Where Have All The Graveyards Gone? Down The Memory Hole Everyone…

Foreign Policy, Military, Propaganda, War

First they love them, then they loathe them. After a while, as memory fades, the love-loathe tug-of-war is repeated, for that is the relationship Americans have to the wars prosecuted perennially by their revered politicians, pundits and special interests.

Suckers are suckered into war, again and again, implies Lawrence Wittner, Professor of History emeritus, at SUNY Albany:

… it is also true that much of the American public is very gullible and, at least initially, quite ready to rally ’round the flag. Certainly, many Americans are very nationalistic and resonate to super-patriotic appeals. …

…The responses of Americans to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars provide telling examples. In 2003, according to opinion polls, 72 percent of Americans thought going to war in Iraq was the right decision. By early 2013, support for that decision had declined to 41 percent. Similarly, in October 2001, when U.S. military action began in Afghanistan, it was backed by 90 percent of the American public. By December 2013, public approval of the Afghanistan war had dropped to only 17 percent.

In fact, this collapse of public support for once-popular wars is a long-term phenomenon. Although World War I preceded public opinion polling, observers reported considerable enthusiasm for U.S. entry into that conflict in April 1917. But, after the war, the enthusiasm melted away. In 1937, when pollsters asked Americans whether the United States should participate in another war like the World War, 95 percent of the respondents said “No.”

And so it went. When President Truman dispatched U.S. troops to Korea in June 1950, 78 percent of Americans polled expressed their approval. By February 1952, according to polls, 50 percent of Americans believed that U.S. entry into the Korean War had been a mistake. The same phenomenon occurred in connection with the Vietnam War. In August 1965, when Americans were asked if the U.S. government had made “a mistake in sending troops to fight in Vietnam,” 61 percent of them said “No.” But by August 1968, support for the war had fallen to 35 percent, and by May 1971 it had dropped to 28 percent.

“When Will They Ever Learn?” implores Wittner.

Performed by Peter, Paul and Mary, here is the song from which that neat line comes:

The relevance of this to the news item du jour ? Whether he knows it or not, Robert M. Gates, the Former Defense Secretary, is all about increasing his sphere of interest: War.

Doughball DREAMS Of The White House

Education, Ethics, IMMIGRATION, Politics

“Members of the legislature elected by their constituents … have an obligation to sit in a room around the table and advance the interests of the people who gave them these jobs in the first place.” According to Chris Christie, New Jersey’s popular Republican governor, this obligation entails passing “his state’s so-called DREAM Act.”

The bill grants in-state college tuition rates to undocumented high school graduates who attended a New Jersey high school for at least three years. …
… “Our job, I believe, as a government, is to give every one of these children who we have already invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in, an opportunity to maximize the investment for their benefit, for the benefit of their families, for the benefit of our state and the country,” Christie said.

Who exactly are these “constituents” whom Christie represent with such zeal? Christie “won re-election by capturing a majority of Hispanic voters.”

It should surprise nobody to learn that, “Christie opposed the [DREAM ACT] legislation until last year on the grounds that the state could not afford the tuition breaks, but he changed his position at the height of his re-election campaign, saying that the state’s economic outlook had improved.”

Hurricane Sandy moved in mysterious ways.

MMA Hero Vs. CNN Cowards

GUNS, Media, Private Property, Propaganda

Mixed martial arts fighter (MMA) Joe Torrez is the hero in this story, the men who invaded his home and attacked him deserved death all, their sympathizers at CNN are worthy of ignominy.

The broadcasters that have extended their mandate to annually anointing the nation’s politically acceptable heroes know just how to shape debate. A Latino “reporter” oozed his sympathies to bimbo anchor Brook Baldwin—sympathies to the “victims” of a homeowner who defended home and hearth with all the MMA might he could muster.

Torrez refused to curl up in the fetal position upon being savagely attacked in his inner sanctum. Most importantly, the MMA lightweight did not risk sure death, which would have been his lot had he extended an invitation to the local Polizei to break down his door and “help” him. (Or shoot him, or his kid, or his lady friend, or his best friend The Dog.)

Joseph Torrez, 27, repelled a home invasion, killing one man, injuring another so badly he left in an ambulance and persuading two others to run in fear, authorities said.
Torrez and the men clashed on New Year’s Day at his home outside of Las Cruces, reportedly part of an ongoing feud. One of the attackers, 22-year-old Leonard Calvillo, called ahead to threaten Torrez, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported, citing court documents.
Mixed Martial Arts fighter Joseph Torrez fought off four men who broke into his house, killing one and putting one in the hospital, authorities say.
“I’ll kill you and your family … I’ll go to your house,” Calvillo reportedly said.
Calvillo arrived shortly after with 20-year-old Nathan Avalos and brothers Sal and Raymond Garces and pounded on Torrez’s door, authorities said.
Torrez’s fiancee, son and the fiancee’s sister were all home at the time, authorities said.
The fiancee leaned against the door of the mobile home, trying to keep them out, but they busted through, authorities said.
There they met Torrez, a 155-pound lightweight with a record of one win and five losses, according to the fight website SherDog.com.
The four men are all gang members, a Dona Ana County Sheriff’s spokeswoman said.
C.J. McElhinney, an attorney for Torrez, told the Sun-News witness said the attackers brought a crude shank and one picked up a knife once they forced their way inside.
Sal Garces, 25, was stabbed to death during the fight. Avalos suffered “severe” facial injuries and was taken to a New Mexico hospital, authorities said.
Torrez endured [the NYD writer meant to say “sustained,” surely] only minor injuries, his lawyer said.
Calvillo and Raymond Garces were both arrested on charges of conspiracy and property damage after they ran from the house.

MORE @ The New York Daily News.