tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post7458602378327928566..comments2024-03-28T16:08:29.578-04:00Comments on Sardonicky: The Incestuous-Industrial Complex Karen Garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-68087955423918157182013-01-12T12:23:52.654-05:002013-01-12T12:23:52.654-05:00The Greatest Generation. What a fraud. I knew a fe...The Greatest Generation. What a fraud. I knew a few of these guys in my late teens and early twenties. Most from flying pigeons on tenement roofs, some from my enlisted days. The fraud lies in the name given them, not in what they did and how they endured. I thought, at the time, what a jerk Brocaw was. Still do.<br /><br />When the Korean War started they counseled me in what to do and painted pictures for me from their experiences, usually one to one, and with a deadly seriousness unusual to them in our every day conversation, which was good natured and often profane. But you knew it when they were serious. They were not heroes. They were brave, terrified, sad, scared and would have laughed at Brocaw's definition. To a man they hated war and all the media bullshit that went with it. I personally owe them a lot.James F Traynornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-35834736914540940422013-01-11T22:34:28.593-05:002013-01-11T22:34:28.593-05:00Denis:
"The war tore apart the entire nation...Denis:<br /><br />"The war tore apart the entire nation as a "Silent Majority" of Americans --<br />men and women much like Brokaw himself -- with "other priorities" than actively opposing the war in Vietnam, became furious at being regarded as immoral by people whom they saw as arrogant, self-righteous, filthy, narcissistic, anti-American and violent.<br /><br />How Brokaw could write an entire book devoted to the '60s and ignore what<br />was most toxic about the country's aggression against Vietnam and the many ways our involvement in Indochina more generally deformed and shaped our political culture -- not to mention Vietnam's -- is bewildering, to say the least."<br /><br /><br /><br />From ForeignPolicy Truthdig /<br />By Fred Branfman<br /><br />Brokaw's Blind Spot on Vietnam<br /><br /><br /><br />Pearlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-50223943781795876442013-01-11T22:08:40.066-05:002013-01-11T22:08:40.066-05:00thanks for the David Brooks' reference. I DO S...thanks for the David Brooks' reference. I DO SO love the man.Stev-ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02235241458167710694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-58357137726606202402013-01-11T21:23:41.347-05:002013-01-11T21:23:41.347-05:00Looking at the demented incestuous-industrial ferr...Looking at the demented incestuous-industrial ferris wheel, I noticed the name of someone I remember from my home town in South Dakota. <br /><br />Tom Brokaw was bought by the plutocracy a long time ago. Brokaw, a classic one percenter, had a Muckety score of 99, meaning that he has more connections and influence than 99 percent of the others in Muckety’s listings of the most influential people in America. Naturally, he was one of the elites attending Pete Peterson’s fiscal summit last year. Dutifully, Brokaw has complained that the "Greatest Generation" has to sacrifice by reducing their Social Security benefits. His net worth is reported to be $76 million.<br /><br />My mother used to say that today’s “new rich” were very different from yesterday’s “old rich.” They were less connected to the country that had granted them opportunity and to those who were less fortunate. <br /><br />Mike Lofgren, “How Democracies Die,” writes about the creeping rot beneath the façade of greatness of the French Third Republic (1870-1940):<br /><br />“A compelling counterexample to this "wisdom" about how the rabble with its boundless sense of entitlement supposedly destroys democracy is furnished by the French Third Republic. In that country, the native plutocracy, and the corrupt reactionary politicians who did its bidding, refused to act as citizens bound in patriotic duty to give as well as take. They meanly betrayed the majority of their countrymen and left the nation - once the world's inspiration as the cradle of the rights of man - a squalid dictatorship.”<br /><br />http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/12310-mike-lofgren-how-democracies-die#<br /><br />Following up on Lofgren’s recommendation of William L. Shirer's magisterial "The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940," I stumbled upon the following introspection by Shirer:<br /><br />"It’s rather difficult in these noisy, confusing, nerve-racking days to achieve the peace of mind in which to pause for a moment to reflect on what you believe in. <br />There’s so little time and opportunity to give it much thought—though it is the thing we live by; and without it, without beliefs, human existence today would hardly be bearable.<br /><br />Living in a totalitarian land taught me to value highly—and fiercely—the very things the dictators denied: tolerance, respect for others and, above all, the freedom of the human spirit.<br /><br />There are many days in this age of anxiety when a human being feels awfully low and discouraged. I myself find consolation at such moments by two means: trying to develop a sense of history, and renewing the quest for inner life.<br /><br />I find that most true happiness comes from one’s inner life; from the disposition of the mind and soul. Admittedly, a good inner life is difficult to achieve, especially in these trying times. It takes reflection and contemplation. And self-discipline. One must be honest with oneself, and that’s not easy. You have to have patience and understanding. “ - William L. Shirer, A Reporter Quotes His Sources, This I Believe<br /><br />http://thisibelieve.org/essay/16984/Denis Nevillenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-44934658758884930212013-01-11T17:30:32.769-05:002013-01-11T17:30:32.769-05:00thanks, anonymous. I got rid of that whole paragra...thanks, anonymous. I got rid of that whole paragraph!Karen Garciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-13873468722299652162013-01-11T16:34:30.618-05:002013-01-11T16:34:30.618-05:00CFR publishes "Foreign Affairs."
"...CFR publishes "Foreign Affairs."<br /><br />"Foreign Policy" is published by the Washington Post Co.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-29013531463223242122013-01-11T16:33:55.764-05:002013-01-11T16:33:55.764-05:00CFR publishes "Foreign Affairs."
"...CFR publishes "Foreign Affairs."<br /><br />"Foreign Policy" is published by the Washington Post Co.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com