussein, Communism, Gaddafi, etc.). Once you get an evil person into the picture critical thinking about war stops as our tribal fight or flight takes over.
Scott Ritter nails it again with his insightful analysis of what our Generations must face directly, or be steamrollered into oblivion pretending otherwise.
Vladimir Putin’s address at the Valdai Club last week, coming on the heels of the Biden administration’s release of its National Security Strategy, shows how the battle lines have been drawn.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s keynote address at the Valdai Club last Thursday appears to have put Russia on a collision course with the U.S.-led “Rules Based International Order” (RBIO).
The Biden administration two weeks earlier released its 2022 National Security Strategy (NSS), a full-throated defense of the RBIO which all-but declares war on “autocrats” who are “working overtime to undermine democracy.”
These two visions of the future of the world order define a global competition that has become existential in nature. In short, there can be only one victor.
Given the fact that the main players in this competition comprise the five declared nuclear powers, how the world manages the defeat of the losing side will, in large part, determine whether humanity will survive into the next generation...........
[...] But at what cost? The end of American singularity does not have to mean the end of America. The American dream, once removed from the need to dominate the world to sustain it, can be an attainable possibility.
The alternative is grim. Should the U.S. opt to resist the tides of history, the temptation to use the final weapon of existential survival — America’s nuclear arsenal — will be real.
And no one will survive.
In the end, the decision of whether to “burn the village in order to save it” is up to the American people.
We can buy into the flawed “democracy versus autocracy” suicide pact inherent in the 2022 NSS, or we can insist that our leaders use what remains of American leadership and authority to help guide the planet into a new phase of multilateralism where our nation exists as one among equals.
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/11/03/scott-ritter-a-dangerous-bloody-dirty-game/
Before every Young American can ask that question, their Parents and Grand Parents, their Teachers, Mentors, Leaders, and Heroes need to ask and answer that Question, as well.
It is not the Youngs' responsibility to fix this Goat Fuck. That's what they have "Adults" for.
Dennis: All "young" kids who have joined the Army did so voluntarily as their full-time job (I know that's simplified - but you get my drift)
Me: No Dennis, what IS Your drift?
D: The likelihood that a majority of these "young" kids telling the miliary to take a hike if a war in the Ukraine was announced is probably zero!
M: So? What’s Your point? And it wouldn’t take a “majority” of these “young kids” to screw things up. It would only take a Critical Mass of troops who followed their Commissioned and Noncommissioned Officers who had told the military to take a hike.
D: In the late 30's the US Army had around 200,000 officers and men. Actually 187,893 active-duty Army soldiers as of June 30, 1939, ballooning to nearly 8.3 million active-duty soldiers by the end of May 1945 in WW2. (By the conclusion of the United States's involvement, over 3.1 million Americans had been stationed in Vietnam.)
M: Source?
D: What's the chance that in 2022, that 3.0-million Americans would sign up to be cannon fodder in a WW3 GoatFuck - don't you think there would be zero chance of that?
The point I am trying to make, poorly…
M: Yeah; very poorly.
D: … is that if this WW3 GoatFuck did start, with the history of Vietnam in its rear-view mirrors, the US Army would have an icebergs chance in hell of getting Americans to sign up like they did in WW2. And a Vietnam draft would also be a non-starter.
So the chance of the US being able to match Russian troop manpower levels is extremely unlikely. And the military knows that!
M: What makes You think that “available troop manpower” will be THE ~ let alone even A ~ deciding factor in WW III? Ever hear about drones, ship-to-shore naval gunfire and missiles, close tactical and long-range strategic air support, chemical/biological warfare, and so forth?
D: Help me if I have this all screwed up please.
M: You tell me, Dennis: Have I helped You?
Glad that helped.
Ask Yourself who's paying for all that writing that You're reading about Russia and China "edging ahead" in that realm.
Think they might have any ties to America's weapons of war technology industry?
Bill, except for the edit function on substack, overall I prefer your Wordpress site and it appears with the noticeably reduced activity of the regulars here, I'm not alone in that opinion.
The best way to know if that's the reality is to allow discussing your thought provoking articles on Wordpress for a Time again.
As for me, I resolve to proof read my comments more thoroughly instead of the more reflexive submitting with the last typed word.
Even The Washington Post allows 5 minutes to edit and refine a comment.
We'll see how it goes, Ray.
On the subject of Studying War Some More...
Included in the required reading of a course of study enabling Americans to Study War A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT MORE and begin to come to understand it would be:
1. Joseph Heller’s CATCH-22, [Which, incidentally, i first read in month nine of my first of two years in Vietnam.]
2. Mark Twain’s THE WAR PRAYER [ https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/19-american-empire/mark-twain-the-war-prayer-ca-1904-5/ ]
3. Retired US Marine Corps Brigadier General Smedley Butler’s WAR IS A RACKET
[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Is_a_Racket ]
4. Ernst Friedrich’s WAR AGAINST WAR!
“The age-old call to glory held no charm for German pacifist Ernst Friedrich (1894–1967). In 1924, he founded the National Anti-War Museum in Berlin, where a radical new method of protest was born. To illustrate a need for universal peace, FRIEDRICH QUICKLY DISPLAYED HUNDREDS OF DISTURBING PHOTOGRAPHS WHICH FULLY REVEALED THE HIDDEN HORRORS OF WORLD WAR ONE. FOR THOSE WHO COULD NOT PERSONALLY ATTEND HIS GRUESOME GALLERY, FRIEDRICH PUBLISHED A BOOK CALLED WAR AGAINST WAR, WHICH FEATURED ANTI-MILITARY SENTIMENTS JUXTAPOSED WITH SOME OF HIS MOST GRAPHIC IMAGES. In 1933, with thousands of copies in circulation, Friedrich encountered the wrath of the aggressive and newly formed National Socialist party. Soon, the war museum was destroyed, and its curator was forced to flee to Belgium.” ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_against_war [EMPHASIS added.]
5. Thich Nhat Hahn’s LOTUS IN A SEA OF FIRE [Which i wish i had read when it was first published in Vietnam in 1967, also during my first year there.]
6. Chris Hedges’ just-published THE GREATEST EVIL IS WAR; his follow-up to WAR IS A FORCE THAT GIVES US MEANING mentioned by Bill.
7. Dalton Trumbo’s 1939 novel JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Got_His_Gun ].
Bill and BV folks: Does anybody have any thoughts on President Biden's address to the nation on Election2022?
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/11/03/remarks-by-president-biden-on-standing-up-for-democracy/
I agree: violence and voter intimidation are wrong.
But the theme of "standing up for democracy": If only we had a democracy. There's more to democracy than casting a vote for bought-and-paid-for politicians.
Biden is so flat and uninspiring. So tired.
“If only we had a democracy… .”
i was particularly struck by almost the exact same thought, Bill, when Biden declared:
“Democracy means the rule of the people — not the rule of monarchs or the monied, but the rule of the people.
“Autocracy is the opposite of democracy. It means the rule of one: one person, one interest, one ideology, one party.
“To state the obvious, the lives of billions of people, from antiquity until now, have been shaped by the battle between these competing forces: between the aspirations of the many and the greed and power of the few, between the people’s right for self-determination and the self-seeking autocrat, between the dreams of a democracy and the appetites of an autocracy.”
What is particularly interesting about this assertion is that Biden ~ for 50 years ~ has been and is an integral cog in the machinery and machinations of America’s Ruling Political Class, the oligarchic, patriarchal, plutocratic autocracy that owns, operates, commands, and controls this nation’s systems of government and governance, and the elected politicians, entrenched bureaucrats, and anointed political appointees who run them.
It's going to be an interesting couple of days leading up to Tuesday, November 8. And an equally interesting couple of months between now and January 3, 2023, when the next, 118th Congress is scheduled to be seated.
And anybody who thinks that Trump and his Spawn of "MAGA Republicans" ~ as Biden dismissed them ~ are not just as equally and totally owned, operated, commanded, and controlled by that same Ruling Political Class as Biden and his Gang are....; anybody who thinks that has simply not been paying attention to what has happened in this nation since the Dawn of The Age of The Donald, aka POTUS Maxximmuss XLV.
Are You quoting somebody on all that, Dennis? Or do You just know all that off the top of Your head?
President Biden plans to give his "Stand up for World War III" speech later this weekend. (sarc)
Will Biden Gamble on a Ukraine Coalition?
The Washington establishment is considering a risky and ill-defined intervention in Europe.
Col. Douglas Macgregor
When Napoleon Bonaparte began his 1812 campaign to conquer Russia, he led the largest “coalition of the willing” in history. In addition to its French core, Bonaparte’s army of more than 400,000 consisted of Italian, Dutch, German, and Polish soldiers. They were at best unenthusiastic. Frankly, other than the French, only Napoleon’s Polish allies were truly eager to march on Moscow.
By the time Bonaparte’s multinational force reached Moscow, paralyzing cold, ruinous battles, exhaustion, disease, and poor logistical planning reduced the original invasion force to less than half of its original strength. It was not long before Prussia and its North German allies defected to the Russians while the remainder (minus the Poles) deserted or died on the march home.
Today, the Biden White House appears to be considering the use of a multinational force aimed at Russia. The NATO alliance is unable to reach a unanimous decision to intervene militarily in support of Ukraine in its war with Russia.
But as signaled recently by David Petraeus, the president and his generals are evaluating their own “coalition of the willing.” The coalition would allegedly consist of primarily, but not exclusively, Polish and Romanian forces, with the U.S. Army at its core, for employment in Ukraine.................................................
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/will-biden-gamble-on-a-ukraine-coalition/
This would truly be calamitous.
Which means it's high on the list.
Thank You, Bill, for another nominee for inclusion in THE BEST OF BV. Lots and Lots to chew on, think about, and reflect upon there.
The first thing is whether or not the American People would, as You concluded, “all do well to study and understand [War] better.”
i would propose that the American People need to not Study War merely “Some More” so as to understand it merely “better.”
Rather, they need to study it and come to understand its historical, present, and future Realities a WHOLE HELL OF A LOT MORE if they, their Children, and their Grandchildren are going to have anything to celebrate on “USA-CCL,” July 4, 2026.
In Other News besides the latest from the Old Testament…; Or, So what does this have to say about the direction in which this country is headed?... :
'DROWNING OUR DEMOCRACY': US BILLIONAIRES HAVE PUMPED NEARLY $900,000,000 INTO MIDTERMS
"Billionaires represent 0.000002% of the American population, but they're responsible for 7.4% of all political donations so far this cycle," according to Americans for Tax Fairness.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/11/03/drowning-our-democracy-us-billionaires-have-pumped-nearly-900000000-midterms
Bill, this is the equally important part of Eisenhower's MIC retirement speech on Universities and Education
"Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.
In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.
Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.
It is the task of statesmanship to mould, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society."
The Old Testament is rife with so many accounts of WAR.
When the People of God did things God's Way, Peace, Truth, Justice, Prosperity and Equity permeated the whole Society.
When the People of God departed from doing it God's Way, WAR was the inevitable result.
That Old Testament God was a jealous, wrathful and vengeful god. Much like the Greeks with their Olympian gods.
Miracle of miracles, the New Testament introduced a god of peace and love. No matter. His followers today still pretty much prefer the Old Testament version.
Dennis, Jews, Christians and Muslims claim to be the descendants of Abraham when there was no Jewish, Christian or Muslim Religion. The Pope visited Ur in Iraq in March last year, the birthplace of Abraham to point out our Common Human Heritage.
Unfortunately he did not visit Nineveh where ISIS blew up the Islamic Mosque in 2014 containing the Tomb of Jonah in the whale fame from the Jewish-Christian tradition.
That record tells of God instructing Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn the People if they did not change their ways and values, they were on the Path to Destruction.
Not wanting to be a buzzkill, Noah tried to get away until there was no place left to run or hide. That was the same year the US orchestrated the Coup/regime change in Ukraine setting this World on that Path to Destruction again.
In the Bible Timeline, Abraham was the Individual having great Faith and Trust in God on Earth before there was a Chosen People. God told him to leave Ur making this promise, "And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing:
And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed. The 1st part was during Abraham's Lifetime. The 2nd part is for the hereafter.
That was1996 years before Christ, over 4000 years ago in Human History.
Abraham's grandson Jacob, God renamed Israel as the Individual, and his 11 sons arrived in Canaan, the 'Promised Land' seeing it for the 1st Time as recorded in Genesis 34 in 1789 BC.
Dinah, the only named daughter of Jacob went into the city where she met the king's son who swept her off her feet and payed attention to her like no man did before and got her into his bed.
The record is very clear Shechem was madly in love with Dinah and went to his father the king to try to arrange a marriage.
The king went to Jacob inviting the descendants of Abraham to intermarry and share the Land with them doing business in it, essentially fulfilling God's Promise Peacefully. The son offered the Patriarchs anything they wanted as a Dowry.
They said they couldn't do that unless all the men were circumcised as they were.
Shechem immediately agreed as alien as the idea was to their culture and convinced all the men of the city to be circumcised as well, saying these people were Peaceful.
The record goes on saying on the 3rd Day when the men were "sore" the Patriarchs swooped down on the city and slit the throat of all the men, took all the flocks and wealth, along with Dinah. and got out of town fast.
What you describe 400 years after that with Joshua was just more of the same, WAR because the so called People of God did not take the chance when they had it offered to them Peaceably 400 years earlier.
The kingdom of Israel did not appear until some 800 years after Jacob/Israel. It's in the Book of Kings where I saw is rife with WAR for the reasons I posted.
The Christ was crucified because he said in the Common Era, Jews no longer had exclusivity with the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob based on being only flesh descendants without having the Living Faith of Abraham and Jacob/Israel.
Moses gave us the Law and he didn't enter the Promised Land. That comes by Faith!
So I just see it from a different angle than you do, Dennis.
For NOW we have Faith, Hope and Love, these 3, but the greatest of these is Love!
I had the patience to read your reply to my original comment.
A myth to you Dennis, but I know the unexpected Day in my life that changed my outlook from BC to AD. Since that February 1, 1975 I have seen enough proofs, signs and wonders for me that serve to increase my Faith in this Faithless Society.
Even so, though you don't believe it, God loves you more than you can imagine and more than I can convey.
I was dead to God before that February 1. Now God lives in me and I am living better at 78 with internal Peace and Satisfaction on $1777/month for everything, than when I was 24 making in '68 dollars what costs $200,000 in Today's Dollars.
When the Israelites wanted to take over the land and occupy it it's no surprise that God was on their side. I understand that during the American Civil War both sides thought that God was on their side. I guess only one side was correct.
Russia believes God is on their side in the Ukraine WAR
And the Israelis and Palestinian Arabs are both sure God is on their side as well. It helps to have God on your side.
Fifty-nine years ago, Bob Dylan recorded “With God on Our Side.” You probably haven’t heard it on the radio for a very long time, if ever, but right now you could listen to it as his most evergreen of topical songs:
I’ve learned to hate the Russians
All through my whole life
If another war comes
It’s them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4EkQfXtheg
People delude themselves if they think that will go only 1 way!
We all have to go one way or another.
Everybody sing:
Over there, over there,
Send the word, send the word over there
That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming
The drums rum-tumming everywhere.
So prepare, say a prayer
Nothing to worry about! Americans never escalate! Wars never expand!
Bottoms up!
“US Boots On The Ground” was initially cited and discussed [including Petraeus] here at BV back on Nov 2 under the last article: “Thinking About the Russia-Ukraine War”:
And another piece is added to The Chessboard… :
Pentagon Confirms US Boots Are On The Ground In Ukraine by Tyler Durden
Two bombshell reports by the Associated Press and Washington Post Monday and Tuesday have confirmed that the United States has boots on the ground in the Ukraine conflict. Crucially, these troops are performing tasks separate from mere embassy security.
Mission creep? Never! Who ever heard of such a thing happening?
I need a drink ...
Yes to all questions. "History repeats itself. First as tragedy, second as farce." I don't often quote Marx but there it is.
Yes of course to all questions. "History repeats itself. First as tragedy, second as farce." Not sure where we are now. Somewhere in between for sure.
Too bad Karl didn't come along sooner. Austria-Hungary was first out of the box with a declaration of war on Serbia on July 28, 1914. The rest of Europe followed, according to their treaties. According to Wikipedia the Austrian populace couldn't care less about the assassination of Austria's Archduke Ferdinand, generally though of as the first shot in the war, although Austria "had little choice but to credibly threaten war and force Serbian submission if it wished to remain a Great Power." Ah, the responsibilities of a great power. In the event, of course, WW I resulted in the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian empire, so that ended up being a bad call (hey, everybody makes mistakes). Leaders - you can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em.