I fear, Hippy Pam, it would require a revolution to do that. But the Elites may yet bring it about through their own stupidity and overconfidence—-they’ve had it their way for so long, they ought to make a fatal mistake sooner or later.

Our gubmint SUCKS-and we need to THROW ALL THE IDIOTS OUT AND FIND PEOPLE WHO WILL DO THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE[after all-they ARE EMPLOYED BY AND PAID BY THE PEOPLE]........or is that to simple a concept?

That they do, Fadel Abdallah; that they do. And I fear this country is beginning to reap such a harvest that other countries will shudder to see it.

Well, this article confirms what I always say about wars: That the worst casualties of wars are not those who die, but those who come back crippled for life, either physically or mentally. A large number of those live miserable lives to the point that some times they come to envy the dead; and that’s why many of them attempt to commit suicide.

At least, some of the wars’ dead are remembered as heroes or martyrs, but those who survive, crippled, are neither heroes nor martyrs; they live meaningless lives in misery and as a burden on their families and the society at large.

That’s why I believe that any nation that sanctions wars and establishes organizations of war, like the Pentagon, for example, deserve constantly to have a taste of their own medicine. And it happened that most nations of the world, with the exception of very few, have institutions, financed by taxpayers, that thrive on promoting war-mongering.

In light of this,  who says that humans are the most intelligent of God’s creation! I don’t agree with that! Have we ever seen any species of animals, like monkeys for example, forming what we can call an entity for war-mongering! The point is that humans are not even as intelligent as monkeys! And humans who allow an ignorant evil like Bush to take them twice in a short period of time to two evil wars, and the drums are being beaten for a third, deserve the pain and the agony that war brings; so they do deserve a “memorial day” lest they forget and perchance they might learn a lesson!

The moral lesson is that one just harvests what he sows! So do nations!

We do pay for wars forever.

With money. With grief, with lost futures and with never ending pain.

I don’t know George Ball but I know a 61 year old Vietnam Vet who hides in his basement every fourth of July. Just as I knew a Korean Vet and a WWII Vet who disappeared every fourth of July ... and New Years Eve.

I suppose we might take some solace from the fact that today society seems to recognize the reality of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Shell shock in the WWII era - Mommyism in the Korean era, and largely dismissed as weak and drunk following the Vietnam era. All the same, while everyone is talking about it, just like most every thing else related to this war, no-one is doing anything about it. Especially the population.

Our Senate and Congress would dare not go home if the population stopped grumbling behind closed doors, came out on the street and DEMANDED this war end!

But I suppose it’s good that the families of those afflicted recognize what’s troubling their Vet. I remember a sad email I read, posted by a vet, just before he took his own life. What drove him over the edge? According to his email, he couldn’t deal with the “understanding and sympathetic” folks back home who kept telling him he should be proud of his service to the country, and “get over” the bad feelings.

He didn’t fault them, but the feelings that forced him to his decision were clear. Why cant we understand?

It’s no great mystery why Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and Gates and England and all the rest of the “civilians” who guide our military don’t understand. Their qualifications for military decisions are grounded in years of working in profit making Corporate America. And has absolutely nothing to do with any kind of wisdom about people needs, the troops, or fighting, or treatment, or even a simple acknowledgement that they don’t understand, and should maybe try too!

Well excepting Bush. No-one quite knows what qualifies him to be the War President. And his efforts at trying to understand anything remain unknown.

But for all the families and friends of all the folks in the military who have served in the military ... when it was just and warranted, or even when it wasn’t ... there is no excuse. They seem happy to accept that their loved ones are being asked to fight the shadows created in the minds of the inexperienced and grossly unqualified creators of terrorism ... Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and their fellow conspirators. The creeps who created and continue to serve and perpetuate GWOT. Oh, and there is no shortage of congress creatures, including presidential candidates, who continue spouting the need to fight GWOT.

Dear Congress and Presidential wannabees; How can we possibly expect to “win” the Global War On Terror, when we have so shamelessly LOST the War on Drugs and the War On Poverty?

We should all hang our heads in shame.

In a way, one could say wars never end; we pay for them forever. But that doesn’t mean we should not do our darnedest to end the foolishness going on in Iraq and Afghanistan—-and try to ensure that there will be fewer George Balls suffering from PTSD in the future by taking a stand against all wars of the State.