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Thomas Ravenel: “Heeding Eisenhower”

AMERICA MUST RECALL THE WISDOM OF ITS FORMER PRESIDENT By Thomas Ravenel || On January 17, 1961, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his farewell address to the American people. The speech contained several prescient warnings, including an admonition against mortgaging “the material assets of our grandchildren” in pursuit of our own…

AMERICA MUST RECALL THE WISDOM OF ITS FORMER PRESIDENT

By Thomas Ravenel || On January 17, 1961, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his farewell address to the American people. The speech contained several prescient warnings, including an admonition against mortgaging “the material assets of our grandchildren” in pursuit of our own “ease and convenience.”

With the national debt at $17.5 trillion, this advice has clearly gone unheeded – especially under the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. One reason? Bush and Obama also failed to heed Eisenhower’s warning against “the disastrous rise of misplaced power” in the hands of America’s military-industrial complex.

As this complex ratchets up the war rhetoric in response to Russian “aggression” in Ukraine, it’s worth assessing the all-too familiar saber rattling coming out of Washington, D.C. While warmongers like U.S. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham invoke America’s global “responsibility,” those of us paying the check are left to confront the staggering irresponsibility of America’s current interventionist foreign policy.

As a country we must start asking (and answering) tough questions whenever we hear the war drums beating, chiefly: What are we fighting for? Does our national security depend on the outcome? Is our intervention worth the price that must be paid? Who among us will shoulder that burden? And who is set to profit from their sacrifice?

According to a recent Harvard University study, the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is projected to total between $4-6 trillion. These conflicts have steered billions of dollars toward companies like Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, General Dynamics and Raytheon – but have accomplished very little of strategic value. In Iraq Fallujah is once again under al-Qaeda control – despite President Obama’s election year boasts that the terrorist network had been “decimated.” In Afghanistan the Taliban – which President Bush repeatedly claimed to have “eliminated” – continues launching terror attacks from the Helmand Province.

Nearly 7,000 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan – while tens of thousands of their comrades have been wounded (including approximately 1,600 amputees). Meanwhile a December 2012 Veterans Administration (VA) report revealed that roughly 30 percent of servicemen and women returning from these two conflicts suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Who has done the most fighting, dying and suffering? According to a 2008 Syracuse University study, the U.S. military “continues to see over-representation of the working and middle classes.” In other words we are bleeding those who can least afford it – including fair-haired Iowans, Latinos from Arizona and blacks from my home state of South Carolina.

In Ukraine, we see another costly face of misguided global interventionism. Here there is no hot “War on Terror” but rather a reimagined Cold War — fueled by McCain’s preposterous depiction of Russian president Vladimir Putin as a “tyrant hell-bent on restoring the Soviet empire.” What our leaders won’t say is Russia isn’t instigating, it’s reacting to a U.S.-backed overthrow of Ukraine’s popularly elected president Viktor Yanukovych. They also won’t discuss how vast swaths of Ukraine – including the Crimean peninsula –want to be reunited with Russia.

But even if Obama, McCain and Graham are 100 percent right about Russia – and I’m 100 percent wrong – we still have no compelling reason to engage in the Ukrainian crisis. Nor could we afford to engage even if we did.

Checking “Russian aggression” is the responsibility of wealthy European nations – not hard-working, tapped out American taxpayers.

Earlier this month President Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania warned us “Russia is a threat to the whole of Europe.” Just three years ago, though, Grybauskaite cut her country’s defense budget by 36 percent. All across Europe, defense budgets have been slashed. According to Nic Watkins of ISIS Europe, middle-sized European countries have “averaged (defense) cuts of between 10 and 15 percent” in recent years.

“Between 2009 and 2011 European states discharged 160,000 soldiers and reduced military spending at a rate equivalent to removing the entire German military,” Watkins noted.

Can we really blame them? After all, as of last December nearly 70,000 U.S. Troops remained stationed at hundreds of locations across Europe – costing taxpayers billions of dollars annually. Why are they there? According to U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, their mission is to strengthen “partnerships” with our NATO allies.

“Every time we have gone to war, at least some of them have chosen to go with us,” Dempsey said.

That’s revealing, but not entirely true. With the exception of 200 troops from Poland, no continental European nation joined the 200,000-strong Iraqi invasion force in 2003. Most European nations chose instead to deploy a few dozen soldiers after the fall of Baghdad in 2003. Clearly then our justification for subsidizing the security of these defenseless European nations is the political cover they provide our politicians whenever the American military-industrial complex eyes its next meal.

We cannot criticize these countries for accepting free security any more than we can begrudge private companies for accepting huge defense contracts. They are simply taking what’s being given to them. Our beef must be with the American politicians cutting the deals — and cutting the checks.

America’s defense is a core function of government. But we are on the verge of permanently compromising it, and bankrupting future generations of taxpayers, by continuing to elect politicians who put the needs of the military-industrial complex ahead of the best interests of our Republic.

ravenel

Thomas Ravenel is a former statewide elected official. He resides in Charleston, S.C. This article – reprinted with permission – originally appeared in the March 21, 2014 editions of The Daily Caller.

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148 comments

probably March 24, 2014 at 8:56 am

I like IKE. T-Rav is growing on me…probably like a fungus.

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Ike was a decent man March 24, 2014 at 9:01 am

Ike’s “Cross of Iron” speech was one of the best. He was super prescient in a lot of things and had controversial viewpoints that are still debated today.

He warned us of the MIC specifically and had the Founders fear of large standing armies.

He also was absolutely against dropping the A-bomb on Japan and thought it unnecessary…directly in contradiction to the statist line today that we had to do it to “save American lives by avoiding a land invasion.”

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shifty henry March 24, 2014 at 10:15 am

against dropping the A-bomb on Japan
————————————————-
Although I’ve never studied or researched this idea, but couldn’t Japan have been surrounded and isolated? In a sense, it would be similar to a huge Devils Island.

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Ike was a decent man March 24, 2014 at 10:19 am

There’s substantial evidence Japan was trying to surrender already…in fact there’s little doubt. The issue was “under what terms?”.

Truman wanted unconditional surrender(which is why Ike was horrified when he learned about the plan to drop the bomb), but there’s some suggestion the US wanted to put the technology on display for the world and send a message to the Soviet Union.(and I haven’t looked exceptionally far into that suggestion, but I have as far as Japan’s attempts to surrender PRIOR to the bomb)

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shifty henry March 24, 2014 at 10:50 am

Thanks —

siege was probably no option March 24, 2014 at 11:56 am

Shifty, a “seige” of Nippon proper would have been an amazing undertaking too – and who knows how lengthy. I’ve seen it referenced, but couldnt imagine it in real time actually having worked. The Island is so big, it could sustain itself to a lrage degree – and after the population thinned out – in the wake of enormous human suffering as you pointed out – they could have likely gone on indefinitely. And at what an ungodly expense to the US

shifty henry March 24, 2014 at 12:08 pm

good point…

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 3:44 pm

We won’t know now, in any case.

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 3:43 pm

Better to be wiped out in a millisecond than starve to death if disease didn’t kill you.

A remarkably existential, objective point of view.

That explosion… and this is just me.. seems to be the culmination of all things war… to annihilate the enemy with a force so irresistible and awesome that even the most die-hard patriot would wither before it. Seeing the oblation from that sun would make even the most ferocious Shogun’s will fall into dust.

Any joy that could be taken from such an option seems to me to be the antithesis of all things human, affirming in one feeling one’s lizard like inner nature.

Heart of Darkness March 24, 2014 at 4:37 pm

I’ve always wondered to myself, “Self, do lizards chew their food because they like to or have to?”

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 5:56 pm

Pleasure center, objectively – no real appreciation, satisfaction of an itch.

Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 5:52 pm

Very well said.

consider March 24, 2014 at 9:53 pm

Interesting that this was deemed by you, even as a dersive dshot, as a ‘joyful’ or some how more joyful ‘option’ than any other. War, prison, emergency situations, especially extended ones that are life and death all present options of sorts and they are all horribly awful and usually tragic. Yet often times at the base/basis of our questions and ponderings about humanity.

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 11:04 pm

It was not intended as a derisive dshot… whatever that is.. you kids today are too clever for me, with all your internets and ipods and such! [light hearted, yet irritatingly condescending gruff laughter]

I was merely commenting on the temptation that all red-blooded males have at the notion of blowing something up…. there are, I’m sure you will agree, many such ones who turn to see what’s blowing up on tv… and may even cheer when the bad guys get what’s coming to them.

Rather than be derisive, I was admitting that within myself, I can see that tendency, yet I have the presence of mind to realize that it is my ancestor, the lizard, that thrills to eliminating “other” in the pursuit of territory for greater grazing rights and the females that wander into it…. not for a noble purpose, just survival instinct independent of any kind of introspection or bigger picture. The bare, raw thrill of annihilation.

It is that which made Oppenheimer anxious – seeing the ease at which the average citizen of whatever country (it’s not geographical, you know) is caught up in the fever of the masses.. to see themselves as a willing cog in a monolithic wave of reprisal, of destruction, of irresistible force!

That kind of thing.. .not derisive at all.

euwe max March 26, 2014 at 6:01 pm

The most cogent point in this topic so far, that I don’t think gets enough attention is – could we have accepted conditional surrender instead?

Jackie Chiles March 24, 2014 at 10:54 am

Truman was following the unconditional surrender strategy that was set by Roosevelt. Germany also tried surrendering to the Western allies because it knew it’d be pwned by the Russians.

even now March 24, 2014 at 11:05 am

The ‘shock and awe’ aspect of the A-bomb is certainly still something for historians to behold as well. We still debate this point – despite the fact that Lemay and others killed far, far more people with the fire bombings Tokyo. So I’ve always wondered why the focus on the nukes?

Ike was a decent man March 24, 2014 at 11:24 am

That’s really a good point.

I suppose because of the indiscriminate nature of the A-bomb, the zero chance of survival inside a certain range, etc.

Not that the fire bombings weren’t indiscriminate…but atom splitting can have consequences beyond a day or two of destruction…

I always thoughts neutron bombs a better solution myself, setting all morals aside of course.

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 3:38 pm

We could have humiliated them to come out and fight, and killed all of the fighting age men.

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CNSYD March 24, 2014 at 11:17 am

It is very easy to sit here almost 70 years later and second guess decisions. Do you think that in 1942-45 we believed much of anything Japan said? I recall something about a sneak attack on December 7th 1941. Doesn’t create much in the trust department.

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Ike was a decent man March 24, 2014 at 1:11 pm

“It is very easy to sit here almost 70 years later and second guess decisions. ”

So what’s your point? That we shouldn’t?

“An unexamined life…” – Socrates

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CNSYD March 24, 2014 at 1:43 pm

I believe it is past tense. It was done based on the information available at the time. Whether you or I think it was right or wrong is academic. So my point is, why waste time debating it.

Ike was a decent man March 24, 2014 at 1:50 pm

“So my point is, why waste time debating it.”

Because we may learn something? See my Socrates quote…

CNSYD March 24, 2014 at 2:41 pm

and we may learn that 70 years later that we have information that we didn’t have then? How’s your German and Japanese? Don’t speak them? It for for the same reason you don’t speak Russian.

TBG Rule #3 March 24, 2014 at 2:47 pm

You’re right, we should ignore history and debate none of it.

CNSYD March 24, 2014 at 4:17 pm

Usually TBG has better understanding. But apparently in this case he would prefer to beat a dead horse. You can debate until the cows come home but you are debating based on what you know now, not what they knew then. Apples and oranges.

TBG Rule #3 March 24, 2014 at 4:36 pm

So are you debating whether the US knew whether Japan actually wanted to surrender or not? Is that your sticking point?

CNSYD March 24, 2014 at 4:47 pm

Perhaps they did want to surrender…on their terms. We told them we wouldn’t accept anything but unconditional. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know. The sticking point seemed to be their emperor. Well as Churchill said of the Nazis, sow the wind and you reap the whirlwind.

CNSYD March 24, 2014 at 4:47 pm

Perhaps they did want to surrender…on their terms. We told them we wouldn’t accept anything but unconditional. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know. The sticking point seemed to be their emperor. Well as Churchill said of the Nazis, sow the wind and you reap the whirlwind.

TontoBubbaGoldstein March 25, 2014 at 1:50 pm

Usually TBG has better understanding. But apparently in this case he would prefer to beat a dead horse.

TBG Rule#3 ain’t TBG.

*Drags dead horse out for another round of beatings [that will continue until morale improves.]*
Ike, LeMay and other contemporaries of Truman were opposed to the A-bomb’s use,” knowing what they knew then.”

TontoBubbaGoldstein March 25, 2014 at 1:51 pm

*sincerely flattered*

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 6:33 pm

It is very easy to sit here almost 70 years later and second guess decisions.

——-
In that case, we shouldn’t even discuss it. Since the fog of war, and impending disaster clouds men’s minds – we just give everyone a pass rather than concluding whether it was a mistake or not – given all the information we have now.

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Smirks March 24, 2014 at 9:14 am

You should get that checked out.

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shifty henry March 24, 2014 at 10:11 am

‘probably’ is doomed to get two months of ‘Toe Fungus ads’….

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Mark J March 24, 2014 at 8:59 am

He lives in Florida now I think. Still owns a house here though.

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CNSYD March 24, 2014 at 9:40 am

Does Florida have more lenient drug laws than SC?

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Bible Thumper March 24, 2014 at 9:04 am

Get with the debate, T-Rav. No one is discussing war. Not McCain or Graham. It is easy to win an argument with a straw man. What is your position on sanctions and aid?

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Brian Crnobrnja March 24, 2014 at 10:07 am

With recent historical context, it can easily be argued that McCain and Graham are laying the propaganda for war. It’s an incremental strategy. Need to nip it in the bud and get out ahead of things.

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Bible Thumper March 24, 2014 at 10:13 am

Do you get out ahead of things by blocking Putin’s path or do you clear a path for further agression.

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Brian Crnobrnja March 24, 2014 at 10:18 am

Does “Putin’s path” threaten the rights to life/liberty/property of US citizens? Do you know what “Putin’s path” is with clarity and confidence?

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euwe max March 24, 2014 at 7:26 pm

of course he does, it’s right up there with “gay agenda” and “if we don’t fight them there (Iraq) we’ll have to fight them here” and “government regulations are the problem, not the solution.”

Horse shoes & hand grenades March 24, 2014 at 8:15 pm

You had me until the last one you bastard.

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 8:16 pm

Gotcha! :)

Uh huh March 24, 2014 at 10:28 am

Clear a path for further aggression?

lol…nice demagogue.

Strategically speaking, there’s something to be said for sitting back and watching what they do. Every grab Russia makes costs them money and lives.

Let us also not forget that while 90+% of those voting in Ukraine voted for Russian union.

Now I understand that half the Ukrainians stayed home(if not more), JUST LIKE US ELECTIONS, but there were plenty of polls before hand showing 50% of Ukraine wanted the union again.

So it’s all a mess we should stay away from as far as I’m concerned, there’s certainly no “white or black” issues there.

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euwe max March 24, 2014 at 6:30 pm

False choice.

Do you arm fish, or allow them to be overfished?

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Tentacles of doom March 24, 2014 at 9:05 am

The CIA and most likely the NSA are really rogue shadow governments within the USA.

This is a long standing issue when it comes to the CIA(JFK tried to bust it up, and look where that got him).

The NSA is a fairly new development(last decade), but they even have our elected masters worried as they spy on them too. All they did was use J.Edgar’s old playbook though. The FBI is somewhat the same, but to a much lesser degree.

Foreign policy is dictated more by the CIA than any sitting President or the dummies in Congress.

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Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 4:30 pm

Brother, if you can actually use the phrase “rogue shadow governments” in a sentence with a straight face you should probably be over on the Alex Jones Infowars site.

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Tentacles of doom March 24, 2014 at 8:10 pm

It’s fascinating to me how often you respond to such silly statements. You’d think they’d be self evident.

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Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 8:58 pm

Obviously not, or these clowns wouldn’t post them (and what better way to pass the time waiting for a flight in nasty LaGuardia)? Besides, I have a low tolerance for silliness which has served me well professionally. You can get on me about it when I start debating with Tango or that SPAWAR guy (that would truly be psychologically damaging, I think), until then I’ll consider it a public service to the nitwits themselves.

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Tentacles of doom March 24, 2014 at 9:54 pm

Good thing you’re here to dispel the myths for stupid people. I’m sure they appreciate it.

Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 10:02 pm

Relax, bro. Great artists are never appreciated in their lifetimes…

Tentacles of doom March 24, 2014 at 10:16 pm

I’m quite sure I’m more relaxed than you if you’re sitting in LaGuardia.

Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 10:50 pm

You definitely got me on that one, amigo. Luckily, they are getting ready to call my flight for the great escape. Namaste…

TontoBubbaGoldstein March 25, 2014 at 2:14 pm

“Deep State” is a much cooler term than “rouge shadow government”, anyway.

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TontoBubbaGoldstein March 24, 2014 at 9:17 am

T-Rav’s best so far.

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Smirks March 24, 2014 at 9:18 am

That’s not a high bar to reach, my friend.

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shifty henry March 24, 2014 at 10:08 am

see above reply…

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shifty henry March 24, 2014 at 10:07 am

Some excellent points made here, but I’d like to know who researched and prepared it for him. The message(s) don’t seem to agree with his personal lifestyle and public image.

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Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 4:19 pm

If you compare it to his older stuff it’s painfully obvious that he has “people” now. Will, most likely.

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Rocky March 24, 2014 at 10:13 am

The problem is deciding if we have an obligation as the leading world power (and Europe has a similar obligation) to stand up against any nation that threatens territorial integrity. Remember, GHWB agreed we should stand united when it happened to Kuwait, and should we do the same now. I doesn’t mean we need to liberate Crimea – but our allies, other nations and the Europeans have an obligation to use sanctions to punish Russia for this violation. That it’s Russia is actually meaningless. We would need to do the same even if it was Canada, or Chile, or Bangladesh. Maintaining the integrity of the international system is important. Our companies rely on a stable, predictable international system to thrive. Atop that we have the luxury of an international economic system that will punish Russia anyway. Capital loves stability and certainty, and it hates risk. Russia has now increased the risk-based premium on their transactions and on any foreign capital. The outflows of cash back to the West should alarm Putin. If they don’t he’s making a very bad miscalculation.

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Deep Thoughts March 24, 2014 at 10:24 am

Some dangerous aspects of this sanction plan include:

#1 Driving Russia and China together, which both own substantial gold reserves and US debt and both of which would like to move away from the dollar as a reserve currency. If they both decided to sell US debt and Russia climbs on board with a gold backed Yuan…it immediately sinks the US economic Titanic.

#2 Russia’s role in import to the EU, both in oil and goods in general could cripple our allies in Europe economically.

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Rocky March 24, 2014 at 12:32 pm

Nicely put together Deep Thoughts. But I would counter with:

1. China has a GDP of 12 trillion, dependent on exports to the Western economies with a combined GDP of over 50 trillion. Russia has a GDP of 2 trillion. Would you trade a 50 trillion market for a 2 trillion market? I doubt it. China is decidedly western facing. And 60 years of distrust between Russia and China won’t end anytime soon. China is actually Russia’s greatest military threat.

2. Russia played that card 8 years ago. Since then the EU has increased their reserves to about 18 months, enough time to hook Iran up to the pipelines in Turkey. (A market Iran would love to sell to). Atop that – if you depend on selling firewood to your neighbor to feed your family, do you think stopping to sell firewood is going to help you out? They don’t sell that many goods outside of gas.

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Deep Thoughts March 24, 2014 at 1:08 pm

“Would you trade a 50 trillion market for a 2 trillion market?”

The question is how is the market valued and what is its future?

If the debt bubble is global(and I think there’s a good chance it is), then all bets are off as no one has anything to lose.

“Since then the EU has increased their reserves to about 18 months”

That does nothing to relieve the price increases that would result from a shut off based on anticipated demand. A price increase of even 30% on an already high price/barrel would cripple the EU.

“if you depend on selling firewood to your neighbor to feed your family, do you think stopping to sell firewood is going to help you out? ”

Referring back to my global debt bubble argument, which is being funded by MONEY PRINTING(all currencies), then yes, at some point in time it makes sense to “stop selling” if the debt will never actually be paid or paid in a way that substantially reduces the value of payments(like money printing).

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euwe max March 24, 2014 at 8:17 pm

unless it’s all head games.

Deep Thoughts March 24, 2014 at 8:24 pm

That’s always a possibility, depending on your context>

If it’s in regard to the act of playing chicken with sanctions…it’s a game that I think should be passed on given the possible outcomes for those that value sanity.

If your context was whether there’s a global debt crisis…well, time will tell.

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 8:31 pm

We’ve been printing billions of dollars every month for a *long* time – gas and milk is still under 4 bucks.

Bush gave away hundreds of billions to save banks that were too tall to fall…

Obama tried to save the country with hundreds of billions more…

what are these things in our pockets? Sea shells?

Deep Thoughts March 24, 2014 at 9:52 pm

The banks are swelled with reserves, so the not quadrupling of the money base is being held back by….*gasp*…bankers…

You seem so sure though, perhaps you should be heavily invested in bonds.

Abenomics is certainly a smashing success.

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 11:09 pm

The forces that move those *gasp* bankers to do the *right* thing – you seem sure of that…. I guess they just lost their grip for a few years there… and they’re back on the job again, now that they’re pockets are full.

Nah.. I don’t like to gamble.. though I know what’s happening, it’s nonetheless important to know when as well if you are going to play the stock market. The philosophy that is money is not a philosophy at all – it’s an ocean being pulled by enormous forces that are deliberately not “timed” or fit to a curve. It’s like a casino with the payout determined by the house.

Deep Thoughts March 26, 2014 at 12:48 pm

“you seem sure of that”

Sarcasm is such a bitch in writing.

No, I’m not sure at all. I think the bankers do what bankers do, especially when backstopped by the government magic money machine-which allows them to do it with little regard to actual risk.

Sure, the Feds tell us they have a plan to drain reserves…but not only has it never been done most of it involves selling shit no one wants, aka “toxic assets”.

I simply don’t buy it. On a global scale, we can see what’s going on in China…empties cities…empty skycrapers…unbelievable that the charade has been going on as long as it has.

euwe max March 26, 2014 at 1:03 pm

I’ve heard it said that the market can remain insane longer than you can remain solvent. Perhaps it’s not that at all, maybe what we are observing is the result of floating currency… and it can go on forever. Very powerful forces may actually be using our dim-witted attempts at understanding what’s going on as a lever to take our money, and as a result, maintain the extreme difference in personal wealth between the 1% and everyone else.

Not saying that’s true, but I don’t think we have the tools yet to determine exactly, or even approximately, what is happening or why.

Deep Thoughts March 26, 2014 at 4:13 pm

I agree that it’s a giant experiment.

The only thing is, logically speaking…if someone dumps a few marbles on my kitchen floor I’m not really worried about avoiding them or even accidentally stepping on one and landing on my ass.

If every day someone dumps more marbles geometrically(or even linearly) on my floor (4, 16, 32, or geo), then at some point in time I’m landing on my ass.

It’s the policy makers calling those that suggest this very thing “rubes”, etc.

Right in front of our faces we can see this happening in a manner of speaking. While inflation isn’t raging, it’s not standing still either and the reserves lie in wait:

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2014/03/what-deflation-17-years-of-creeping-cpi.html

euwe max March 26, 2014 at 5:48 pm

Interesting analogy – maybe you could get a Nobel Prize for it. Is there really anything wrong with the trickle-down theory? Let’s just keep racking up debt, giving the equity to the 1%, and see what happens.

I wonder if you can get two chances to save the economy by paying blackmail equity to the rich.

Deep Thoughts March 27, 2014 at 9:09 am

Just when the discussion gets interesting you get all condescending.

Given that Obama is getting Nobel Prizes for drone strikes and Krugman gets his outside of monetary policy yet thinks this qualifies him to be an “expert” on all things outside of scalar economics, my marble theory is certainly “pure genius”.

That being said, if you are going to “poo poo” me and try to use the Nobel to do it, at least reference the one guy who actually won it for his thought on monetary policy, Hayek.

euwe max March 27, 2014 at 2:06 pm

Just when the discussion gets interesting you get all condescending.
——–
Sorry, no offense intended. My humility meds ran out, and I haven’t been able to get to the store.

my marble theory is certainly “pure genius”.
——–
it may actually be. I have no way of telling – no one else does either. But, I’ve been watching “the value of the dollar” since 1967 (I was rather young then) and by golly and by george, not a got damn thing makes sense. Correlation between sanity and economics seems as slippery as with the stock market. Hindsight is the only certainty.

I read the statement as a way to blame QE for our nation’s ills. My bad. My sincere apologies.

What are your political philosophies, and what is your prescription? I’ll try to behave myself. I only want to bring grief to Republican lizards, not warm-blooded critical thinking non-sloganeer mammals trying to survive and help us all out at the same time.

Tom March 24, 2014 at 3:37 pm

Russia has absolutely nothing to offer China but oil and natural gas, and they would never become dependent on Russia for those things. If Chinese exports to the US and Europe were reduced by even a small fraction, China would go into recession. I do not believe they will risk US and European Sanctions to help out Mother Russia.

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Deep Thoughts March 24, 2014 at 4:41 pm

“Russia has absolutely nothing to offer China but oil and natural gas.”

Those are two very big things.

” If Chinese exports to the US and Europe were reduced by even a small fraction, China would go into recession.”

I hate to break it to you, but China is headed straight into a serious depression already…it’s already started…tipped off with their own real estate bubble, empty cities, etc.

My whole argument is they already have nothing to “lose”.

“I do not believe they will risk US and European Sanctions to help out Mother Russia.”

You assume the current financial paradigm, that is a very big and somewhat blind assumption in a world with the risk of sovereign default all over the place.

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anon. March 24, 2014 at 10:18 am

Hey, Tommy boy, where can a guy score some BLOW around here???

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IdolHanz March 26, 2014 at 11:46 am

At your families house in North Charleston?

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Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 10:24 am

This from the idiot who only a few years ago wrote (on his personal news outlet FITS, naturally) about our 227 military “bases” in Germany, 124 “bases” in Japan, and 87 “bases” in South Korea. Anyone with even a smidgen of knowledge of the actual “military-industrial complex” would have known that those numbers were faulty, but his lack of understanding of the military culture and the reality of military spending problems showed that his quick check of the intergoogle led him astray. At any rate, it’s obvious that Will’s bromance with Ravenel is just going to be a painful couple of months of having to listen to the full court press of op-eds in any publication that will have them until this guy’s ego-driven quest for the spotlight ends as everyone but him and Will know that it will. The worst part of it all? I’m working in NYC this week- night before last I’m walking out of the theater district and what poster smacks me in the face as I hail my cab? A 3-foot tall promo for “Southern Charm;” Ravenel’s mid-life crisis in full color right there on West 44th. We can’t escape him!

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Will Folks aka Sic March 24, 2014 at 1:54 pm

This ran in The Daily Caller last week … do they have a “Bromance” with T-Rav, too? More to the point, not one word of your comment addresses the points raised in this post. Should America be meddling in Ukraine? Should taxpayers have subsidized war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Has failing to heed Ike’s warning been calamitous for our country?

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well now... March 24, 2014 at 3:23 pm

A hit dog barks…if the Daily Caller has ALSO been running an obligatory/gratuitous 4-5 additional extraneous T-Rav posts per week – then you may have a point.

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Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 4:15 pm

I know- I saw the piece in the Caller (hence my comment “the full court press of op-eds in any publication that will have them”). BFD. You obviously missed my point, which was not to refute his piece blow-by-blow (no pun intended), but to reinforce the point that Ravenel is beyond an imperfect messenger- he’s simply damaged goods. He has demonstrated an utter lack of understanding regarding military affairs in a past article (which I believe is relevant and fair game if he’s now suddenly an expert in geopolitics). Most fair-minded folks understand that neither extreme in the isolationist / hawk debate is on the money. It is absolutely not in our national interest to fight every war that can be legally fought (the Sugarbritches Graham position), nor is it any safer to adopt the RP “roll up the gates” thing and pull out of every kind of international engagement (especially when moral issues and alliances are in play). As is often the case, it’s just not that simple (were that it was, my friend). Thank goodness RP wasn’t running France during our little revolt back in the day or we’d probably still be singing “God Save the Queen.” I’m sorry if I flamed your balls on the “bromance” thing, but no offense was intended. Commentators much brighter than I have picked up on that too. If you *really* don’t think you’re slobbering on your boy just a tad heavy these days, then so be it; we’ll agree to disagree and I subject myself here to the pillory of other commentators. Unfortunately for your utter lack of self-awareness on this particular issue, I’m pretty sure I may have accidentally gotten one right…

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CNSYD March 24, 2014 at 4:29 pm

“have subsidized” indicates past tense. So what does debating that accomplish? If it is decided that the answer is no, will we get the money back? Concentrate on setting rules/guidelines and/or laws for the future.

IRT the Ukraine, which Ukraine are you speaking about? The eastern part that gravitates toward Russia or the western part that does not? What is the position of our NATO allies that we have pledged to defend and support who border the Ukraine?

What is this calamity of which you speak?

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euwe max March 24, 2014 at 6:29 pm

Concentrate on setting rules/guidelines and/or laws for the future.

—–
mo bureaucracy mo bureaucracy mo bureaucracy!

That’ll appeal the Repugnitarians! Create a department of guidelines for the future! Prevention is something libertarians don’t believe in. The purple pony of common sense and free markets will come just in time to award your estate what’s left after the attorneys slurp up the lion’s share.

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CNSYD March 24, 2014 at 6:36 pm

The alleged MIC loves thee free market.

What went over your head is that money is allocated by Congress not the President. It is those folks who need ironclad rules for engagement.

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 6:49 pm

Congress needs oversight.

Who’s going to vote for that? And how?

Got any idea how much that will cost?

“Sure, I’ll watch the other guy – if you’ll pay me more than the guy that’s paying me not to watch!”

“Read my lips – no new taxes!”

CNSYD March 24, 2014 at 7:40 pm

Apparently it is too difficult a concept for you to grasp. “Rules” such as a super majority to authorize force commitment would make engagement more difficult, for example.

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 7:45 pm

Oh I’ve got the point in my mental pliers…

What you haven’t responded to is the cost of prohibiting graft in Congress. An entirely new department would have to be funded – and who would watch them? And would they have more power than Congress?

Who watches the watchers?

Murray Rothbard March 24, 2014 at 8:21 pm

“The purple pony of common sense and free markets will come just in time
to award your estate what’s left after the attorneys slurp up the lion’s
share.”

When the Dems and Repugs get the flying Maroon Monkey of good government to pass a few more regs to fix everything please drop me a note.

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 8:26 pm

The answer to imperfect government is no government! Why it’s so crazy, it might actually… nah. That’s fucking crazy, dude.

Take two! March 24, 2014 at 9:49 pm

Most statists are old or sociopaths anyway.

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 11:10 pm

I guess so, Einstein… most Americans are old.

Take two! March 25, 2014 at 8:09 pm

Glad to hear you agree Chess Champion.

“Don’t trust anyone over 30.”- Jack Weinberg

euwe max March 25, 2014 at 8:42 pm

A state? What is that? Well! open now your ears to me, for now I will speak to you about the death of peoples.

State is the name of the coldest of all cold monsters. Coldly it lies; and this lie slips from its mouth: “I, the state, am the people.”

It is a lie! It was creators who created peoples, and hung a faith and a love over them: thus they served life.

Destroyers are they who lay snares for the many, and call it state: they hang a sword and a hundred cravings over them.

Where there are still peoples, the state is not understood, and is hated as the evil eye, and as sin against laws and customs.

This sign I give to you: every people speaks its own language of good and evil, which its neighbor does not understand. It has created its own language of laws and customs.

But the state lies in all the tongues of good and evil; and whatever it says it lies; and whatever it has it has stolen.

Everything in it is false; it bites with stolen teeth, and bites often. It is false down to its bowels.

Confusion of tongues of good and evil; this sign I give you as the sign of the state. This sign points to the will to death! it points to the preachers of death!

All too many are born: for the superfluous the state was created!

See how it entices them to it, the all-too-many! How it swallows and chews and rechews them!

probably March 24, 2014 at 1:59 pm

Maybe his Baby Momma wrote and fact checked this piece for him versus his prior blunders. Recently, Sanford also had some trouble stating the facts in a piece by McClatchy newswire. Maybe Sanford likewise should have Chapur writing and responding for him. Mid-life crises can be hell. Hormonal spikes mess with cognition.

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Manray March 24, 2014 at 11:02 am

Why is this guy not in jail? Oh, he’s a well-to-do white Republican frat boy in SC. They don’t get jail. They get rehab. Black guys go to jail.

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Original Good Old Boy March 24, 2014 at 11:38 am

As much as I think he’s a douche, why should he be in jail? He spent almost a year in the pen for simply possessing cocaine. He’s done more than enough time for that particular “crime.”

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special treatment for special March 24, 2014 at 11:45 am

OGOB, don’t necessarily agree with our current sentencing guidelines, and I hope the smarter sentencing Act passes congress this year BUT – things to keep in mind. 1 He didn’t just have a recreational amount for himself, or even himself and two friends 2 Anyone else under the same circumstances would have served much longer under our current mandaotry minimus….

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Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 1:31 pm

Now, now friend…Ravenel didn’t get popped with a few grams in his jacket pocket. Drug debate aside, most peeps would’ve done a real pull on that weight.

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Original Good Old Boy March 24, 2014 at 2:13 pm

Fair enough. I was earlier under the impression that he did more time that he normally would have gotten due to him being a “big fish.” But I could be wrong.

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euwe max March 24, 2014 at 3:36 pm

I don’t think anyone should do time for possession – even with intent to distribute…. unless they are involved in assault with a deadly weapon, intimidation, extortion, or endangering the lives of others by operating machinery or practicing medicine.

The sentences we hand out are ridiculous, considering the shape the economy is in. The government is implicit in making the demand for drugs so high, and the alternatives so few.

Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 3:53 pm

Understandable; the details were published, but not widely. As I said, he got an OK deal all things considered notwithstanding the debate over whether *anyone* should do time over powder in the first place…

Jack March 24, 2014 at 3:57 pm Reply
richardthelong March 24, 2014 at 11:03 am

This is a good article. Mr Ravenel is a smart guy. I am very libertarian however there is no way I could vote for the man. BTW the TV show is NOT helping, it’s like a fucking train wreck of the privileged absolutely worthless to society Charleston set.

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idiotwind March 24, 2014 at 11:18 am

if this were written by a 17 year old US history student i would give it an A. Spelling and punctuation are good and the point is forcefully made. Each paragraph has a good opening sentence. This young man is going places.

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Elfego March 24, 2014 at 11:22 am

Thomas,
You had a wonderful and promising future and damaged it. I do not have the answers to your problem but one that has no better judgment than to do what you did you do not need to be giving advice until you mature.Please try and rehabilitate yourself and keep your advice no matter how good it is to yourself until you get back on firm footing.

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Inciteful March 24, 2014 at 11:34 am

Hmmm,….T-Rav getting more ink here than Obama. I read Pygmalion and watched “My Fair Lady” so I know FITS is trying to make a silk pulse out of this horse’s patoot. But as my old coach once told me, “You can’t make chicken soup outa chicken s%$t” Even Willy ain’t that good of a cook.

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Will Folks aka Sic March 24, 2014 at 1:55 pm

I’m an amazing cook …

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Nikki Haley March 24, 2014 at 2:46 pm

It’s spelled “cock”.

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TontoBubbaGoldstein March 24, 2014 at 9:12 pm

Koch.

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Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 3:54 pm

You definitely get the “A” for effort, young chef!

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Fuck You for running this March 24, 2014 at 5:41 pm

Amazing is the most overused word in the dictionary. My 80 year old neighbor came over yesterday and said he saw the most Ah-maaaazzzing plant at Home Depot. I ran inside before he started talking about his new Facebook page. As for T-Rat, get the clicks how you can Will but it really is making you look like a GodDamned IDIOT!

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euwe max March 24, 2014 at 6:31 pm

yes, but can you make a complicated dish… like iced tea?

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Thomas March 24, 2014 at 12:00 pm

There is no way he wrote this. Whatever he is angling for, I would vote for Paul Thurmond or any of Carroll’s sons before I vote for Thomas Ravenel.

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Check it March 24, 2014 at 12:36 pm

Our military has largely become a jobs program from the lower class and lower-middle class.

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Check It March 24, 2014 at 12:39 pm

…. the military, and of course the illegal drug trade, which T-Rav has been known to support. Free enterprise, I guess.

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Kel March 24, 2014 at 12:44 pm

#risible

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Philip Branton March 24, 2014 at 1:18 pm

WOW…..look at these comments. We wonder what type of comments would be written if T-Rav would have rolled up his sleeves and led the protest down at the CofC over the McConnell anointment…?

Talk about eating GRITS…!!

We wonder if the ratings for his show would have gone up…!?

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euwe max March 24, 2014 at 2:16 pm

Eisenhower? Seriously?

The Military Industrial Complex???

Looks like he got hold of some bad blotter.

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Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 3:55 pm

A little dated / tired, no?

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euwe max March 24, 2014 at 5:23 pm

We lost that one in Vietnam! Jezuz!

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Mike at the Beach March 24, 2014 at 5:36 pm

Maybe he doesn’t know that McNamara et al have split already…

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euwe max March 24, 2014 at 6:13 pm

How about NSA, CIA, interlocking directorships? How about Haliburton, C street, and discretionary censorship?

How about some kind of analysis of what went wrong in Iraq, and what policies are in place to avoid a repeat?

Maybe we might focus on the details of the bail out, and how the fucks got away with it.

Let’s not even mention the poor schmucks that lost everything in that whirlwind.

Tentacles of doom March 24, 2014 at 10:44 pm

You’ve just crossed Mike’s threshold for silly talk. Please report to Infowars.com immediately.

euwe max March 24, 2014 at 10:53 pm

In the context of Monty Python, I think my silliness is rather bland.

bogart March 24, 2014 at 2:28 pm

Ravenel is just trying to SNIFF out any problems………..Thanks T.

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Thomas March 24, 2014 at 2:54 pm

Crimea, Putin, and a brain dead President

Look, here is what we can do. The fall of the U.S.S.R. was a unique and one time event. From 1991 to 2001, 47 million square miles of territory was freed from the shackles of Soviet hegemony. 47 million square miles of territory were given back their independence! Today, Crimea, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia account for less than 100,000 square miles. Ever hear of the Louisiana Purchase? Ever hear of the Alaskan Territory Purchase? Allow Russia to purchase these territories with their key Russian military bases! Russia will pay in natural gas and oil contracts below market prices for a determined amount of years. Hold a summit in Switzerland and sell Crimea, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia to the Russians! Negotiate any other Russian concerns regarding their pipelines while containing their ambitions.

Next, the EU needs to form the European Defense Forces. A common tax from each EU member state (First World) and Second World nations is collected. Armaments are purchased from First World producer nations, bases are strategically located in First and Second World nations spreading influence, strengthening defense postures, and providing economic impacts.

The E.U.D.F. conscripts men and women from EU member (First World) states all speaking English while in uniform. For example, all air traffic communications worldwide are spoken in English. NATO is dissolved with US military bases turned over to the EU Defense Forces over time. US aid and integration is on the US taxpayer while arms proliferation with US manufacturers is on EU taxpayers.

This posture firmly places First World defense forces on two continents providing economic stimulus for each nation while presenting shared responsibilities for defense of territorial integrity. The EUDF has a new air force, navy, army, and complementing special forces.

How ’bout them apples?

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dsmith March 24, 2014 at 4:10 pm

So Mr. Ravenel your answer to the problem is to ask “Tough questions about which wars we are going to wage?” Why didn’t anyone think of that before?

Seriously, you do know that our major media outlets are neocon controlled and will not allow dissenting voices to be heard. This was evidenced by the propaganda feed to the US public by NYT’s, Washington Post, ABC, CBS, NBC and specifically FOX News during the buildup to the Iraq war. I remember watching one panel discussing the war when it was implied that anyone opposing the invasion was anti-American.

Today we see are hearing the same song, second verse concerning Iran and the main cheerleader is once again.Lindsey Graham. With Graham’s help the US is committed to following Israel’s lead should they decide to bomb Iran.

So really asking tough questions is not going to get you anywhere in today’s controlled environment. However, putting warmongers like Graham, Schumer and McCain out of office and installing men/ women with backbones, who will stand up to AIPAC is what is called for. I’m sorry to say sir, you do not qualify as a force for change.

As a country we must start asking (and answering) tough questions whenever we hear the war drums beating, chiefly: What
are we fighting for? Does our national security depend on the outcome?
Is our intervention worth the price that must be paid? Who among us will
shoulder that burden? And who is set to profit from their sacrifice?
Read more at https://www.fitsnews.com/2014/03/24/thomas-ravenel-heeding-eisenhower/#kCdUIXhxfXFyGqQ5.99
As a country we must start asking (and answering) tough questions whenever we hear the war drums beating, chiefly: What
are we fighting for? Does our national security depend on the outcome?
Is our intervention worth the price that must be paid? Who among us will
shoulder that burden? And who is set to profit from their sacrifice?
Read more at https://www.fitsnews.com/2014/03/24/thomas-ravenel-heeding-eisenhower/#kCdUIXhxfXFyGqQ5.99
As a country we must start asking (and answering) tough questions whenever we hear the war drums beating, chiefly: What
are we fighting for? Does our national security depend on the outcome?
Is our intervention worth the price that must be paid? Who among us will
shoulder that burden? And who is set to profit from their sacrifice?
Read more at https://www.fitsnews.com/2014/03/24/thomas-ravenel-heeding-eisenhower/#kCdUIXhxfXFyGqQ5.99

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dsmith March 24, 2014 at 4:34 pm

As a country we must start asking (and answering) tough questions whenever we hear the war drums beating, chiefly: What
are we fighting for? Does our national security depend on the outcome?
Is our intervention worth the price that must be paid? Who among us will
shoulder that burden? And who is set to profit from their sacrifice?
Read more at https://www.fitsnews.com/2014/03/24/thomas-ravenel-heeding-eisenhower/#bk6u3zTgmmWWWiQk.99

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SCBlues March 24, 2014 at 6:37 pm

Lord – with all the yelping and carrying on around here I think this site ought to be named Fits & The Tantrums . . . (My apologies to Fitz!)

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Soft Sigh from Hell March 24, 2014 at 7:59 pm

I’m always amused at the self-assured justification of the terror-bombing of civilian cities–by explosive, incendiary, or nuclear bombs, it matters not–by the same crowd that still whines about Sherman.

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CNSYD March 25, 2014 at 8:44 am

and your alternative to bombing cities is?

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Soft Sigh from Hell March 25, 2014 at 7:42 pm

Not bombing them.
.
Read the USAF post-WWII evaluation of the strategic bombing campaign in Europe. See how effective the experts thought it was.

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Fuck U Coke Boy March 24, 2014 at 8:09 pm

Ravenel and his drug head buddies … His father was tipped off by SLED that the Feds were watching him. Wish this narcissistic jerk would go the hell away,

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Fuck U Coke Boy March 24, 2014 at 8:12 pm

Bobby Harrell once snorted lines with T Boy?

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Jammy March 24, 2014 at 10:27 pm

I will read this later. I am more interested right now in finding out if Thomas Ravenel impregnated the 20-something descendent of John C. Calhoun during drunk unprotected sex. There is a TV show about Thomas’s unprotected sex life y’all! Yeah, boyyyyyyy!

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Just cuz March 25, 2014 at 12:31 am

Putin can’t even control Pussy Riot….

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IdolHanz March 26, 2014 at 2:16 am

Thomas, your father helped rebuild the military after President Carter neglected it. Your biggest mistake was you should have joined the Air Force Reserves at Charleston AFB and qualified on the C17—-even if it meant being an enlisted puke like me or former Charleston Congressman Thomas Hartnett. You and my fellow Libertarians have forgotten the Article 1 Constitutional requirement for a National Defense. You have also clearly forgotten that all great civilizations , nations and Republics were both strong economic and military powers–with each entity completing and supporting the other like the twin pillars that holds the nation together.

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euwe max March 26, 2014 at 5:52 pm

You can say that again.

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IdolHanz March 26, 2014 at 2:21 am

Thomas is like his dad. I swear he reminds me of Brian Jones of the Stones—getting chicks to sleep with him, then dumping them.

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IdolHanz March 26, 2014 at 10:13 am

Thomas, your father helped rebuild the military after President Carter neglected it. Your biggest mistake was you should have joined the Air Force Reserves at Charleston AFB and qualified on the C17—-even if it meant being an enlisted puke like me or former Charleston Congressman Thomas Hartnett. You and my fellow Libertarians have forgotten the Article 1 Constitutional requirement for a National Defense. You have also clearly forgotten that all great civilizations , nations and Republics were both strong economic and military powers–with each entity completing and supporting the other like the twin pillars that holds the nation together.

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IdolHanz March 26, 2014 at 11:41 am

Before we slight our military, we need to remember that the people of the United States were attacked continually before and after 911 by Bin Ladin. The war was legally sufficient and the reason we lost and our nation bankrupted was because of the conduct and strategy of the war—it should have been conducted as an expeditiously prosecuted punitive war instead of a make nice hearts and minds war. Didn’t we learn from Vietnam? Thomas doesn’t understand why we have a military or its proper role.

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euwe max March 26, 2014 at 5:51 pm

I blame Bush.

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IdolHanz March 26, 2014 at 12:20 pm

If we disagree with Thomas, may we do it in a civil way please? I don’t believe its a good idea to tear down the military establishment in this time of danger. If you want to point fingers at a moral failure you should look at the US Air Force leadership and their pal Linda Graham who’s protecting rogue USAF Generals and cops! GOOGLE = MAJOR JILL METZGER. —-these are the people that Senator Graham (himself a member of the USAF Judiciary) is protecting and covering up for.

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IdolHanz March 26, 2014 at 12:22 pm

DISQUS HAS GONE OBAMA ON US!!! Downvotes are still counted but will no longer display the total number of votes. This action will still be denoted by the voting arrow turning red.

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euwe max March 26, 2014 at 5:50 pm

You can see that number by going to the Dashboard view, Ms. Bachmann.

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IdolHanz March 27, 2014 at 12:11 am

Thomas is not an idiot. His premise of ”bearing the burdens of an empire but not reaping any of the benefits therof” is indeed correct. The Libertarians and CATO institute folks need to do a better job of articulating their National Security platform though.

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Bill Bledsoe June 14, 2014 at 7:19 pm

The man has my vote! He hit the nail on the head.

As you can see in the comments, the Muslim Brotherhood (who’s tell is always resort to name calling and no countering facts) and Sen Graham, the Muslim Brotherhood Benefactor, see this as the reality threat that it is.

The Muslim Brotherhood are not religious fanatics, instead they are paid mercenaries who work for the highest bidder. Right now the highest bidder is the World Bank who wants these wars so the World Bank can make loans to American Families without having one thin dime in their vaults to loan out. In other words, these wars are a COUNTERFEITING SCAM ON AMERICAN FAMILIES.

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