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One Marine’s ‘Liberty Walk’ for the Rest of Us
Bell, who lives in Lansing, N.Y., is the new face of resistance. He is young, at home in the culture of the military, deeply suspicious of the federal government, disgusted by the liberal elite, unable to find work and angry. He swings between right-wing and left-wing populism, expressing admiration for Reps. Paul and Dennis Kucinich and the tea party movement. He started out as a supporter of John McCain in the last presidential election but soured on the Arizona senator and the Republican Party’s ties to Wall Street. He did not vote in that election. He has raised about $1,000 from neighbors and friends for his own campaign. He is adept at martial arts and made it to the semifinals of the 2010 Army National Guard Combative Championship at Fort Benning in Georgia, in which, in his last bout, he suffered a broken nose, bruised his opponent’s ribs and thighs and lost in a split decision.
Bell grew up in Oakwood, Texas, a small town in East Texas between Dallas and Houston. His father was an alcoholic, and his parents frequently separated and reunited. They divorced when he was 13. His mother raised Bell, his younger brother, who is currently in the Army’s 82nd Airborne, and his younger sister in a tiny one-bedroom apartment. There was little money, and his mother worked off and on at odd jobs. There were 18 people in his high school graduating class and, with no real jobs in Oakwood, Bell, along with a few of his classmates, joined the military.
“You couldn’t stay in Oakwood, Texas, and have a job,” he said flatly.
“I got out of the Marine Corps and went back to Texas for 10 months and was involved in the John McCain campaign,” he said. “I really got disillusioned with the neoconservatism. I had never been involved in politics. The idea that we needed all these troops all around the world defending freedom, as they called it, when we were actually engaged in nation-building and supporting special interests that drive these wars, was something I began to understand. As far as foreign and economic policy, I could see there was no difference between the two main political parties. There is a false left-right paradigm which diverts the working class from the real reasons for their hardships.”
“I just walked through the town of Norwich,” he told me as a car passed and the driver honked his support for Bell, “and there is a strong tea party movement there. The tea party movement, for the most part, is just a bunch of disgruntled Americans. They know something is wrong and they are ready to be engaged. A lot of the people in my area who are in the tea party are Democrats. People are confused. They are shellshocked. They don’t know what to think. But acting like these problems started Jan. 20 [the date of the presidential inauguration] is absurd. To single out the current president and not the presidents before him is not productive for trying to figure out what is going on.”
Bell’s own employment struggle mirrors that of many of his neighbors. He moved to upstate New York two years ago after leaving the Marine Corps to be near Shianne, his 3-year-old daughter. He and the girl’s mother are separated. Bell found work as a carpenter with a traveling construction crew. He earned $14.50 an hour and could sometimes make as much as $800 a week. Then the financial meltdown knocked the wind out of the local economy.
“Everybody in my apartment building has had their hours cut, are unemployed or have taken minimum-wage jobs,” he said. “I was laid off last year. I try to find work as an independent carpenter. I don’t have health insurance.”
The dearth of work, which left him attempting to survive at times on $600 a month, saw him enlist last year in the New York National Guard, even though it means almost certain deployment to Afghanistan. The enticement of a $20,000 signing bonus was too lucrative to pass up. The National Guard unit he joined recently returned from a tour in Afghanistan.
“We are training to go back to Afghanistan,” he said. “The fact that they are still using Army National Guard, state-level troops, to police the streets of Afghanistan is not good. These units are really overstretched. We do not get the benefits. We don’t get health insurance like active-duty military. But the guard gets deployed just as much. Some of these guys have been on three and four tours.”
“The winters [in New York state] are really hard,” Bell said. “There are less jobs and the heating costs are high. I pay about $200 a month for electric and gas. I live really cheaply. I don’t have cable. I don’t go out or spend money that is not necessary. It is a struggle. But at least I have not had to devote 40 hours a week to a minimum-wage job that does not pay me a living wage. People here are really hurting. The real underemployment rate must be at least 20 percent. A lot of people are working part-time jobs when they want full-time jobs. There are many people like me, independent contractors and small business owners, who can’t file for unemployment insurance. Unemployment [coverage] is not available to me because I worked as a ‘1099,’ a self-employed contractor, even when I worked for the construction company.”
“People are scared,” he said. “They want to live their lives, raise their children and be happy. This is not possible. They don’t know if they can make their next mortgage payment. They see their standard of living going down.”
Bell said that he and those around him were being pushed off the edge. He said he feared that the social and political repercussions would be unpleasant.
“I hope there is a populist revolution,” he said. “We have to take the corporate bailouts and the money we are sending overseas and use that money in our communities. If this does not happen there will be more anger and eventually violence. When people lose everything they start to ‘lose it.’ When you can’t find a job, even though you look repeatedly, it leads to things like random shootings and suicides. We will see acts of domestic terrorism. The state will erode more of our civil liberties to control mass protests. We are seeing some student protests, but we will see these on a wider scale. I hope the protests will be constructive. I hope people will not resort to extreme measures. But people will do what they have to do to survive. This may mean things like food riots. The political establishment better work very fast to take the pressure off.”
166 Comments so far
Show AllOne of the best things that could happen would be an education and cooption of the Tea Party! Difficult yes.
Impossible maybe not.
Congratulations!
There is no doubt in my mind that Ernest Bell is a real hero and he should be praised and credited for being a progressive despite being in the military. I don't know how the military trains these good lads but he has developed the level of self-confidence every individual progressive and liberal. What he needs is a bigger team of followers who are also self-confident and have the team confidence. See, most of us on CD in addition to Chris Hedges and Ernest Bell are not afraid to admit what is going on and the real solutions that are needed. Where I think they reach their limitation is when they fall into the conservative frame on going it alone and this is dangerous because if they don't have a team to back them up and fight together, most of these brave nonconformists who try to fight for the good causes alone lose their self-confidence as society and/or the authorities themselves persecute them.
This may not make sense at first but without proper self-confidence there can be no proper team confidence to do the right thing. Just ask the blind party loyalists who express no confidence or hope in getting a progressive or liberal cause to see the light of day. They will unexpectedly have the team confidence to get the wrong people elected to office, unintentionally or otherwise.
Building the proper self confidence to fight for the right causes is only step one. Step two, and most brave progressives often make the mistake of omitting this one, is the need to organize and build team confidence to make the push for the progressive or liberal cause to succeed. Dennis Kucinich kept trying to bring single payer health care to the table but after John Conyers abandoned it completely and his cosponsors backed away one by one, somewhere Kucinich slowly lost his self-confidence and then he lost his mind and not only caved in to supporting the regressive alternative but he also crossed the line and wrongly drummed up the needed support to barely get it to pass in the House. As the late Howard Zinn once said
"We don't have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world."
The day progressives and liberals realize that both self-confidence and team confidence go hand in hand and unite is the day they will beat the conservatives. Until then, we can only mourn for our heroes that society continues to put down.
Stanley1979
Its a shame others at CD can't see simple truths that you do.
I thought that a few others here on CD do. As for the rest, I can only hope that this will give them some food for thought. I will give them credit though for being very informative on a lot of issues and matters. I couldn't see a lot of this deeply without them. Knowledge can be overwhelming but it can also be a life saver.
P.S.: Next week my niece's long lost relatives from Europe and South Africa who came with her for a short visit to the US will be going with me to a few other states including Texas and California for a week and a half of vacation. Surprisingly, they're eager to explore those two states despite being happy foreigners. This could get interesting. :)
Stanley1979
Hey now! They will love Texas! Maybe you should allow them just a day in California. (LOL)
4 days in Colorado, 3 in Montana, 4 in Texas, and 3 in California. We have relatives in each of those states too. One of my visiting European relatives comes from Poland and is somewhat conservative (European conservative not American type) so I think he will like Texas and the rest of the midwestern visit but the other 3 are open-minded as well. Thanks.
P.S.: Ok, it's two weeks, not a week and a half. Silly me.
"But acting like these problems started Jan. 20 [the date of the presidential inauguration] is absurd. To single out the current president and not the presidents before him is not productive for trying to figure out what is going on."
A very astute observation for someone so young. Bell is obviously an individual whose exceptional intelligence and maturity do not reflect his humble origins.
The only suggestion that I would make to Bell is to look beyond the federal government to the corporate forces that are pulling the strings.
q
I would dispute that suggestion as one who has worked with the federal government as a contractor in various departments. From politicians to the people in charge of the departments and agencies, the corporate forces are given an easy pass while everyone else isn't. Without government the corporate forces wouldn't be as strong as they are today. Our nation is a lost soul as it is and for government to evade responsibility and not only allow but also reward corporations for breaking the law is giving the honorable workers and soldiers the middle finger. As has been discussed earlier, what the government and the corporate forces are doing is very unconstitutional and this has to stop.
"From politicians to the people in charge of the departments and agencies, the corporate forces are given an easy pass while everyone else isn't."
And why do you suppose that this statement is true? Those "politicians" and "people in charge of the departments and agencies" who let the corporations slide are simply following orders. They're looking forward to using the revolving door.
q
Well? Leaders have a job to do and they wield more power than they would like to have us believe. I wouldn't count on the corporations to stop the revolving door but the politicians have the power to stop it any day and the sooner they step up to the plate, the better.
quickstepper
Bell is not that unusual. He is fairly typical of the thinking in mainstream America.
Mr. Bell is quite correct that it is the government he must correct, no matter who is pulling the strings. Without the government no Corporation, no idealogues could fulfill their agenda.
This is simply one of the folks that many here and certainly the liberal elites who have rightfully earned his contempt call stupid, ignorant, sheeple and worse.
I doubt Mr. Bell is interested in assigning blame, he just wants it fixed and he is doing what he can. I'd be proud to walk with this young man.
"Without the government no Corporation, no idealogues could fulfill their agenda."
They most certainly could. Read your labor and industrial era history for examples of what corporation look like with no government involvement. The simply hire the Pinkertons or other mercenaries. Sure, corporations could be regulated better, but are you proposing abolishing all government regulation?
pjd412
"but are you proposing abolishing all government regulation?"
Good God NO!
At this point we need more regulation and oversight in the appropriate places (economic). Unregulated capitalism like this is a killer. It serves the wrong masters.
I was trying to point out that control of the government needs to be returned to the American cirtizen. That if the citizen controls government instead of
Corporation's and idealogues, then they could do nothing to steal from the public purse nor could they refuse to do their civic duty.
Darn hard to get a private army like the Pinkertons together if the government is doing its job.
Too late. The article mentions the fact that the U.S. military is spread so thin that they're sending state-level National Guardsmen to police Afghanistan. This has been happening for a very long time now, and in fact Mercenaries aren't just used overseas, but here at home for disaster duty (Katrina). My guess is that in this climate it is all too easy to enlist people to work as a merc for 70K$ per year, with benefits, and to police American streets. Pinkertons are here already. The Government is surely not doing the job for which it advertises itself.
But I do like seeing this article here at CD. I'm glad to see that I haven't been completely wrong about the Teabaggers not being utterly and completely filled with neocon born-againers waving swastikas and AR-15's. I've been hoping that there would be a way for people on both the right and left in this country to work together and deal with common grievances against our government, and the corporate criminals they've been assisting. The press for the better part of the last year has seemed designed to divide poor people from each other to keep them from mobilizing. I'm sure a lot of that is going on, and it absolutely must fail.
No, in fact they could not. Corporations are chartered by government. They are creatures of the State. Without the State, corporations could not exist, let alone "fulfill their agenda."
The trick is to get libertarians to see the logical conclusion of their philosophy. You can't do that without engaging them respectfully and logically.
William Rood, patriotic citizen of the world
Does anyone know the figures for black male unemployment figures? I think this is a good time to think about the high level of unemployment for black males, always!, not just now. We must see "this" as a serious issue! Where is the same outrage of their desperation when black american males end up in gangs dealing drugs?
Double Helix
I believe it was around 26% the last time I saw a figure. But that is just an average. Some cities have been as high as 60% like Milwaukee. Northern areas seem higher as a whole. But I believe Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia were around 20%.
The outrage is about all American workers and that includes "black" workers. The reasons their unemployment is higher is fairly obvious and can be corrected. Latino's aren't far behind.
Wow, interesting how our area is so out there in the news today.
Yes, I like what this young man is saying, especially when he addresses that the problems started long ago, not just with this president. Yes, I am very disappointed with what Obama hasn't been doing and with a lot of what he has. It is very evident that the walls are crumbling down around us. The question is, what will be the response from the people AND frm the government. There could be a hammer down response, with even more loss of our constitutional rights.
I do not like the idea, however of aligning myself with the Tea Party movement. It's really a mixed bag, too many people who are just spouting assumptions. Maybe this will change, but for now...
This is a great article. As one who has tried reaching out to Tea Party people many times, I agree that it's difficult. Many have bought the War on Terror, (and/or Communist menace) paradigms the fascists are selling. They will say things like, "Small government refers to welfare, bailouts and regulations, not to national defense."
Still, we have to try. People like Bell, and his counterparts in African-American and Latino communities, are our only hope, IMO. If we reach out openly, without an air of superiority, we can sometimes connect.
David
Wow, last week it was Naomi Wolf and now Hedges with a nod to Libertarians and the 'legitimate gripes' of tea partiers. This in the wake of a multi-week shitstorm on this site over health care.
So let's review, class. Libertarians are not only against single payer, they despise any help the government might lend towards citizens exploited by insurance giants. Libs will tell you it's because we haven't had ENOUGH free market that health care is in shambles. The claim is that our government has prevented competition across state lines (anti-trust exemption), therefore price and service suffer. The theory is that once the two dozen or so companies which rule health care are forced to compete, all the high premiums, pre-existing condition and claim denials, and ever-increasing premiums and deductibles will magically disappear. Yeah, just like your cable, phone and electric rates plummeted with all the fine competition.
What will happen is a short-term improvement for customers but eventually one company buys out the other or there's collusion - ala' the oil cartel - and we're back in the same place we started - hell. Bedrock rights like health care, education, transportation, public lands and a few others are too important to a minimum of quality life to leave to corporations whose ONLY goal is maximum profits. Their allegiance doesn't even extend to its workers. Only stockholders and executive compensation matter. Quite the moral bunch to trust with health care.
Why didn't Wolf and Hedges give some print to a Green Party candidate to effect change? With all the racism, xenophobia and war loving these tea party types reek with, why give them a word of legitimacy? As for Libertarian support, yeah, I guess corporations and the wealthy pay too much taxes and there are too many onerous regulations on things like pollution, food inspection and worker safety. Ask a Lib what they think of unions, social security, medicare or common ownership like national parks. Man, it's like the failures and wealth redistribution (upward) of Coolidge, Reagan, Bush and the Chicago boys' disaster in Chile never happened.
I don't know about Wolf but if you had read Hedges's earlier articles, he expressed his strong support for the Green Party and especially Cynthia Mckinney. I'm with you on the odd support of Libertarians and Tea Party but when people are left dry by their supposed representation, they will feel like having to turn to someone or a party that will make them feel better even if it doesn't make them better. It may be crazy to see our fellow progressives and liberals joining the Libertarians and Tea Party rallies but when even the best progressives in Washington such as Kucinich and Sanders do nothing to stop the war and even pull an "Et tu brute" on caving in to the most regressive health care scam on this planet, then who can blame those disaffected people?
and now Hedges with a nod to Libertarians and the 'legitimate gripes' of tea partiers.
-------------------
Hedges is telling this man's story.
He's not editorializing.
True libertarians are very principled and analytical. You need to engage them instead of calling them names. Point out that corporations are chartered by -- created by -- the State. Most monopolies are granted by the State. Explain to them that all markets are regulated. The only real question is who is to be served by that regulation. Dean Baker had an excellent article a week or two ago on Counterpunch, "The Myth of Market Fundamentalism."
They also believe in the corporation. Did you know that the Kucinich Amendment to mandate ERISA waivers for state single-payer systems was voted out of committee with many Republican votes. They liked the fact it was devolving power from the Federal Government back to the states. Pelosi stripped it out of the bill. I have a libertarian friend who's always complaining about the nanny state. He wants single-payer and believes private health insurance should be banned entirely. That goes far beyond the people who are calling for Medicare for all. So who is really most opposed to single-payer?
On education, do you agree with "Race to the Top" that uses Federal stimulus funds to force expansion of charter (private) schools? If not, start reminding conservatives and libertarians that they once were for banning the Department of Education, so why did Bush and the Republicans pass NCLB?
William Rood, patriotic citizen of the world
Anti-republocrat, where did I call Libertarians names?
"I have a libertarian friend who's always complaining about the nanny state. He wants single-payer and believes private health insurance should be banned entirely. That goes far beyond the people who are calling for Medicare for all. So who is really most opposed to single-payer?"
Your friend is like no Libertarian I've debated nor does he resemble any of their literature. Check the Cato Institute or read the works of Milton Friedman to see what they think of a government program like single payer. The only things the Libertarians - who I'm familiar with - favor re government involvement are defense, the legal system, infrastructure and other minor areas. Anything else and you're on your own. It's certainly one way to run a country (or family) but it's not the world I'd like to inhabit. The government (us, collectively) is the most effective check on corporate power/ruling elites. Libs will say abuses can be controlled by your personal choices but we could do that now, couldn't we? I'd love to live in a world of small businesses and worker-run companies that considers both community and individual needs, and organizes our priorities in better balance with business. I don't believe unfettered capitalism will get us there.
Lastly, what exactly peeves your friend about the think-tank term 'nanny state'?
It read like you were lumping libertarians together with "...all the racism, xenophobia and war loving these tea party types reek with...."
Actually, I myself ran for state legislature as a Libertarian in 1982. I had become disgusted with BOTH Democrats and Republicans even back then. Neither had/have any principles their willing to risk losing an election for, and the rank and file of both parties are mainly concerned with whose ox is being gored. I was desperately looking for a political philosophy that could be used to guide officeholders to make public policy decisions based on principle rather than campaign contributions. Such a philosophy based on maximizing freedom had a great deal of attraction.
There were some planks in the Libertarian platform I was uncomfortable with. For example, their arguments against anti-trust laws seemed a stretch. But I could also see the validity of their argument that most monopolies are actually granted by government, and they oppose that. They basically argue that there's no such thing as a natural monopoly, because you can always choose an alternative product or do without. I don't buy it, and I think you can argue against it logically. I've always thought that natural monopolies should be government run or at least regulated, but regulatory capture makes the latter impractical. I've recently concluded that due to the nature of risk management, insurance is a natural monopoly.
Actually, the greatest blind spot of both libertarians and progressives is the failure to understand that corporations are creations of government. In common law, there are only sole proprietors and partnerships. In both cases, the owners of a business are 100% personally liable for debts and damages caused by the business. Limited liability corporations are a special privilege granted by government enabling a group of investors to form an entity that assumes all liabilities generated by their business activity beyond the value of their shares. The corporate charters that grant that immunity are creations of government. You need to inform libertarians that if they're going to be true to their principles, then they need to abolish corporations entirely, a scary thought indeed. On the other hand, I've seen elsewhere on this thread a statement by someone asserting that government "saved us" from corporations during the progressive era when things like the ICC, FDA and anti-trust laws were created. Nonsense. We wouldn't have need to be "saved" from the corporations if government hadn't created them in the first place.
It's this blind-spot regarding the Statist nature of corporations that allows libertarianism to be hijacked by the likes of Friedman and the Cato Institute. Most libertarians are instinctively for the little guy, small business, against the onerous regulations, licensing and tax codes that make things very difficult for small business but are easily handled by large corporations with their armies of accountants, lawyers and MBAs. If you explain to them that the root of their problem is the corporate charter, that corporations are not people and that it's possible for government to regulate corporations without regulating sole proprietors and partnerships, I think many would listen. But the fact that progressives are also blind to this reality means that those arguments are rarely presented to libertarians or Tea Partiers.
I suggest you read an article by Dean Baker titled "The Myth of Market Fundamentalism" at http://www.counterpunch.org/baker04072010.html. I also recently ran across an article outlining a libertarian oriented argument for single-payer health insurance. It basically expands on the thought that insurance is a natural monopoly. I think the friend I mentioned has a gut level understanding of that. That article can be found at http://www.singlepayeraction.org/blog/?p=2449
I like what you said at the end about small business and worker-run companies (syndicalism?). The problem is not unfettered capitalism, but corporatism. You need to deal with libertarians by explaining that truly unfettered capitalism would have to mean the end of corporations and the pseudo-market mechanisms that transfer wealth upward and concentrate it.
William Rood, patriotic citizen of the world
These guys aren't heroes; they're more like mercenaries. Taking a $20,000 sign-on bonus given by a government you hate to enlist in that same government's "war" that you don't support doesn't promote much sympathy. He knows he may have go over and perhaps kill innocent Afghanis so he can have a bonus and a steady job and not work 40 hours a week at a minimum wage job. How can these guys love the military and hate the fed, when both organizations are synonymous at this point.
The Tea Party is the party of right wing nut racists. They are the same people who were yelling the n word at black congressmen as they entered the Capitol during the health care vote.
And the Libertarian Party may want to end foreign engagements and dissolve the federal reserve, but they are supposedly strict constitutionalists who want to openly bear side arms and have no government restrictions on buying guns. They also would try to dissolve as much government aid to the American people as possible, especially welfare programs and healthcare.
These two guys are just angry and politically confused, which is a bad combination.
And is your experience in this area is?
And the point of your snarky comments is?
By the way I have to both applaud Mr. Bell's opposition to the war and at the same time agree with his detractors when they point out that citing financial need as a reason to take a second tour with the national guard points to a serious weakness of character given his opposition to the war. Either way, I still ultimately have to lend full (fool?) support to any1 who claims to oppose the war and runs for office. The real question is whether the anti-war opinion survives even the first few days in office.
Well guess what - you can oppose the war and still be a progressive and vote Green Party!
I notice you didn't answer any of my questions on fiscal policy but merely pointed out one of the few areas where the tea partiers and Libs share common ground with progressives. THAT'S my point. Give you another chance to tell us what you'd do about health care and the other issues I listed.
I agree with the so-called left in the Democratic Party being phonies. But why on earth would I subscribe to a regressive philosophy promulgated by the likes of Sarah Palin and Ron Paul? They're Republican lite and when November rolls around, Sister Sarah and the Randians will call everyone into the fold to vote for the R's. They'll tell you they don't agree with all of the policies on the docket, but we'll 'fix that later'. For now vote out the evil D's. Hmmm, that sounds familiar...
Why do you lump Paul and Palin together? They're different as night and day.
Make no mistake about this. The #1 issue facing Americans today is Militarism and Empire. It makes no difference whether you believe government should, to the best of society's ability, guarantee to all people willing to put one foot in front of another a decent standard of living including adequate food, shelter and medical care, and guarantee a decent education to all children, as I do; or whether you agree with libertarians that we should trust society to do those things without the intervention of government. Whichever you believe, it really makes no difference.
If government is bankrupting society by spending more than the rest of the world combined on the military and destroying societies on the other side of the world, society will not have the resources to care for its people, regardless whether government is involved in that care or not.
And when America has collapsed entirely, and Americans are destitute, there will be no sympathy in the rest of the world, nor should there be.
So I suggest that those of you who give a flying f___ about yourselves or your fellow citizens concentrate your minds and come to an understanding of who, and what the enemy actually is, and what it is that poses the gravest threat to all Americans as well as people on the other side of the world.
William Rood, patriotic citizen of the world
EricGregory
I don't feel its snarky at all. I simply want to know the basis they form their opiniion on. I am tired of people with absolutely no experience, no knowledge except books and lectures and no real world experience commenting on things they know nothing about. Hence the question. And I think its a fair question.
If you feel serving reflects a weakness of character, I'd suggest you don't serve. Till you do however I'd reserve my critical comments about others. Its like calling someone a hero when you have no idea what a hero really is. Mr. Bell is no hero, he is simply a fine young man. And I'd allow him to take my back going up the trail.
What welfare programs? Clinton (Democrat) abolished them. What healthcare? Clinton lowered reimbursement rates for Medicare.
William Rood, patriotic citizen of the world
That's true, Clinton was one the best the republicans ever had, and they still spit on him. But there are some social programs left, even if it is neigh impossible to get on them, such as medicaid. But the point is, I have no common ground with these guys when they know what there doing is wrong and they do it anyway, just for the money.
I would vote for any marine or soldier who stood up to the murderers and rapists that are in the military and did something about them. There is no question that Mr. Bell was aware of these tragedies and did nothing about them.
This article belongs in Stars and Stripes, not a progressive column site.
So, Mr. Bell is against the war now that he is out. The war in Iraq was illegal as defined by Kofi Annan in 2004. He went into the military knowing that he was going to engage in illegal activity. Hero? Not likely.
Heroes are folks like Hugh Thompson, the soldier who ordered fire upon US Charlie company and Lt. Calley when they were murdering innocent civilians in My Lai. Or, Lt. Ehren Watada, who not only risked his career in the military but jail time as well to speak against the illegal war in Iraq.
I have little to no respect for Bell and his ilk. I want to see real courage, not the typical soldier mentality of shoot em up, leave the service, then complain about it.
And you know this how?
"So, Mr. Bell is against the war now that he is out. The war in Iraq was illegal as defined by Kofi Annan in 2004. He went into the military knowing that he was going to engage in illegal activity. Hero? Not likely."
Exactly
"Heroes are folks like Hugh Thompson, the soldier who ordered fire upon US Charlie company and Lt. Calley when they were murdering innocent civilians in My Lai. Or, Lt. Ehren Watada, who not only risked his career in the military but jail time as well to speak against the illegal war in Iraq."
Couldn't have said it better. I went CO after being in country for 6 mo. and realizing the disconnect between what we were being told vs what we were seeing.
Buffy St. Marie's (Universal Soldier) comes to mind.
Accepting that we have a de facto draft and a powerful corporate MSM propaganda machine, wrong is wrong.
Right on! Mookie
Mookie says: "[Lt Bell] went into the military knowing that he was going to engage in illegal activity. Hero? Not likely." Many of us who opposed the war from the get go (and, in my case, paid the career-price), feel that those in the military display the traditional honor of the military: the country tells them where its defense interests lay, and they [specifically] don't ask why, they just go there and lay down their lives for it. That is the unfortunate tradition of the military: it is on the front line, where doubts are lethal. I think its completely acceptable, in these bizarre employment circumstances, for people to simply not question the war until their tour is done.
norske (below) says: "Accepting that we have a de facto draft and a powerful corporate MSM propaganda machine, wrong is wrong." Your own words tell the lie to them: if we have a defacto draft and a powerful propaganda machine, then right is wrong and wrong is right. THAT is the purpose of these things. It really IS the long term work on those of us who value democracy, to keep that environment from happening.
There's a saying in thermodynamics: 'every system falls toward its environment' (a rough translation of the 2nd law, applied to individual systems with single environments). Roughly translated, that means: your environment is BIGGER than you are, you ARE going to go where it says to go. A consequence of this is: if you want to change yourself, you must change your environment (there is no other permanent way). This flies into the face of 200 years of American individualism, but there it is.
But, also, I think its incorrect (not just impolite) to blame individuals for their lack of fortitude, when subjected to the 24/7 media BLITZ that flooded American households post-9/11 through their televisions. Faced with that... UR going to join... happily. (unless you had the fortune to have contact with other, more reasonable memes, which few Americans did at the time).
ubrew12
Thanks for your clarity.
"feel that those in the military display the traditional honor of the military: the country tells them where its defense interests lay, and they [specifically] don't ask why, they just go there and lay down their lives for it. That is the unfortunate tradition of the military: it is on the front line, where doubts are lethal."
I'm frankly amazed at the understanding you expressed in your last four words. Someting that so very few seem able to comprehend as liberals and especially on the left. Not that you care, but allow me to say I'm quite impressed, quite!
I would like to suggest its only an "unfortunate tradition" when its used by cowards and poltroons like Clinton, Bush, Cheney and Obama where it should not be used.
Peace my friend and my respects.
I can sympathize with his problems - they are all over America. As much as I sympathize, Mr Bell and others like him seem to not quite understand that when they join the US military; they are joining the world's largest terrorist organization. When you join terrorists, you may be a 'nice guy', but there can easily be consequences. Like murder and ptsd.
I agree wholeheartedly with you and others who've expressed zero sympathy for someone who would rejoin the military for economic reasons, and willingly be sent back to Afghanistan to possibly wind up harming innocents.
The trouble I'm having with all of this anti-teabagger press is that there are an awful lot of them, and I don't believe they are all outright racist fascists. While many of them hold political views based on bad information, or because of cultural or religious ties, I think that we need that populist anger in order to put an end to the criminal abuses we've seen on the part of government and corporatists. There are some issues I believe to be so imperative that they cannot wait another year, let alone another decade. I think abortion and gun control can wait another few years. Those who profit from this corruption are wagering that in another decade populist anger won't matter. It won't be long before the issues that divide conservatives from liberals (gag) won't matter.
Maybe I'm wrong. I do know that I've been as pissed off (severe understatement) as anyone at what I can only call deliberate dishonesty on the part of conservatives in this country. I fully believe that anyone who claims to be a Christian, and who isn't also a progressive or socialist, is a liar. But I'm open to that debate. I would welcome it. I'm just hoping to see a dialogue rather than a civil war, which will only play into the hands of those who profit from dividing our nation.
This is the best article put up by CD this year. Maybe longer. It is honest and straightforward. It represents what real Americans are thinking.
Here is the typical stupid American, the poor fool that loves and serves his country, re-upped because he couldn't find a job, reviled as a murderer, held in contempt by the liberal elite and some of the left, ignored by the neoconservatives, figuratively spit on by those that aren't worthy to bring him lunch.
He has figured out most of the problem all by his naive little self and sees things far more clearly than many that write these oh so clever articles.
He is pointing out the problem of our use of the National Guard, that the Tea Party isn't a party its just a group of really pissed off folks that are trying like this young man to find answers, to fix things, they just don't have a direction yet. But he sees they are not all the racist, xenophobic or war loving folks the democratic propaganda portray them as and some buy into.
I'd suggest reading this again and give this young man a bit more thought. He deserves it and more. This guy and many others like him are what give me confidence that the American worker, the American citizen will correct our country in the end and restore it to an even keel.
You would be surprised to see the growing number of young people attending the Kansas City and St Louis Tea Party rallies and I'll bet that at least half of them were the same ones who used to be campaigning so hard for Obama in 2008. It's not just young people though but a lot of older people too who fear a bleak future for their young. While I don't support the Tea Party or the Libertarian Party, I can't blame those young lads for voicing their disenchantment with the already dysfunctional system gone worse. The younger they are, the faster they move, and the faster they move, the faster they'll find someone or something to give them a little confidence that they'll no longer be left out even if it isn't a guarantee.
Stanley, based upon what I have listened to, the Tea Party is aggressively ignorant. Making a major stand on health care with an estimated one trillion price tag, as opposed to showcasing opposition to the twenty four trillion in grants, loans, and back up provided by the Federal Government via the Federal Reserve to banks, confirms that belief. The level of blind hatred evidenced in the Tea Party does NOT reflect America; but instead, a minority of Americans whose ignorance is only exceeded by their aggression and hatred.
Ignorance and blind hatred are obvious of the Tea Party but what is less obvious is why people are going for it. The Tea Party was set up by the big corporations as sort of a place to fill the void when more people feel left out by the current government. I did some looking up on the Tea Party and found out their corporate origins. Most of the supporters don't know that or are too angry with life to look it up and I can't blame them. I will say one thing about right-leaning third parties such as the Liberty Party, Libertarian Party, Tea Party, etc... They have no intention of addressing the concerns of the working class and they don't expect to win any offices. Their purpose appears to be diverting anger in the wrong direction.
This is a good article voicing the despair among those being hardest hit by the recession. If they can only hang on a couple more years, things should improve on the unemployment front. And I hope they continue to become educated and can cut through the Faux-News cr*p set in their way to trip them up. Personally, I think we should end the wars, and use the money and personnel on alternative and renewable energy: wind, solar, wave, geothermal, power distribution, building energy efficiency, etc. A real Marshall Plan is called for, but it wouldn't cost more than the wars are already costing. Such employment is work that they'll find gainful for the rest of their lives, whereas the military skills are mostly untranslatable to civilian life.
ubrew12
I'm like this kid in that so far there is no reason that jobs should improve in a few years. The middle class that owns most small business's are terrified to move, they don't know what the rules are going to be and they are sitting tight, if they don't start moving...no jobs. The GDP can double, the Dow can go to 20,000, but if there aren't any jobs generated, who cares except those on Wall Street?
I can't see why you feel there should be improvement in job creation in the next few years?
The kid once again says what most do, stop these silly wars,spend the money at home, etc. Yes to the alternative energy, but a Green economy of fuels is decades away and as you know I think the AGW community has delayed its implementation for decades themselves.
Actually military skills are quite transferrable to everyday life. This kid is using some of them now. He is not an exceptional Marine, just one that speaks up more. They aren't the automatons portrayed here and on the left. Its always been a stereotype and the elite are always very fond of using stereotypes.
Kids like this give me hope my friend.
"If they can only hang on a couple more years, things should improve on the unemployment front. "
For most people even a week without a paycheck is very difficult. Especially young people who have never had the opportunity to put aside a little emergency fund. But it is an emergency. A Marshall Plan focused on clean energy is what is called for, as you say ubrew12.
Joe
"A Marshall Plan focused on clean energy is what is called for" Oh yes, absolutely. Even if there WAS no global warming, just for energy independence/ peak oil, it is absolutely needed at this time. Fossils are going to get expensive, renewables should get LESS expensive (as technology improves). Its a no-brainer.
Hate to promote the Chinese, but just look at them. Why should they be at the forefront of the next generation?