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Today's Top News
Afghanistan: Does Anyone in the US Still Care?
The invasion of Afghanistan's ninth anniversary passed in DC this week with hardly a notice.
Media desperate to illustrate the story flocked to a small demonstration of less than two dozen veterans of the so-called global wars on terror. A rag-tag group of angry, disillusioned and, most of all, disappointed vets gathered in front of Walter Reed Army Medical Center where thousands upon thousands of service members have returned from war to treat their wounds.
The veterans there for the demonstration held a ceremony at the gates of the iconic hospital and placed nine yellow roses - one for each year of the war in Afghanistan - with almost military precision, the occasional salute replaced with a peace sign, before setting off on a six-mile march to Capitol Hill.
The occasion marked the first salvo in Operation Recovery, an effort by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Against the War to urge the United States to stop redeploying soldiers who have been identified as suffering trauma - either post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, or others.
It's a sensitive topic for the military these days as five soldiers are on trial at Fort Lewis, Washington, for being part of what many are calling a hit squad that killed Afghans for sport. One of the soldiers, whose confession tape was leaked to the media, was prescribed and presumably taking a cocktail of psychotropic drugs for repeated concussions at the time of the alleged murders.
Said Ethan McCord, who served in Iraq in 2007:
"This is what happens to the traumatized soldiers that have gone on multiple deployments and we send them to Afghanistan into the same environment that traumatized them to begin with and you place them on psychotropic drugs and then you hand a weapon to them and turn them loose on the streets. What do you expect?"
McCord was famously captured in a video released by Wikileaks earlier this year trying to rescue two children from a van which had been struck by a missile from a US helicopter. Also during his tour, his spine was shattered by an IED.
He bears the physical and emotional scars of the war with metal rods in his back and a sorrowful gaze in his eyes. He was discharged from the military without benefits because they determined his medical condition was pre-existing. In other words, the military's official position is that he somehow went to bootcamp and made it through infantry school with a shattered lower spine.
It's a jaw-dropping declaration for which, as McCord explained, there is no appeals process. So McCord receives no medical coverage from the military for the injuries that rendered him unable to walk with others to the Capitol.
While it was disheartening to hear McCord's story, and those of his comrades, saddest of all is that no one, save the handful of reporters looking for a story on the anniversary of the war, was there to listen. That is, except for the Capitol Police who threatened to arrest the veterans as they stood on the steps of the Russell Senate Office Building. Not that any senators were present as congress is in recess.
As a female marine stepped to the mic and began a slow and painful account of how the military treated her after she was raped by a fellow marine in Iraq, Officer Dan Turner of the Capitol Police was busy threatening representatives from the group that he was about to arrest everyone, including the media.
Turner, who refused to comment for this piece, told organizers that a gathering of more than 20 people on Capitol grounds constitutes a demonstration and the group lacked the proper permit to demonstrate. Pleas from the veterans that their gathering consisted of a mere 15 members on the steps did little to change Turner's mind as a police paddy wagon pulled up to the sidewalk.
It seems he considered media part of the demonstration. This inclusion was surprising and went a long way toward explaining why he was so hostile to my request for a statement. Turner's threats to arrest reporters for standing on a public sidewalk observing and recording the incident felt like a shortsighted attempt to halt coverage of an unsightly event for the US.
I contacted the US Capitol Police in an effort to seek clarity on their demonstration policy. Turner was correct, a permit is required for groups of 20 or more. However, the woman I spoke with explained that reporters are not included in the headcount unless they become actively involved in the event. I would love to share her name with you as a source, but she refused to give it.
The disappointing dissolution of this gathering of veterans seemed almost fated. No one really wanted to hear what they had to say. Their proclamations were meant for a crowd that wasn't there.
The enormous throng of the fed-up and angry that filled the National Mall to hear Glen Beck was missing on this occasion. Passersby kept passing by, no one lingered. And all too quietly, Capitol Police marked the solemn anniversary by shoeing the vets from the very steps of government they volunteered to serve.
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88 Comments so far
Show AllMan, this is sad - and this story is only seen on Al Jazeera to boot.
The media in the United States is a disgrace. The military, who abandons it's service members after shoveling them off, psychotic symptoms notwishstanding, to illegal wars, is a disgrace. The White House and Congress, both who abandon all service members by sending them to illegal wars are a disgrace. Wall Street, the big Banks, corporate America, the healthcare complex, the failing public education system, among others also disgrace America.
So, who isn't a disgrace in the US? Well, Johnny Depp surpised an elementary school when a child said she wanted to mutiny against her teachers - Depp told her that wasn't a good idea - a stand up thing to do - unless the teachers were going to send her to an illegal war. I also think Democracy Now and Michael Moore are doing good things, but that's a small minority.
And, Depp dosen't live in the US, he lives in France. I guess he recognized the disgrace a long time ago.
If I had Depp's money, I would have been out of here a long time ago.
of course depp , being a movie star doesn't really need to be a citizen of the USA or even LIVE there.
but - as far as I have known , for years now, Depp is actually a resident, if not already a citizen of, FRANCE.
that's where he spends much of his year now with his wife and kid.
welll-----according to some americans in workplaces..passing around e mails:
"there is now an EPIDEMIC of BEDBUGS ALL OVER AMERICA...because of all these IMPORTS from countries like CHINA...."..............
hey -- there's always a DISGRACEFUL american conditions that can be BLAMED ON "those others".............
and all is in ORDER IN THE WORLD AGAIN.........
just BLAME some other country for......whatever.........it's just so DISGRACEFUL what "those countries do"!!!!
That is the American way. Blame some people who have darker than a lighter shade of pale skin who lives here or in a foreign nation. Got bedbugs? It's not the filthy conditions you have to live in, it's the Chinese. Lose your job? That is because of the illegal aliens from Mexico took your job. Got a war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen that is bankrupting our nation? That is because the crazy evil Muslims attacked us on 9/11 and they want to kill Christians and we have to fight them here or they will kill us in our beds here in our Homeland. Losing your home? That is because the bankers lent money to too many African Americans or second generation Americans from south of the border. It wasn't the greed of the bankers. We give them trillions of dollars so they get a big bonus for work well done.
There are so many bad guys over there that we just have to kill people, torture people and steal the natural resources of sovereign nations. We are good--in fact the BEST people on earth but these bad guys make us do bad things. All the false information above has been brought to you for years in the media.
It is past time for us to face the fact that we have not been paying attention to what 'our' government is up to, nor to how 'our' Representatives have been voting. Problem is we believe what we see on the tube and we know that one of the two major political parties is better than the other one.
WRONG! It is time for you to stand up and take responsibility for the mess we are in. Democracy requires the active participation of the people. That means you have to learn to think for yourself. We have been the sheeple for too long. Wake up.
and THERE , in your perceptive comment, is the great contradiction of America.
it repeatedly proclaims and preaches :"self-responsibility" to INDIVIDUALS to render them vulnerable to Vulture Capitalism...and THEN as a COUNTRY REFUSES "self-responsibility" for its collective ills or harm it causes to other nations by drags others into a pile for blame for ITS self-induced ills. ..
an example is IRAQ:
"let the Iraqis TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR country...we can't ALWAYS BE HOLDING THEIR HAND"..........as if the USA never "touched" iraq....
or Pakistan:
"we were shooting in SELF_DEFENSE"...as if the USA didn't insert itself in a region and countries it was told not to interfere with...
or China:
"we have to STAND UP TO CHINA and its Currency manipulation"....as if the USA hasn't been the world's main and biggest Currency Manipulator and Dollar Imperialist beating up on nations that stand up to it...
or any other country for that matter:
"these countries shouldn't be taking jobs at OUR expense by subsidizing their exports"....as IF the USA hasn't been DUMPING Subsidized corporate products like those with monsanto, corn, wheat, soy beans, and farm produce that destroy local industries in countries like Haiti...etc...
americans behave like those -- decades ago - in that world-notorious incident in the 1960's or 70's
in new york city:
a woman was screaming in the night as she was being brutally raped and beaten....and the neighbors CLOSED their windows .
that's america as far as its wars are....
only OPENING the WINDOWS and THROWING BANNERS and ribbons when the soldiers come marching home to bring "VICTORY".
but sensing -- oh they DO sense -- that something is VERY , VERY WRONG about the WARS they themselves "support" (as in support the troops)...or tolerate and are "patiently waiting for victory or signs that it's WORTH IT".......
americans CLOSE THEIR WINDOWS and DOORS to THAT UNEASY sense . which they KNOW to BE TRUE.
a very disappointing people , i must say.
The woman who was attacked was Kitty Genovese and it happened in March 1964, not in New York City, but in Kew Gardens which is in Queens, New York. The New York Times' reporting of the incident at that time managed to inflame the situation even more than it needed to be when it claimed that 38 people had witnessed the attack when in reality "only" about a dozen, if even that, heard her screams while only about one or two only saw portions of that incident take place. A few people did in fact call in to the police but back in those days a person was required to give his or her name so that may have deterred some from doing just that. Nevertheless, that should not excuse the many who did hear her screams but who failed to call the police.
http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/a-fascinating-intersection-of-true-crime-psychology-and-media-misinformation/
But your analogy is still relevant as so many Americans today choose not to take action against the government despite knowing quite well that Americans are raining down 500 lb. bombs on innocent Afghans.
If you had bothered to link to the article then you would have known what this infamous incident was all about.
and yes, i know queens. i LIVED in queens, and know kew gardens quite well, in fact...as well as other neighborhoods : flushing, jackscon heights, astoria, woodside, sunnyside, jamaica...etc.
kew gardens is a rather , comparatively, upscale neighborhood, with beautiful houses that have a distinct architectural character of their own.
Every single war that America starts is widely popular at the beginning of the aggression and only becomes boring or unpopular as the limits placed on the slaughter become obvious to the bloodthirsty public. This particular war is getting close to the breaking point and pretty soon a campaign of lies against another country will begin and with the help of the media the moronic public will be very enthusiastic for the next slaughter of foreigners and the extreme capitalist overseas empire will continue to enrich the few at the expense of the many.
Watching the police shooing these betrayed veterans off the steps of DC’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center while they were being ignored by passersby is a tragic mirror of the state of the union.
Would the military expect traumatized troops on psychotropic drug cocktails to do anything but go on killing sprees? No. No doubt they’re counting on it.
Are we living in a police state? Obviously we are.
Is the public zombied out and incapable of caring? Obviously yes.
There is a highly paid baseball player for the Minnesota Twins named Justin Morneau who suffered a concussion early in the season and never played another game. And yet these soldiers . . .
Back about 100 years ago (it seems), I was a radio operator for a Field Artillery Battery. Sitting next to five 155 mm Howitzers dispatching rounds all day (during a training exercise), did something that affected my balance for many years. When the entire Battalion fired at once, OMG!
Or, it could have been a result of the meningitis, for which I had been hospitalized.
But, the gun-thing came almost two week later. Nah.
I cannot imagine what these guys go through.
It’s an Obamanation that we can’t bring these troops home and still be safe.
Millions of us still DO care and desperately want ALL our soldiers home from these unnecessary, illegal wars of aggression NOW!
But "our" President, the Peace Laureate (as Chris Floyd calls him) and "our" alleged representatives in Congress (the Corporations' servants) will not listen to us.
Here in Queens, NY, we have visited the local office of our supposedly "liberal" Democratic Congressional Representative every month since October, 2009, to persuade him to oppose escalation and continued funding of the Bush/Obama Afghan/Pakistan war, and he has consistenly refused.
We have demonstrated, vigiled, marched, rallied in the hundreds of thousands, written, emailed, called, and visited Congress, yet the wars go on.
What is left for us when our government stops listening to us and caring about us, preferring their corporate bribers, instead?
The very "lawmakers" who write the laws affecting all of us refuse to write and/or enforce laws effectively punishing corporate crimes.
They refuse to obey national and international laws requiring prosecution of the many war crimes of both the Bush/Cheney and the Obama administrations.
"Our" electoral system is corrupt beyond repair, especially since the Citizens United decision.
Our taxes are automatically collected and disbursed to fund these endless wars, Wall Street, health insurance companies, war profiteers, and fossil fuel corporations (in subsidies and tax credits) which use them to fund campaigns to deny the anthropogenic climate chaos catastrophe which is already devastating many places and killing thousands of people and other creatures on our only planet.
All three branches of the federal government are beholden to their corporate masters in our "Inverted Totalitarian" system, as Sheldon S. Wolin has told us.
Our government is a "democracy" in name only.
USAns will not get off their couches to stage a General Strike as Europeans have.
Violent revolution is futile (they have all the heavy weapons) and morally devastating to all sides.
What other alternatives do we have?
There are millions of young men and women currently in the military and millions who have been in the past. They all have families and home towns.
When the effect of the wars go beyond the personal and family, when the numbers become too great to overlook they will become community tragedies. Then maybe there will be some action.
Great article on oped news by Chris Hedges: WHEN DEMOCRACY DIES, that is relevant to this article.
It's also available on Truthdig, accompanied by a photograph that will either make you laugh or want to hurl.
the only leverage we the people have is in refusing to play the game.
withdraw from the current system and build alternative system.
stop enlisting in the military. there are right ways to make a living and there are wrong ways.
stop buying corporate products as much as possible.
start recycling, sharing, repairing, etc.
stop banking on wall street.
start or join local non-profit credit unions.
stop working for corporates. stop investing in wall street.
start working for yourself and your neighbors and communities. start investing in your communities.
Won't work Steve.
because the system creates the legal and governmental and social environment regardless if you think you have opted out or not
The Government of the USA is slowly introducing measures that would prevent persons from "opting out" Amongst these are measures that would make growing ones own food "illegal" under various food safety laws and the move to privatize resources like water. (Indeed in some western states you can be arrested and fined for using a rain barrel to gather water that falls on your roof).
Add in various taxes such as the forced purchase of Health care, school and property taxes and the person "opting out" will require some means of income support or face jail time.
Town and city councils also pass laws that Criminalize homelessness. In essence there no real way to OPT out completely from the system.
The question then becomes can one opt-out enough from the system so that those truly in power start to suffer financially so as to implement change? Or can enough people opt-out wherein a parallel self sustaining society formed within the same country?
With respect to the former with Globalization there 200 destitute and more the world over who will want to opt in for every person wanting to opt out. The latter quite a ways off buit certainly a possibility. With the latter it becomes a question of how many people go along and how the State treats the first to do so.
Thank you for this message. It is unusually sane and to the point.
curiousteve, these are very helpful tips for building a friendly community.
It is the millions of little things that count.
Big demonstrations don't impress me as much as the little ones.
I think bravery and a peaceful small demonstration, even one person alone for a just cause impresses the viewers more than a big one that is loud with speakers shouting and too many signs waving.
I have concluded after over 50 years of this kind of resistance that each and every little thing has the best results in the long run.
We gotta hang in there... If small turnouts depressed me, I could not be a folk singer.
First explain how far you recommend opting out.
( I only ask because we need to determine some parameters before we can discuss the issue at depth )
Why get stuck on the phrase "opting out"? We are in the system we were born into weather we like it or not.
Systems change slowly bit by bit and it is the little things that count.
So what are you doing about it?
Your message is fine for you, and that is why I asked.
Please answer the Question about your message.
What are you doing about it?
Well OK, I hope what you do whatever it is, works out for you.
Here is my personal version;
-quit paying fed taxes in 01
-buy nothing without survival use
-all things bought 2nd hand
-excluding food, even then
-buy close to expiration date items marked down
-bought bicycle
-minimize gas use
-use 1 gallon of water per day, none hot
-minimal heating - no ac
-grow food and forage
I live small. You?
Who said, Live Small SO OTHERS CAN SIMPLY LIVE."?
Americans aren't supposed to care. They're supposed to accept. Which they obviously do. American vets are just broken-down old parts of a dying empire. 'Be all you can be' until we discharge you with no benefits.
Hoa binh
Fort Hood: remember the undeployables and the lone muzzie?? 1 yr anvrsry fast approaching....MUTINY...look it up
Does anyone know or care??
Did Mr Rushing, or Mr McCord, see the
"No War in Afghanistan" yard signs on the
homes across the street from Walter Reed?
There are four of them in a space of about
150 yards.
Thousands of motorists see those signs every day.
The owners of the houses there, true patriots,
have accepted the signs, because they, like
hundreds of thousands in the D.C. area alone,
hate the war, for all the reasons we all do.
I hope that Mr Rushing and Mr McCord will see
this post. I hope that any members here who
live in the D.C. area will join us. See
www.waifllc.org .
We need helpers, in order to _cover_ the D.C.
area with yard signs. If people help with the
buttons selling, we could have funds for
ads on busses, and radio jingles.
Alan McConnell, in Silver Spring MD
Why don't people seem to care about a war? The answer can be found Neil Postman's intro to his 1985 work 'Amusing Ourselves to Death.'
Here's a link to a video someone made using Postman's words with up to date images illustrating his point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMZejVltDDs
I urge you all to buy and read all of Postman's work.
Protest and plant all the yard signs you want. Visit your representatives and vote. But, none of these civil attempts to change minds will stop these wars.
The only way they will be stopped is to literally drag these criminals out of Washington.
Washington D.C. is now operating as its own Green Zone.
They must be removed.
Finally!
Thanks, Frank for that concise summary.
Trylon
I once "ranted" to a few work mates , when they were openly discussing politics, events..."such difficult times...." including dropping comments about "those other countries" (in derisive terms, of course, barely covered)...
so i jumped right in , went at length on a list of american atrocities in its history...and "led" it to the financial mess...which I phrased:
"by the way...this global financial and economic mess WE are ALL IN...the ones that you are all complaining about...you of course KNOW (sarcastically) ...that the WHOLE WORLD KNOWS where it started. don't you? -- yes. indeed...it's a VERY american PRODUCT..."
and then I ended by saying: "it find it rather unbelievable, even against what my eyes see, that americans are demonstrating themselves to be such CHILDREN..so EASY to manipulate and FOOL by their own leaderships..all their leaderships have to do, whether at work or in politics or communities is to drop CHOICE WORDS like: JESUS CHRIST, patriot, support the troops, ...THOSE immigrants...THOSE foreigners...THOSE countries...THOSE terrorists...and americans follow like lemmings in lockstep...EVEN the Chinese KNOW ENOUGH that their media is controlled and aren't as FOOLISH or childish...but not americans...they actually believe their own MYTHS..and Fairy Tales....just like little children..."...
oh -- boy -- they DIDn't like THAT one bit....by the COMPLETE , COLD SILENCE...
"NOTHING we say or do on these threads will ever make a difference"
I disagree Frank. I was directed to commondreams.org from my old news website sfgate.com in a post there. I knew when I read the articles and even more importantly the responses to those articles where I could go for the REAL news I had been missing and craving for. Sometimes the responses are more important to me than the articles themselves. The responses here have served to show me that I am not truely alone and that there is more organization than I was previously led to believe. I too would like to see more concrete action however, and the thought does also cross my mind that it may be too late. God bless.
Frank: you are correct that we are just preaching to the choir on these threads, and I wish someone much smarter than me would show progressives how to wake up and reach the " lost" and "manipulated " people in America. Most of us see the problems,but there seems to be no solutions to the problems of how to reach the vast number of manipulated and lost sheeple. I sure would hope it is not too late. Does anyone have any suggestions as how to really take our country back from the MIC and its war profiteers? That is the one thing I do agree with the Tea Party people; even though they do not have a clue as to what it means and are part of the problem of the dumbed down masses, not the solution.
".... no solutions to the problems of how to reach the vast number of manipulated and lost sheeple."
Start by squashing the lie distributors.
Monkey wrench media.
The wall-to-wall limitless mindless BS on TV coupled with the lack of quality news and information insures a complacent and ignorant public.
The print media is basically the same. And that is still where the vast majority of folks get their info.
This is real simple: with lies, half-truths, distortions and propaganda bombarding us every day, how can one make an informed decision on Afghanistan in the first place? How can one make any informed decision about public policy in general?
well said my friend. You speak the truth...poorly informed public leaves them ignorant and helpless to combat the empire. What a shame/sham it all is. Capitalism is HORRIBLE.
Well it is a volunteer army. How many news stories have we all seen where the soldier proudly states that he/she is just doing their job as a professional. I know this is an enforced public relations narrative from the DoD but does it make todays soldiers less sympathetic to the public? My observation is that in social gatherings mention of the war is met by groans or silence. I get the feeling that the part of America I am conversant with just see's it as somebody else's business. The deaths of non-Americans doesn't even rate a groan. It all seems so surreal in America which loves to relive-endlessly-it's glory days of war in Europe or the Pacific when, at least in theory, we fought the good war pulling together. I don't detect much 'We' in our current America.
Why don't Americans care? Lots of reasons. Mainly, out of sight, out of mind for most people, and what little they hear of it is only propaganda via the major news services.
But I think another reason is shame. For so many Americans, it is easier to ignore that nagging feeling that the precious wars they wanted after 9/11 haven't turned out very well at all. Maybe they have begun to realize how both wars morphed time and time again, with new enemies and new goals.
Maybe some of them realize how Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and Rice et al. played them for suckers, and betrayed them and their country, with lies about Hussein and other things, and waging "war of aggression".
But to these people, who wanted the war but now basically ignore it (except to occasionally agree with it, parroting what they hear on CNN or FOX)) feel the shame of the betrayed.
Like someone whose marriage is failing, or whose spouse is lying and cheating, they don't want to admit what is going on, and feel like utter fools for believing in the person who burned them.
Sometimes the easiest way to deal with such feelings of shame and resentment is just to ignore them, and pretend nothing is wrong; because to admit the whole situation is a cluster- you know what- is too mortifying.
It's pride. Like: "The war must be right, because we believed in it. How could we be wrong? And even if we were, we can't admit it... oh, no. Therefore, the war must be right."
That's how they think, if they even think at all about it.
I've thought for some time that the main reason the U.S. hasn't left either Afghanistan or Iraq is because of hubris, because of the kind of pride we ridiculed in the Japanese in World War 2- the attitude of, "I'll die before I'll admit I was wrong or say I'm sorry"- in this way, pride can truly be fatal.
With no draft, and with such incredibly effective pro-war propaganda which has thoroughly conditioned the majority of the American public, I can't see a solution to the endless war syndrome, unless some kind of economic one.
Maybe one of these days, Americans will finally get a clue about the connection between war costs and bloated defense budget costs on the one hand, and at-home economic woes on the other: unemployment, homelessness, lack of health care, deterioration of infrastructure and the education system, et cetera.
If I use "iron" to symbolize our national wealth, then I can say that when iron is used for swords, it can't be used for plowshares at the same time. That is pretty basic. If we spend X billions a week on war and "defense", there is less for the things we need. My countrymen are mad.
If Rep. Walter "Freedom Fries" Jones can vote for the Kucinich Resolution to end the Afghan War, the average American can admit they made a mistake in believing Bush's lies.
It is understandable that people were not in their right state of mind following the 9/11 attacks. I nearly had a breakdown and at times was extremely irrational. I regained my sanity when the Iraq saber rattling began. I realized that this was why we were being taken to war. People were scared and vulnerable.
"Why don't americans care?"
one reason might be:
"WE ARE RUGGED INDIVIDUALS...let them soldiers take responsibility for THEIR choices on MY OUR behalf as we BUSILY watch the latest reality show showing soldiers SHOOTING at those hajji or chinks...as we make sure our weekend warrior schedules to upstate Shooting with Paint is the right weekend...".
A permanent war status is now firmly entrenched in the American psyche, it's a way of life. Some are annoyed and angry but for the most part their complaints fall on deaf ears.
Far too few care enough to step out of their comfort zone; jobs, kids, nightly TV, morning coffee at the local coffee shop, who has time to get involved with protest or dissent? Besides, we now read about peaceful antiwar activists having their homes randomly searched and possessions confiscated with no probable cause except for their vocal antiwar stance.
The most vocal and energized citizens seem to be Tea Party activists who seem to never question the permanent war status, in fact they seem to promote it. "Government is too big!" Except of course for the military machine that has so permeated our lives it's not even questioned.
If Petraeus took over as military commander, ousting the President, he'd probably be seen as a hero. Of course he doesn't have to be so overt about it since it's so easy to manipulate a faux President and hypnotize the population into thinking they voted.
It amazes me that people would send their children or themselves to fight the wars for such a selfish country. A fairly large part of the population only cares about themselves. They do not want to pay an extra dime in taxes to help someone else out, and are outraged that their health insurance dollars might be used to help someone else out. They absolutely hate the idea of any form of socialism that might attempt at leveling the playing field for other Americans.
But these same people expect others to kill, die, and be maimed in foreign wars so they can be killed over "there" so we don't have to be inconvenienced by fear of being attacked over here.
Calling for the big revolution and throwing your enemies in jail while admitting that you are frustrated and don't know what to do is just giving yourselves reasons not to do anything.
In my view evolution and revolution are two sides of the same coin.
The revolution is how we act in our own home town and neighborhood.
How many bus trips to Washington does it take to get that it starts at home with your friends and family if you are lucky enough to have them.
Whether 'anyone still cares' is such an obviously silly and irrelevant question as to be undeserving of response. The pertinent question is whether enough Americans care sufficiently to take the uncomfortable measures that would be required to make any difference. And the answer to that question is also obvious -- at least so far and probably for the foreseeable future.
If Americans don't care enough to act as necessary for the protection and preservation of their own civil liberties (not even for such fundamental concepts as habeas corpus) they can hardly be expected to care more for the lives or wellbeing of others in faraway lands. They don't even perceive the true global extent of the common interests that are involved, frequent Niemoller quotations notwithstanding.