November 02, 2004

• Arms Industry Influence in the Bush Administration and Beyond
• Good Luck America!
• Everybody's playing in the Heart of Gold Band. :-)
• The myth of the "military industrial complex" has long been one of the most cherished "boogey men" of the radical left. The truth is, there is no such creature.
• The myth of the "military industrial complex" has long been one of the most cherished "boogey men" of the radical left. The truth is, there is no such creature. What a compelling, substantive post. Make an argument. Back yourself up. Otherwise, this post is utterly meaningless. Very nice post, Jerry G. p.s. nice use of the the radical left "they're insane" trope. Intellectual laziness like this is typical of today's right.
• There is not? What in the world are the giant corporations that make BILLIONS of dollars off of military action that make enormous contributions to politicians? Seems like a good label to me. I thought that it was odd that the Republicans do not vote for pay increases and benefits increases for the military every chance they get. I also thought it was odd that they do not try to increase the number of military personnel at every opportunity. I have always thought of the Republican Party as being pro-military. Then I realized that the Republican Party is really just pro-corporation -- even when it comes to the military. They will get behind any spending that goes to weapons programs or weapons (large corporations get this money -- not soldiers). They simply use the military as another excuse to redistribute funds to the large corporations and the wealthy. It is fascinating. JG gives another outstanding link. My first exposure to this Eisenhour speech was in an episode of the X-files. Okay, so I am a nut.
• davidmsc: The truth is, there is no such creature. A little research, for the benefit of the Right: The US happens to be the world's largest arms dealer. Saudi Arabia is its biggest customer. While its unlikely there is an underground cabal officially called a "military-industrial complex", something very much like it exists in fact, as a means for a loose affiliation of American corporations to work with the US State Department distribute arms to 160 out of 190 countries around the world. Minus untraceable soft money, total campaign donations from "defense" contractors, arms manufacturers and dealers (Boeing, Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas, Sikorsky, others) increased to an all-time high under the Bush administration, post 9-11. When you get Eisenhower, a Republican war general-turned-president, arguing that maybe the government has too cozy an arrangement with private businesses that profit off war -- when you get an administration that makes these corporations untold billions of bonus revenue -- then perhaps the term "military industrial complex" is really calling a spade a spade.
• OK, you geniuses -- how about a "healthcare-industrial complex?" Or perhaps a "computer-industrial complex?" Or even an "agricultural-industrial complex?" After all, the US does provide a vast quantity of healthcare (education, technology, service) to the entire world; we also provide a disproportionate amount of computer goods and service, and food. Slapping the "-industrial complex" onto any particular industry (as if each industry was some sort of monolithic creature, as opposed to hundreds or even thousands of businesses and individuals) does nothing to render it true, nor does it make such a "complex" evil or otherwise worthy of your immature scorn.
• "Make an argument. Back yourself up. Otherwise, this post is utterly meaningless." Au contraire -- the argument is yours to make, by stating that such a creature exists. For me to prove a negative, well, you know, it's like saying that there is no god.
• Au contraire -- the argument is yours to make, by stating that such a creature exists. Um . . . interesting that you did indeed return to this thread, and, well, make and argument and back yourself up.
• Otherwise, it's, "Well, Eisenhower was wrong, because davidmsc says so."
• The myth of the "military industrial complex" has long been one of the most cherished "boogey men" of the radical left. The truth is, there is no such creature. . . . . . . OK, you geniuses . . . . . . or otherwise worthy of your immature scorn. While we're here, just wanted to let you know you're sure doing a good job of making me return to my opinion that you're a troll.
• OK, you geniuses -- how about a "healthcare-industrial complex?" Right you are. Or even an "agricultural-industrial complex?" You've got me there too. Also: see Schlosser's lengthy article in the most recent Vanity Fair for some scary reading about the American beef industry and its relationship with so-called governmental regulatory agencies during Bush's tenure.
• Hee hee! He linked to AlterNet!
• Well, davidmsc, take your pick.
• A republican ex-general president makes his farewell address warning of the dangers of a military-industrial complex and forty years later it's being described as "one of the most cherished "boogey men" of the radical left". amazing war is peace
• OK, you geniuses -- how about a "healthcare-industrial complex?" Or perhaps a "computer-industrial complex?" Or even an "agricultural-industrial complex?" After all, the US does provide a vast quantity of healthcare (education, technology, service) to the entire world; we also provide a disproportionate amount of computer goods and service, and food. The US government doesn't subsidize healthcare -- working Americans do, by paying health care providers (private insurance or HMOs) or into Medicare by themselves or through their employers. The US government does not subsidize computer technology. Private capital does, through shareholders and bonds. Further, it is mass production in East Asia that supplies computer technology to the world. If China invaded Taiwan, there would be some tech companies in this country that would shit their pants as they'd close up shop tomorrow. I'll give you the agriculture one. Monsanto, ADM, Cargill etc. -- they certainly suck on their share of the corporate welfare teat. Still, any reasonable person will agree there are miles of differences between the foodstuff industry and the war industry, occasional price fixing aside. Foodstuff (not processed food, but basic nutrients and components) does not get used to murder innocent civilians, the way that say, Lockheed Martin makes a very tidy bundle every time one of their jet fighters gets sold to a third-world country. Your failure as a myopic Right pundit, as with most on the Right, is the inability to distinguish clearly between objects not in your grasp. In this limited case, davidmsc, your fuzzy tunnel vision extends to comparing the manufacturers of killing technology with those who provide services that feed and heal people. Its called nuance, check it out. When you have collusion between government and industry, it is fair to call this a "complex" as the word is defined in most English dictionaries. You complain about those who use the term, but saying it is inaccurate because you don't like the people who say it, this is called an opinion. So far you've provided a poor defense for your opinion.
• Whatever happened to davidmsc? Ah, he's over there causing trouble.
• Andy Rooney showed a clip of Ike's speech last night.
• Ike was a crazy radical leftist.
• Ike got his dad to pull some strings so he didn't have to serve in the . . . wait, no that was that other guy.
• Why We Fight
• That looks very good. I hope it hits DVD soon, because we only get one documentary film festival a year down here, and it's not until November.
• Isn't Cheney still getting some kind of pension from Halliburton?
• Speaking of Halliburton...
• shitwater pushers . . .
• Bush proposes record $439.3 billion US defense budget
• Ike Was Right
• Bush Was Right
• Why We Fight on Google Video.
• Under the Bush Administration's space policy, the sky's the limit for commercial and military exploitation of the galaxy.
• The Armed Forces can't adequately equip those already in uniform, but the Pentagon is committing itself to massive corporate contracts for new high-tech weapons systems slated to come on-line decades from now.
• Our mercenaries in Iraq: The president relies on thousands of private soldiers with little oversight, a disturbing example of the military-industrial complex.
• Empire v. Democracy: Why Nemesis Is at Our Door
• Henny Penny, H-Dawg, Henny Penny.
• The "military-industrial-counterterrorism complex."
• Report Shows Increased U.S. Military Spending Slows Economy
• Financing the Imperial Armed Forces: A Trillion Dollars and Nowhere to Go but Up
• Why, exactly, we need to increase Pentagon spending even in those categories is mystifying, since no country is actually threatening us and -- if the Iraqi and Afghani wars were settled -- the problem of terrorism could be adequately dealt with by mobilizing relatively modest numbers of CIA officers and FBI and law enforcement agents. The problem here is that logic is being applied.
• Guess Which Country We Invade in Army's "Future"
• The Pentagon as Global Landlord: How the Pentagon Came to Own the Earth, Seas, and Skies
• U.S. Set to Offer Huge Arms Deal to Saudi Arabia
• Speaking of our friends, the Saudis: Saudis' role in Iraq insurgency outlined: Sunni extremists from Saudi Arabia make up half the foreign fighters in Iraq, many suicide bombers, a U.S. official says.
• It's a tough call, but I say that ball was on the line. H-dogg now serving for the match!
• Vote: New Name for Army's "Future"
• War Made Easy
• Made Love, Got War: Norman Solomon on Close Encounters with America's Warfare State
• Clinton bucks the trend and rakes in cash from the US weapons industry
• Just lost my vote.
• The Real Matrix: The Pentagon Invades Your Life
• The Vast and Dangerous Transfer of American Spying to Mercenary Companies
• Defense Spending To Increase by 8% in 2010
• Yup, the Defense Department will maintain that death grip and beg for more. The fact that Obama allowed this to go through without investigation calls for a shoewhackin' in MHO.
• Obama takes aim at costly U.S. defense contracts
• National Security Inc. The secret private-sector government
• The Geek Labyrinth: The most frightening thing about our unfathomably complex intelligence bureaucracy.