George McGovern on the present situation

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 21:29:23 +0700

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Hey! Where's my James Ellroy tape?

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: telebob x=20
  To: HailaHelen@aol.com ; austin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net ; =
edwardocr@hotmail.com=20
  Cc: zembla@texas.net ; alex.aikawa@uol.com.br ; bhalsey@racsa.co.cr ; =
rab1@wireweb.net ; hbear@mcn.org ; voyeurmmx@yahoo.com=20
  Sent: Monday, April 28, 2003 9:31 PM
  Subject: Re: George McGovern on the present situation

  This is excerpted.
  The complete article can found on the web at=20
  http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=3D20030421&s=3Dmcgovern=20

  "...This President and his advisers know well how to get us involved =
in imperial crusades abroad while pillaging the ordinary American at =
home. The same families who are exploited by a rich man's government =
find their sons and daughters being called to war, as they were in =
Vietnam--but not the sons of the rich and well connected..."

  The Reason Why
  by GEORGE MCGOVERN
  [from the April 21, 2003 issue]

  Thanks to the most crudely partisan decision in the history of the =
Supreme Court, the nation has been given a President of painfully =
limited wisdom and compassion and lacking any sense of the nation's true =
greatness. Appearing to enjoy his role as Commander in Chief of the =
armed forces above all other functions of his office, and unchecked by a =
seemingly timid Congress, a compliant Supreme Court, a largely =
subservient press and a corrupt corporate plutocracy, George W. Bush has =
set the nation on a course for one-man rule.=20
  He treads carelessly on the Bill of Rights, the United Nations and =
international law while creating a costly but largely useless new =
federal bureaucracy loosely called "Homeland Security." Meanwhile, such =
fundamental building blocks of national security as full employment and =
a strong labor movement are of no concern.=20
  The nearly $1.5 trillion tax giveaway, largely for the further =
enrichment of those already rich, will have to be made up by cutting =
government services and shifting a larger share of the tax burden to =
workers and the elderly. This President and his advisers know well how =
to get us involved in imperial crusades abroad while pillaging the =
ordinary American at home. The same families who are exploited by a rich =
man's government find their sons and daughters being called to war, as =
they were in Vietnam--but not the sons of the rich and well connected. =
(Let me note that the son of South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson is now on =
duty in the Persian Gulf. He did not use his obvious political =
connections to avoid military service, nor did his father seek =
exemptions for his son. That goes well with me, with my fellow South =
Dakotans and with every fair-minded American.)=20
  The invasion of Iraq and other costly wars now being planned in secret =
are fattening the ever-growing military-industrial complex of which =
President Eisenhower warned in his great farewell address. War profits =
are booming, as is the case in all wars. While young Americans die, =
profits go up. But our economy is not booming, and our stock market is =
not booming. Our wages and incomes are not booming. While waging a war =
against Iraq, the Bush Administration is waging another war against the =
well-being of America.=20
  Following the 9/11 tragedy at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, =
the entire world was united in sympathy and support for America. But =
thanks to the arrogant unilateralism, the bullying and the clumsy, =
unimaginative diplomacy of Washington, Bush converted a world of support =
into a world united against us, with the exception of Tony Blair and one =
or two others...As I have watched America's moral and political standing =
in the world fade as the globe's inhabitants view the senseless and =
immoral bombing of ancient, historic Baghdad, I think often of another =
Jefferson observation during an earlier bad time in the nation's =
history: "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just."=20
  The President frequently confides to individuals and friendly =
audiences that he is guided by God's hand. But if God guided him into an =
invasion of Iraq, He sent a different message to the Pope, the =
Conference of Catholic Bishops, the mainline Protestant National Council =
of Churches and many distinguished rabbis--all of whom believe the =
invasion and bombardment of Iraq is against God's will. In all due =
respect, I suspect that Karl Rove, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald =
Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice--and other sideline warriors--are the gods =
(or goddesses) reaching the ear of our President...=20
  ...So President Bush, forgive me if I've been too tough on you. But I =
must tell you, Mr. President, you are the greatest threat to American =
troops. Only you can put our young people in harm's way in a needless =
war. Only you can weaken America's good name and influence in world =
affairs.=20
  We hear much talk these days, as we did during the Vietnam War, of =
"supporting our troops." Like most Americans, I have always supported =
our troops, and I have always believed we had the best fighting forces =
in the world--with the possible exception of the Vietnamese, who were =
fortified by their hunger for national independence, whereas we placed =
our troops in the impossible position of opposing an independent =
Vietnam, albeit a Communist one. But I believed then as I do now that =
the best way to support our troops is to avoid sending them on mistaken =
military campaigns that needlessly endanger their lives and limbs. That =
is what went on in Vietnam for nearly thirty years--first as we financed =
the French in their failing effort to regain control of their colonial =
empire in Southeast Asia, 1946-54, and then for the next twenty years as =
we sought unsuccessfully to stop the Vietnamese independence struggle =
led by Ho Chi Minh and Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap--two great men whom we should =
have accepted as the legitimate leaders of Vietnam at the end of World =
War II. I should add that Ho and his men were our allies against the =
Japanese in World War II. Some of my fellow pilots who were shot down by =
Japanese gunners over Vietnam were brought safely back to American lines =
by Ho's guerrilla forces.=20
  During the long years of my opposition to that war, including a =
presidential campaign dedicated to ending the American involvement, I =
said in a moment of disgust: "I'm sick and tired of old men dreaming up =
wars in which young men do the dying." That terrible American blunder, =
in which 58,000 of our bravest young men died, and many times that =
number were crippled physically or psychologically, also cost the lives =
of some 2 million Vietnamese as well as a similar number of Cambodians =
and Laotians, in addition to laying waste most of Indochina--its =
villages, fields, trees and waterways; its schools, churches, markets =
and hospitals.=20
  I had thought after that horrible tragedy--sold to the American people =
by our policy-makers as a mission of freedom and mercy--that we never =
again would carry out a needless, ill-conceived invasion of another =
country that had done us no harm and posed no threat to our security. I =
was wrong in that assumption.=20
  The President and his team, building on the trauma of 9/11, have =
falsely linked Saddam Hussein's Iraq to that tragedy and then falsely =
built him up as a deadly threat to America and to world peace. These =
falsehoods are rejected by the UN and nearly all of the world's people. =
We will, of course, win the war with Iraq. But what of the question =
raised in the Bible that both George Bush and I read: "What does it =
profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul," or the soul =
of his nation?=20
  It has been argued that the Iraqi leader is hiding a few weapons of =
mass destruction, which we and eight other countries have long held. But =
can it be assumed that he would insure his incineration by attacking the =
United States? Can it be assumed that if we are to save ourselves we =
must strike Iraq before Iraq strikes us? This same reasoning was =
frequently employed during the half-century of cold war by hotheads =
recommending that we atomize the Soviet Union and China before they =
atomize us. Courtesy of The New Yorker, we are reminded of Tolstoy's =
observation: "What an immense mass of evil must result...from allowing =
men to assume the right of anticipating what may happen." Or again, =
consider the words of Lord Stanmore, who concluded after the suicidal =
charge of the Light Brigade that it was "undertaken to resist an attack =
that was never threatened and probably never contemplated." The symphony =
of falsehood orchestrated by the Bush team has been de-vised to defeat =
an Iraqi onslaught that "was never threatened and probably never =
contemplated."=20
  I'm grateful to The Nation, as I was to Harper's, for giving me =
opportunities to write about these matters. Major newspapers, especially =
the Washington Post, haven't been nearly as receptive.=20
  The destruction of Baghdad has a special poignancy for many of us. In =
my fourth-grade geography class under a superb teacher, Miss Wagner, I =
was first introduced to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the palm trees =
and dates, the kayaks plying the rivers, camel caravans and desert =
oases, the Arabian Nights, Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (my first =
movie), the ancient city of Baghdad, Mesopotamia, the Fertile Crescent. =
This was the first class in elementary school that fired my imagination. =
Those wondrous images have stayed with me for more than seventy years. =
And it now troubles me to hear of America's bombs, missiles and military =
machines ravishing the cradle of civilization.=20
  But in God's good time, perhaps this most ancient of civilizations can =
be redeemed. My prayer is that most of our soldiers and most of the =
long-suffering people of Iraq will survive this war after it has joined =
the historical march of folly that is man's inhumanity to man.

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<DIV><FONT color=3D#ff0000 size=3D2>Hey! Where's my James Ellroy =
tape?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#ff0000 size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#ff0000 =
size=3D2>BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB</FONT></DIV>
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  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
  <DIV=20
  style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>=20
  <A title=3Dtelebob@hotmail.com =
href=3D"mailto:telebob@hotmail.com">telebob x</A>=20
  </DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=3DHailaHelen@aol.com=20
  href=3D"mailto:HailaHelen@aol.com">HailaHelen@aol.com</A> ; <A=20
  title=3Daustin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net=20
  =
href=3D"mailto:austin-ghetto-list@pairlist.net">austin-ghetto-list@pairli=
st.net</A>=20
  ; <A title=3Dedwardocr@hotmail.com=20
  href=3D"mailto:edwardocr@hotmail.com">edwardocr@hotmail.com</A> </DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=3Dzembla@texas.net =

  href=3D"mailto:zembla@texas.net">zembla@texas.net</A> ; <A=20
  title=3Dalex.aikawa@uol.com.br=20
  href=3D"mailto:alex.aikawa@uol.com.br">alex.aikawa@uol.com.br</A> ; <A =

  title=3Dbhalsey@racsa.co.cr=20
  href=3D"mailto:bhalsey@racsa.co.cr">bhalsey@racsa.co.cr</A> ; <A=20
  title=3Drab1@wireweb.net =
href=3D"mailto:rab1@wireweb.net">rab1@wireweb.net</A> ;=20
  <A title=3Dhbear@mcn.org =
href=3D"mailto:hbear@mcn.org">hbear@mcn.org</A> ; <A=20
  title=3Dvoyeurmmx@yahoo.com=20
  href=3D"mailto:voyeurmmx@yahoo.com">voyeurmmx@yahoo.com</A> </DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, April 28, 2003 =
9:31=20
PM</DIV>
  <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: George McGovern on =
the=20
  present situation</DIV>
  <DIV><BR></DIV>
  <DIV>
  <DIV>
  <P><FONT size=3D3>This is excerpted.<BR>The complete article can found =
on the=20
  web at <BR><B><A=20
  =
href=3D"http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=3D20030421&amp;s=3Dmcgovern"=
=20
  =
eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=3D20030421&amp;s=3D=
mcgovern</A></B>=20
  <BR><BR><B>"...This President and his advisers know well how to get us =

  involved in imperial crusades abroad while pillaging the ordinary =
American at=20
  home.</B> <B>The same families who are exploited by a rich man's =
government=20
  find their sons and daughters being called to war, as they were in=20
  Vietnam--but not the sons of the rich and well=20
  connected..."<BR><BR><BR></FONT><FONT size=3D5>The Reason=20
  Why<BR></B></FONT><FONT size=3D3>by <B>GEORGE MCGOVERN<BR></B>[from =
the April=20
  21, 2003 issue]<BR><BR><B>Thanks to the most crudely partisan decision =
in the=20
  history of the Supreme Court, the nation has been given a President of =

painfully limited wisdom and compassion and lacking any sense of the =
nation's=20
 true greatness. Appearing to enjoy his role as Commander in =
Chief of=20
 the armed forces above all other functions of his office, and =
unchecked by a=20
 seemingly timid Congress, a compliant Supreme Court, a largely =
subservient=20
 press and a corrupt corporate plutocracy, George W. Bush has set the =
nation on=20
 a course for one-man rule. He treads carelessly on the Bill of =
Rights, the=20
 United Nations and international law while creating a costly but =
largely=20
 useless new federal bureaucracy loosely called "Homeland Security." =
Meanwhile,=20
 such fundamental building blocks of national security as full =
employment and a=20
 strong labor movement are of no concern. The nearly $1.5 =
trillion tax=20
 giveaway, largely for the further enrichment of those already rich, =
will have=20
 to be made up by cutting government services and shifting a larger =
share of=20
 the tax burden to workers and the elderly. This President and his =
advisers=20
 know well how to get us involved in imperial crusades abroad while =
pillaging=20
 the ordinary American at home. The same families who are =
exploited by a=20
 rich man's government find their sons and daughters being called to =
war, as=20
 they were in Vietnam--but not the sons of the rich and well =
connected.=20
 (Let me note that the son of South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson is now =
on duty=20
 in the Persian Gulf. He did not use his obvious political connections =
to avoid=20
 military service, nor did his father seek exemptions for his son. That =
goes=20
 well with me, with my fellow South Dakotans and with every fair-minded =

American.) The invasion of Iraq and other costly wars now being =
planned=20
 in secret are fattening the ever-growing military-industrial =
complex of=20
 which President Eisenhower warned in his great farewell address. War =
profits=20
 are booming, as is the case in all wars. While young Americans die, =
profits go=20
 up. But our economy is not booming, and our stock market is not =
booming. Our=20
 wages and incomes are not booming. While waging a war against Iraq, =
the=20
 Bush Administration is waging another war against the well-being of =
America.=20
 Following the 9/11 tragedy at the World Trade Center and the =
Pentagon, the=20
 entire world was united in sympathy and support for America. But =
thanks to the=20
 arrogant unilateralism, the bullying and the clumsy, unimaginative =
diplomacy=20
 of Washington, Bush converted a world of support into a world united =
against=20
 us, with the exception of Tony Blair and one or two others...As I =
have=20
 watched America's moral and political standing in the world fade as =
the=20
 globe's inhabitants view the senseless and immoral bombing of ancient, =

historic Baghdad, I think often of another Jefferson observation =
during an=20
 earlier bad time in the nation's history: "I tremble for my country =
when I=20
 reflect that God is just." The President frequently confides =
to=20
 individuals and friendly audiences that he is guided by God's hand. =
But if God=20
 guided him into an invasion of Iraq, He sent a different message to =
the Pope,=20
 the Conference of Catholic Bishops, the mainline Protestant National =
Council=20
 of Churches and many distinguished rabbis--all of whom believe the =
invasion=20
 and bombardment of Iraq is against God's will. In all due respect, =
I=20
 suspect that Karl Rove, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld =
and=20
 Condoleezza Rice--and other sideline warriors--are the gods (or =
goddesses)=20
 reaching the ear of our President... ...So President Bush, forgive =
me if=20
 I've been too tough on you. But I must tell you, Mr. President, you =
are the=20
 greatest threat to American troops. Only you can put our young =
people in=20
 harm's way in a needless war. Only you can weaken America's good name =
and=20
 influence in world affairs. We hear much talk these days, as we =
did during=20
 the Vietnam War, of "supporting our troops." Like most Americans, I =
have=20
 always supported our troops, and I have always believed we had the =
best=20
 fighting forces in the world--with the possible exception of the =
Vietnamese,=20
 who were fortified by their hunger for national independence, whereas =
we=20
 placed our troops in the impossible position of opposing an =
independent=20
 Vietnam, albeit a Communist one. But I believed then as I do now =
that the=20
 best way to support our troops is to avoid sending them on mistaken =
military=20
 campaigns that needlessly endanger their lives and limbs. That is =
what=20
 went on in Vietnam for nearly thirty years--first as we financed the =
French in=20
 their failing effort to regain control of their colonial empire in =
Southeast=20
 Asia, 1946-54, and then for the next twenty years as we sought =
unsuccessfully=20
 to stop the Vietnamese independence struggle led by Ho Chi Minh and =
Gen. Vo=20
 Nguyen Giap--two great men whom we should have accepted as the =
legitimate=20
 leaders of Vietnam at the end of World War II. I should add that Ho =
and his=20
 men were our allies against the Japanese in World War II. Some of my =
fellow=20
 pilots who were shot down by Japanese gunners over Vietnam were =
brought safely=20
 back to American lines by Ho's guerrilla forces. During the =
long years=20
 of my opposition to that war, including a presidential campaign =
dedicated to=20
 ending the American involvement, I said in a moment of disgust: "I'm =
sick and=20
 tired of old men dreaming up wars in which young men do the dying." =
That=20
 terrible American blunder, in which 58,000 of our bravest young men =
died, and=20
 many times that number were crippled physically or psychologically, =
also cost=20
 the lives of some 2 million Vietnamese as well as a similar number of=20
 Cambodians and Laotians, in addition to laying waste most of =
Indochina--its=20
 villages, fields, trees and waterways; its schools, churches, markets =
and=20
 hospitals. I had thought after that horrible tragedy--sold to =
the=20
 American people by our policy-makers as a mission of freedom and =
mercy--that=20
 we never again would carry out a needless, ill-conceived invasion of =
another=20
 country that had done us no harm and posed no threat to our security. =
I was=20
 wrong in that assumption. The President and his team, building =
on the=20
 trauma of 9/11, have falsely linked Saddam Hussein's Iraq to that =
tragedy and=20
 then falsely built him up as a deadly threat to America and to world =
peace.=20
 These falsehoods are rejected by the UN and nearly all of the world's =
people.=20
 We will, of course, win the war with Iraq. But what of the question =
raised in=20
 the Bible that both George Bush and I read: "What does it profit a =
man to=20
 gain the whole world and lose his own soul," or the soul of his =
nation?=20
 It has been argued that the Iraqi leader is hiding a few =
weapons of=20
 mass destruction, which we and eight other countries have long held. =
But can=20
 it be assumed that he would insure his incineration by attacking the =
United=20
 States? Can it be assumed that if we are to save ourselves we must =
strike Iraq=20
 before Iraq strikes us? This same reasoning was frequently employed =
during the=20
 half-century of cold war by hotheads recommending that we atomize the =
Soviet=20
 Union and China before they atomize us. Courtesy of The New =
Yorker, we=20
 are reminded of Tolstoy's observation: "What an immense mass of =
evil must=20
 result...from allowing men to assume the right of anticipating what =
may=20
 happen." Or again, consider the words of Lord Stanmore, who =
concluded=20
 after the suicidal charge of the Light Brigade that it was "undertaken =
to=20
 resist an attack that was never threatened and probably never =
contemplated."=20
 The symphony of falsehood orchestrated by the Bush team has been =
de-vised=20
 to defeat an Iraqi onslaught that "was never threatened and probably =
never=20
 contemplated." I'm grateful to The Nation, as I was to=20
 Harper's, for giving me opportunities to write about these =
matters.=20
 Major newspapers, especially the Washington Post, haven't been =
nearly=20
 as receptive. The destruction of Baghdad has a special poignancy =
for many=20
 of us. In my fourth-grade geography class under a superb teacher, Miss =
Wagner,=20
 I was first introduced to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the palm =
trees and=20
 dates, the kayaks plying the rivers, camel caravans and desert oases, =
the=20
 Arabian Nights, Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (my first =
movie), the=20
 ancient city of Baghdad, Mesopotamia, the Fertile Crescent. This was =
the first=20
 class in elementary school that fired my imagination. Those wondrous =
images=20
 have stayed with me for more than seventy years. And it now troubles =
me to=20
 hear of America's bombs, missiles and military machines ravishing the =
cradle=20
 of civilization. But in God's good time, perhaps this most ancient =
of=20
 civilizations can be redeemed. My prayer is that most of our soldiers =
and most=20
 of the long-suffering people of Iraq will survive this war after it =
has joined=20
 the historical march of folly that is man's inhumanity to=20
 man. </DIV></DIV> 
 <HR>
 Add photos to your e-mail with <A =
href=3D"http://g.msn.com/8HMGENUS/2746">MSN=20
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