To My Readers
I Apologize
By David Truskoff
17 September,
2008
Countercurrents.org
On September 6, 2009 I wrote,
"Well, I am too old to hit the streets again and there are many
Americans like me who now find themselves between the devil and the
deep blue sea. We have no chance with the devil to avoid the street
violence, war and bloodshed. So I have decided to dive into the sea
and try staying afloat perhaps long enough for a real leader to emerge
and save the soul of America. I will need someone to help me while
I hold my nose and vote because my entire being will be in rebellion,
but I have decided to vote for Obama. The devil may well destroy the
planet."
I had not gotten over the Republican convention which was so frightening I began to think that anything that will forestall the extreme right wing from taking over the supreme court, increasing America's belligerent military takeover of other countries and subjecting more people to the horror of Iraq and the almost certain mandatory increase in military service for our young people, I acted hastily and without allowing my brain to cool down the emotion.
During separate interviews both candidates danced around the idea of a military draft. Obama said he would have "Volunteers sent to Afghanistan" We already have "Volunteers" there. Blackwater, The same paid killers that gunned down seventeen Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square. American taxpayers awarded these killers $ millions in contracts for their "services" in Iraq and Afghanistan.
McCain's answer to how he would avoid the draft and keep our troops strength up went like this. "It is simple. We just have to pay them more." The Blackwater mercenaries must have danced with joy.
Wikipedia,
describes the founders of the school for paid killers this way,
"Blackwater is a privately held company and does not publish
much information about internal affairs. Blackwater's owner and founder
Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL, attended the Naval Academy, graduated
from Hillsdale College, and was an intern in George H.W. Bush's White
House. Prince is a major financial supporter of Republican Party causes
and candidates. Blackwater's president, Gary Jackson, is also a former
Navy SEAL".
I assume that the recent attempted coup in Bolivia was engineered by the same folks that tried to overthrow the elected Venezuela government. All they have accomplished is to turn another nation's citizens into US haters. That is about all Blackwater has done for America. It has claimed billions in contracts paid for by American taxpayers, but has further diminished our prestige abroad. We will need a draft or many more Blackwater recruits to handle the Georgia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Columbia and many other hot spots around the world that are trying to escape the American noose.
The US Department of Defense is one of the worlds largest landlords. Approximately 255,000 military personnel at 725 bases in 38 countries. Those are the most recent numbers I can document, but a report by the Congressional Research Service gives a figure as high as 850 bases. A large noose yes, but the threads are beginning to show too much wear.
Both Obama and McCain said they would welcome the military recruiter's back on the college campus and back on the Columbia campus. I remember well the struggle of those courageous students who demonstrated and had the merchants of death kept off the campus.
Today the Dow dropped over 500 points and the same folks that are blaming each other are saying the worst is yet to come. Back in 1979 I published a book that was more of a working paper for college students. It was titled The Energizing of Power Politics. In it I tried to point out the danger of letting the robber barons lose again by destroying the regulation that FDR put into place. I said that we were heading back to the 1930s. I am not smarter than most folks are. The people were at the mercy of the mass media. They didn't understand the danger. Today the Democrats are blaming the Republicans and the Republicans are blaming the Democrats. The truth is the American people were unable to read past the media and sent the most horrible men and women to congress. We all know that today who spends the most on TV gets elected.
I can not
see any of the candidates: the Greens, Nader, Republicans or Democrats
that can save the sinking ship.
So, I am more rational now and I thank all of you readers that have
taken the time to write to me and tell me that I was wrong. No, I
will NOT vote for Obama. I will not pretend that the system still
works. It does not. I hate it! I hate the idea that I no longer have
a country to be proud of. I hate the idea of not being able to enthusiastically
exercise my rights as a citizen. I keep thinking that maybe I shall
stay home and prepare my bumper sticker that will read, "Don't
blame me. I voted for my dog Lolah."
No, I have been a fighter all my life and I am not going to give up that easily. Perhaps by November I will have a way to protest and a name to write in.
www.erols.com/suttonbear
