AMEN!!! But who will enforce your solution? The citizenry could IF the USA were a real democracy which it has never been. For two centuries America’s children have been indoctrinated with war rhetoric and military role models. WHO has the chutzpah to go before the general public and tell them the truth? McGovern tried in 1972 and he failed dismally. You do try valiantly, but you can’t succeed. The cards are stacked against such a utopian endeavor. I tried as a lifelong pacifist in my limited environment and have failed completely. The only solution that I see is that the people of the U.S. will experience the actual horror of war. I did as a child and the images of what I saw and the deprivation we experienced have never left me.
Before we can "fail better," Bill, we have to know, understand, acknowledge, accept, and then act upon the answer to the Question: WHY do we fail?
Why do The Peacemakers fail? Why have The Peacemakers failed to end War?
Is it, perhaps, because there has never been a WAR Against War?
A WAR Against War waged by The Peacemakers that accomplishes its Mission better than The Warmakers' accomplish their Mission to perpetrate and perpetuate War?
War will not end until those who want Peace make WAR on it. And win.
I think the root of our problem is private financing of election campaigns. AIPAC is now boasting the every candidate it has supported has won. You'd think this would alarm everyone but it was scarcely noticed. Big insurance and pharma have a record of winning. The issue isn't mentioned in the news or in debates. Broadcasters have their own lobby - the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). Even CEO's have a lobby, the Business Roundtable, in addition to the very powerful Chamber of Commerce.
I support Public Citizen, the group established by Ralph Nader, because it is working on getting the senate and house to legislate the overturn of Citizens United. Without that, nothing is going to change.
Bill, Bill, Bill! We can't have our Ivy League "best and brightest" on the front lines of war. We need their brilliant leadership in government, banks and corporations to lead us fearlessly into the abyss!
Just curious: Is this the same Max Boot who back in February spoke of THE GLOBAL CHAOS THAT COULD FOLLOW A TRUMP WIN, as depicted by Lee Moran in a Huffington Post piece on 1 Feb 24? ... :
Conservative commentator Max Boot on Wednesday spelled out how he believes a second Donald Trump administration would “destroy the American-led world order.”
Boot, in his latest column for The Washington Post, argued that a rematch between the quadruply indicted former president and President Joe Biden in November’s election would be “a referendum not only on the future of American democracy but also on the future of America’s role in the world.”
Trump, the Republican front-runner for the 2024 nomination, “certainly undermined” America’s global leadership in his first term as he pretty much “veered from one blunder to another,” wrote Boot, who quit the GOP following Trump’s election in 2016.
In a second term, an unrestrained Trump and his “America First” policies would lead to “a chaotic post-American world where rogue states committed aggression with impunity, democracies cowered and trade ties frayed,” the pundit predicted.
“The conventional wisdom is that foreign policy doesn’t decide U.S. elections, but the choice has seldom been this scary or stark,” Boot concluded. “The November election will decide whether America continues its post-1945 internationalist foreign policy — or risks a return to the pre-Pearl Harbor policy of isolationism. How did that work out?”
Boot last year cautioned that Trump would likely be “10 times more dangerous” in a second term, because he wouldn’t “allow any adults in the White House to act as a check on his worst instincts.”
Biden is “a feeble vessel at best, but he’s the only realistic option we have,” Boot said at the time. “Anyone who believes in preserving American democracy and the U.S.-led world order, therefore, has no choice but to back Biden in 2024, however uninspiring that might be.”
[The link to Boot’s WaPo opinion piece is provided.]
The rich remove themselves from the people as fast and as far as they can. At the least they live in gated communities if not in mansions fenced all around with gates through which anyone must pass. Near where I live we have fabulous mansions. Check this link for an example with a private beach on Lake Michigan: https://imgur.com/a/dSqE5ht
And this mansion is only one of many. Who knows who the owners are that live in this isolated luxury secure from any public problems. It isn't new. The former Fort Sheridan on the north shore of Lake Michigan was deliberately sited to protect the McCormicks and Rockefellers estates from the labor unrest in Chicago in the late 19th century, the US Army being effectively a guard service for wealth as we know the police have always been.
How could anyone be more removed than the 1% from the lives the 99% live? And wealth has a way of converting anyone in the 99% to an enthusiastic member of the 1%. Obama, Vance are two examples of Congress as a production line for the 1%. And once in the group, one had better be true to the group.
Today July 19 is George McGovern’s birthday. A Word A Day (AWAD) — a priceless daily bulletin that I think you all should subscribe to — had this
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in. -George McGovern, senator, author, professor, and WWII pilot (19 Jul 1922-2012)
I share your sentiment. Michael Moore stood on the steps of the capitol with a marine recruiting sergeant. He stopped congressmen and asked if their sons or daughters could sign up. He wasn't successful. I'll hold out for seeing unicorns farting rainbows; the odds favor that happening!
One solution, although it won't of course be adopted, would be to no longer allow the National Guard to be deployed overseas, as a supplement to regular Federal armed forces. Almost half the forces the US sent to Iraq and Afghanistan were National Guard. I know of several people in the state National Guard and it seems like they are frequently being sent overseas. Nikki Haley's husband is in the South Carolina National Guard and has been stationed in the horn of Africa for at least a year. I'm pretty sure the way to protect South Carolina is not to send its National Guard to Africa.
Yes our leaders are appropriating our tax dollars on forever wars not us: Affordable housing.
Universal health care.
Free public education and public trade schools.
100% voter access.
Term limits. Rank voting.
A living wage for all workers. Please add to the list of desperately needed and better funded social programs. Nothing social in killing peoples around the world of color.
Noblesse oblige once meant having the most obligations to one's society and those of lesser means, and historically to being in the vanguard of any battle. Now it means, among the many of the elites, "having other priorities" (Cheney) or 'serving' by "helping their father get elected" (Romney).
JFK was the last President who lived and understood the meaning of the term. Reread his American University speech in June 1963 where he urgently states the need to evolve beyond the culture of war - which he knew firsthand. So they killed him and no President since has challenged the forces that did it.
The last two Presidencies have shown the end state where this has led, notwithstanding the legal statues and authority of the office. Trump was routinely ignored by his staff and national security team; it's unclear whether Biden even understands what he hears in his earpiece or sees on his teleprompter.
No election is going to change any of this - no matter who one votes for. You want to change the system you have to start from the bottom up.
All species have built-in population control mechanisms. In many cases, disease, parasites, food scarcity and competition are enough to keep populations from exploding, but sometimes those fail. What has been crossing my mind recently is "what if war is the population control mechanism for homo sapiens?" It certainly has been the largest limiter of human populations for millennia, and I wonder if that is sort of built into our species.
As to your solution, it used to be that the king rode at the front of the army., so it would be nice to bring that back. But the Corporate-Owned-News would not permit such ideas to even be heard.
I concur and I was always a Fan of Stephen Jay Gould "Homo sapiens are a tiny twig on an improbable branch of a contingent limb on a fortunate tree." Stephen Jay Gould
You were going so well there, Bill, especially with the reference to Orwell, but lost it at the last moment with your fanciful solution. It has long been apparent that some wannabe politicians join the military so as to have a tour on their CV. Delegating a person’s moral authority to someone else should be illegal. Soldiers need to be able to warn that they will not agree to take part in an operation at short notice in advance of engagements. They can then be put at the bottom of the list of “who you’re gonna call”, but must not be prevented from registering their dissent in public. Any pictures taken of the people they kill should not be censored. Hypothecation of taxes should allow the populace to vote for what proportion of their taxable income they want to devote to “defence”.
Additionally there needs to be a government policy whereby the depiction of guns in cinema is accompanied by a levy on the producers to help defray people’s costs in burying the victims of gun crime.
"No Bucks No Buck Rogers, and everyone wants to see Buck Rogers"... Philip Kaufman --The Right Stuff... In my opin. appropiate in this the 55th. yr.. July 20, 1969 since our 1st. landing on the surface of the moon. I was only 14 then, but just think of how many other worlds we could have explored in our Solar System, and even mined for rare ores etc. if all our discretionary spending wasn't used on things like the ridiculous "Space Force", and needless, ludicrous, new weapons systems.., just think we could've explored space both inner & outer for peace. What a thought!
More important than exploring inner and outer space, we just might have been able to eliminate Poverty, Hunger, Disease, and Illiteracy. Or at least made a very good start.
Absolutely we could've done it all. And then some Jeff then they'd be a Pt. to all this... But, we kill all those good people., and let the Demons run amuck..! Not one human being excluded is how it should be!!!
On the latest episode of Deep Dive, ret. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis spoke with Sgt. Dan McKnight, a former U.S. Marine and Idaho National Guardsman and founder of BRING OUR TROOPS HOME.
Davis and McKnight discuss the founding of the organization, and why they believe more veterans are becoming involved in the movement to pull back on Washington’s chronic interventionism.
Particular focus is given to McKnight’s cornerstone project, the DEFEND THE GUARD ACT, which just passed the New Hampshire House of Representatives. This bill would prohibit the deployment of National Guard units into active combat without a declaration of war from Congress.
McKnight reveals how activists can effectively achieve their goals in state legislatures in contrast to Capitol Hill, and what the next step is for the Defend the Guard movement.
The Mission of DEFEND THE GUARD is:
“The goal of Defend the Guard legislation, a project of Bring Our Troops Home, is to have states use their inherent, sovereign authority to rebalance war powers between the branches of the federal government
“State legislators have an essential, civic obligation to their constituents to demand that the federal government adhere to congressional wars powers as mandated by Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution. Without an official declaration of war by the U.S. Congress, states have a duty to withhold their troops from active combat.
“The sole objective of the Defend the Guard movement is to obligate the federal government to obey the U.S. Constitution before sending our sons and daughters to fight more endless wars.”
According to Pew Research: ROUGHLY 6 IN 10 VOTERS DESCRIBE BOTH BIDEN AND TRUMP AS ‘EMBARRASSING’ [Extracts]
The new survey by Pew Research Center, conducted July 1-7 among 9,424 adults, including 7,729 registered voters, finds that both Biden and Trump are widely viewed as flawed, though in different ways.
AND NEARLY SEVEN-IN-TEN VOTERS (68%) SAY THEY ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH THEIR CHOICES FOR PRESIDENT.
Majorities of voters describe both Biden and Trump as “embarrassing,” with identical shares (63% each) saying this about each candidate. A third or more of each candidate’s supporters – 37% of Biden supporters and 33% of Trump supporters – say their own candidate is embarrassing.
***
About half of Trump supporters (51%) say they are very or fairly satisfied with the presidential candidates, while nearly as many (48%) say they are not too or not at all satisfied.
Roughly eight-in-ten Biden supporters (81%) and an even larger majority of Kennedy supporters (90%) express dissatisfaction with the candidates.
***
Pew Research Center surveys over the past year have found widespread unhappiness over the state of American politics and the choices for president. In the new survey, voters render harsh judgments on the 2024 campaign:
87% say that so far, the campaign does not make them feel proud of the country;
76% say it is not focused on important policy debates;
So who do You propose all those Americans who are dissatisfied with the "choices" they have been given for Election2024 ~ and embarrassed that Trump and Biden are the candidates they get to choose from ~ who do You propose they vote for?
And what exactly do people have to "buy" in order to vote NOTC? As opposed to what they have to buy into to vote for either Trump or Biden?
When i use the word "buy," Dennis, i am not referring to purchasing something.
i am referring to accepting the premises and arguments of and for NOTC, on the one hand, as opposed to accepting the promises, proposed policies, and propaganda of either Trump or Biden, on the other.
And exactly Whose time will i be wasting by voting NOTC? Anybody's in particular?
And where does it say anywhere that my "duty as an American citizen" is to vote for one or the other of who America's Ruling Political Class and Deep State have deigned to offer We, The Voters as "choices" for Election2024?
How is that my "duty"? And according to What or Who besides You?
Can You explain exactly ~ or even remotely ~ how NOTC is like "'Card Counting' in Blackjack at the casino"? Whether "maybe" or not?
And You haven't answered the question about exactly WHAT says that voting is a Citizen's duty, if not responsibility?
Especially if the only choices they are given are Tweedledee and Tweedledum, both of whom could give a shit about those Citizens, their Families, and their Futures?
Again: If i want neither Biden nor Trump to be the next POTUS, How and Why is it my "duty" to vote for one of them? Or anybody else on the ballot?
And one other question that You will ignore: What are the other "Citizen Duties and Responsibilities" besides voting?
And we won't even talk about the Duties and Responsibilities of those people who actually get elected to office, will we?
And finally, how many politicians in Washington are currently accomplishing those Duties and meeting those Responsibilities? Or have been in the recent ~ or did in the distant ~ past?
One suggested correction, Bill. You wrote: "The National Security State is the unofficial fourth branch of government and arguably the most powerful."
The fourth branch of this government is The Federal Reserve System. Without it, the National Security State would be completely broke and out of business.
These highlites from the previously cited Reuters article on Day 3 of the RNC offer a very good look at what looms ahead for America...:
His brush with death has fueled the growing quasi-religious fervor among the party faithful, elevating him from political leader to a man they believe is protected by God.
***
Many Trump supporters want to see a powerful president.
"You need a strong leader at the top," said Bill Dowd, a 79-year-old lumber business owner who was a guest of the Colorado delegation in Milwaukee.
"I'm a very, very big Ronald Reagan fan. Ronald Reagan pulled the party together also," Dowd said.
Dowd acknowledged that some of his Republican friends feared that Trump might try to abuse his power. He said while he did not share that fear he believed that dissent should not be stifled in any party.
***
For Trump's critics and political opponents, this is a dark and disturbing moment: they see the modern Republican Party as a cult of personality, a base from which Trump could pursue extreme policies and create America's first truly imperial presidency, threatening the future of its democratic norms.
***
In Milwaukee, nearly all of the 30 delegates, guests and elected Republicans interviewed by Reuters for this story acknowledged that their party had become the party of Trump but dismissed any suggestion that it had become cult-like.
“I believe that President Trump is a transformational figure, a man of destiny who God providentially saved from death on Saturday," Louisiana delegate Ed Tarpley said. "He's been given a special mission in our country. God's providential hand has elevated Donald Trump to a different status."
***
Those interviewed said they wanted a President Trump who was not constrained by bureaucracy or Congress to execute his agenda.
They were in favor of more expansive use of executive action - decisions made by a president that do not need congressional approval.
They want nothing to stand in the way of his plans to deport millions of people in the country illegally and to reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy. In his first term Trump often complained of "deep state" bureaucrats he said were seeking to thwart him.
"The president ... must be allowed to implement his policies free of a bureaucracy resistant to them and unelected officials who do not agree with them," Tarpley said.
***
Half of Republican respondents to a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week said they agreed with the statement that "the country is in a crisis and needs a strong president who should be allowed to rule without too much interference from the courts and Congress."
That was substantially higher than the 35% of Democrats and 33% of independents who agreed with the sentiment.
***
Lara Trump, the Republican National Committee co-chair and Trump's daughter-in-law, acknowledged this week that governance by executive action - which can be overturned in the courts or by a successor - was not ideal. That's why it was crucial for Republicans to hold onto the House of Representatives in November and take the Senate from Democrats, she said, "so we don't have to rely on executive actions and we can actually see some lasting change."
Source: REPUBLICAN PARTY IS TRUMP'S NOW. CRITICS WARY HIS QUEST FOR POWER WILL GO UNCHECKED by Tim Reid , Nathan Layne and James Oliphant 18 Jul 24
Ol' TR believed in taking up the White Man's Burden and civilizing the world, in the name of imperial supremacy. Consider his Rough Riders and their exploits in Cuba. He was a "true believer" in the imperial presidency.
Given America's history of War For Expansion against the Native, Indigenous Peoples and the remnants of the British, French, and Spanish Empires on the continent all the way west to the Pacific Coast and beyond before Roosevelt became President, which American Presidents before him were NOT Imperialist Warmongers?
And given the theme of this article ~ putting political leaders and their Kids on the front lines of any War that those leaders choose to wage ~ i'm surprised You're calling TR out for having abandoned his post in Swampland and gone to one of the very definite front lines of America's War back then.
This Reuters story is well worth a look. Particularly interesting is the next-to-last accompanying photo. One wonders if Trump was offering a deal on those Band Aids:
AMEN!!! But who will enforce your solution? The citizenry could IF the USA were a real democracy which it has never been. For two centuries America’s children have been indoctrinated with war rhetoric and military role models. WHO has the chutzpah to go before the general public and tell them the truth? McGovern tried in 1972 and he failed dismally. You do try valiantly, but you can’t succeed. The cards are stacked against such a utopian endeavor. I tried as a lifelong pacifist in my limited environment and have failed completely. The only solution that I see is that the people of the U.S. will experience the actual horror of war. I did as a child and the images of what I saw and the deprivation we experienced have never left me.
Yes, we fail. Maybe we can "fail better" until we finally succeed--or die trying.
Before we can "fail better," Bill, we have to know, understand, acknowledge, accept, and then act upon the answer to the Question: WHY do we fail?
Why do The Peacemakers fail? Why have The Peacemakers failed to end War?
Is it, perhaps, because there has never been a WAR Against War?
A WAR Against War waged by The Peacemakers that accomplishes its Mission better than The Warmakers' accomplish their Mission to perpetrate and perpetuate War?
War will not end until those who want Peace make WAR on it. And win.
The question, of course, is How?
How much money has Trump and ~ more importantly ~ every other politician enlisted in Trump's Army received from AIPAC, starting with Vance?
Any significant difference between what he and they have been gifted - or is that grifted? ~ and what Biden and his Gaggle has similarly received?
I suspect we will be dead before our dream becomes reality.
I think the root of our problem is private financing of election campaigns. AIPAC is now boasting the every candidate it has supported has won. You'd think this would alarm everyone but it was scarcely noticed. Big insurance and pharma have a record of winning. The issue isn't mentioned in the news or in debates. Broadcasters have their own lobby - the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). Even CEO's have a lobby, the Business Roundtable, in addition to the very powerful Chamber of Commerce.
I support Public Citizen, the group established by Ralph Nader, because it is working on getting the senate and house to legislate the overturn of Citizens United. Without that, nothing is going to change.
Bill, Bill, Bill! We can't have our Ivy League "best and brightest" on the front lines of war. We need their brilliant leadership in government, banks and corporations to lead us fearlessly into the abyss!
The "Best and Brightest" can serve as bullet-catchers equally as well as the worst and dumbest. Maybe better!
I'm guessing it would pretty quickly re-inspire the art of diplomacy.
The "best and brightest" sure can talk a good game. Max Boot is in the news today--he's a typical example.
A committed Russia hater and war monger par excellence.
Just curious: Is this the same Max Boot who back in February spoke of THE GLOBAL CHAOS THAT COULD FOLLOW A TRUMP WIN, as depicted by Lee Moran in a Huffington Post piece on 1 Feb 24? ... :
Conservative commentator Max Boot on Wednesday spelled out how he believes a second Donald Trump administration would “destroy the American-led world order.”
Boot, in his latest column for The Washington Post, argued that a rematch between the quadruply indicted former president and President Joe Biden in November’s election would be “a referendum not only on the future of American democracy but also on the future of America’s role in the world.”
Trump, the Republican front-runner for the 2024 nomination, “certainly undermined” America’s global leadership in his first term as he pretty much “veered from one blunder to another,” wrote Boot, who quit the GOP following Trump’s election in 2016.
In a second term, an unrestrained Trump and his “America First” policies would lead to “a chaotic post-American world where rogue states committed aggression with impunity, democracies cowered and trade ties frayed,” the pundit predicted.
“The conventional wisdom is that foreign policy doesn’t decide U.S. elections, but the choice has seldom been this scary or stark,” Boot concluded. “The November election will decide whether America continues its post-1945 internationalist foreign policy — or risks a return to the pre-Pearl Harbor policy of isolationism. How did that work out?”
Boot last year cautioned that Trump would likely be “10 times more dangerous” in a second term, because he wouldn’t “allow any adults in the White House to act as a check on his worst instincts.”
Biden is “a feeble vessel at best, but he’s the only realistic option we have,” Boot said at the time. “Anyone who believes in preserving American democracy and the U.S.-led world order, therefore, has no choice but to back Biden in 2024, however uninspiring that might be.”
[The link to Boot’s WaPo opinion piece is provided.]
Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/max-boot-donald-trump-world-order_n_65bb7186e4b01c5c3a39fb07
The rich remove themselves from the people as fast and as far as they can. At the least they live in gated communities if not in mansions fenced all around with gates through which anyone must pass. Near where I live we have fabulous mansions. Check this link for an example with a private beach on Lake Michigan: https://imgur.com/a/dSqE5ht
And this mansion is only one of many. Who knows who the owners are that live in this isolated luxury secure from any public problems. It isn't new. The former Fort Sheridan on the north shore of Lake Michigan was deliberately sited to protect the McCormicks and Rockefellers estates from the labor unrest in Chicago in the late 19th century, the US Army being effectively a guard service for wealth as we know the police have always been.
How could anyone be more removed than the 1% from the lives the 99% live? And wealth has a way of converting anyone in the 99% to an enthusiastic member of the 1%. Obama, Vance are two examples of Congress as a production line for the 1%. And once in the group, one had better be true to the group.
Today July 19 is George McGovern’s birthday. A Word A Day (AWAD) — a priceless daily bulletin that I think you all should subscribe to — had this
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in. -George McGovern, senator, author, professor, and WWII pilot (19 Jul 1922-2012)
Amen to that. Thanks for sharing!
I share your sentiment. Michael Moore stood on the steps of the capitol with a marine recruiting sergeant. He stopped congressmen and asked if their sons or daughters could sign up. He wasn't successful. I'll hold out for seeing unicorns farting rainbows; the odds favor that happening!
One solution, although it won't of course be adopted, would be to no longer allow the National Guard to be deployed overseas, as a supplement to regular Federal armed forces. Almost half the forces the US sent to Iraq and Afghanistan were National Guard. I know of several people in the state National Guard and it seems like they are frequently being sent overseas. Nikki Haley's husband is in the South Carolina National Guard and has been stationed in the horn of Africa for at least a year. I'm pretty sure the way to protect South Carolina is not to send its National Guard to Africa.
Yes our leaders are appropriating our tax dollars on forever wars not us: Affordable housing.
Universal health care.
Free public education and public trade schools.
100% voter access.
Term limits. Rank voting.
A living wage for all workers. Please add to the list of desperately needed and better funded social programs. Nothing social in killing peoples around the world of color.
Noblesse oblige once meant having the most obligations to one's society and those of lesser means, and historically to being in the vanguard of any battle. Now it means, among the many of the elites, "having other priorities" (Cheney) or 'serving' by "helping their father get elected" (Romney).
JFK was the last President who lived and understood the meaning of the term. Reread his American University speech in June 1963 where he urgently states the need to evolve beyond the culture of war - which he knew firsthand. So they killed him and no President since has challenged the forces that did it.
The last two Presidencies have shown the end state where this has led, notwithstanding the legal statues and authority of the office. Trump was routinely ignored by his staff and national security team; it's unclear whether Biden even understands what he hears in his earpiece or sees on his teleprompter.
No election is going to change any of this - no matter who one votes for. You want to change the system you have to start from the bottom up.
All species have built-in population control mechanisms. In many cases, disease, parasites, food scarcity and competition are enough to keep populations from exploding, but sometimes those fail. What has been crossing my mind recently is "what if war is the population control mechanism for homo sapiens?" It certainly has been the largest limiter of human populations for millennia, and I wonder if that is sort of built into our species.
As to your solution, it used to be that the king rode at the front of the army., so it would be nice to bring that back. But the Corporate-Owned-News would not permit such ideas to even be heard.
I concur and I was always a Fan of Stephen Jay Gould "Homo sapiens are a tiny twig on an improbable branch of a contingent limb on a fortunate tree." Stephen Jay Gould
I loved his book, Ontogeny and Phylogeny. A great read.
My thoughts exactly. Seems so perfectly logical and ethical.
Which, I suppose, is precisely why it is never discussed by anyone writing or speaking from government or its corporate media stenography corps.
You were going so well there, Bill, especially with the reference to Orwell, but lost it at the last moment with your fanciful solution. It has long been apparent that some wannabe politicians join the military so as to have a tour on their CV. Delegating a person’s moral authority to someone else should be illegal. Soldiers need to be able to warn that they will not agree to take part in an operation at short notice in advance of engagements. They can then be put at the bottom of the list of “who you’re gonna call”, but must not be prevented from registering their dissent in public. Any pictures taken of the people they kill should not be censored. Hypothecation of taxes should allow the populace to vote for what proportion of their taxable income they want to devote to “defence”.
Additionally there needs to be a government policy whereby the depiction of guns in cinema is accompanied by a levy on the producers to help defray people’s costs in burying the victims of gun crime.
Well, I try!
People
Planet
Peace
Vote Green
Vote for the only peace candidate running for POTUS
Jill Stein
Or vote in continuation of forever wars. It's your buck
"No Bucks No Buck Rogers, and everyone wants to see Buck Rogers"... Philip Kaufman --The Right Stuff... In my opin. appropiate in this the 55th. yr.. July 20, 1969 since our 1st. landing on the surface of the moon. I was only 14 then, but just think of how many other worlds we could have explored in our Solar System, and even mined for rare ores etc. if all our discretionary spending wasn't used on things like the ridiculous "Space Force", and needless, ludicrous, new weapons systems.., just think we could've explored space both inner & outer for peace. What a thought!
More important than exploring inner and outer space, we just might have been able to eliminate Poverty, Hunger, Disease, and Illiteracy. Or at least made a very good start.
Absolutely we could've done it all. And then some Jeff then they'd be a Pt. to all this... But, we kill all those good people., and let the Demons run amuck..! Not one human being excluded is how it should be!!!
Earlier, Alex suggested the following: "No longer allow the National Guard to be deployed overseas, as a supplement to regular Federal armed forces."
Here's where that idea stood at the beginning of 2024... ;
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME: VET DAN MCKNIGHT SHOWS US HOW by Hunter DeRensis / antiwar.com 11 Jan 24
[ https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2024/01/11/bring-our-troops-home-vet-dan-mcknight-shows-us-how/ ]
On the latest episode of Deep Dive, ret. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis spoke with Sgt. Dan McKnight, a former U.S. Marine and Idaho National Guardsman and founder of BRING OUR TROOPS HOME.
Davis and McKnight discuss the founding of the organization, and why they believe more veterans are becoming involved in the movement to pull back on Washington’s chronic interventionism.
Particular focus is given to McKnight’s cornerstone project, the DEFEND THE GUARD ACT, which just passed the New Hampshire House of Representatives. This bill would prohibit the deployment of National Guard units into active combat without a declaration of war from Congress.
McKnight reveals how activists can effectively achieve their goals in state legislatures in contrast to Capitol Hill, and what the next step is for the Defend the Guard movement.
The Mission of DEFEND THE GUARD is:
“The goal of Defend the Guard legislation, a project of Bring Our Troops Home, is to have states use their inherent, sovereign authority to rebalance war powers between the branches of the federal government
“State legislators have an essential, civic obligation to their constituents to demand that the federal government adhere to congressional wars powers as mandated by Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution. Without an official declaration of war by the U.S. Congress, states have a duty to withhold their troops from active combat.
“The sole objective of the Defend the Guard movement is to obligate the federal government to obey the U.S. Constitution before sending our sons and daughters to fight more endless wars.”
For more information, visit defendtheguard.us .
According to Pew Research: ROUGHLY 6 IN 10 VOTERS DESCRIBE BOTH BIDEN AND TRUMP AS ‘EMBARRASSING’ [Extracts]
The new survey by Pew Research Center, conducted July 1-7 among 9,424 adults, including 7,729 registered voters, finds that both Biden and Trump are widely viewed as flawed, though in different ways.
AND NEARLY SEVEN-IN-TEN VOTERS (68%) SAY THEY ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH THEIR CHOICES FOR PRESIDENT.
Majorities of voters describe both Biden and Trump as “embarrassing,” with identical shares (63% each) saying this about each candidate. A third or more of each candidate’s supporters – 37% of Biden supporters and 33% of Trump supporters – say their own candidate is embarrassing.
***
About half of Trump supporters (51%) say they are very or fairly satisfied with the presidential candidates, while nearly as many (48%) say they are not too or not at all satisfied.
Roughly eight-in-ten Biden supporters (81%) and an even larger majority of Kennedy supporters (90%) express dissatisfaction with the candidates.
***
Pew Research Center surveys over the past year have found widespread unhappiness over the state of American politics and the choices for president. In the new survey, voters render harsh judgments on the 2024 campaign:
87% say that so far, the campaign does not make them feel proud of the country;
76% say it is not focused on important policy debates;
68% describe the campaign as too negative.
Full article at https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/07/11/amid-doubts-about-bidens-mental-sharpness-trump-leads-presidential-race/ .
NOTE: This is a paid, political announcement from “Vote NONE OF THESE CANDIDATES 2024.”
So who do You propose all those Americans who are dissatisfied with the "choices" they have been given for Election2024 ~ and embarrassed that Trump and Biden are the candidates they get to choose from ~ who do You propose they vote for?
And what exactly do people have to "buy" in order to vote NOTC? As opposed to what they have to buy into to vote for either Trump or Biden?
When i use the word "buy," Dennis, i am not referring to purchasing something.
i am referring to accepting the premises and arguments of and for NOTC, on the one hand, as opposed to accepting the promises, proposed policies, and propaganda of either Trump or Biden, on the other.
And exactly Whose time will i be wasting by voting NOTC? Anybody's in particular?
And where does it say anywhere that my "duty as an American citizen" is to vote for one or the other of who America's Ruling Political Class and Deep State have deigned to offer We, The Voters as "choices" for Election2024?
How is that my "duty"? And according to What or Who besides You?
Can You explain exactly ~ or even remotely ~ how NOTC is like "'Card Counting' in Blackjack at the casino"? Whether "maybe" or not?
And You haven't answered the question about exactly WHAT says that voting is a Citizen's duty, if not responsibility?
Especially if the only choices they are given are Tweedledee and Tweedledum, both of whom could give a shit about those Citizens, their Families, and their Futures?
Again: If i want neither Biden nor Trump to be the next POTUS, How and Why is it my "duty" to vote for one of them? Or anybody else on the ballot?
And one other question that You will ignore: What are the other "Citizen Duties and Responsibilities" besides voting?
And we won't even talk about the Duties and Responsibilities of those people who actually get elected to office, will we?
And finally, how many politicians in Washington are currently accomplishing those Duties and meeting those Responsibilities? Or have been in the recent ~ or did in the distant ~ past?
Any?
One suggested correction, Bill. You wrote: "The National Security State is the unofficial fourth branch of government and arguably the most powerful."
The fourth branch of this government is The Federal Reserve System. Without it, the National Security State would be completely broke and out of business.
These highlites from the previously cited Reuters article on Day 3 of the RNC offer a very good look at what looms ahead for America...:
His brush with death has fueled the growing quasi-religious fervor among the party faithful, elevating him from political leader to a man they believe is protected by God.
***
Many Trump supporters want to see a powerful president.
"You need a strong leader at the top," said Bill Dowd, a 79-year-old lumber business owner who was a guest of the Colorado delegation in Milwaukee.
"I'm a very, very big Ronald Reagan fan. Ronald Reagan pulled the party together also," Dowd said.
Dowd acknowledged that some of his Republican friends feared that Trump might try to abuse his power. He said while he did not share that fear he believed that dissent should not be stifled in any party.
***
For Trump's critics and political opponents, this is a dark and disturbing moment: they see the modern Republican Party as a cult of personality, a base from which Trump could pursue extreme policies and create America's first truly imperial presidency, threatening the future of its democratic norms.
***
In Milwaukee, nearly all of the 30 delegates, guests and elected Republicans interviewed by Reuters for this story acknowledged that their party had become the party of Trump but dismissed any suggestion that it had become cult-like.
“I believe that President Trump is a transformational figure, a man of destiny who God providentially saved from death on Saturday," Louisiana delegate Ed Tarpley said. "He's been given a special mission in our country. God's providential hand has elevated Donald Trump to a different status."
***
Those interviewed said they wanted a President Trump who was not constrained by bureaucracy or Congress to execute his agenda.
They were in favor of more expansive use of executive action - decisions made by a president that do not need congressional approval.
They want nothing to stand in the way of his plans to deport millions of people in the country illegally and to reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy. In his first term Trump often complained of "deep state" bureaucrats he said were seeking to thwart him.
"The president ... must be allowed to implement his policies free of a bureaucracy resistant to them and unelected officials who do not agree with them," Tarpley said.
***
Half of Republican respondents to a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week said they agreed with the statement that "the country is in a crisis and needs a strong president who should be allowed to rule without too much interference from the courts and Congress."
That was substantially higher than the 35% of Democrats and 33% of independents who agreed with the sentiment.
***
Lara Trump, the Republican National Committee co-chair and Trump's daughter-in-law, acknowledged this week that governance by executive action - which can be overturned in the courts or by a successor - was not ideal. That's why it was crucial for Republicans to hold onto the House of Representatives in November and take the Senate from Democrats, she said, "so we don't have to rely on executive actions and we can actually see some lasting change."
Source: REPUBLICAN PARTY IS TRUMP'S NOW. CRITICS WARY HIS QUEST FOR POWER WILL GO UNCHECKED by Tim Reid , Nathan Layne and James Oliphant 18 Jul 24
[ https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-imperial-presidency-looms-takeover-republican-party-complete-2024-07-18/ ]
Truly the first imperial presidency, Jeff?
We've had an imperial presidency since 1898, if not before.
Starting with Lincoln?
i agree about an "imperial presidency," Bill; assuming we agree on the definition of "imperial." In which case, Lincoln must be included.
i think the term being hinted at is a "dictatorial Presidency and Executive Branch unrestrained by either the Legislative or Judicial Branches.."
Less Lincoln and more Teddy Roosevelt.
i know very little about Teddy Roosevelt. i'm curious, Bill: Why do You declare his Presidency to be more "imperial" than Lincoln's?
Ol' TR believed in taking up the White Man's Burden and civilizing the world, in the name of imperial supremacy. Consider his Rough Riders and their exploits in Cuba. He was a "true believer" in the imperial presidency.
Given America's history of War For Expansion against the Native, Indigenous Peoples and the remnants of the British, French, and Spanish Empires on the continent all the way west to the Pacific Coast and beyond before Roosevelt became President, which American Presidents before him were NOT Imperialist Warmongers?
And given the theme of this article ~ putting political leaders and their Kids on the front lines of any War that those leaders choose to wage ~ i'm surprised You're calling TR out for having abandoned his post in Swampland and gone to one of the very definite front lines of America's War back then.
This Reuters story is well worth a look. Particularly interesting is the next-to-last accompanying photo. One wonders if Trump was offering a deal on those Band Aids:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-imperial-presidency-looms-takeover-republican-party-complete-2024-07-18/