Only, less guns.
Good thing the world is at peace, and all our gear in sparkling condition.
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Guns and ButterBy lex, on January 31st, 2009
28 comments to Guns and Butter |
Targets of Opportunityblog advertising is good for you Credo"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones "Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra" "And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche "A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke “You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier "Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas "Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex Amazon AssociateFor the Effort!Winnar! Subscribe CategoriesPagesTagsacademy
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Perfect. Just in time for me to send out my ANG UPT board applications. Pardon me while I search for something unimportant to bludgeon my head with.
Looks like you got out just in time.
Only thing — you gonna be able to keep a job while you’re out?
The only question is how long it will take for the chickens to come home to roost, and at what cost in blood in treasure to the US.
This will have a long-term impact upon our security and safety. It will also impact our stature in the world. Others will see it as the sign of weakness that it is and act accordingly. It will have an impact upon our stature in the world economy as well as for both strategic and short-term implications.
Of course, this was to be expected once that portion of our electorate placed their party in power in both the executive and legislative branches. The judiciary is next. We are headed for the Euro-socialist model and there will be no nation to play the role of protector as we have done for that failed crowd.
I fear for this nation. Great nations are not murdered — they commit suicide.
Edward,
Your post made me shudder. Probably because it hits so close to home. Hope you’re wrong, huh?
Well, I think we have all been waiting for that shoe to drop.
Edward is right.
We see how Iran responded to BHO’s gentle outreach. Says we are weak and irrelevant.
Fidel is demanding the return of Guantanamo to Cuba. Jimmy C returned the canal; Obama might do the same with a key naval base.
Once again, elections have consequences.
# 3 – Edward -
Those proverbial chickens have already come home to roost! … unfortunately, with more to come. And it will be painful for all.
By virtue of our current and historic, financial crisis – one that has been growing for many years – our “security and safety” have already been impacted. And our “stature in the world” has never been lower than now. We have already exposed our weakness when a bunch of lawless fanatics can cause us to spend nearly a trillion dollars, but still they continue to grow and persevere.
All this did not happen overnight. Nor did it suddenly happen two years ago in Congress, or last week in the Executive Branch. Indeed, the current crisis has many fathers, and has been a long time coming. It will take some painful medicine to rectify, and many years.
Our American free market, unregulated capitalism has been exposed as severely flawed, and is no longer the envy of the world. Indeed, the world is angry at the US for being the cause of this global recession that affects nearly all. Quibbling about pork in normal times is a worthwhile endeavor. But in our current crisis, it conveniently ignores several mad elephants in the room.
You are correct however, that great empires often fall from within, rather than from adverse outside threats.
I never understood it, but I heard it the whole time I was living in Hyde Park– money spent on “internal improvements” (as they still called “infrastructure” in the days when budget deficits were bad things- when Reagan was writing ‘em) is an “investment” or a “valuable contribution to America”, but money spent on the DoD is “wasted money”. It used to be really funny, because the DoD was one of the few departments that had a reason to buy American beyond logrolling. Just like the space program, it is as if the money wouldn’t have been spent in the US– just bundled up and shipped somewhere far away.
Does the Navy still launch bales of cash off the bows every third week at sea? I know the B1s at Dyess use $100 bills as part of their ECM. Of course, I won’t say how.
Our American free market, unregulated capitalism
Bwahahahaha! I had no idea Fliterman had such a capacity for irony…
FbL, he meant over-regulated. It was just a Freudian slip. He has those quite often.
The real problem is not regulation, but dishonesty. The problem is political, in the case of Fannie and Freddie, and simple greed on the other (Madoff, etc.). Shameful, really, but quite expected when you know men are not Angels.
As for the world, they are simply jealous of what we generated in the last 200 years, in spite of dishonest politicians like Lincoln, Wilson, FDR, Truman, Johnson, Carter, Clinton, and now Obama. Obama may be the death of it, but I hope not.
It’s gonna suck for awhile, but…
the Republic will prevail.
FBL – Yes, the “irony” is smilingly noted.
QM – Dishonesty and greed multiply like rabbits in the absence of transparency, oversight, and government regulation.
In the Rock/Paper/Scissors game, the “paper” of regulation trumps the “rock” of greed; and the “scissors” of regulatory law trumps the “paper” of dishonesty. In the investment banking, insurance, hedge fund, and mortgage businesses, we had abandoned the “paper and scissors” of the game, leaving only the corrupt rock to rule, unregulated and without legal penalties. Checks and balances work; extremism fails.
As far as the “world” goes, yes many are envious of us, and historically, rightly so. But they are far less envious now than they used to be. And some are extremely bitter and angry. In a newer world of “globalization” and tectonic shifts in global power, that affects us directly more than ever before. I suggest asking some of them, instead of assuming – taking Robert Burn’s advice.
BTW, that is quite a list of “dishonest” former Presidents. Is there a common thread – if not truth – in your selection?
Flit,
I believe that the regulations and government interventions are to blame a good deal for the present state we’re in. Like you stated, it hasn’t happened overnight. But the packages being thrown around aren’t going to solve it.
My suggestion is to let the capitalist markets deal with it. Stop making banks make loans to people who can’t afford them, stop making regulations that are uneccesary, and stop spending our money to save businesses that arent viable. the whole idea (one of them at least) of capitalism is that businesses that have a good product, good management etc, will thrive. most won’t. Some will have several attempts before becoming successfull. let them go bankrupt, and move on.
who knows, maybe someday a chrysler will be as sought after as a packard or a dusenberg….ahh, maybe not
awaiting moderation…did I drop an F bomb?
Saw it coming, didn’t you?
Any surprise it was released at the start of a weekend ? (superbowl weekend at that!)
To all you folks, Google Final Warning:A History of the New World Order by David Rivera to understand how we are being destroyed.
Fliterman, you have summed up my fears/concerns with our current situation perfectly – “Checks and balances work; extremism fails.” We currently have no checks and balances, just the extremism of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid.
Or he may be realizing (as 2000 years’ worth of invaders have) the futility that is Afghanistan
(http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/01/31/obama-unlikely-widen-afghan-war/100days/) and is simply looking for ways to realize a new “peace dividend.” The real question isn’t whether the budget will be cut…it’s by how much and where. For example, is a FORD-class CVN needed when the NIMITZ-class carrier is 40+ years ahead of other nations?
Nice site- all the facts.
Thanks for putting it all in perspective Flit. As usual. Thanks.
If the government had done absolutely nothing since October things would be exactly as they are today. Letting capitalism correct itself works..
Applying governmental fixes just extends the recession. Most economists agree in hindsight that Roosevelt extended the Depression with his policies.
Why not learn from history? Maybe so. I submit that if those “fixes” happen to go directly to your constituents is why BHO has done it. What is his stake in this? How many times was Roosevelt elected? No other reason. Malaise as a tactic for power.
How many who visit this website will be better off with this gajillion dollar barrel o’pork fat in place? Not many I’d reckon…Those who actually produce will have to produce more….just to stay even. Life ain’t fair in a democracy. There aren’t many qualifications required to cast a vote. Tyranny of the majority is a real threat sometimes. At what point does the golden goose refuse to lay?
b2
Jim,
re- “FORD-class CVN needed when the NIMITZ-class carrier is 40+ years ahead of other nations”
You know something Jim? Restarting construction of Nimitz class carriers would probably per unit cost more than building the Fords. Why? They take many more hundreds of sailors to man among other things.
Maybe you can migrate into the “why have carriers in the first place” group of armchair quarterbacks on defense spending priorities? No dishonor in that. Many folks are. Even some Navy officers.
Was at a Q&A with head of Navy acquisition the other day. He was asked, in essence, what’s gotta give? The best he could offer, obliquely of course, was F-22. LOL.
Wishful thinking on his part I thought…. Obviously a lot more is on the table than just program. There are a lot of Emperors at the highest level of DoD walking around with few or no clothes on……..
b2
“…There aren’t many qualifications required to cast a vote. Tyranny of the majority is a real threat sometimes. At what point does the golden goose refuse to lay?
B2, IIRC, the founding fathers/framers of the Constitution did NOT allow everyone to vote. I believe that in most places, you needed to be a “man of means,” i.e., you had to have either property, or the equivalent, such as a tradesman (carpenter or blacksmith w/ tools and shop).
The reason for this is simple, THOSE WERE THE TAXPAYERS, so they would NOT vote for “bread and circuses,” even if some legislator were foolish enough to propose it.
Cas,
But they were also sometimes slave owners, probably a good reason comparisons between then and now fall short.
It would help if so many programs were not already in trouble-thus making them inviting targets. What’s really sad is that the ones that are on time and on budget get dragged down by the ones that are not.
There is a fact that has to be faced here – the state of DoD acquisition is terrible.
When you talk about an empire being destroyed from within, you could apply that phrase to the DoD as a subset. Those emperors B2 refers to walking around the 5-sided puzzle palace should be booted out for the state of their programs – AF Tanker, Littoral Combat Ship, VHX, JCA (and my company works on that one), Land Warrior system, are a huge-dollar programs that are either over-budget and behind schedule or suffering from other major ills – bad contracting, etc., or both. The place is a mess that needs to be cleaned up before throwing additional good dollars after bad.
Until we (DoD and mil-indust complex) face that situation and fix it we shouldn’t be forking over huge dollars. If cutting off the spiggot doesn’t bring them around I don’t know what will. Not a popular position, I’m sure, but I think shock treatment is called for here.
Brian
For a good, REALLY good discussion of the procurement problem in detail, go over to “Winds of Change” to 7 Nov IEEE “Special Report” at:
http://www.windsofchange.net/2008/11/
and scroll down to the 7 Nov post–concentrates mainly on Naval acquisition, btw.
Quartermaster, that reminds me of the sermon I heard this morning. The Priest is quite exercised about Christians who stop working with the world, once assured of their own salvation. He’s talked of some people who wait on the fantail of the sinking ship that is the world, waiting for what I call the rapturecopter to come rescue them. Starting the pumps and plugging the holes would be better.
Specifically mentioned was bad behavior at high levels in the finance bidniss. We are called to do right in the world, while we are here.
That aside, I think an F-15 pilot can’t really be easy in his mind when assured, “Oh, yeah, we found all those cracks and fixed ‘em, you’re good to go!”
Might make him hesitate just a bit when he needs to pull the thing around a turn really hard?
I think of that last scene in “The Blue Max.
If I were a bettin’ man, JTG,–and I am–I would bet that since that break-up that bloc of 15s, “fix” or no fix, has a permanent G-limitation for all non-combat maneuvers–incl ACT/ACM (or whatever they call it these days)
b2
Re: re: “FORD-class CVN needed when the NIMITZ-class carrier is 40+ years ahead of other nations”
Definitely agree with your point regarding the increased unit costs for restart of the 68-Class CVN production line. Having served on four CVNs and understanding their capabilities–and shortcomings–I’ll have to forgo your “suggestion” that I join those on the “who needs carriers” team!
However, this (i.e., increased unit costs to restart/maintain current programs) is likely going to be a primary argument used by the other services to defend their major R&D/acquisition projects.
Unfortunately, as the GAO/CBO have pointed out, there’s not a whole lot of truth in advertising associated with the services’ budget estimates.
Going to be interesting to see where this ends up–there aren’t going to be any winners, just who ends up losing less.
Jim
I hang out on a couple of blogs where the chief criticism of our new President is that he’s not left-wing enough. As far as they are concerned the U.S. Military’s primary use is to impose imperialism on the world, and the current financial situation’s likelihood of weakening our armed services is not a bug, it’s a feature.
Guess that “I’ll listen to the generals” thing lasted less than a day. Listen? Yea. Respect the professional opinion of? Eech….
But dissing GOs is nothing new for intrepid Democrat WH staffers.
On the plus side, the base is happy.