Yea, but if theres surplus budget every year (which there is) cutting the budget would be a good thing. Our government doesn't have a nickel to spare, much less the millions and billions we throw at stupid needless BS.

 

You're not into corporate welfare? Why that's... that's.... that's just downright unpatriotic! Don'tcha know that if we cut the defense budget it'll cost real blue collar hard working god fearing Americans jobs? It'll screw up their retirements when all of those defense contractor stock values drop? Think about the children! And the puppies and kitties! Oh, and the poneez! Who's gonna love the poneez if the children are homeless and hungry?

 

And I am full time employed by these people.





I refer to them as people hesitantly.

 

Has anyone ever given any thought to how much money our military spends not just to overthrow governments (such as Iran in the 50's) so we can get their oil, and the navy to protect shipping lanes for private corporations? If we would just invoice the corporations for this security we could generate some revenue.

The current cost of gasoline has at least $0.50 due to wall street speculators running rampant and defying the stated legal purpose of futures and commodity trading which is for price protection for consumers. Look at the tax breaks for an industry that has recorded the greatest profit margins and levels in recorded history - at tax payer expense. Why do you think that incentives for aleternative energy passed in the mid 70's were eliminated in the 80's?

 

With the sole exception of the War of 1812, every war the US has ever fought has been about money -- more money for already wealthy Americans, that is. It's tradition, from the Revolution onward, to make war on behalf of the rich. To make war even on our own people on behalf of the rich. It's welfare for those who don't need it paid by those who cannot afford it.

Just tell us a good lie so we can get all pumped up on hatred for some little brown people somewhere else, and we'll sacrifice our sons and the prosperity of generations yet unborn, gladly. Makes a guy proud to be a part of such a selfless, giving people, doesn't it?

 

And don't forget to throw in the use of religion to help "sell" it to the masses.....

 

While I do see what you are saying, I do want to point out that we did have a major terrorist attack 11 years ago... And since that day (after countless threats that more was sure to come) there has not been another successful attack anywhere near that size on U.S. soil.

 

Thanks for stealing my thunder. I've been telling people for quite a few years that the ONLY Veterans who defended US freedoms were the ones who fought the British in 1812. Every other conflict since, with the exception of the Civil War, has been geo-political interests.

 

You're welcome.

 

Yes indeed we did, and lacking state sponsorship a terrorist act is a criminal act and not an act of war. If there was anything even close to state sponsorship of 9/11, it was neither Afghanistan nor Iraq -- Iraq had as much to do with it as the Denver Broncos did.

BFD about there being no more major terrorist attacks since. There weren't any before, either. The closest thing we had was the 1993 WTC bombing that the FBI chose not to prevent.

Ever heard of Operation Northwoods? If not, the brief synopsis is that the Pentagon planned in 1962 to commit terrorist acts against the United States and blame them on Cuba. The backstory: JFK didn't trust the CIA any more because they had planned to conduct terrorist attacks against the United States and blame it on Cuba, so he moved responsibility for Cuban matters to the Joint Chiefs. The Joint Chiefs turned right around and did the same darn thing, but Kennedy nixed those plans too. 50 years ago.

I can't say that I believe that 9/11 was a false flag operation, but by the same token I can't say that I believe it was not. Those folks in Washington DC and Virginia, they can't be trusted. They've proven over and over again that they do not love us and do not hold us in high regard. There's just no way for us common folk to know the truth, and no reason to trust anyone at all who claims to know it and wish to tell it.

Always happy to oblige!

Slavery and states' rights were to the Civil War what WMD and ties to terrorist organizations are to the GWOT -- the lies told to those who fight and die and more importantly pay for the wars. In a way it was geopolitical, in that at the time there was no strong federal government and for the most part the elite of the North were the true power.

Not too many days in a row go by without me wishing that this were the country my primary school teachers told me it was. No days go by without me wishing that they hadn't told those lies, leaving so many of my fellow countrymen to conduct themselves as though they live in that country that has never existed. Dammit, we're not incapable of handling the truth, and we wouldn't rise up in rebellion if we knew it. We'd just demand that our government conduct itself honorably. That's all. What could be the harm in that? Aside from taking away our willingness to sacrifice our sons and the prosperity of future generations at the altar of other people's greed, that is.