I have been called a “socialist” because I believe that every person in the United States should have the same kind of medical care that is available to me at the present time. I also believe that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are worthwhile programs and should be continued – that is also a “socialist” opinion to the conservative Republicans and the Tea Baggers.
The dictionary says that ‘socialism’ is: “a system of society or group living in which there is no private property.” Who says that I want to give up everything I own? If we want to get into name calling or pejorative labels I would call my critics “fascists”. The dictionary definition of ‘fascism’ is: “a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and race and stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation and forcible suppression of opposition.”
Our fundamentalist conservatives have a political philosophy that exalts our nation, is racist, wants an autocratic centralized government if they are in control, pass laws that create social regimentation and use smart bombs to subdue the opposition. Enough said; when we diminish others we diminish ourselves!
I am a veteran of World War Two. I served in the South Pacific, in New Guinea, Biak, Leyte, Zamboanga, and Jolo. Then we went to Japan (we rode out a typhoon on the way). In Japan we were first stationed in Kure, a seaport that is just 14 miles from Hiroshima. Not very long after we were there the Lieutenant that was our section leader got a vehicle from the motor pool and we went to Hiroshima to satisfy our curiosity. This was probably about six weeks after the big blast. The A-bomb that devastated Hiroshima went off about 1200 feet above the ground so radioactivity was not a problem, or if it was, we did not know any better. I was only 19 years old at the time, green as grass, but the sight of that devastation has remained with me ever since. Our atomic bomb killed 200,000 people with one flash. The bomb took no prisoners. It killed women, children, elderly, workers, non-workers, most of them innocent victims.
Things have not gotten any better. We initiated an illegal war on Iraq in which we lost more than 4,000 service men and women. We used the tactic called “Shock and Awe” which does not discriminate in type of victim. It is estimated that we killed between 160,000 and 200,000 innocent women, children, and elderly citizens of Iraq. We used “smart bombs” because they cause less collateral damage. Does that mean if we had used WWII type bombs, the innocent casualties would have been 4 or 5 hundred thousand? Now we are having difficulties in Afghanistan because our drones are killing too many innocent civilians. Why are we there, anyway?
Now, the Armed Services. In WWII we survived on rations until we got to Japan. At our staging bases, the cooks took the cases of 10-in-one rations, opened the cans, poured them all in one big pot, heated them up and served it as mulligan stew. Sometimes we did get oat meal for breakfast. We were in the tropics, so we often had local fruit, particularly bananas. It took three months for my mother’s letter to get to me. Now, as I understand it, the personnel of the Armed Services are fed by contractors and, transportation being what it is, they get good food, well cooked. Contractors also transport vehicle fuel, needed supplies, and personnel. In my day, fuel and supplies were a Quartermaster responsibility and personnel were transported by the Navy, the Air Force, or by Army or Marine vehicles.
In a recent news broadcast it was mentioned that a contractor employee on the ground in Iraq is paid as much in one day as a Marine Corporal receives in a month. The contract personnel are employed by a corporation that is a subsidiary of Halliburton, Inc. Guess who was the CEO of Halliburton just before he was elected to the Vice Presidency of the United States? That’s right, Mr. Cheney. This same source mentioned that Mr. Cheney also received an annual remuneration from Halliburton every year he was Vice President in the amount of $293,000, which was in addition to his government salary of $220,000. Of the billions of dollars that were expended in the Iraq war, what percentage went to the contractors? This looks like a very expensive way to conduct a war.
Evidently no one in the previous administration or congress was concerned about the fact that Halliburton acquired the war contracts without having to bid on them, nor were they concerned about Mr. Cheney’s relationship to Halliburton, Inc. From 2001 until 2008 no one seemed very worried about the fact that the national debt was multiplied by five. Now, the Republican politicians complain about additions to the national debt, even though their policies created most of it. I might give the Republican propaganda some consideration if they did not assume I was so dumb.
God must truly love the dumb and gullible – He made so many of them!
