True and useful. The “war” party in DC has nothing to do with real military men and women. They are chicken hawks one and all, eager to send others to do the dirty work. There’s quite a difference between keeping Prince William out of combat [because he, and thus his comrades, would be targeted] and the Bush daughters drinking tequila shot throughout the War on Terror. But God forbid a rich, smart Democrat like Clinton or Obama would let their kids join the military.

America has a War State but not a Military State. Attempts to blame “the generals” are leftover 60s rhetoric worthy of those who take their politics from movies like Animal House.

In Traditional terms, while society would be better off ruled by a spiritual Elite, we would likely be better off with rule by the military [cf. Starship Troopers] than bourgeois shopkeepers who send the poor off to die for their phony swagger in the world.

If the vote tally was much closer and one needed to depend on Kucinich to take a dissenting position, this fraud would bend over to the political presssure applied by the likes of Rahm Emanuel and President Obama.

Kucinich seems strong and principled but you would be better off to write him now already. Don’t take my advice and you will see the results for yourselves later on. Kucinich is one the biggest hot air people in Washington today.

Kucinich is all smoke and nothing else.

A trade policy that has collapsed American volume manufacturing also exacerbates the ability to repay this public debt as well as finance the trade debt, or deficit. Foreign governments and investors now hold over 50% of the public debt mainly in the form of Treasury securities and, therefore, maintaining the value of the dollar is crucial given the astronomical quantity of debt. It was the agreement Henry Kissinger managed to make with the House of Saudi in June 1974 which has been a primary driver of American imperialism in the Middle East. In this deal the United States agreed to provide military protection to the House of Saudi and certain other OPEC countries if OPEC would agree that payment for oil should only be made in American dollars. This agreement was achieved and helped to maintain the value of the American dollar as its debt has continued to increase.

The threat by Saddam Hussein to seek payment in currencies other than the American dollar can be regarded as one of the strong incentives to invade Iraq. The threat of Iran to do the same can also be seen as a similar incentive to also invade that country. Al Queda’s general threat to topple American friendly countries in the Middle-East with the ultimate goal of taking over Saudi Arabia would help explain one of the major reasons for the continuing war against Al Queda by America since again the American petrodollar would be threatened.

American imperialism can, therefore, be judged to be driven by a failure to stand up against elite capitalism. It is the growing recognition amongst other countries that American’s seem incapable of diagnosing the root cause of their debt problems that is leading to anxiety about the value of the dollar and particularly by the Chinese who have linked their economic fortunes so tightly to the United States. This does not imply that people in other countries understand the cause simply that they are extremely worried about the ability of Americans to resolve their economic problems. What they fail to grasp, as do Americans, is that there is no choice. Debt will reach a point where it cannot be repaid. Credit creation will then have to be taken back by government from the financial elites and government credit issued to pay down the debt. Americans and people throughout the world may then learn to encompass a more nuanced version of capitalism and human nature which involves making the continuous effort to follow and understand the financial happenings of the system they rely on for survival.

Welch criticized Johnson and others–including Republicans like Eisenhower–for being soft on communism, but it had nothing to do with a lack of aggression toward Vietnam. Maybe you’re thinking of the new nationalists like Goldwater. The old nationalists were critical of both the Cold War and of trade with our reputed enemies (early form of detente). Trade with the Reds showed the phoniness of our government’s stated reasons for the Cold War. It never rang true.

McGovern was an Adlai Stevenson admirer in the 1950s and a JFK man in 1960. Not exactly outside the mainstream Cold War-Wall Street consensus. By 1967, McGovern was clearly anti-war, but his stance on foreign policy has always been muddied by a social-gospel, humanitarian interventionist impulse that wasn’t much different from Hubert Humphrey in his more idealistic moments. He was clearly seen as a threat by elements of the establishment in 1972, yet Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and John Kenneth Galbraith were among his pre-nomination supporters, so he wasn’t as radical as many of his New Left and Countercultural supporters. You don’t get the endorsement of Mr. Vital Center without being somewhat in the center (left fringe, probably). Bill Kauffman and Dan McCarthy have written nice articles about McGovern: (http://www.amconmag.com/article/2006/jan/30/00012/) and (http://www.amconmag.com/article/2009/jan/12/00016/). I have a soft spot for GSM. He was one of my first political heroes and I supported him as a sixth grader in 1972. He has come out strongly against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Yet, he supported Hillary Clinton for president in 2008. What kind of peace candidate, or anti-plutocracy candidate, is Clinton? She’s no Kucinich or Gravel. So McGovern’s record remains mixed, in my view. As does Eugene McCarthy’s. A maverick in some ways, yet also a Humphrey protege and LBJ backer in 1960 and 1964. I shouldn’t have been so snide about George and Gene because they do deserve some plaudits, but let’s be honest and admit that they weren’t at the forefront of opposition to Vietnam during the critical 1962-1965 period. Unlike Macdonald, Chomsky, Muste, Day, Merton, the Berrigans, Dellinger, Spock, Malcolm X, Gruening, Morse, and Welch.

In my view, RFK was an opportunist in 1968. I don’t think his opposition to the war was principled at all. If it had been, he wouldn’t have split the anti-war vote by running against McCarthy. Read the transcript of Kennedy’s May 1967 televised debate with Governor Reagan. A young person named Anna Ford asked, “I believe the war in Vietnam is illegal, immoral, politically unjustifiable and economically motivated. Could either of you agree with this?” Kennedy responded, “I don’t agree with that. I have some reservations as I’ve stated them before about some aspects of the war, but I think that the United States is making every effort to try to make it possible for the people of South Vietnam to determine their own destiny. I think that’s all we want – no matter how – how we – what reservations we have about the conduct of the war. I think that we’re all agreed in the United States that if the war can be settled and the people of South Vietnam can determine their own destiny and determine their own future, that we want to leave South Vietnam. That’s the stated governmental policy, certainly what I would like to see, and I think that’s backed by the vast majority of American people.” Yes, that was his actual pro-war yet mealy-mouthed response! Later on, Kennedy refers to some who favored “pulling out unilaterally,” and he commented, “I happen to disagree with that.” (http://reagan2020.us/speeches/reagan_kennedy_debate.asp) Once the

John, I didn’t mean to “underestimate what 40 guys and gals gathered together can do.” You observe that “Less than forty neo-cons changed our foreign policy. And have you ever counted the number of signatures on the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, or the Constitution?” Keep in mind, though, that these were small groups of people with POWER. Not just intellect, good intentions, and some influence. These were politicians or bureaucrats who had their hands on the levers of power. We need to eventually include such individuals in the coalition, in addition to putting pressure on the political opportunists in DC from below (by mobilizing millions of grassroots Americans).

Moonman, You’re wondering about an intellectual history of how “evangelical Christianity, a pro-big business ideology, and aggressive foreign policy” have come together in Texas and elsewhere. I agree with Rob G. that the Civil War was one turning point, but the culture-transforming, Constantinian, Calvinist nature of the Puritans and their less-orthodox heirs also played a role. It helped lead to American civil religion and a sanctification of the sociopolitical status quo. The Protestant mainstream has been nothing if not trendy. The Episcopal Church is the example of examples. Whatever the upper-class elite wants at any given moment–be it slavery, war, capitalism, abortion, or homosexuality–then that’s where you’ll find the Episcopal hierarchy trailing closely behind bestowing its blessings. Donald Dayton’s book _Rediscovering an Evangelical Heritage_ details how 20th century evangelicalism was much more socially conservative than 19th century evangelicalism (in terms of the poor, women’s rights, racial equality–not abortion, homosexuality, and other 1960s+ issues). I could also refer you to my Front Porch Republic essay on American evangelicals and war (http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2009/12/christmas-wish-%E2%80%9909-repelling-the-martian-invasion/) and my book about William Jennings Bryan (http://www.amconmag.com/article/2006/jul/31/00029/).

Readers who expressed appreciation for the essay: Thank you for your comments. I’m glad you like it.

It shouldn’t take much for such a party to coalesce and gain the backing of a majority of Americans who are sick to death of the Establishment’s crimes against the Republic, humanity and the Earth. What’s needed is leadership. Where’s it going to come from?

Very much enjoyed the piece and the comments above. When Pat Bucannan interviewed Ralph Nader for The American Conservative magazine, it sent shockwaves through the so-called (neo)conservative movement and the neo-liberals as well. However, among paleo’s on bothsides and a mixture of indepenedents and non-beltway libertarians, this interview was more widely recieved if as interesting if nothing else. Then in 2008′ Ron Paul shocked the establishment by endorsing Nader along with several others not often seen in the same plane as Paul but the endorsement was to a few criteria, mainly global empire, foreign policy and investigating/auditing the Federal Reserve Bank. Ron had in effect become the political Neo and taken the red pill and then told everyone to leave the matrix if you will. It was a cruise missle salvo over the heads of the 2 party state that is ripping this country apart. Over the last year Ron has worked with democrat Alan Grayson and independent Bernie Sanders on auditing the Federal Reserve and this last week or so Ron has stood with Kucinich against war as you pointed out.

I applaud you and all the others who had the courage to sitdown and look for areas of common interests that we can work on that can slow the leviathan down that consumes us. In December 08′, Anthony Gregory for LewRockwell.com wrote an article asking should the libertatians be reaching out to the left? http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory175.html It was a question asked long ago and answered (yes) by Karl Hess and before that by Murray Rothbard and it still holds true today IMO. Thanks again for a great article and coo-dos to Front Porch Republic for a platform where shared ideas across the spectrum can help bridge divides.

From my perspective, these things all really began to coalesce during the Civil War and its aftermath. Thomas DiLorenzo’s two books on Lincoln, while rather shrill and hyperbolic, provide a lot of information (and good bibliographies and references) relating to alternative views of the war you won’t otherwise hear about. Mark Noll’s “The Civil War as Theological Crisis” is a good look at the religious dimension, and James Moorhead’s “American Apocalypse” examines the religious underpinnings of the North’s sense of America’s mission of bringing in the kingdom of God, which eventually spread to the nation as a whole (see Richard Gamble’s “The War for Righteousness” concerning this same mentality related to our entrance into WWI.)

I get a little testy when certain “laptop bombardiers” in the Beltway Hobgoblin Brigades use the old pacifism and patriotism saw on those who question their invidious aims. So when you use it, I get more than testy, I get dyspeptic…or more dyspeptic than I already is.

But as to your wisecrack on Chalmers Johnson, We do not have enough space on this site, let alone all them thar tubes of these here internets themselves to begin a listing of all the areas of “Blowback”, military, economic, diplomatic, commercial etc etc…that this nation has set in motion as a result of thinking Armed Mercantile Totalitarianism was a fine improvement on a Democratic Republic. The Chickens are coming home to roost and they are of the undead. There is a certain farcical quality to vampire chickens but they are still deadly.

Much, though not all of the various Blowback is the final chapter of the Cold War…or maybe an interregnum of it. The End of History Boys thought we won the Cold War….Ho Ho Ho. One does not win against schizophrenia, one only learns how to deal effectively with dysfunctional behavior and take the best medicine known to man: LIBERTY.

Attempts at imposing Democracy at Gunpoint on others is one of the surrenders to schizophrenia I’m talking about. Not to mention, $675 toilet seats and $125 pliers.