Jesse Ventura is speaking for me today

[malaise]

Last edited Fri Nov 7, 2014, 05:47 PM - Edit history (1)

The seals are trying to profit off war because mercenaries and contractors are paid way more than them. War is a racket - war is for the war profiteers - read Smedley Butler's book!!


Go Jesse!!!

[RKP5637]

1. Yep, the MIC just loves war. Death and destruction means big profits. ... bunch of sad fucks IMO. nt

[merrily]

2. Violence is almost never the correct answer. Or unavoidable.

[Dawson Leery]

3. The interview:

http://rt.com/shows/politicking-larry-king/202931-jesse-ventura-midterm-aftermath/

[malaise]

4. Thanks for this

He's right on foreign policy - all presidents are hawks. We can argue degrees.

[malaise]

5. You have a better chance of being Larry King's wife than catching Ebola

Hilarious Jesse

[Hekate]

6. Smedley Butler's wiki link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler

I first heard about him and his book from my Vets for Peace friends back in Dubya's reign. It was good to hear Jesse Ventura bring it up.

Smedley Darlington Butler[1] (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940) was a United States Marine Corps major general, the highest rank authorized at that time, and at the time of his death the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. During his 34-year career as a Marine, he participated in military actions in the Philippines, China, in Central America and the Caribbean during the Banana Wars, and France in World War I. Butler is well known for having later become an outspoken critic of U.S. wars and their consequences, as well as exposing the Business Plot, a purported plan to overthrow the U.S. government.

By the end of his career, Butler had received 16 medals, five for heroism. He is one of 19 men to receive the Medal of Honor twice, one of three to be awarded both the Marine Corps Brevet Medal and the Medal of Honor, and the only Marine to be awarded the Brevet Medal and two Medals of Honor, all for separate actions.

In 1933, he became involved in a controversy known as the Business Plot, when he told a congressional committee that a group of wealthy industrialists were planning a military coup to overthrow Franklin D. Roosevelt, with Butler selected to lead a march of veterans to become dictator, similar to other Fascist regimes at that time. The individuals involved all denied the existence of a plot and the media ridiculed the allegations. A final report by a special House of Representatives Committee confirmed some of Butler's testimony.

In 1935, Butler wrote a book entitled War Is a Racket, where he described and criticized the workings of the United States in its foreign actions and wars, such as those he was a part of, including the American corporations and other imperialist motivations behind them. After retiring from service, he became a popular activist, speaking at meetings organized by veterans, pacifists, and church groups in the 1930s.

[malaise]

8. I'm a big fan

America needs a Smedley Butler right now to stop the for profit wars.

[navarth]

11. IMO Butler saved the country.

Too bad FDR didn't go after those mother fuckers (including Bu$h's grandfather). General Butler had them all laid out for him.

[Hekate]

16. It was up to Congress, and Congress gave them a pass. nt

[navarth]

7. Protecting the country has been commodified.

It's become a product that gets sold for profit. These guys want to get paid like the mercenaries. Did armed forces guys act like this back in WWII? I don't know, and I can't help wondering.

[malaise]

9. Well Niccolò Machiavelli

warned them about what happens when you start hiring mercenaries.

[navarth]

10. ah.

Again my lack of sufficient reading of Machiavelli urges me to greater effort.

[sabrina 1]

12. What did anyone expect when the US hires a private army of Mercs to do their

'fighting' for blood money? I always thought that was against the law in a country that calls itself a Democracy. I remember how shocked people were when it was first revealed that 'contractors' were actually soldiers for hire, with some of them coming from a few of the worst regimes in the world, at least in the Brits' Private Mercenary armies.

They expect Seals to behave with 'integrity' when they learn that integrity is not exactly an earmark of those warmongering profiteers who appear to be running all of this.

[malaise]

13. That's exactly what Jesse Ventura said

and you're both 100% correct.

[sabrina 1]

14. Thank you, I saw the story on the Seals and found it not so surprising. We have 'leaders'

who lied us into war, loads of profiteers making billions of dollars, and the Mercs have always been a problem for the troops when they learn how much they are being paid compared to those actually serving in the military.

The whole thing is a scam, a tragic scam, considering the enormous human losses and I guess all the Seals are doing is imitating what they see. Iow, these two obviously get it, it's all about money.

I hadn't heard Jesse Ventura, but he often hits the nail on the head when it comes to these issues.

[malaise]

15. Check out post #2 for an interview with Jesse and Larry King

[Hekate]

17. I am fairly certain we should bring back the draft at this point

Yes, I was college age during the Vietnam War, and it was awful. But you know what? With all but the most privileged at personal risk of ending up there, it became not only deeply unpopular but deeply personal. To paraphrase Ben Franklin, the prospect of stepping on an IED in the morning wonderfully concentrates the mind.

There are now so few who actually serve in harm's way that the average American can put the actuality of how our soldiers are used and abused out of their minds -- and the Masters of War hire mercenaries and it's business as usual for them.

[malaise]

18. The 1% and their goons would still dodge it

Ask Rmoney, or the war criminal of a Dick and his sidekick George Bush

[Hekate]

19. What else would we expect of them? The masses, however, wouldn't take it forever

I have very mixed feelings about this idea, but the way we're going now is a betrayal of who we are. Or who we used to be.