On Bill Moyers Journal talking about his new book and his deep concern with our political, economic, and military disfunction in this country. His discussion is thoughtful, equally tough on Republicans and Democrats, and at the heart--suggests that Americans are unwilling to acknowledge who they really are.
You can read an excerpt from the book and watch the video interview here. I think it is worth the time. And there is more at the American Empire Project blog.
Couple of thoughts right after viewing. One, he is the first in sometime to give Jimmy Carter credit for recognizing the problems of a self-indulgent and consumer based economy. In future years, we may recognize the brilliance of that more than we do now, and we might also recognize the destructive nature of the Reagan approach of "you can have more and more and more, and it won't cost you anything." Two, he challenges our fundamental arrogance that believes we can win any military venture we enter. I think that is so very important, because I genuinely believe that the American people, even after seeing the limits of our power in Iraq, still believe that we are invincible. When you couple that with an Imperial Presidency (and he includes all the most recent presidents in that), you get the extension of military power as if that is our best effort.
And finally, he challenges something that made me practically applaud--the ridiculous and completely vapid way that most Americans talk about "supporting the troops." As he notes, a bumper sticker hardly makes up for the fact that we, collectively, outsource our military power, and then turn away. Add that to Bush's call for us to go shopping after 9-11, and you see the level of great disfunction.
Very thoughtful argument, and I hope it gets more attention.
2 comments:
skip bacevich was my 54th regimental commmander with 11th armored cavalry regiment and i am proud to say i went to war with the most intelligent man i've ever met! he remains my friend and mentor. the american population has been asleep for a long time and until we are all willing to make some sacrifices, our great nation will continue it's spiral downward; our volunteer military can no longer sustain itself and meet our country's needs without scraping the bottom of the barrel for new recruits, so we need a draft. congress has to stay in session for the whole year vs. 80 something days and actually earn their pay by working together instead of against one another (don't they realize they are elected to serve all americans?), the large corporations have to sacrifice their unbelieveable quarterly profit earnings to fall back in line with the rest of america, and those who started the war under false pretenses must be held accountable! just like the rest of us common american folk....that cannot happen until the voters wake up and take action. skip bacevich challenged his soldiers daily to think "outside the box" to solve the problems we faced each day. we were held accountable. skip bacevich also held himself to those same standards and i personally watched a great soldier sacrifice himself for his own men. accountability and responsibility. the buck stopped with bacevich at his desk. he continues to hold those same standards up for america today and wags the finger in the faces of those who overstep their authority in the name of executive power of the president and the legislative branch who have managed to dribble it all away to mr. bush, mr. cheney and their crooked cowboy administration.
john mccain will continue the bush doctrine, which america cannot afford and our military cannot sustain.
and even though obama receives criticism for lack of experience, that is exactly what our current president had going for him when he entered his first term; look where we are now. at least barack obama is intelligent and engaged with is surroundings vs the incumbent.
skip, God bless from your biggest fan.
msg ron campbell (ret.) lbsw-incp
blackhorse reup!
I guess this is why we keep the anonymous option open. Thanks for the feedback, Mr. Campbell. This certainly supports everything else I have heard about Bacevich's character.
And this raises one of those questions that really seems to not come up in the campaign. Why is it that the sustainability of the military is not first and foremost on our discussion? Most people agree that our current usage is not sustainable. That should be more front and center.
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