The uniparty press, four-star officers and high level DOD civilians will blame overweight young people, drugs, or a good economy. Anything to avoid admitting the DOD brand has been damaged and that they have played a role here.
Decades after the lessons of Vietnam, it feels like the people who run the Pentagon specialize in undeclared/unwon wars.
Understandable why young people and their parents and grandparents would take a dim view on all this.
1969 – Man On The Moon
2023 – Military barracks inside the US that are unfit to live in.
Where is the Cold War era Sergeant Major or First Sergeant who would have raised hell to take care of The Troops. Are they encouraging the young people they know to sign up today? The guys that did a couple tours in Iraq or Afghanistan- are they sending young family members down to enlist?
There has been a big stir over a blocked senior military promotion system. TV newspeople will avoid interviewing people who offer up a voice of dissent. Stalling the administrative steps to promote top level officers might lead to what? Decades of undeclared/unwon wars? A giant Dept. of Defense that was nowhere to be found on 911?
Why would high level promotions be awarded to people who are part of the system that allowed The Troops to live in the barracks described below?
Sept 25, 2023 MOAA
Military Barracks Blasted Over Horrid Living Conditions, Lack of Accountability
“The GAO concluded that leaders at the Pentagon are not only failing to provide oversight — instead choosing to largely punt the issue to the branches — but they also don’t consider it a priority. The result has been bureaucratic finger-pointing, with no one office or leader willing to own the issue.”
Never Forget-
The US Armed Forces were irrelevant in defending American rights and freedoms, our physical security, & The Constitution on 911.
Ditto for all other federal agencies and departments.
A special marketing tribute to a catastrophic military failure:
Voices of Dissent
TV newspeople keep things safe by not inviting people with alternative views to be interviewed on air. Here is a video I found the other day. A large number of honest comments have been posted to the video. Getting away from recruiting crisis denial would mean inviting these voices on air.
Here is a PBS NewsHour video.
Hey Uncle Sam- know that information suppression will kill enthusiasm related to enlisting in the US Armed Forces.
People want to live in a free and honest society.
Information Suppression – The Press is Weak
Telling us that Troops are sent to distant lands for our freedoms.
The All Volunteer Force era has been a time to tell the American people that US troops are sent to distant lands to defend American freedoms. This urban legend has run its course. People have seen enough now to know this is no more than a marketing strategy. Uniparty newspeople play along by not asking questions:
Freedom?
School children are taught about a free enterprise system. They grow up to find out that the federal government will tell them what kind of shower head they must install in the bathroom, and what type of gas can they must buy for their lawn mower.
Did hostile forces in distant lands attempt to replace US consumer demand with government demand and end the free enterprise system?
May 28, 2020 WMAR
Salisbury Mayor deploying to Africa with Maryland National Guard
Several news sources published this quote. View them here.
The idea that sending hometown troops to Africa would be linked in any way with keeping the people of Salisbury Maryland safe and free calls for more discussion.
Mayor Day,
While the troops were deployed, federal law was signed prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to adults age 18-20.
Can you help us to understand the militarized version of freedom here?
December 21st 2019 KOMO News
Legal age to buy cigarettes, vapes raised to 21 nationwide
“Signed into law by President Donald Trump Friday as part of the new $1.4 trillion spending bill, a new measure prohibits the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21.”
The US should maintain strong and ready military forces.
In some cases, the US Armed Forces provide for our security. That’s as good as it gets.
In terms of American rights and freedoms- The Dept. of Defense has no more say than the Dept. of Agriculture.
Legal marijuana, concealed carry of handguns, semi automatic rifle sales, federal minimum drinking age, federal toilet regulations, sports betting, federal gas can regulations/free enterprise system,
voting rights, bump stock ban, interracial marriage, gay marriage, tobacco sales, open container laws, etc.
Freedoms come and go. None of the above are linked in any way with The Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Troops, The Dept. of Defense or the outcome of military operations overseas.
18-20 year old adults – Go and sign up now
Maybe a few more decades of undeclared/unwon wars and the freedoms will get better.
The uniparty promotes the idea that The Troops are sent to distant lands to defend American rights and freedoms. The press plays along by not asking questions.
Why do we speak of the US Armed Forces as if they function as some sort of giant civil rights organization?
Both major parties are OK with treating 18-20 year old adults as second-class citizens.
Both major parties are good with a land of the free holding pattern where alcohol, marijuana, tobacco and firearms restrictions are in place for 18-20 year old adults. Is there any state where recreational marijuana laws remove prohibition for adults at age 18? Are The Joint Chiefs of Staff working to change any of this?
Doesn’t seem to fit with a society that can’t stop bragging about freedom, thanking the troops for freedoms, fighting wars for freedoms, staging military jet flyovers at sporting events for freedom, etc.
The country struggles with:
The Draft
An excellent article here:
Sept 25, 2023 By Christopher Roach
The prosperous, homogeneous, and high-trust America of the 1960s—one where most of the families had two parents, and the dads were World War II veterans—nearly tore itself apart over the Vietnam-era draft. That cultural conflict cast a long shadow and discouraged military adventurism for many years. It is impossible to believe that the disunited, fragmented, and multicultural America of today would support a draft to pursue a high-casualty war of attrition for some abstract goal like “the balance of power in Europe” or “open shipping lanes in the South China Sea.”
“Right now, Americans are mostly indifferent to their empire because it does not demand anything of them. Some even have a positive view, thinking it keeps us safe. But if American Empire now means you, your son, or (God forbid!) your daughter is being drafted to protect some place no one has ever heard of, the American people will immediately turn hostile.”
“If a draft is required to maintain the American Empire, we should consider other modes of coexistence with the rest of the world that do not depend on oversized American military power, because a draft is impossible in today’s America.”
Reality Check
The US Dept of Defense spent the last 30 years squandering prestige and credibility overseas and at home.
Some Americans may be asking:
Did the advantage of US air power allow the undeclared wars in Iraq or Afghanistan to be prevented, won or shut down?
US jet aircraft have been able to strike targets in what wars won by the US?
Has dressing women to look like men had any positive or negative impact on recruiting?
If DOD was an NFL team, sports talk radio would feature comments like:
The Dept. of Defense was nowhere to be found on 911. We haven’t won a war since.
Any college or pro football coach would have been fired a dozen times over for what DOD has done with the US Armed Forces during the fake GWOT era.
Fake GWOT?
The US Dept. of Homeland Security was invented after the catastrophic military failure of 911. The idea was to keep bad people from coming to the US to do bad things/attempt another 911, etc.
Wouldn’t the giant War on Terror be a cartel drug trafficker’s worst nightmare?
Welcome Home Troops
Jan 27, 2023 KONP FENTANYL NOW TOP DRUG IN CLALLAM COUNTY OVERDOSES
Have opioid lawsuits played any role in improving the situation?
How do cartels react to opioid lawsuits?
Has a $51.6 billion (every 12 months) US Dept. of Homeland Security created any shortage of opioids in the Puget Sound area?
If Americans lived in a free and honest society, newspeople would be asking public policy related questions all of the time. This is not the case.
Thanks For Your Service
Thanks for doing time/risking your ass in Iraq and Afghanistan, working to keep a post 911 USA safe & secure.
Don’t worry-The Super Bowl and public affairs will be safe:
Related:
GWOT/Super Bowl Security Update 2023
Here at Oak Bay Starfish, we believe that a return to the draft is total political fantasy. Below, we will go into some of the reasons why, but not much is new if you’re one of the many readers who have been closely following the blog at any time since the catastrophic military failure of 911. Still wondering if anyone was fired over that.
Before making any plans to start up a draft, let’s ask if newspeople can do something totally different. Have newspeople interview elected officials and let us know how sending US Troops to Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, etc., is somehow defending the constitution.
Have newspeople find out:
Whatever happened to the formal congressional declaration of war?
This would be the time to hear from elected leaders and top generals Re: lessons learned on all the issues that have doomed the Department of Defense track record for winning wars since DOD was established in 1949.
Look for newspeople and school teachers to ask zero questions in this area.
National Guard
The people of Minnesota need more applicants to maintain a place to live and a regular job in their hometown area when they are not doing time in foreign lands helping DOD with undeclared/unwon wars and missions completely unrelated to their home state.
A few decades back, people might think of the National Guard as one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer plus a way to support your home state by being ready to get called out for floods, fires, natural disasters, civil unrest, etc. Maybe a way to help the next state over if they needed it.
Any members of the press available to show up and ask why the people of Home State, USA needed services in distant lands, absent any military emergency, national emergency, draft, or declaration of war?
Recruiting crisis for Uncle Sam? Elected officials, top Pentagon Generals and the press earned it.
Thousands of men and women who signed up for the National Guard in the past 25 years did tours in places like Syria, Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo.
These families have stories to tell and they’re not all positive. Will their stories support a draft?
Related:
Military Barracks – Recruiting Crisis
Armed Forces Recruiting Crisis Update
Uniparty No Good For Confidence in US Armed Forces?
Over at the US Armed Forces recruiting office
Random Thoughts – Recruiting Crisis
Hostile Forces in Distant Lands
Possibly of interest:
Below, are some random thoughts and questions newspeople will not ask. Our questions appear in bold type.
How Do The Troops Defend The Constitution?
Not asking about the oath of enlistment. Asking about what happens after the oath has been taken.
Look for newspeople and school teachers to ask zero questions in these areas.
Will an older generation encourage a younger generation to do time in the US Armed Forces in the years ahead?
How does Uncle Sam plan to attract young people to sign up in the years ahead?
Photo-
Symbol of a culture that was once strong (Man On The Moon in ’69). A culture that is now weak. A symbol of TV newspeople who play along by not asking questions.
Possibly of interest:
Most And Least Meaningful Federal Holidays
