You notice how the politicans and leaders who actually were in war

[madmunchie]

are the most passionate about only going to war as a last resort and the politicians/leaders who have never been to war use the most force and threaten with war as an early resort?

[muntrv]

1. Oh, we've gotten reminders of it every day for the past 5 years.

[China_cat]

2. Isaac Asimov said

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

In the case of this government I'd substitute the word first for last.

[Sal Minella]

3. Yes. Old Five-Deferments Cheney himself accuses others of "not having the stomach for the fight."

[Clarkie1]

4. I do. nt

[CrazyOrangeCat]

5. 99% true.

Then there's McCain . . .

:wtf:

[Frank Cannon]

6. Well, let's think about that wild-eyed liberal Dwight Eisenhower

who ended the Korean War and warned us, in his farewell address, about the ever-encroaching dangerous influence of the "military-industrial complex".

That crazy peace-dove hippie Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in WW2.

I can't think of a major politician today that has actually seen the horrors of war and combat and yet pushes for war at the earliest available opportunity. John McCain may be an exception, but that guy's all over the place, so who knows.

[MarianJack]

8. WOW, Frank Cannon!

"Demon With a Glass Hand" has been my favorite "Outer Limits Episode for 40+ years.

And I haven't seen it for 30+ years!

Thanks and...

PEACE!

[Frank Cannon]

10. Thanks, MarianJack!

Always good to find fellow fans of "Demon..." If ever there was a classic episode of TV that deserved the big-screen treatment, that was it.

:hi:

[Amused Musings]

7. Hence why the president blithley

sends another 20,000 to fight a lost cause.

[ShortnFiery]

9. Yes, especially the Lauded WWII hero, George McGovern - Was right then and

is right now about NOT falling for the "hero vision" of war. :applause: :thumbsup:

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/01/06/but_george_mcgovern_was_right/

The question is, will any of our up and coming candidates have the MORAL COURAGE to not play the warrior game of swaggering oneupmanship? I fear that the need to pander and "whistle past the graveyards" will overcome any true and thoughtful path toward multi-lateral diplomacy within the M.E. :(

We can dream though, can't we?

snip

McGovern was an opponent of the "we/they" vision. A prophet of detente, he has since been vindicated by history. He offered America a way out of the trap that opposes "realist" and "idealist" perspectives. McGovern understood not only that the Vietnam War was wrong but that in the nuclear age, the realist is the one who sees that the structures of war itself must be systematically dismantled. One hears the complaint from today's Democrats that McGovern, a decorated World War II bomber pilot, did not tout his war hero's record, but that entirely misses his most important point -- that fear of war and glorification of war are simply not to be exploited for political purposes, whether at the personal level or the national. What McGovern the candidate refused to do is what American presidents should refuse to do.