Matt Bors for June 15, 2012

Notice that those who are speaking are all Generals? They seem like little boys with their toy soldiers, waging war somewhere. Now don’t get me wrong: I’m all in favor of the “War on Terror” that started on 9/11/01. But going into other nations that are having civil wars just isn’t right nor necessary. So why can’t we cut the war budget a bit and put those funds into Education, where it can do some good for the Future of our Country?

Cuts to education is a necessity if the generals are to have more cannon fodder, the Republicants more voters, and the Christian right more homophobes, anti-abortion, snake charming droids.

The “War on an Emotion” is pointless. Can we find a target and go after it? Oh, we did. Osama bin Laden. Are we done now?

Viet Nam, it turns out in truth, we shot first. Grenada-we shot first. Panama-we shot first. Afghanistan-we shot first (at the people we put in power after Russia shot first) because a Saudi Arabian dude committed a criminal act. Iraq-we shot first (in ‘91 after GHW told them to go ahead and invade Kuwat, and again, “w” shot first, after we hadn’t really STOPPED bombing since ’91) Will we shoot first on Iran??

BTW, I was in ’nam when the ’67 war started, when ISRAEL attacked all its neighbors, and Israel, with our backing, shot first.

The idiot general who ran the F-22 program said it: “Of course they’re expensive. But if we didn’t intent to USE them, we wouldn’t BUY them.” THAT is the “shoot first” mentality of the Pentagon, and the revolving door folks in the military-indstrial complex.

When they ask for ever increasing “defense” budgets, it’s time to shoot first, and shoot them down. Rational cuts in “defense” spending, are long past merely, “called for”.

Radish, minor correction, I believe it’s at least the next 17(SEVENTEEN) nation’s combined, and that INCLUDES Russia and China!!

If the CIA’s budget is increased, will it stop the next 9/11?Please tell me what these guys were doing when that happened? The ONLY THING they were paid to do, and they didn’t do it. Let’s start over.

Radish: Actually, we spend more than the entire rest of the world combined.

masterskran: Slightly ahead of athletic scholarship, which in all his campus tours, Carlin never used.

Doc, just reading about the “iffy” things going on with Canadian purchase of F-35 JSF. Seems you folks DO have a few “creative bookkeeping” folks on your side of the line as well. They are investigating those “oddities for profit”.

Dr Canuck: Please, not the Mounties! My first experience with them was when some kids backed into my car and drove off. I witnessed, had the description of the car and the license number. I reported it as the law required. I was informed that the car and license did not match (obvious suspicion, both were stolen separately and this was not just a hit-and-run, but car theft as well), therefore they wouldn’t do anything about it and I could pay for the damage myself. Even though I helped restore their schooner (St. Roch, look it up), I never had reason to change my views.

dtroutma: Want to look up Avro Arrow while you are at it?

“Read any book”: my personal library is over 1,100 books, plus 133 on my Kindle, and I use the library and read numerous periodicals. Add that to personal experience, and that of friends and family who’ve actually served in the military, and that IS “education”.

I find those most radical, especially on the right, are the LEAST INFORMED AND EDUCATED in our society. That is what “Pentagon spenders”, the MIC, and “conservative” politicians, depend on!