Since when has militarism become "patriotic" in the United States?

[bobthedrummer]

Our WWII veterans (like my USMC father) fought against that and fascism.

Militarism has got to go.

That's how I give support to our armed forces, who have been severely abused by this administration. They are called "fungible goods" by the Rumsfeld/Myers DoD.:grr:

[Sandpiper]

1. Since the United States became an Empire

Which was some time after World War II, with the advent of the Truman Doctrine.

Since then, we've been fighting perpetual war for perpetual peace, at the expense of the citizens and to the enrichment of the Military Industrial Complex.

[liberal N proud]

2. The repukes have been pushing the public opinion this way for years

They have always told us we needed a strong military during the cold wars, but after the cold war fears wayned, they needed to make the Democrats the enemy of the military and have done a damn good job of it.
The stupid public bought that lies just like they did all the other slanderous propaganda they have been pumping through their meida whores.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

3. Support for the troops is not militarism.

I know what you're saying, that the warmonger spirit that has overtaken the Hard Right is hardly supportive of the troops, but the idea of a strong and active military, defending the United States and its allies, and the support of the militsry, is not fascism. I think the key word here is "defend." We have a Department of Defense, not a Department of War.

[bobthedrummer]

5. The employment of Private Military Companies with our taxes is fascist

imho.

[carnie_sf]

9. That's when the whole thing started to go south

imho. When the government (I believe it was under Truman) renamed the Department of War to the Department of Defense. Nothing like a good old fashioned euphemism to make the unpalatable darn near tasty.

[mattclearing]

16. Yeah, they did such a great job defending us from the last two attacks.

We don't defend the United States.

We defend its "interests."

Which is to say, its capitalist empire.

[bobthedrummer]

21. Some of those interests conflict with the People.

All Power To The People, like the Constitution says.

[kodi]

4. 1898

.

[vpigrad]

6. It's due to the life-style of violence.

Movies and gun ownership have a lot to do with the increasing aggresiveness of the young today.

[bobthedrummer]

7. Too many of them are drugged-up by many sources.

Some of it is mind control.

[two gun sid]

8. Ever since

the Vietnam War the American people have been told, "we need to learn the lessons" of that war. They don't understand or choose to ignore those lessons.
They listen to the nut jobs that tell them we lost because our government did not properly support the troops. That we could have won in Vietnam but, the government wouldn't let us. That the war protesters only helped the Viet-Cong and N. Vietnam and eroded resolve at home. In short, simplistic answers to complex questions.
In the end, that's what they want: simple answers. To be patriotic their much hyped "common sense" leads them to support the troops no matter what. Like whistling past a grave yard, no criticism of the military is allowed lest it lead to the defeat of "our boys".

Or, maybe they think the uniforms are cool. I don't know.

[bobthedrummer]

10. A dangerous practice is to militarize your medical units and use hospitals

for combat missions as a priority-that's the Rumsfeld/Myers DoD, much like der Reichmarshall of the Third Reich imo.
The Geneva Conventions aren't "quaint":grr:

on edit: Targeting ambulances and EMT's is nefarious.

[bobthedrummer]

11. Alberto R. Gonzales-Memos to Bush-Judge for yourself

http://www.guerrillanews.com/headlines/headline.php?id=656

[Contrary1]

12. When the idiot in the cowboy hat rode into DC.

Either Washington, DC, or Dick Cheney...take your pick.

[UncleVinny]

13. Why are they not arrested?

Washington Post tells a story of how bush and the Pentagon now want to find ways to detain people for long periods of time and still remain OUTSIDE the legal system, outside the reach of courts or US law. They complain they need a way to imprison people that the CIA now has hidden, and not be forced to allow them access to attorneys, the Red Cross or any other monitoring agency. They need to do this because there is no way under the current system to hold so many people "WITHOUT EVIDENCE."

My question: Why do we not see people protesting this very apparent disregard for the US Constitution, which specifically forbits imprisoning people without "due process"??

When is someone going to arrest bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld as the war criminals they are?

Didn't bush lay his hand on the bible and swear to "Uphold the Constition of the US"?? So is he a LIAR?

[newyawker99]

14. Hi UncleVinny!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[proud patriot]

15. Since bush wiped his ass with The U.S. Constitution

:think:

[UncleVinny]

17. Bush Trashes the Constitution

Thanks for the welcome NewYawker! I'm from Brooklyn originally, so I'm a tough guy!, Ha, ha!

Yeah,
The fantastic wisdom of the US Constitution and the US Justice system was the built in "checks and balances" where the three branches are separate and add a level of moderation to extremist positions.

For example, to let the executive branch UNILATERALLY to say this group is our enemy, and then circumvent the courts to allow illegal detantion of the self-proclaimed "enemy" is a breach of the Constitution, and an abortion to the principles of checks and balances. Then for the CIA to hide these detainees from the Red Cross - well, any thinking person can see the potential, if not the execution, for abuses to the law. Isn't that pretty close wo what Hitler did to the Jews? Isn't that what the US did to Japanese American during WWII? Now Japan is our friend, and Japanese are among our most productive citizens. Surely the thought of Japanese friendship was far from the minds of policy makers duirng WWII. What I'm saying is THINK, that perhaps some day, with some degree of Christian charity, we might actually see Arabs, Islamics, Sunnis, Shiites as our brothers and friends. Sheesh! What a concept!

[Harry S Truman]

18. Try forever

Militarism has always been tied around our culture. Our first president was a general. So were several others. Only in the aftermath of Vietnam did we try to get out of the militaristic shadow and reach a broader social and global ideal. Now it's back to all military all the time, IMHO. It's sad. We don't have to be this way. Spending $15,500 per second on the military is so absurd.

[ArkDem]

19. Wes Clark could put an end to that if he ever gets elected!

[ieoeja]

20. Interesting to look at Wilke vs FDR in 1940

Wilke insisted FDR and the "War Party" (as Conservatives then liked to call the Democratic party) would drag us into war with Germany and/or Japan. FDR was forced to repeatedly drove home the message that he would not go to war.

64 years later, as you have noted, Kerry was forced to repeatedly drive home the message that he would go to war.

You can thank the Cold War. If we'd fought WW-II against the Soviets and the Cold War against the Nazis, conservatives today would be calling anyone who opposed national health care or supported privatizing any government functions "nazis". 40 years of war time propaganda left some negative effects.