[lit-ideas] Re: Experience of War
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 8 May 2006 21:32:28 -0700
Dang it Irene, you've got me laughing again. I tried to be serious and kind
because of my supersensitive Marine Corps training, but you keep cracking me
up. Think of it this way, we were trained to protect you so you can
continue to do and think all the silly things you do and think. That's
Entertainment . . . er, I mean "Liberal Democracy." We are free in this
country to engage in all sorts of discussions even anti-American discussions
because we have a fighting force capable of protecting those rights. Pious
"peace begets peace" wishful thinking is nonsense as any student of history
could tell you. It is too silly by far to even talk about.
But let's do it just for fun. We elect, you, Irene Cassidy, President of
the United States on the new Peace at any Price ticket. Mike Geary is your
Vice President. You abolish the position of Defense Secretary in your
cabinet, because you won't be needing that. In your acceptance speech you
once again use those words that got you elected, "peace begets peace."
Peaceniks from Cambridge Massachusetts to San Francisco California shout
their approval with tears dripping down their cheeks. In your first week in
office you abolish the Marine Corps and Army. In the Second you abolish the
Navy, and order all ships mothballed. In your third you abolish the Air
Force and order that all military airplanes be flown to deserts in Nevada
and Southern California and parked there. The unbelieving world realizes
that you are serious. The military might of the U.S. is no more. The rest
of the world is on its own.
Does that sound good to you Irene? Most strategic analyst would tell you
(after they stopped laughing) that such a scenario, despite you sensitive
tender feelings about matters of war, would produce more murder, mayhem and
loss of life than if you had followed your predecessors in the White House
and taken up the ongoing responsibility of protecting our borders and
protecting weak nations against Rogue nations. They would tell you that
there are several nations in the world that would love such a scenario. If
they don't have the U.S. to worry about (the military force of the U.S.)
then they would as Hans Morgenthau persuasively argued, invade and conquer
their neighbors. I can imagine a snappy title for a history of your four
years in office, Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Eric Yost
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 9:01 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Experience of War
Andyrene: So you're saying that Lawrence is
shut down?
What amazes me about your style of discussion is
the weird peripheral conclusions you draw from
people's posts. It has an unsettling quality to
it, sort of like watching an edgy Andy Rooney
playing Grand Inquisitor in a surreal TV version
of the Dostoevsky.
What I offered had nothing to do with Lawrence. It
was an account of several old men who had seen
enough mayhem and hardship for countless lives,
and yet who reacted to 9/11 with a call for
massive retaliation. You'd think their long lives
would have shown them the senselessness of war.
Instead they knew a response was necessary.
That's why I mentioned them. War as the folly of
the young? Not always. War as the punishment old
men exact upon the young? Not always.
Knowing you have a committed enemy is not the same
as yearning to fight that enemy.
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
