Seymour Melman Presente

by bankbane

Community

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Monday, Dec. 20, 2004 Monday, Dec. 20, 2004 at 7:37:41am PST

I haven't seen anyone else mention this; if it has been, let me know and I'll delete this diary. If anybody wants to read the NYT obituary it is here.

Seymour Melman really understood "framing." In his stint with SANE he tried to tie excess military spending to foregone domestic spending. That is something we could do a better job of today with "The $240 billion that we're spending for Iraq could have protected Social Security into the 22nd century" etc.. For those who haven't read it his book from the 70s "The Permanent War Economy" still speaks important truths about the relationship between a bloated Pentagon and a starving world.

As a matter of respect I think it is important for us to take the time to honor our heroes, our generals and our foot soldiers with more than just a rubber stamp signature. Seymour Melman fought the good fight. We're a better nation because of him.