10 long grueling years of war. $ 3 trillion dollars and growing day by day of money we borrow from China and the taxpayers, to keep these wars going. Millions of lives lost and destroyed and now at this pivotal time in our history, a moment that may never come again, we have recently been told by the White House, that the Afganistan (and MIC war machine) plans will continue as before.
That to me as a Democrat, and as an American is simply unacceptable.
I was pondering these 'newly released tapes' of OBL that have been released and all I could think of was: Wow: A new reality show: Watch OBL watch himself on his own videos in his filthy dirty bunker, for the next several months as the wars rage on, and more Americans are killed, and for what reason? That is insanity to me. This is what I will call the OBL Channel All the Time, as America and the middle class go down in flames. No, that's not good enough. It's time to win the future, and turn the page.
Every single moment that the MSM, or our own government spends on going over and over the same details, for the next few months, is wasted time in my view. This is nothing less than another shinny object, that is keeping us from, as President Obama has stated: Winning the Future.
One of the best articles I read recently that articulated what I am trying to say in this diary is this one:
Back in the 1960s, Senator George Aiken of Vermont offered two American presidents a plan for dealing with the Vietnam War: declare victory and go home. Roundly ignored at the time, it's a plan worth considering again today for a war in Afghanistan and Pakistan now in its tenth year.
snip..
Unfortunately, in every way that matters for Americans, it's an illusion that Osama bin Laden is dead. In every way that matters, he will fight on, barring a major Obama administration policy shift in Afghanistan, and it's we who will ensure that he remains on the battlefield that George W. Bush's administration once so grandiosely labeled the Global War on Terror.
snip...
Those chants of "USA! USA!" on the announcement of his death were but faint echoes of the ones at Ground Zero on September 14, 2001, when President George W. Bush picked up a bullhorn and promised "the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!" That would be the beginning of a brief few years of soaring American hubris and fantasies of domination wilder than those of any caliphate-obsessed Islamic fundamentalist terrorist, and soon enough they would leave us high and dry in our present world of dismal unemployment figures, rotting infrastructure, rising gas prices, troubled treasury, and a people on the edge. Unless we set aside the special ops assaults and the drone wars and take a chance, unless we're willing to follow the example of all those nonviolent demonstrators across the Greater Middle East and begin a genuine and speedy withdrawal from the Af/Pak theater of operations, Osama bin Laden will never die.
http://www.counterpunch.org/...
And that last sentence is where we are now in our nation. A people on the edge, just about covers it for me, but if we 'stay the course' as Dubya' daddy said over and over again, we are just going to go right over the cliff. Make no mistake about that now that the Rethugs are back to their usual tricks.
There is absolutely nothing the Rethugs will not do or stoop to in order topass their bullshit 'fake Christian anti-agenda against Women's rights,' and to destroy every single bit of our last remaining safety nets, and to on top of that, ensure that all regulations, for Wall St/the Banks, the EPA, (whatever) will ensure that most of the Middle Class will and (in their view) should be treated no better than the Chinese working in sweat shops for the top one percent.
The trouble is of course, our own new and better Democrats, such as Kent Conrad (now the gang of one, the former gang of 6, the former Cat Food Commission) is not exactly stepping up to the plate.
Yes, I thought that Bill Maher got it totally right last night, and I thought is was perhaps the best show he had produced in the past few years. Good on you Bill:
When Bill Clinton left office in 2001, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that by the end of the decade, we would have paid off the entire debt, and have a $2 trillion dollar surplus. Instead, we have a $10.5 trillion dollar public debt, and the difference in those two numbers is mostly because the Republicans put tax cuts for the rich, free drugs for the elderly, and two wars on the layaway plan, and then bailed on the check. So, so much for fiscal responsibility.
snip...
In 2008, the candidates were asked, if they knew for sure that bin Laden was in Pakistan, would you send our guys in without permission to get him? McCain said no, because Pakistan is a sovereign nation. Obama said yes, he'd just do it. And McCain called him naïve. Who's being naïve, Kay? And why can't you just admit that Barack Obama is one efficient steely-nerved multitasking black ninja gangsta President?
In one week, he produced his birth certificate, comforted disaster victims, swung by Florida to say hey to Gabby Giffords, did stand-up at the Correspondents Dinner, and then personally rappelled into bin Laden's lair and put a Chinese star through his throat without waking up any of his 13 wives! That's how it went down, I saw it on MSNBC.
(hat tip to Bruinkid: http://www.dailykos.com/...)
BTW, my own favorite part of the show was how David Frum got his ass handed to him on a silver platter by Scahill and Dyson, when Frum had the fucking nerve to start his 'meme' about letting all the war criminals and torturers off the hook because according to Frum: 'they all deserve credit.' Fuck you Frum. Wrong.
But I regress, forgive me.
The point I am getting back to is this: I am so proud of President Obama, and frankly guess what? I don't care to spend the next three to four months watching the new bullshit 'Reality show: OBL all the time' on the MSM. I believe that OBL is dead, and frankly, it's time to just move on, and get on with rebuilding our own nation.
Let's go back in the 'way back machine for a second' ok, people: And thank god almighty or whoever is still listening to us all 'up there' for Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California:
“I rise today with a heavy heart, one that is filled with sorrow for the families and loved ones who were killed and injured in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania. ... Sept. 11 changed the world. Our deepest fears now haunt us. Yet I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States. ... We must not rush to judgment. Far too many innocent people have already died. Our country is in mourning. If we rush to launch a counterattack, we run too great a risk that women, children and other noncombatants will be caught in the crossfire. ... As a member of the clergy so eloquently said, ‘As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore.’ ”
“That resolution was a blank check. ... It was not targeted toward al-Qaida or any country. It said the president is authorized to use force against any nation, organization or individual he or she deems responsible or connected to 9/11. It wasn’t a declaration of war, yet we’ve been in the longest war in American history now, 10 years, and it’s open-ended.”
Lee acknowledges that Obama “did commit to begin a significant withdrawal in July.” But what does troop withdrawal mean with the presence of military contractors in war? Right now, the 100,000 contractors (called “mercenaries” by many) outnumber U.S. troops deployed in Afghanistan. Gopal says, “The U.S. is really a fundamental force for instability in Afghanistan ... allying with local actors — warlords, commanders, government officials — who’ve really been creating a nightmare for Afghans, especially in the countryside, [and with] the night raids, breaking into people’s homes, airstrikes, just the daily life under occupation.”
http://www.truthdig.com/...
The 'Urgency of Now' as President Obama called it, is also about 'Winning the Future' they are one in the same, and to continue on this same path of American Imperialism and exceptionalism means one thing and one thing only: Keeping the MIC complex well greased, with no end in sight.
Want things to change? Do you want to stop the 'Blank check,' that will only drain us dry and destroy our nation and keep borrowing to pay for the top one percent that have literally brought us to our knees? Go ahead. That is not my own choice.
It's past time to turn the page and get moving now. This is how 'we' begin, this is how we, as FDR said: Make him do it:
On May 1st, 2011, we learned that a CIA operation in Pakistan killed Osama bin Laden.
After 10 years of war and the death of Osama bin Laden, it's time to bring the troops home from Afghanistan. With al-Qaeda driven from the country and Bin Laden now dead, the rationale for war has evaporated. It's time to stop now.
The swift withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan must begin immediately.
Bring them home.
Sign our petition and we'll deliver it to the White House this week.
Did you know that the Afghanistan War alone costs us roughly $2 billion per week? When you include the Iraq War and other military spending, it turns out that more than 27 percent of your income taxes will be spent on war.
We want our money back.
To find out how much of your money has gone to fund a war that's not making us safer, visit our Tax Day Calculator. Enter how much income you earned this year and we'll give you an I.O.U. for what you paid that you can forward to your Member of Congress. Ask for your money back!
http://rethinkafghanistan.com/
At least 919,967 people have
been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq
since the U.S. and coalition attacks, based on lowest credible estimates.
Sources and methodology are explained in the sidebar. Some questions about lower or higher casualty counts cited elsewhere are addressed in these footnotes. This page is updated about once monthly. Most recent update: Aug. 10, 2010.
http://www.unknownnews.org/...
And then of course, let us not forget how the Great Heist of 2008, another wonderful legacy of Dubya, (and yes, continued by our own party...) played out in just how much Americans have been given the double and deluxe Shock Doctrine of the Century:
And then of course there is this:
Delusions of Debt
The bill that has been rung up is in the form of a national debt that has increased by $4.6 trillion since September 2008, a 48% increase in two and a half years. Over this same time frame real GDP has increased by $200 billion, a 1.6% increase in two and a half years. Over this same period, the Federal Reserve has tripled their balance sheet by adding $2 trillion of debt. Think about this for one second. The leaders of the great American empire have burdened future generations with $6.6 trillion of new debt and increased the Gross Domestic Product by $200 billion. Is this a good return on investment? Did the 30 million unemployed and underemployed Americans benefit? Did the 45 million people on food stamps benefit? Did the 11 million households who are underwater in their mortgage benefit? Did the 3 million people who lost their homes in foreclosure since 2008 benefit? Are Americans paying twice as much for groceries and gasoline benefitting? Did the Tunisians, Egyptians, and other poor people around the world benefit?
The answer to all these questions is NO. The only beneficiaries have been bankers, billionaires, mega-corporations and the politicians who were bought off by these greedy traitors to the Republic. Anyone with an ounce of sense knows the country got into this mess due to the issuance of mountains of debt that was un-payable based upon any reasonable assessment of future cash flows to service the debt. Consumers could never have increased their wages enough to pay off the credit card, mortgage, home equity, student loan, and auto debt they accumulated since 1980. The government could never collect the amount of taxes needed to pay for the $100 trillion of entitlement promises they have made over the last four decades. By 2008 we had reached peak debt delusion. would bear the brunt of the default. The Federal Reserve Chairman and the U.S. Treasury Secretary rolled out a master plan that revolved around convincing the masses they were being saved, while actually enriching their masters on Wall Street. Their PR machine and captured mouthpieces throughout the mainstream media and in Co. The only questions that remained were how would the debt be defaulted on and whongress spun the fear mongering message of Depression if the mega-banks were not handed trillions of taxpayer funds.
The only questions that remained were how would the debt be defaulted on and who would bear the brunt of the default. The Federal Reserve Chairman and the U.S. Treasury Secretary rolled out a master plan that revolved around convincing the masses they were being saved, while actually enriching their masters on Wall Street. Their PR machine and captured mouthpieces throughout the mainstream media and in Congress spun the fear mongering message of Depression if the mega-banks were not handed trillions of taxpayer funds. The proof of what did not happen is borne out in the chart below, showing the total credit market debt in the U.S.at $52.6 trillion, $200 billion higher than it was in 2008. If those who had collected billions in fraudulent profits while using unprecedented levels of debt were rightfully required to take responsibility for the catastrophe they caused, the debt levels would have dropped dramatically. The losses would have been borne by those responsible. The economy would have taken a body blow, all Americans would have been hurt, and many billionaires would have become millionaires or even paupers. The debt would have been written off and lessons would have been learned. The remaining banks (there are 8,000 others besides the 10 who control 50% of the deposits) would have followed traditional risk mitigation methods and the economy would have recovered.
http://www.theburningplatform.com/....
Again, I would like to end this diary my saying, that no one is prouder right now than I am of President Obama. He has shown great courage in the face of these dark times, but now he has more political capital than he may ever have again. Now is not the time to waver, or 'stay the course.'
Now is the time to 'Win the Future' by turning back to the same people who put him into office, who stood strong for him (Main Street) and waited, very very patiently for 'their time, their moment,' and that time has come. That time is now.
I call on our President, to make a national speech to a call for true Patriotic Americans: to Nation Build in one place: the USA. To call on all the Corporations, the Banks/Wall Street, and the MIC to do their fair share in giving back to the people of this nation, that have paid the greatest price of all for 10 long grueling years of 'dumb wars.' To continue on this same path of endless wars, as the only viable solution for Americans to find jobs: in the military is incomprehensible at best.
And this is as disgusting as it gets:
The rate of foreclosure filings in 2010 among 163 Zip codes located near military bases rose 32% over 2008, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure research firm. This compares with a 2010 increase in foreclosures filings nationally of 23% over 2008.
The housing crisis has hit military families particularly hard in part because of transfers and the loss of civilian jobs left behind by reservists.
About 12,000 military families applied to the Pentagon's expanded Homeowners Assistance Program. It makes up most of the difference in price for service members who must transfer and sell their homes for less than they owe, or buys their houses outright.
http://www.usatoday.com/...
If ever there was a time for true 'shared sacrifice' it is now. We need jobs President Obama and we need 'real jobs' not like the millions people who just applied to Mac Donald's for jobs. We need to know that you, as a President still believe in the people of our country and then, we can once again believe in Winning the Future. The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself, but to perpetuate the continued fear to allow OBL, to now have a 24/7 reality show on the MSM, to keep the MIC well greased is disgusting.
Time to 'cancel' this BLANK CHECK, and put Americans back to work.
And a special thank you to Barbara Lee, Congresswoman of California, and I leave you all with here words that are worth their weight in gold:
“That resolution was a blank check. ... It was not targeted toward al-Qaida or any country. It said the president is authorized to use force against any nation, organization or individual he or she deems responsible or connected to 9/11. It wasn’t a declaration of war, yet we’ve been in the longest war in American history now, 10 years, and it’s open-ended.”
Time to turn the page. I hope that you have the guts and courage to sign the petition: Again here it is:
http://rethinkafghanistan.com/
As always, thanks for letting me share my thoughts. I would appreciate a civil debate on these issues, and not a pie war. I believe in this President, but if you think I'm ready to swallow another 3 to 4 months of the new reality show on the MSM: 'OBL Watching Himself on TV in his Nazi Bunker' then be prepared to accept this reality:
Jon Huntsman, the perfect guy for the perfect job, is in the rear view mirror now. Do you know who he is? He's the MIC King of the World, and now he's coming right up to the plate to bat, and he might make a total grand slam.
I believe in President Obama, but is way past time to turn the page.
Ms. B.