False Equivalence

I'm not sure why I am noticing this, but I am seeing an up-tick in “patriotism” in this country. Could be the election cycle. Or maybe it's the 1% conditioning (or trying/hoping to) condition us for war.

It started with a mural that was a short focus on WIVB's news broadcast. They were talking about all the murals that are going up in the city (and elsewhere) and they bought a short focus on one in Blackrock (I believe) that is on the side of an AMVETs Post. It's loaded with military images – an aircraft carrier, some planes and assorted air power, and an M-1 tank.

Somehow the person that WIVB interviewed for that particular mural associated patriotism with militarism. They didn't have much time, but in a few short sentences they did just that.

Then a friend of mine was talking about how the Moving Vietnam Veteran's Wall is in the region. It was over in Arkport/Hornell over the weekend and will be up in Spencerport this week. In his school all seniors were taken to the Wall exhibit for half the day for an opening ceremony, dedication, and whatever else they did. The Government Class teacher had brought in several Vietnam War veterans to speak about their experiences in the war and what it meant to them.

Now his school is very heavily impoverished (somewhere around 50% of the students receive free or reduced lunches.) Buffalo is about as hard hit in some schools. (Some students don''t even know where home will be at the end of the day.) Other districts in this region are also struggling financially as well. All these tax breaks (read “subsidies for corporate America” and “bribes to locate to NY”) are killing school budgets and that has a negative impact on student achievement.

Even with all the development that is going on with the “Buffalo Billion” bribes there are some students that can't afford to go to college to earn the degree necessary to work in many of the jobs that are going to be created.

Where to go and what to do? It's called the Montgomery GI Bill – Up to $30,000 towards college costs after completion of a successful stint in the military.

And last week with all the nice weather I saw military recruiters out in the Senior lunch area (It's an enclosed courtyard with light supervision). BTW – The supervision on those days was military recruiters. They were even “tossing disc” (growing up we called it “playing Frisbee”) with the students.

Want to guess what symbol was prominently displayed on the Frisbee? The USMC. (As my ex-Marine brother calls them “Uncle Sam's Misguided Children.) Sad part is he won't talk about his experiences in the Marine Corps. The most anyone can get out of him (when he's had a few) is that his unit was trained for “domestic purposes.” No more detail than that. Makes me wonder what he means by that.)

So we have military art in the community. A memorial going around the area reminding us of the sacrifices made by 58,000+ servicemen and women over a lie (the Gulf on Tonkin Incident). And military recruiters playing games with students at lunchtime.

It's like the only way to be patriotic is to join the military and do that military thing. (As a former Special Forces member that I know said “Join the military. Travel the world. Meet interesting people. And kill them.”)

Why is patriotism automatically linked with the military and serving in war?

Is it because the military is short on recruits? In this economy, it's the only sure gig for some people. Especially out of high school or struggling with college costs.

Is President Obama (or the next president) preparing for more boots on the ground in Iraq? Or Afghanistan? Or Syria? (Perhaps Venezuela, though the US has been pushing for soft coups in South and Latin America as of late. Soft coup means US loyalists in the nation do the killing instead of our soldiers. The only fingerprint is the CIA advisers.)

Perhaps the whole situation in the South China Sea is going to boil up into something big?

Or Eastern Europe? (Most notably the Ukraine. It's heating up there again from what I have been able to gather.)

All I know is that I'm not comfortable with the drums of war that are being beaten every so quietly around here.

I'd say something smells fishy, but the phrase is “the dogs of war.”

And they need to be muzzled and kept on as short a leash as possible.