Overwhelmed: The military-Industrial Complex
As he was leaving his presidency after one of America's most unsuccessful military engagements in Korea, Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us all about the military industrial complex, which he said would take over our economy and spend us into the poorhouse, kill lots of innocent people, and make us less idealistic as a culture. Well, it happened, and it got really big. Especially here in San Diego, the unholy collusion between our economy, which is supposed to provide us with food and good music CD's is forcing us to make cruise missiles and other militant nonsense in order to get those CD's and sometimes it seems like the powerful coalition of government and industry is impregnable, overwhelming.
But then something happens that gives me hope. We need more reporting like the story in the U-T today about Duke Cunningham and his bribery scandal brewing (courtesy of Kos) and we need to go through every one of our government officials' money trees to find out more dirt. The San Diego Union's story about Duke Cunningham gives me hope for two reasons: the fact that the bad guys are getting so bold that they commit such obvious fraud right in front of our eyes means that they are vulnerable; and, the fact that the U-T prints the story means that even they are kind of disgusted by bribery. Shockingly, the Union seems to have had a conscience today. Amazing.
Update: 7:00pm--Not only is our Republican delegation to Congress corrupt, but they are pretty wacky, too. Scroll down Crooks and Liars for a video feed from CNN featuring Rep. Duncan Hunter defending the treatment of Guantanamo prisoners, using Chicken dinners as props. He looks hungry as he claims:
"So the point is that the inmates in Guantánamo have never eaten
better, they've never been treated better and they've never been
more comfortable in their lives."
"You have to see this to believe it," notes C&L. Indeed.
But then something happens that gives me hope. We need more reporting like the story in the U-T today about Duke Cunningham and his bribery scandal brewing (courtesy of Kos) and we need to go through every one of our government officials' money trees to find out more dirt. The San Diego Union's story about Duke Cunningham gives me hope for two reasons: the fact that the bad guys are getting so bold that they commit such obvious fraud right in front of our eyes means that they are vulnerable; and, the fact that the U-T prints the story means that even they are kind of disgusted by bribery. Shockingly, the Union seems to have had a conscience today. Amazing.
Update: 7:00pm--Not only is our Republican delegation to Congress corrupt, but they are pretty wacky, too. Scroll down Crooks and Liars for a video feed from CNN featuring Rep. Duncan Hunter defending the treatment of Guantanamo prisoners, using Chicken dinners as props. He looks hungry as he claims:
"So the point is that the inmates in Guantánamo have never eaten
better, they've never been treated better and they've never been
more comfortable in their lives."
"You have to see this to believe it," notes C&L. Indeed.
posted by The authors at 9:15 AM
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