I was two years old when President Eisenhower gave a stunningly precise prediction of our fate for the next 50 years. He said that for the first time in human history, America had created a permanent military-industrial complex that employed millions and spent billions. "More than the net income of all United States corporations," he noted.
Now, the military-industrial complex dictates our foreign policy. Wall Street dictates our economic policy. Big Oil dictates our energy policy.
Eisenhower told us that the domination of this military-industrial complex would have "grave implications" for the "very structure of our society." He warned against "the disastrous rise of misplaced power." But he hoped that an "alert and knowledgeable citizenry" would protect us.
If only. As if. You wish.
For the past half century, the military-industrial complex has perpetuated one war after another, at enormous cost in both blood and money. In its lust for oil, it has broken country after country, and now the sea floor. 9/11 cost Osama bin Laden $500,000, while U.S. military action afterward cost us well over $500,000,000,000.
Now, it's nine years later. And the war goes on. My five children cannot remember a time in their lives when America was at peace.
And no one in power seems to be able to deliver on the things that matter to us -- deliver on jobs, on health, on education, on clean water and air, on better roads. On peace. On meeting human needs.
I've done my best in Congress to show the way. Now I need your help. On June 28, we're going to hold an online 'Peace Party' event, where thousands of us come together to support this campaign. We need to raise $200,000 or more by that day, to show BP and other corporate behemoths that the "small people" (as BP put it) still matter.
We need a peace dividend. We need new priorities. We need people in government who will tell the military-industrial complex, and Wall Street, and Big Oil, to go to hell. And I'm one of them.
Can you pitch in $25, $50 or more to our Peace Party? Please do it now, at the "new and improved" www.CongressmanWithGuts.com.
Follow Rep. Alan Grayson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/alangrayson
And no one says we can't defend ourselves, but our military expenditures are almost as much as the rest of the world combined. Even with a military a fraction of that size, who is going to invade? Spending over half our taxes on the military is impoverishing us! Now the Presidents cat food commission is preparing cuts in Medicare and Social Security, so our ever poorer middle class can enjoy a REALLY impoverished retirement.
Join Grayson's Peace Party!
leading to the war crime of invading Iraq,
that will bring peace?
Wake up.
History shows us time and again what happens when parasites take control, and that is what has happened with the MIC. They have become parasites, and are killing their host in their drive to suck all they can out of America.
However, since that "host" is just the collective, killing "America" merely results in the death of an ideology, that of the "American Nation"
If we as a people fail to kill the parasite prior to it killing "America" we'll suffer, but it won't kill ALL of us. We'll just become the next Soviet Union.
Still, I don't want to see "America" die as a sacrifice to greed corruption, and parasitical behavior. Why? Because America used to actually stand for something. It used to stand for freedom, and equality, and a belief that the individual could make a difference.
I'd like to see it stand for that again.
So good luck Mr. Greyson. And thank you for being what it used to mean to be "An American"
"Contribute to me, so that I can be a well-funded interest too! Then I may compete with the other well-funded interests on a level playing field!"
Rep. Grayson is trying, but our Money-Politics system is entirely corrupt and cannot be used effectively, even for honorable goals.
Finally, why is it morally acceptable to suggest that somehow a military response to 9/11 is bad because it costs more money that Bin Laden spent to plot and commit? Does that mean it would be okay to respond as long as it only cost as much as the plot did? Or perhaps there is some net life-to-dollar ration that is acceptable to protect citizens?
This article is symptomatic of Grayson's legion of policy, character, and intellectual problems. Such are the wages of crude politics. At least there was no profanity this time.
Oh, wait, you have one of those selective memories don't you?
The military uses as much oil, daily or yearly, as the rest of the nation, or nearly so. The military drives foreign policy as much as anyone, try cutting their budget in half as it needs to be, or closing most of the bases in170 countries around the world, many of them not welcome at all (Okinawa for one). You my friend are embarrasingly uninformed. Please post less.
But the problems seem to be beyond any real solutions..
Each and every way we turn to correct policy or the course of our country always leaves us with hard choices and tradeoffs... many the American people have no appetite for.
But it is OUR LIFE.
Scary huh?
Great bumper sticker!
Realize that your politicians will never be able to help you, no matter who you elect. Which is unfortunate, since there is a handfull of good people out there with good intentions trying their best. Grayson being one of them I suspect.
What we need is a redesign of our culture so that we abolish war, poverty, debt and suffering once and for all.