THE ABSURD TIMES

Illustration: The last time I checked, Snowden followed only the NSA. However, I don’t know if they are following him, on Twitter, that is. Anyway, I think he has it right, whether he actually said it or not.

Our Approach to the Middle East.

Somehow, our first instinct when anything goes wrong, anywhere, is to beat it up. American people have been trained and brainwashed (to the extent that they have brains) to think always of an aggressive and militaristic approach to problem solving. Bribery ranks second. Somehow, reasoned discussion, or at least inquiries as to motive behind actions we deem offensive, is seen as “womanly,” or “weak”. This is a planted prejudice to the extent that even women leaders, one might say especially woman leaders, are more aggressive than their competitors.

This is not simply a matter of capitalism, but weapons manufacturing is a very lucrative business in the United States and it has the largest per-capita gun ownership ratio in the world.

I have no idea as to how many times I have heard the comment expressed by “average” citizens here, when asked what they would do about a particular international problem say “Nuke ‘em”. End of discussion. No concept whatsoever what the use of nuclear weapons and explosives would have and imply.

Fortunately, we have religion to solve all our problems now. Christians and Jews have to get together to kill the Moslems to protect all of our values! And if you don’t like our values, we’ll fucking nuke you. That’s why we have 200 to 300 nukes in Israel.

So, Hillary Clinton goes to the AIPAC conference and gushes enthusiasm for Israeli aggression, ludicrously called the “right of self-defense,” while Sanders does not even show up as he was busy on the west coast. Sanders says we need to be “even-handed,” and this, of course, is anti-Semitic. He also goes to the Vatican and visits briefly with the Pope, talking about disparity of wealth. Yet, John Kennedy said, in 1960-61 that perhaps in 40 years we would have a Jewish President. Sanders is Jewish, at least ethnically, and therefore a Clinton supporter is anti-Semitic.

Sanders giving a speech. You can find it on You Tube. As the bird finally flies off, he calls it the symbol for “world peace.” I can not imagine this bird on any other candidates’ platform.

Republican candidates talk of almost nothing other than imposing their will on other people and countries and use terms like “carpet bombing” and “give them their own nukes,” so they can hardly be taken seriously. Fortunately, the only one who does not talk like that (but does think like that) has too few delegates to be nominated.

Usually, the military types you see on TV, the experts, are really employed by big weapons manufacturers or lobbyists or advocacy groups such as AIPAC to stir up things and give “expertise” as to why we have to beat others up. Andrew Bacevich, however, chose to tell the truth as just about every military man knows it and so he points out how this militarism is futile (unless your objective is to sell more weapons, not to win or solve anything.) So here is an excellent interview with him and a recommendation to obtain his book as well:

When will the United States realize a military victory is impossible in the Middle East? Military historian Andrew Bacevich asks this question in his latest book. He writes, “As an American who cares deeply about the fate of his country, I should state plainly my own assessment of this ongoing war, now well into its fourth decade. We have not won it. We are not winning it. Simply trying harder is unlikely to produce a different outcome.”