Sunday, April 6, 2014

An Open Letter To William Kristol And Condoleezza Rice

I'm writing in response to this, as well as this.

My initial reaction to these pieces was to hear in my head the words of Joseph Welch to Joe McCarthy:  "Have you no sense of decency sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

Can you really expect a nation that adopted a posture of unlimited military action around the world with no plan to pay for the posture, or for the consequences of it to the military and, in fact, the entire nation, to be anything other than war-weary?  Does it even matter to you that this nation was essentially lied into that posture--and that the two of you were and are responsible for a sizable portion of the lying?  Do you even understand that the cost of your misdeeds--the explosion of the national debt, the physical and emotional devastation of families, the unmet domestic needs of the nation that was supposedly being "defended"--will be paid for over decades?  And, in some ways worst of all, can you appreciate the fact that all of this happened while you and your cronies made--not earned, but made--trillions of dollars, for which you thanked the rest of us by hiding it in overseas tax shelters?

Neither of you, and none of your fellow travelers in what a truly great Republican once called the military-industrial complex, have any standing, moral or otherwise, to lecture the rest of us to start pulling our weight.  We've been pulling it all along--and then some.  We've been making sacrifices galore while the two of you and your cronies have not only made none, but profited from the misery of others.

Obviously, from these most recent examples of your self-serving claptrap, those profits just aren't enough.  Your rule for profits must resemble Newsweek's description of Russ Meyer's aesthetic:  nothing is obscene as long as it's done in bad taste.  And your bad taste has no bottom, just as your narcissism has no top.

Do either of you really want to prepare this nation for the necessity of another war?  Fine.  I'll be generous, because that's how we liberals roll.  I'll assume that the answer to that question is "Yes."  Assuming, then, that you have ears to hear, here are my suggestions.

First, repatriate the profits.  Payment should first go to reduce the national debt and pay for the needs of veterans, and thereafter to the physical and social rebuilding of civilian life.

Second, the next time you think we need to go to war, tell the truth, no matter how difficult or costly it may be to do so.  If you are going to ask a nation to sacrifice its financial and human treasure, you have to level with it.  Don't invent imaginary weapons.  Don't pretend you're looking for the enemy while you're letting him get away, so that you can go on using him as an excuse for the profits.  This nation has always shown a willingness to fight when there is a real reason.  And, on a related note, don't use the war as an excuse for partisan gain, by linking every political issue to it.

And third, the next time we need to go to war, come up with a plan to pay for it--one that includes everyone.  In war, no one is too big to either fail or to make sacrifices.  This is necessary not only to ensure victory, but also to ensure that war does not become a lifestyle.

That last sentence, however, like the linked articles, ends my generosity and begs an important question:  what is war to you--a moment in history, or a lifestyle?  On the strength of the available evidence, I'm forced to conclude that it may be the latter.

And if it is, shame on you.  And don't dare ask any of us to make sacrifices that you are not prepared to make yourselves.

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