I propose Constitutional amendments, at both the federal and state levels, to the effect of that no item of public property (buildings, public roads, vehicles, ships, aircraft, spacecraft, rifles, pistols — anything paid for from the public purse) shall be named after any living person, and that any all proposals to name publicly-owned items after people shall be voted upon by the public as a whole.
Hey, John — Glad to see you here! There’s one of your fellow jarheads living in Santa Fe that you’ve just gotta meet one of these days — maybe at next year’s LP State Convention . . . ?
I like the line Scott added to this one — “Apocalypse no.”
While the armed forces comprise 56 percent of discretionary spending, they only make up about 25 percent of the total budget —
I agree that American forces are overly used abroad — Iraq and the “AfPak” theater are just the biggest examples. The predominate doctrine in “defense” circles these days revolves around the “power projection” concept —
the capacity of a state to conduct expeditionary warfare, i.e. to intimidate other nations and implement policy by means of force, or the threat thereof, in an area distant from its own territory.
The Pentagon has had its collective head up its power-projecting posterior since the end of WWII. I don’t (realistically) see an end to this idiocy any time soon.
Why is the military complex and our occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan never mentioned on this blog?
I think you answered your own question in the preceding sentences (not that I disagree at all) —
(1) Republicans in NM are not willing to accept the ‘ex-vet against the war’ positioning (see John Kerry) (2) NM is very dependent on the federal dollar spent in this state on military. Kirkland, after all, is the state’s number one employer.
On your point (1), I think that the big-government hawks of the GOP let Larry Bailey and Co. conduct a Swift Boat-type smear campaign against Adam. Since Mullins gave every appearance (to me, at least) of being quite eager to jump on board the smear campaign, while he says he’s not part of the GOP Machine, he’s doing its bidding, and thus deserves the title of Coggie (see above).
Thus Mullins seems (again, to me) to be quite content to be an unwitting Coggie, and I cannot in good conscience extend the slightest increment of support to the Mullins Campaign.
Isn’t repelling invasions a big part of what the Second Amendment is all about? Let’s not look to Washington DC for answers — that’s a big part of how the “border problem” got started in the first place. If we cleaned out the District of Criminals, ended the welfare state and ended Drug Prohibition, the “border problem” would cease being any sort of problem.
“Neil could go L. Ron on us and start a religion.”
Bill Koehler (the same guy who writes letters to TLE) tried that a few years ago here in Albuquerque. Went over like a lead balloon, and most of the shit he got about it was from LPNM members.
Delia Lopez sounds pretty good for a Republican. She (seems to) understands that liberty comes from self-ownership, and expressed a desire to shut down Drug Prohibition, carbon-dioxide “cap and trade,” and other assorted BS.
Jim, Ixodidic-Americans might have grounds for a defamation suit against you, what with you comparing them to the Ruling Classwipes — ticks are morally superior in that they don’t tell you they’re sucking your blood and transmitting diseases to you for your own benefit.
Actually, you can see it over the web — go to the Ch.27 site and click the embedded window (“Channel 27 Live Media Stream”). The only problem you might have is if you don’t have the latest version of Windows Media Player installed.
You put the word unguided in quotes as though my usage of the word was unwarranted. The stabilization fins that Hamas attaches to each of the Qassam series rockets with don’t count as a guidance system — the warhead rockets of the RPG-7 series (picture), RPG-26 and M72 LAW (picture) also all have such fins, but aren’t considered “guided” by anyone in the know.
In the end, whether or not the missiles are guided or not doesn’t really matter — the fact remains that Hamas, Fatah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, etc., are using them against Israeli civilians, a clear violation of the Laws of War, as well as an offense against common decency. That’s when these groups aren’t pulling triggers against each other. And Israel has had its share of bad moments, as well — the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre wasn’t something that I’d sign off on. Nor was the Deir Yassin Massacre.
As for tax “dollars” (really Federal Reserve Notes or FRNs) being used, I find it equally offensive that a Palestinian American would be taxed to provide foreign aid to Israel (or a Jewish American taxed to provide such aid to Israel’s enemies) as an Operation Rescue member being taxed to subsidize abortions, or a gun owner being taxed to fund the F-Troop.
Let’s get one thing straight right now — Hamas isn’t a group for those who are into nonviolent civil disobedience. The use of unguided Qassam rockets against Israeli civilian areas should tell you that they aren’t the Good Guys that the “lefties” portray them as:
It’s also been said that more Palestinians have been killed by Hamas than by the IDF:
Or Congress could cut ALL foreign aid to EVERYONE (both civilian and military) — Israel, Egypt, etc. Then we could not only get that cash back as a tax return, but could return to the Washington / Jefferson Doctrine where foreign policy is concerned (paraphrased below):
Friendship and commerce with all; entangling alliances with none