"They Died for that Flag!" - No They didn't, They Died for Rich People
War is a Racket said General Smedley Butler. I'd amend that to say ALL War is a Racket. Some might argue there are exceptions, like WWII or maybe the Civil War, but no, in the end those wars were about power and wealth among the ruling clite. They would not have happened except at the whims of those at the very top. Butler told it like it is when he said he was nothing more than a "gangster for capitalism" during his highly decorated Marine career.
A quarterback on a National Football League (NFL) team, Colin Kaepernick of the SF 49ers, did not stand at attention like a good little lemming at a pre-season (practice) game. He was protesting the oppression of people, specifically people of color. He compared the "Star Spangled Banner" to the Confederate flag as a symbol of racism.
Then all Hell broke loose.
Headlines in the news media, people all over the country discussing what he did. Opinions vary with many defending his right to not stand at attention to a piece of cloth. Those disagreeing with his action are pointing out that "people died for that flag" fighting for our "freedom" and "serving our country.".
In other words, they're primarily pissed because they feel Kaepernick is disrespecting those who serve and have served in the military. The global killing machine.
I'm a veteran and I sure as hell don't feel disrespected.
What these brainwashed Serfs are missing is that their friends, relatives, and other military veterans and active duty members didn't/aren't fighting for our freedom. They're not serving and haven't served to make us safe and they didn't die for their country. They're fighting and dying for rich people. They're fighting and dying to protect the interests of the ruling elite, those that rule over We the Serfs. They're fighting and dying for a flag that symbolizes slavery and genocide. They're "gangsters" for the rich and powerful.
So those condemning Kaepernick's action have it all wrong. They've been lied to and brainwashed to believe the flag and the military of this country are good and benevolent when in fact that flag and the military of this country are purveyors of tremendous violence and racism in the name of greed and power. Kaepernick is right to not stand at attention with hand over heart to a flag that represents such racism, violence and greed.
He says he will continue to not stand, I applaud that decision. The idea that our flag represents freedom needs to be challenged. Maybe more will get that through their thick skulls.
Comments
Preach it!
Now "media" is trotting out a story from last year, noting that Kapernick used the N word at a fellow player.
That appeared to be necessary--demonizing him further--when 3/4 of social medias side with Kapernick on "standing for the National Anthem".
Don't even get me started on the brainwashing going on in American pro-sports. This particular episode by our "Media" just screams SQUIRREL. So best to keep an eye on Obama and Congress this week (if they haven't recessed yet). Perhaps this is a good week to slide that TPP through while (they think) nobody's looking....
Good point. Always be wary of what and why the
corporate media is highlighting.
Pro sports now are getting so ridiculous. I used to watch baseball but rarely do anymore because they substituted "God Bless America" for the 7th inning stretch instead of "Take Me out to the Ballgame". The NFL is tied to the military at this point, so are all major sports. Pro sports have become a major asset to the imperialists.
Glad to hear most people are siding with Kaepernick.
My experience is like yours. Pro sports has become a showcase
for the military and its role in the imperialistic project known as neoliberalism. I gave up fandom quite a while ago but still played baseball until 5 years ago in informal games.
(One baseball viewing I did not give up was Class D rookie league ball - the Appalachian League. Unfortunately steroids were in evidence even there at the end of my residence in the mountains, but the kids had the dream.)
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Combine that with the absolutely obscene amounts of
money pro athletes are making now and it's ruined it for me. I was a jock, pretty good, played pro ball in Europe, always loved watching. But even I wrote an article last year calling on a boycott of the major pro sports because of the money. Michael Jordan is a billionaire and within another ten years there will be multiple billionaire pro athletes. They are now part and parcel of that 1%.
They're even making a movie about Iraq...
What are they concentrating on? Yep, you guessed it, the Halftime walk that the "heroes" get to do when they get back.
Kinda like the freaking 80's when Nam vets were treated as a joke...
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
That was a really good book, though
Assuming we're thinking of the same one. Very satirical, very critical of all the hero worship. Of course, who knows what Hollywood would do to it.
"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum." --Noam Chomsky
Honestly, I had MAJOR issues with that book.
Billy Lynn's Halftime Walk was one of those books that was pretty poorly researched. Yes, it was a bit critical of the "Hero Worship" but at the same time, it also didn't accurately portray vets in general, IMHO.
In essence, I feel that it made the Vets worse than they were to make a point that was rather obvious.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
What's even worse is
my beloved NY f'n A Yankees dragging out some vet (or vets) before the playing of the Anthem. "Please welcome Sgt. Joe Blow that served in Iraq... " I happen to be a vet, but Jeebus... dragging out war vets in front of a (mostly) captive audience 15 fucking years after 9/11 just emphasizes this country's war policy failure.
And not for nuthin', but I suspect (have no idea) that this whole playing of the Anthem thing started during WWII (or maybe even WWI) in an effort to drum up some rah rah "Support the Troops!" ritual. Time to end it.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Until recently
the security guards at Yankee Stadium would actually eject you from the game if you didn't stand still and respectfully during the singing of "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch. I think they got sued, though, so that may not be the case anymore.
My favorite is when you're at a baseball game and they have fighter jets do a flyover in formation. And everyone cheers. I always have one of those moments when I think to myself, "You don't usually see that in a free country."
"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum." --Noam Chomsky
yep, my bad. Is
the 7th Inning Stretch where they drag out the vets. I usually flip it to the History Channel for 5 minutes.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Your verb tense is off, Big Al.
The "have become" is unnecessary there; all sports have always been thorough tools of the military and imperialists.
It begins in high school, or even earlier. The deal is this: Sports are war preparation, pure and simple, as it has been since ancient Greece. Athletes who excel are the ones who show future usefulness as cannon-fodder. In exchange for submission, athletes get premium access to the available mates, Non-athletes are discouraged from coupling at all. Then, after school, they serve in the wars. The portion of these who come back home marry and have children, who maintain the cycle ad infinitum.
The only reason anything ever changed in America's high schools was our loss in the Vietnam War, but that didn't change things for more than a few years in the late 1960s and early 1970s. By the time Ronald Reagan became President, the old system was back up and running -- as the Kaeperninck incident reminds us.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
You're right there.
"We are the Blazers, the mighty mighty Blazers"
I guess it's all so in your face now it sometimes makes you forget its been there all along.
It's all about promoting nationalistic fervor....
The flag worshipers have always made me a bit nervous. There seems something off about them. (Kinda like the religious zealots.)
Whenever goverenments have started promoting overly nationalistic messaging it has never worked out well for the people. (At least I can't think of a single instance.)
You can obscure a lot of sin behind those pretty colors if people are more focused on their idea of what the flag supposedly represents.
It's just another, "Oh, look! Shiny!" ruse for the unawake masses...
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Maybe not cause and effect but the loss of our rights is
coincident with the rise of militarism in this country for the past 40 or so years. Or, maybe it is cause and effect. The Cultural Materialism school of Anthropology would probably argue for cause and effect. As I read it, this discipline predicts the loss of various freedoms as a society militarizes.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
I think the saddest truth of all
is that it's not exactly a conspiracy. The people who get these ideas started sometimes know they are lying about some particular point, but as the ideas are repeated, people come to believe the things that they say.
By the time its gone on for several generations, almost everyone selling this militarism believes it a little themselves. That's why it sort of gains momentum as time goes on. Its a hard thing to stop.
I turned my back to some government pledge
At my daughter's nursing school graduation ceremony. Odd looks from people above me in theater seating. My tiny family made no comment, ever. So I get some respect for weirdness.
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Went to my granddaughter's band concert at her school
last year and they started it out with the Pledge of Allegiance. Gawd, like I'm going to pledge allegiance to some flag now.
As long as I thought it stood for a republic--
I didn't mind.
I would have preferred direct democracy. But I was OK with a republic. Even with a republic that was, at times, corrupt. Like toxic bacteria in a body, a political system can handle a certain amount of corruption, as long as it has a good immune system.
Now that we've dispensed with the notions of liberty, justice, and the republic itself, I see no reason to pledge to something that doesn't exist, or at least doesn't have any relation to the flag. The closest connection I can make between the flag and those three notions is the same as the connection between my grandfather's headstone and my grandfather. At best, the flag is a sign saying HERE THERE USED TO BE A REPUBLIC, AND AN ATTEMPT AT SOMETHING BETTER THAN TYRANNY, BUT THAT'S ALL GONE NOW.
As far as I'm concerned, my various pledges of allegiance over the years mean that I have to oppose basically every mainstream politician up there wearing a flag lapel pin, since none of them apparently supports the idea of a republic, even, much less one "with liberty and justice for all."
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Same as "Freedom isn't Free"
t-shirts, bumperstickers, flags. All saying that we should be good little soldier loving sheep.
Military. It's invaded our public servants, schools, and sports.
I am so sick of the "hometown heroes" at hockey games. They trot out a military person or a cop and we have to stand and clap like a a bunch of idiots.
I'm taking a 99%ers advice and walking the concourse until all that hooplah shit is over. If I make it through the cattle lines of suhcuritee first.
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
Heh, "stand and clap like a bunch of idiots".
Ya, I always look around at the people and that's what it looks like all righty. Like puppets. On cue, ready, CLAP!
I either turn the channel or turn down the volume when they play the national anthem now.
I mean no disrespect.
My husband didn't serve, he was used.
He hates that "thank you for your service" from some clerk who is forced to say it.
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
Co-workers and my boss
have said it to me, and while I was in the Army, it was also during peacetime and I never saw anything remotely like combat. I usually use that "excuse" to tell them it makes me uncomfortable and leave it at that. I want to tell them it sounds phony and condescending as hell, but I try not to get into political arguments at work. Most of the time I just get frustrated with the willful ignorance of people who make those kind of remarks. But how to tell someone that without coming off as some sanctimonious asshole I have yet to figure out. And when politically pissed off, I know damned good and well how sanctimonious I can sound!
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
He's a quiet man.
He rarely says anything. Only time he gets involved in check out lines and the thank you for your service was one the time a customer was just unloading on some kid at a hardware store. Along the lines of, "damn straight I want my veteran's discount, unlike some lazy long haired moocher bum like you."
My husband saw the berating of this young man and so he asked the angry white man, "You served, too? What branch?"
The guy said, "branch? whadda ya mean branch, I'm not a monkey"
So my shy husband asked a bit louder, "What branch of service were you in? Where did you serve?"
The guy lit up. He served everywhere, he jumped out of planes trains and even helicopters.... kept sputtering on and on and then my husband and the guy behind us said that the customer was full of shit and had never served.
Then they guy goes... "well... if I coulda I woulda..." He marched off.
The young clerk was so freaked out. He told us all that that man comes in every freaking Tuesday and gives him shit for not being in the military and instead being in hardware. He's the oldest of a single mom and is going to community college and helping her out.
He thanked us all for getting rid of that liar.
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
Good for your shy husband
on calling out the faker, and in such a way that makes only the faker look bad too. There is much to be said for holding one's tongue sometimes, especially when by doing it you make the other guy look like a complete tool. I love that the clerk got to hear that too. It's important for young people to know who these shills are, and what type of tactics they use.
Now I'm going to laugh my ass off at that faker tool all the rest of the day.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
I worked with a guy who was like that, got a MC Scout Sniper tat
on his arm and always acted the "Gung Ho Jarhead roll." He was this huge guy, like 6'5 and probably 350 pounds plus.
He never was in the military.
I personally think he was using it as cover because in reality he was a coward. He tried to do an intimidation thing on me one day (I am not a small guy myself, but nowhere near his size) and I just calmly and quietly looked at him and said, "Apologize now and walk away or I will do shit to you that would make Mengele weep right now."
I am not trying to come off like I am some badass, I know I probably lost just as many fights as I won growing up in Jersey, (and every loss was always to someone smaller than me, those little guys can be quick, lol!) but I just could never suffer a bully nor ever feared an ass whooping. (on a side note, oddly that was what got me into computers, I used to defend all the "geeks" in my school and get in fights with anyone that bullied them so they started hanging with me and one guy gave me his spare TRS-80, lol!)
Anyway, back to my point.
One day in the equipment room gearing up to do an extraction of an armed inmate when a usually pretty quite older Marine who I was partnered with looked over and saw it and said, "Boy, you better go get that shit covered up with a quickness before some real Scout see's that and removes it for you, with his knife. They take that shit seriously." He didn't seem so much pissed (he wasn't a Scout Sniper) as concerned about his safety despite his douche like actions.
Officer Jackoff then tried to play it off that it was in honor of his father (Who was actually a REMF) and quickly left the room.
About 5 or 6 months later he was out of work for 2 days and returned with a majorly bruised face/eyes, as well as his ribs and sporting a fresh cover up tat to boot.
I guess they do take it seriously, guy just must not have had a knife on him at the time, lol!
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Hmmm, based on the evidence of the cover-up tat and the body
'stresses' having been inflicted within the same 48 hour period, and drawing on the anecdotal evidence a couple friends have related to me about how they are likeliest to wield a 'knife' in these situations, it sounds like some scout kept his knives stashed at the friendly-to-scouts tat parlor in his city. After all, in removing a tat from a frightened and struggling man, you may inadvertently kill him. Not a good risk. If you inflict those 'stresses' on his body and cut the tat out of his unconscious skin in the alley behind the bar where you met him, it could reach the news media. But if you forcibly re-tattoo a restrained and helpless man you can be damned sure he'll never report it on his own. I like scouts. I like how they think.
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The only veterans I've ever said
that to are the older gentlemen, WWII veterans who display their pride in their service by wearing their CV-67 cap or having commemorative license plates. I know they appreciate it.
I'd never say it to anyone else, though. Leaves me feeling sullied with jingoism.
"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained." - Mark Twain
My wingnut SIL with a post-VN shell-shocked hub
is still adamantly pro-military. More so than husband is likely. Another topic we do not discuss.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Nuremberg rallies, now shrunk to convenient halftime format? n/t
Do Not Trust or Be Used In Any U.S. War
Unless it is directly against the Global Bankers.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Qt6a-vaNM width:640 height:480]
The National Anthem
is a celebration of slavery (from The Intercept).
In the War of 1812, the British gave asylum to 6000 American slaves and land to black soldiers who fought for the British against their former masters.
Never realized that. Wow.
Thanks for the link.
Good fucking grief.
The anthem should be changed
to "America The Beautiful" or "This Land Is Your Land" or "Born In The USA" or something more creative.
Beware the bullshit factories.
Billy Bragg's updating The Internationale would be good to
hear at a ballgame. Not too hard to sing and promotes solidarity. (Fat chance of that ever happening!)
It's from his EP The Internationale and it's even on youtube. It'll probably take you back to a more hopeful time.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Jeremiah was a bullfrog
was a good friend of mine. Never understood a single word he said, but I helped him drink his wine.
JOY TO THE WORLD.
That'd be my choice for anthem right after This Land is Your Land
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
I would vote for that.
And he always had some mighty fine wine.
This Land Is Your Land
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yuc4BI5NWU]
Beware the bullshit factories.
"it gets right to the heart of the promise of what this country
was supposed to be about."
Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger are National Treasures
McCarthyism almost did away with them.
I love Springsteen just saw his Wrecking Ball tour. And he talks between each song, reason his shows are 4 hours long LOL
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
Seattle's own Jim Page's version of TLIYL
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txi7y3ZzT8Q]
This Land
come gather round me, hear my sad story
I know you think you've heard some one sing it before me
but it's an old song, I had to change it
times ain't what they used to be
as I went walking that super highway
below the gray haze and sooted skyway
I was arrested for hitch hiking on the freeway
they said it don't belong to me
it ain't my land and it ain't your land
could be a rich land but it's a poor land
'cause of the few that hold it in their tight-gripped hand
so that it don't belong to you or me
when I was younger and in my schooling
I learned and followed by all the rulings
I never dreamed that they were only fooling
how could my teachers lie to me ?
but as time passed and I grew older
and the world around me got a little colder
I heard a voice came calling at my shoulder
said it don't belong to you or me
it ain't my land and it ain't your land
could be a rich land but it's a poor land
'cause of the few that hold it in their tight-gripped hand
so that it don't belong to you or me
from the board rooms of corporations
to the back roads of desperate situations
it's a confused and dis-united nation
all the way from sea to shining sea
from the urban war zones of the busted street lights
to the toxic waste lands of Nevada Test Sites
from the open strip mines to the clear cut forests
oh it's a sad sight to see
I see the downsize, I see the layoffs
the corporate welfare, politician's payoffs
I see the breadlines that never make the headlines
'cause they're no so entertaining on TV
when they can reduce you to just a number
when they can knock you down and they can plow you under
and when the only thing that matters is the dollar
then you know it don't belong to you or me
it ain't my land and it ain't your land
could be a rich land but it's a poor land
'cause of the few that hold it in their tight-gripped hand
so that it don't belong to you or me
there was a time when this song was greater
but that was then, and this is later
and there's a hole in my heart that's like a crater
and they say it's gonna be the death of me
let's take this song back, let's take this country
take back our future, it's our duty
let's stand up tall so that everyone can see
then this land will belong to you and me
and it will be your land and it will be my land
from California to the New York Island
from the redwood forests to the gulf stream waters
this land will belong to you and me
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
I kinda like O Canada
I know the first few lines, anyway. True patriots, of all thy sons command.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Been a hockey fan so long
I think I can sing O Canada in French by now.
It's much better than, "bombs bursting in air and rockets red glare" blech.
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
My two suggestions for a national anthem
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbqL7hFTooA]
Him who want total control
Always lose control
Some always lose their soul
For silver and gold
Silver and gold are by none
Was in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth
Rise up and walk, rise up and walk
Rise up and walk, rise up and walk
A weepin' time, weepin' time, and reapin' time
Weepin' time and creepin' time
Reap what you sow
and this:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDE4LHpK9dU]
And so it's three A.M., I'm out walking again.
I'm just a spot on the sidewalk in a city of sin.
He doesn't give a fuck, he's living under a truck.
You know it coulda been me, guess it's just my luck.
But I swear I hear the sidewalk talkin' to me,
Singing to the rhythm of the beat of my feet,
And I swear I hear the sidewalk singing to me:
Keep on, keep on, keep on.
Still in Hollywood
Oh WOW! Thought I'd be out of here by now.
Still in Hollywood!
My, my I'm running on a wheel and I don't know why
I don't know why.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
It's kind of weird to assume that the Brits were the good
guys in that regard, given that slavery was still legal at Britain at that point.
This just looks like a pragmatic military move to me.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Well, they HAD banned the slave trade in 1807
And started actively pursuing slavers with the Royal Navy in 1808.
Admittedly they didn't really go after it as hard as they could until the Jamaican Rebellions and they realized the cost was too high to keep slaves.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Yeah, but hadn't banned slavery
till 1833.
Anyway, the US banned the slave trade about the same time the Brits did. Act Prohibiting Import of Slaves or some such thing. Really, there isn't any Good Brit! No Like Slavery! vs Bad Yank! DO Like Slavery! to be had, here. Like I said, it was a smart military move on the Brits' part--give 'em a better deal in exchange for fighting for you. I salute the intelligent policy, but it's silly to try and get morality out of it.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Most nations banned the slave trade shortly after 1804
when the slaves in Haiti won their freedom.
"A musical atrocity as well as a moral one"
The Star Spangled Banner's music is that of an old British drinking song "Anacreon in Heaven", which was deliberately written to be un-singable by any single person, especially when drunk.
Completely unsuitable for a national anthem -- a piece of music that the entire nation should be able to sing easily.
America the Beautiful is such a piece of music; it is entirely the produce of this nation; and it carries no such baggage as The Star Spangled Banner does. It really ought to be the anthem......
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
"To Anacreon in Heaven" is a *protest song*
and what the writer was protesting was a government ban on the immemorial custom of tavernkeepers also keeping prostitutes on the premises for the convenience of customers.
"He who will an alehouse keep must have three things in store,
A chamber and a featherbed, a chimney and a - Hey nonny nonny, hey nonny nonny, hey nonny nonny no." (Traditional - pre-18th century - round)
Just what did you think that "entwine / the myrtle of Venus with Bacchus' wine" beeswax was about, anyway?
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
a chamber and a .....
Which is still un-singable by any single voice. If you can make a clean hit on the note on the first "say" and/or "gleaming", you'll crack the note on "free", and vice-versa.
No matter how you examine it, it's a musical atrocity. And the tune is entirely the produce of the nation which we're trying to celebrate our independence from.
Of course, I'm biased in favor of America the Beautiful. Music and lyrics alike made in the USA. Not just in the USA, either, but specifically at the summit of Pike's Peak. (I'm from Colorado Springs, Colorado, so I admit this is a hometown thing for me.....)
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
The national anthem no more
The national anthem no more celebrates slavery or the killing of blacks than Hillary's critics hate her because she's a woman. I can't believe this bullshit is actually getting traction. Some people will believe anything, I guess.
They're trying to make hay out of turnip greens.
It doesn't work. The media is the voice of the elite, so, of course, they are going to get all excited about his stance. He's got the courage of his convictions and I applaud him. I have never thanked any military person for serving because I know they are tools being used for the elite and not for we, the people. Bad economies are on purpose so that the poor will choose the military. Where is that getting us? Into deep shit with other countries because we think we are the rulers of the world. Fuck that shit.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
The greatest disrespect
for our service men and women comes from the power elites who will stop at nothing to play out their global adventures; unnecessarily putting the service in harms way. Having them come back with all manner of psychological problems. Not to mention the just plain wholesaie murder of countless innocents. Anything so that the MIC can continue to raid the treasury.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Mandatory loyalty
is an interesting concept. I don't think it is legally enforceable in the USA, but I could be wrong. In grade school during the 50's, all us kids had to recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day, with our hands placed over our hearts. This was not optional. Then they stuck God Himself in there.
"... and to the Republic for which it stands". But if the Flag is to stand for the Republic, what does the Republic stand for? Aye, there's the rub. Must it also include standing for "the Long War", the CIA, the NSA, the black ops, the legalized torture, the rigged elections, the "defense" industry, and all the rest of it? Allegiance to all that?
Ah, the beloved National Anthem...with it's problematic lyrics. And it's not at all easy to sing the bloody tune either. Now solidarity can be a fine and useful, at times even a necessary thing - but it does have its limits. And America's professional warmongers have been overplaying their hand for far too a long time now. IMO somebody(s) need to stand up (or refuse to stand up) and call them out on it.
native
I don't believe it's legally
I don't believe it's legally enforceable per se, but the parts of the country where they'll try to enforce it anyway are the same ones where most folks won't work too hard to defend your freedom to abstain, if you get me. From time to time I hear about some kid getting in trouble for it.
Missing lyrics from the Star Spangled Banner:
According to Shaun King:
I guess that's the credo we've been living by all this time.
Beware the bullshit factories.
Flags aren't worth dying for
There's never been a piece of cloth worth dying for.
And why is it necessary to play the national anthem as a sporting event anyway? Much less stand up for it.
I get asked if I want the Veteran's Discount
I find this question disturbing on so many levels. The fact that I am not a Veteran in the way the questioner expects is just a small part of my discomfort.
I suspect, "Would you like the Veteran's Discount?" is only asked of old white guys, but I could be wrong.
I think you're right.
At my old grocery job
on Veteran's discount day, we had to ask that. I rarely did. But then I'd have to recheck at the end because they'd go, "did you get my discount?" No. Did you tell me? So that is why most ask. To not have to redo everything.
Most suspect older, white guys are Veterans. But most of our veterans that came through our lines were under the age of 30 and mostly female.
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
(No subject)
They say that there's a broken light for every heart on Broadway
They say that life's a game and then they take the board away
They give you masks and costumes and an outline of the story
And leave you all to improvise their vicious cabaret-- A. Moore
It's a free country
or so we are told, I too am a non war vet (although I rarely tell anyone) and it doesn't bother me a bit I applaud him. I'm also starting to feel very uneasy about all this flag waving as someone stated earlier its not a good thing. Maybe we should all fly or wear the flag upside down. A symbol of distress !
You are not replying to me but to be clear:
The word means far more than what too many think it means.
ANTONYMS novice.
I started feeling uneasy about this flag waving in the 1960s. Oh yea, I tried the inverted flag bit for a **short** time . . . I prefer to stay alive, but not at the expense of another's life . . . there are some rather violent individuals in the world . . .
Well PriceRip
then I guess that would make me a vet of many different things as well as a military veteran.
Precisely
Our Peace vigil
regularly encountered this same kind of brainwashing of the masses. Although the majority of people that we met seemed to have caught on to the scam that is war, we still had some who told us that we were disrespecting all those who served and died in wars. It took a lot of patience to tell these folks that we actually supported those who were in the military and wanted to keep them safe by bringing every last one of them home.
The brainwashing of Americans is rampant. I blame the concept of American exceptionalism which has taught every one of us from early childhood that somehow we are better than every one else in the world. You see that narrow mindedness among people who have never traveled out side the United States and actually talked to people of other countries.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
I think if Kaepernick is the starting quarterback
He's going to get really loud supporting cheers in a lot of stadiums.
Beware the bullshit factories.
In those videos of people burning Kaepernick jerseys
The white people, and in every video I've seen they are all white, doing the burning might as well be wearing white sheets and hoods as 49ers jerseys.
" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "
A Child Of A Few Hours is Burning To Death
[video:https://youtu.be/86CgUzQjFhU]
A child of a few hours
Is burning to death
Her eyes are full of smoke
Her mouth is full of fire
Napalm is perfect
For women and children
Forgive us, Forgive us
We should have called Suzy and Bobby
They like to watch fires
Pretend it's not happening
It will be clipped
Out of tomorrow's new show
After the funeral after the feast
With so many bodies at our feet
We should have called Suzy and Bobby
They like to watch fires
We all are nothing
But soft moist people
With soft moist hands
Folded over our buttons
Silently sleeping
Doing nothing
We should have called Suzy and Bobby
They like to watch fires
A child of a few hours
Is burning to death
Her eyes are full of smoke
Her mouth is full of fire
Napalm is perfect
For women and children
Forgive us, Forgive us
C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote