I want to offer my sincere apologies to the American Feminist Movement.
No. This is not a joke. A Real Republican (Libertarian) like me and a Real Feminist like Naomi Klein on the same page. Who'd a thunk it!
American feminists are out in several publications hammering the past 2 American administrations about using the subjugation of women in Afghanistan as a pretext for military operations in that country.
"Rape is being used in the Assange prosecution in the same way that women’s freedom was used to invade Afghanistan. Wake up!" Tweeted Naomi Klein.(I have no opinion on any of the Assange issues. I do not download nor read the cables. I do not visit the wikileaks site. America is entitled to some level of secrecy, and of course some evil will necessarily come with that... The world is not a perfect place... and while I reject the notion of empire I most certainly do NOT reject the need for our national security apparatus to operate in our defense.
What's done is done. I'll let the rest of the media and bolgsphere sort this out. It is against the law to possess or download classified documents and I am a strict constructionist when it comes to the law. I don't violate the law and nobody kicks my door down at 5 a.m. Pretty simple, really. This is not to say that I do not believe we have certain Constitutional Right's that may be invoked against unjust laws...)
I have railed about the "Rape!" cry whenever the U.S. wants/needs to invade a small country usually containing Oil, minerals, or passage for one or both. Unfortunately, while the feminists seem to see this for what it is, the balance of America's fairer sex (and no small number of its not-so-fair-sex) seems to accept this B.S. as Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
Strange bedfellows are coming up in spades all over the place.
Recently Sharon Astyk took on the "Abandon America" crowd (a bit less enthusiasticly than I would have liked); you know, those nit wits on the doomer sites telling people that they would be better to relocate to Canada (Brrrr!) or South America (Oy! Its so humid!). I simply cannot heap enough scorn upon such people. These are the very same people desperately trying to destroy America from within... and now from without.
I have 2 words for these folks: Drop Dead.
The promise that is America is/are our Rights and the Obligations to Personal Responsibility that separate a free people from the enslaved and the controlled. The drek that advocates abandoning that promise are the very folks that led us to this unhappy impasse.
America can, and will, once again be the Constitutionally respectful Republic that our founders envisioned. We have lost our way, but we will find it again - and soon.
18 comments:
I read the guest piece posted over at Orlov's blog and was very unimpressed myself.
While I'm sure that there are some positive aspects to living in some of the countries mentioned, I also know that many countries are defaulting, suffering banking crises and have major government problems of their own. Their water and air pollution are far worse than ours, and they have a long history of their people turning against each other in times of crisis (with lots of wars to prove it. Yes, Europe, I'm talking about you.)
I think it's going to be rough virtually everywhere, so I might as well stay on familiar turf. At least I have land, clean air, and water here, relatively speaking, that is.
The last thing I want when TSHTF is to be a stranger in a strange land, especially an entitled stranger. I have said here before that I am the mother of two sons and the grama of two grandsons. I have as much skin in the game of global warfare as anybody and I don't appreciate any attempt to manipulate me into approving any military action by appealing to my discust at the rape of the helpless.
With the Assange case they are using a Swedish version of rape for justification of an arrest. Basically in the feminist capitol of the world (Sweden) rape is anytime a woman changes her mind or regrets or gets a little pissy and wishes she hadn't (How often do you think that happens). The funny part is that the first so called victim's claim was already thrown out before.
The fact that this particular rape charge had some worldwide coverage and hit close to the traditional feminist allies on the political spectrum has rattled some feminist. Assange is a hero to many liberals and the use of outrageous claims to pick him up has exposed the feminist rape lie for what it is and the tool it has become. So now some feminist louspeakers are distancing themselves a bit after all the incarcerated false rapists and the long list of registered sex offenders? A classic case of too little too late and the wrong reason to me. They took the safety catch off their weapon and now they cry when it bites them.
As for Ex-Patriots I wouldn't be too hard on them. Most of them are younger, richer men with talents to trade who enjoy the fact that not all women are infected with the feminist taint. In my own way I was once pretty much the same and enjoyed some extended tourist ex-pat trips. Some of the areas they have moved to are like going from my frozen hay field to a beach on little Cayman in regards to female warmth and relationships.
I am guessing you can relate to them a bit as well Greg. I will agree however that their loud cries encouraging all men to ex-pat is a bit annoying. These guys fail to realize the call to return home sometimes gets stronger with age. Just a matter of perspective.
When exactly was the US of A a republic where its political rulers as a whole respected the entire constitution?
I would prefer America become 50 independent constitutional respectful republics. Then it would be easier to move to a place with more freedom and most likely a lot fewer foreign military adventures and related civilian deaths.
K:
Sorry bro... the fact that perfection has not existed does not remove what has been in fact, and what might conceptually be better - a very good model for self-governance. The fact that some of our duller members have f&*^ed it up a bit does not mean that it is permanently broken.
Better days ahead.
For a hard nosed trader you sure are idealistic when it comes to constitutions. North Korea has a constitution, England doesn't have a written constitution. Where would you rather live?
A couple of days ago I had dinner with a Chevron exec who does strategic planning. She told me expect a big price spike soon, because the Obama administration has quit giving out drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico. Our conversation about peak oil was also interesting.
s
Reality check: The generals and commanders in the military are not making decisions on the basis of some propaganda in magazines and newspapers. We invaded Afghanistan because it was the headquarters of Al Queda after Sept 11 2001. We remain in Afghanistan because the military leaders want to save face and don't want to cut and run and take a loss.They want to give the appearance of winning the war.
And sexual assault is not just a women's issue. Women can sexually abuse men, as illustrated by the actions of women in the Abu Ghraib jail who tied men up and sexually humiliated them for all the world to see. Men can also rape men, which happens all the time in jail. Sex abuse is a human issue which every country and society should outlaw, but that is not the reason the US is in Afghanistan.
There is no draft in the US and there is not likely to be a draft again. The US army has enough volunteers to keep it going, and also enough mercenaries to fill in the gaps. Soldiers know what they are getting into. They chose the life for many different reasons. And in the coming decades the US military presence in other countries will decline steadily.
Crybaby:
Spoken like someone who does not have children... or at least doesn't have sons...
You don't have children I take it?
I cannot close the chasm between us...
No one said that that was the reason we were in Afghanistan... what we SAID was this: whenever support for a military action waivers, or if we need to bolster support for unpopular actions, someone makes sure that the "Rape!" story makes its way to the front pages... (or pictures of horribly disfigured young women missing their nose).
Naomi Klein gets it, and she's a rabid feminist. I get it, and I DESPISE special interest groups like Klein's....
You don't have to get it... but as Kathy said she has sons and grandsons... if you don't have "skin in the game" (Kathy's words) you won't see it the same.
Me? I would not lose a single American life after today in Afghanistan. Or Iraq. Not ONE. These conflicts are NOT WORTH OUR BLOOD. Or the blood of innocent civilians in those countries. There are MANY, MANY men and women RIGHT NOW in those countries and at great risk that would much rather be home tonight with their families taking in the football games.... and I want very much to bring them home.
The U.S. military is here to defend the American people and our Constitution. They are NOT HERE to defend corporate interests... yet that is exactly what they are doing - and dying over.
All of our Commanders in Chief have loved "Hail to the Chief' just a bit too much.
What percentage of those American soldiers in Iraq and Afganistan would be willing to resign their commissions or not reenlist and risk becoming unemployed (even for a short time) and living with their families in poverty?
As for me I would rather pan-handle and get on welfare (even if means my family leaving me), rather than participate in wide-spread killing and mayhem.
Please,
The POLITICIANS start the wars. The generals plan the wars and the poor slobs on the ground get their arses shot off. The military is a large organization and does have political influence, But, the military is not staying in Afganistan to save face. They are there because Mr Obama says to stay. PERIOD. Should he stand up today and say withdraw, we'd be out. Period.
Too many people, especially on the left don't get the chain of command thing. By far the worst offender is John Kerry, who started his political career trashing conscriptees in Vietnam.
Regards,
Coal Guy
Reality check: We are in Afghanistan and Iraq because of George W. Bush. If Al Gore had been President from 2000 to 2008 none of this would have happened . It was Bush who bungled US intelligence and was asleep at the wheel while terrorists attacked the US. It was Bush who wanted to invade Iraq because of an old score between his father and Hussein. The US troops should never have gone into either country. So all the people who voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004 have no business whining about the wars.
Crybaby:
You tend to see everything in starkly black and white terms... considering your condition, that is to be expected.
People that are not BPD tend to see the world in various states of grey.
The 'abandon America' crowd are following a Great American Tradition; all your ancestors presumably left some other country to get there! So why not consider moving on to greener pastures now that the US economy is in tatters?
As for your statement, "America can, and will, once again be the Constitutionally respectful Republic that our founders envisioned. We have lost our way, but we will find it again - and soon." I don't understand, what mechanism is going to achieve that?
Donal understands us better than many Americans understand themselves. Of course, that may be because Donal is Irish and they are currently experiencing the process yet again.
Use it up, screw it up or have it taken away and move on. There's always fresh fields somewhere else...until their aren't.
It's the history of European and internal American migration. It's what the Mexicans are doing today.
Actually, when you think about hunter-gatherers, it's probably wired pretty deeply in the genes.
Rational Liberal
OK just what are you (as in Donal and RatLib) talking about?
As far as I understand it the ex-patriot crowd Greg referred to as being attacked by the feminist is not made up of any familial migration. it is populated solely by men fleeing feminism and the biased courts and regulations of the West. Yes there are just as many ex-patriot English, Swedes, etc. as Americans.
These men are usually very vocal about how much better life is in the location of choice and have managed to get under some feminist skin.
As for homesteading Westward, unless you happen to be a landed Celt living in Northern Europe, it's as much in your ancestry as any European American's. In fact according to some theories it would still be there even then.
The real difference your looking for between those who are of European extract in the Americas and those still in Europe. Is an unwillingness to roll over and give up individual freedoms. Guess it just didn't take in some.
Maybe if there was another location with plenty of open, unsettled, land you might see some people migrating there.
I think America's REAL economy - not the FIRE economy - will be very acceptable in the years after Oil and the silly social programs.
And we will still be populated by people that value self-determination.
You folks should meet my clique of friends in Tennessee... highly motivated, skilled, fairly self sufficient or local sufficient... these will be the people that will rise to the new establishment after fractional reserve banking goes the way of all flesh.
Rat Lib; not Irish, but when in England I live within a few miles of where my family farmed 100 acres in Devon since year 1500 (and maybe before, but the records get a bit hazy before that!)
Greg, I think most countries will be just fine once things have 'settled down' post-oil. It's the getting there that worries me!
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