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My fellow Americans:
Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor.
This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen.
Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all.
Our people expect their President and the Congress to find essential agreement on issues of great moment, the wise resolution of which will better shape the future of the Nation.
My own relations with the Congress, which began on a remote and tenuous basis when, long ago, a member of the Senate appointed me to West Point, have since ranged to the intimate during the war and immediate post-war period, and, finally, to the mutually interdependent during these past eight years.
In this final relationship, the Congress and the Administration have, on most vital issues, cooperated well, to serve the national good rather than mere partisanship, and so have assured that the business of the Nation should go forward. So, my official relationship with the Congress ends in a feeling, on my part, of gratitude that we have been able to do so much together.
II.
We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America’s leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.
III.
Throughout America’s adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad.
Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology — global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger is poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle — with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.
Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research — these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.
But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs — balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage — balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.
The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of stress and threat. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. I mention two only.
IV.
A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.
Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.
In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.
Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present
and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite.
It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system — ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.
V.
Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society’s future, we — you and I, and our government — must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.
VI.
Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.
Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.
Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war — as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years — I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.
Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But, so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road.
VII.
So — in this my last good night to you as your President — I thank you for the many opportunities you have given me for public service in war and peace. I trust that in that service you find some things worthy; as for the rest of it, I know you will find ways to improve performance in the future.
You and I — my fellow citizens — need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nation’s great goals.
To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America’s prayerful and continuing aspiration:
No related posts.
My first president, some of the lies that were taught to me by Eisenhower, and school
• Our government cares for its citizens
• Government treats all equally, no passes to the front of the line
• We will never leave a service member behind
• We have embassies for the purpose of helping US citizens in foreign lands
• The federal reserve bank is our the citizens bank
• The nuclear test are safe, the government would never put its citizens in danger
• Duck and cover will work
• Anti trust laws will protect us from unscrupulous businesses
• We would never attack another country, never first blood
• We care and protect the less fortunate
• You need collage to be successful
• A mansion or shack, you home is your protected castle
• Checkpoints and unwarranted stops are something that happens in the east block
• The nations resources belong to and are to benefit all the citizens
• The American citizen lived in the freest nation on earth
• American health care was second to none
• Doctors were special , in practice for the love of helping the sick and needy
I sure had a feel good childhood, thanks President Eisenhower, the interstate freeway system was and is marvelous, but where did the money come from? Did you rob SS?
Seriously Mark?….. Tell us what lies Washington or Lincoln told you too. You are the only guy I know that can take something so out of context that it turns into something totally unrecognizable.
He was the greatest Prez in my time for his warning about the military industry complex.
And seriously Mark, how old were you when Eisenhower was president? I know I was all of 9 years old when he left office. I was not quite 1 years old when he took office. So tell me what lies did Eisenhower tell you? All I remember about Eisenhower was this grandfatherly figure on our Black and White Television Set.
Ah the formative years, the prospective we form during those years, the pledge the prayers, the propaganda force fed in public schools, and yes much of the beliefs was delivered by parents. I remember my blessed childhood well. not going to toot my horn, but could not get enough info about the wonderful USA. By the way we did not have television until the late sixties, it was taboo, it was competition for the drive in, maybe that is why I see through the media BS, I was not raised in front of the tube.
One more time How old were you when IKE was president? or let me put it simply what year were you born?
54
You have an amazing memory for being tops six years old… and so politically astute at zed to six is awe inspiring! A regular gifted child. The monks from Tibet should have grabbed you right up. Why you could have been known as the Yucca Lama or something..
All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.
These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.
Alot of that stuff my wife is trying to teach me yet today.
Mark wrote one of the things he learned was “share everything”
Well Mark hows that working out for you so far?
You have multiple businesses I have none.
So by your and the 99%’ers reasoning you would/should be giving one of your businesses or at least a share of the profits to those less fortunate 99%’ers.
Doesn’t that seem like the fair thing to do? You’re closer to being one of the 1% than I.
When should I expect the check or partnership paperwork.
Be careful because those “occupy” flea baggers you are so fond of will be camping on your front yard soon.
By the way I read Robert Fulghum’s book too.
I really liked nap time.
WE ARE THE 99 PERCENT
risk = profit
Risk=profit?
Is that what your “occupy” friends are occupying about?
Seems to me they just want a piece of the profit pie without any of the risk.
You know the alleged 99%’ers that claim to speak for the little guy.
Tax the risk taker.
No, no, they are not about class warfare, they just want their fair share…
this will be the year, spring is near, ready set occupy
All that stuff started when I was born, at least I wasn’t aware of it before that.
It must have been Ike.
While a lot has advanced in our understanding through television and now computers, Ike was correct for his time. Our country, despite recent advances in civil rights and poverty, was at one of it’s finest moments, with the best yet to come. The stage was being set. We tore it down.
The country has not been the same since. It has been in decline. How many years ago did Eagle Mountain close, our steel mills? While we were busy tearing down, we neglected to rebuild. We pushed everything overseas where only a small part of the population profits. Our push for individual liberty has resulted in an I, me, mine attitude. As long as we don’t see the damage, we ignore it. As long as it suits our needs anyway. Need oil, go to Iran…Oh well, we still have the refineries. Number 1 import being oil. Take a look at our top exports…
http://www.worldsrichestcountries.com/top_us_exports.html
Fuel oil moving up fast. Natural gas is in there as well.
Ike may well have been our last great President, if not one of the greatest. He held a certain balance that was forward thinking. He kept control.
Wow…. kind of a shocking list…. Food is way down on the list except rice. Great find.
Acording to the trust worthy CIA the US is a net exporter of petroleum products
That’s what I was looking for when I found the export list. I have heard that but,I wanted to check it myself before putting it out there.
@Mark C — those are some staggering and disturbing figures. All that petroleum going overseas… when it actually belongs to the American people. Petroleum gets a better price abroad, while one of the salient reasons for the spike in gas is (were told) because of the lack of U.S. refineries.
If you look at the imports, oil is at the top. Our refineries add value and send it elsewhere.
Not a bad deal for us, if it was for us.
Not a big deal. They can do what they want until it effects us. Then it becomes our business.
It’s not our oil, it’s not our money.
It is our air and it is our land, our ports.
Do we charge enough for the service?
How much is too much?
Too much is when the customer goes elsewhere or goes without.
Wartime is when we benefit. It’s good to have the refineries. War is run on refined oil.
We leave that to the private sector. Not the citizens, the oil companies.
Bottom line is that our security is in the hands of a few oil executives. They control our armies.
While with the draft, we had a more resistive military. More of a people’s army. Everybody knew somebody in the military. They were family and friends. While many were exempted due to parentage, those were not the loyal Americans. More like the bosses kid that was born into a position.
Read up on Lincoln and he had few good generals. Many bought their positions. Troops suffered as a result.
I sort of see where you are coming from and have to agree with you on the draft issue. Making all subject to the draft levels the playing field. (Much like the Militia Act of 1792)
I am not so sure I understand if you are wishing to increase tariffs or not… could you clarify?
Depends. So many factors.
Pat Buchanan in his book ” A Republic Not an Empire”, outlines it pretty good.
We demand the same regulations on our imports as on domestic products. As the demands aren’t met, the tariff goes up.
“Not in my backyard” is a means to self destruct. Pollution is pollution and child labor is child labor, regardless of the country it’s in. To regulate ourselves, while giving other countries a pass is beyond stupid.
makes sense but will never happen as long as the people put up wwith the global business buying congress and extracting the wealth of our nation. ops is it commie to refer to the people owning the nation?
Do we own the nation, or is the nation a collective of businesses?
We have been allowed some God given rights or at least they haven’t figured a way to bottle up the air. Wait, they have. No wonder they want to colonize outer space.
Honey did you pay the oxygen bill? I’m starting to turn blue.
Going back to Lincolns time again, tariffs were a secondary reason for the war. It’s not an easy issue.
“If you look at the imports, oil is at the top. Our refineries add value and send it elsewhere”
U.S. exports of gasoline, diesel and other oil-based fuels are soaring, putting the nation on track to be a net exporter of petroleum products in 2011 for the first time in 62 years.
A combination of booming demand from emerging markets and faltering domestic activity means the U.S. is exporting more fuel than it imports, upending the historical norm.
According to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday, the U.S. sent abroad 753.4 million barrels of everything from gasoline to jet fuel in the first nine months of this year, while it imported 689.4 million barrels.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203441704577068670488306242.html
Why not need oil, build pipeline from Canada? Or better yet drill in our own soil, got ANWAR anybody? Or how about some of that off-shore crude?
You are pretty screwed up Clemons. I was there too and none of that crap rings a bell here. I got no such bull from my schools. Maybe you misunderstood what was being taught because you had the same problem then that you seem to have now, talking smack when you should be listening.
Ouch, but being in the company of truly good chirstians, I forgive u
Here’s why…
…ya see, Eisenhower was my SECOND president so I was in school quite a while before you and I seem to have been taught a little defferently.
“Our government cares for its citizens”
We are the government.
“Government treats all equally, no passes to the front of the line”
Again, we are the government. Its our job to fix any inequality we don’t like.
“We will never leave a service member behind”
Where’d you get that crap? The saying goes “A MARINE never leaves a fellow Marine behind.” And it sounds like a good way to lose a war to me.
“We have embassies for the purpose of helping US citizens in foreign lands”
Embassies are intended to serve many purposes including sanctuary for citizens abroad.
“The federal reserve bank is our the citizens bank”
Did you get that one from your PE Coach, or was it little Johnny?
“The nuclear test are safe, the government would never put its citizens in danger”
I repeat, the citizens are the government! And I was taught nuclear testing was necessary. If you think you were taught “nuclear tests are safe”, you should have recognized the oxymoron.
“Duck and cover will work”
Perhaps you were talking to a classmate when your Teacher added the qualifier.
“Anti trust laws will protect us from unscrupulous businesses”
Anti-trust is simply a law that makes CERTAIN business practices illegal. Without policing it will protect nothing.
“We would never attack another country, never first blood”
Not what I was taught. I was taught about Pearl Harbor! I have since seen 9-11. We had better be resolved to do whatever it takes to protect our freedom, preemptive or no.
“We care and protect the less fortunate”
Your sarcasm is obvious but we were all taught that we SHOULD. It’s the Cowboy way after all .
“You need collage to be successful”
Funny how my teachers only needed to relate the statistics to us.
“A mansion or shack, you home is your protected castle”
See, instead I was taught about the US Constitution. BTW do you mean my shack or the bank’s?
“Checkpoints and unwarranted stops are something that happens in the east block”
I was taught that without declaring martial law, the 4th amendment makes that unconstitutional. I was most assuredly not taught that it couldn’t happen.
“The nations resources belong to and are to benefit all the citizens”
Yea, I was taught about Marxism and the communist doctrine too. Is that what you meant?
“The American citizen lived in the freest nation on earth”
Yes pretty much so, comparatively speaking anyhow, but we as individual Americans are the ones, and we are the only ones, responsible for the degree to which we are free. It’s a matter of resolve and its hard work but our great Nation wasn’t built on wishbone, our Founding Fathers had backbone. That’s what I was taught and I think it’s about time WE got to work. BTW, how many nations are there nowadays?
“American health care was second to none”
That is true… Not cheap but true! Or would you prefer socialized medicine at the cost of only a few freedoms?
“Doctors were special, in practice for the love of helping the sick and needy”
No, don’t recall being taught that Doctors were special but I did learn somewhere (maybe TV) that they take an oath swearing to practice ethically.
So where DO you get this stuff anyway Clemons, were you home schooled or what? LOL
Ps. Thanks, your post gave me an oppertunity to mouth off.
We are the government.
Suppose to be, “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty”.
Thomas Jefferson
Where’d you get that crap? The saying goes “A MARINE never leaves a fellow Marine behind.” And it sounds like a good way to lose a war to me.
No quote needed here, as a civilian, all branches are equal, Was that some thing taught at boot?
Embassies are intended to serve many purposes including sanctuary for citizens abroad.
When abroad don’t look to a diplomat for help, well maybe you can get a list of local attorneys
Did you get that one from your PE Coach, or was it little Johnny?
No he thought income tax funded the government and services
I repeat, the citizens are the government! And I was taught nuclear testing was necessary. If you think you were taught “nuclear tests are safe”, you should have recognized the oxymoron.
WOW you think the citizens would release radiation over the sanbernardino mtns for a test or for that matter infect the poor with syphilis, no this was done in secret.
Perhaps you were talking to a classmate when your Teacher added the qualifier.
Perhaps, what was the wisdom filled qualifier?
Your sarcasm is obvious but we were all taught that we
SHOULD. It’s the Cowboy way after all
Don’t forget moms and cowgirls
Funny how my teachers only needed to relate the statistics to us.
Study hard go to collage and find a job with a entrepreneur
See, instead I was taught about the US Constitution. BTW do you mean my shack or the bank’s?
I stand corrected A man’s home is his wife’s castle
I was taught that without declaring martial law, the 4th amendment makes that unconstitutional. I was most assuredly not taught that it couldn’t happen
WOW we agree, you must feel as I when stopped for seatbelt compliance check
Yea, I was taught about Marxism and the communist doctrine too. Is that what you meant?
Don’t quite understand how all those handles that end with a ism funnel the wealth of a nation to the few, but maybe we should not be the cheapest source for crude (oil field leases) for global corporations.
Yes pretty much so, comparatively speaking anyhow, but we as individual Americans are the ones, and we are the only ones, responsible for the degree to which we are free. It’s a matter of resolve and its hard work but our great Nation wasn’t built on wishbone, our Founding Fathers had backbone. That’s what I was taught and I think it’s about time WE got to work. BTW, how many nations are there nowadays?
There is a quote somewhere about the need for a little bloodletting from time to time
So where DO you get this stuff anyway Clemons, were you home schooled or what? LOL
At your age you remember before calculators there was adding machines, remember a teacher telling me that you could not multiply with an adding machine, when I showed her how my mom would multiply with them, well lets put it this way it was the beginning of a whole new enlightenment.
Hey this has been fun and interesting; I can tell you are a good patriot. What was it that Mark Twain said?
I remember the upset when Truman (the underdog) was elected over Dewey. I was riding a city bus with my mother.People were holding up the newspaper and as I recall everyone was cheering. I though Wow he must be a good guy because the buss riders were having the biggest celebration I’d ever seen.
Remember it went to press and the headlines read:
“DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN!”
It began in 1945, when an employee at the Oak Ridge Nuclear Facility was in a car accident. Ebb Cade survived, but was taken in as a human participant in a disturbing study he did not consent to. It is important to note that this man was a fifty-three-year-old African American, as previous government trials have singled out African Americans and other minorities. The racist sterilization programs occurred between 1929 to 1974 under an admitted eugenics programs that officials claimed were ‘creating a better society’. Most victims were poor, black women who were ‘deemed unfit to be parents’. Individuals as young as 10 were sterilized simply for not getting along with schoolmates or being promiscuous, and many parents were misled into sterilizing their children.
Was that during the FDR or Truman administrations? 1929 to 1974? Under a “Admitted” eugenics program? Really “Admitted?”
You think other than Margret Sanger and Planned Parenthood anyone would actually “Openly Admit” to such a terrible thing?
Had to check that one out, so I Googled it.
I opened a couple of the sites, but was afraid of picking up a virus. They were all spreading the same BS with the only citations leading to other obscure websites that simply repeated the same thing. Did you even check it out yourself or are you just being a parrot?
While it does contain shades of the truth, I doubt there is much actual substance to it.
You know those “black helicopters”? They fly over my house too.
What was his name? Chuckle Harder. He was laughing the whole time. Then some get a Rush out of conspiracies.
“Pay the parking meters.” Get real.
Don’t get lost in all the bullshit. Like any bad turd, it’s all over the place. Don’t spread it.
Behind the wonderful American façade there is some ugly conspiracies, I am all for a correction that can only happen if we embrace the verifiable truth that can only be found deep in the bowls of our entrenched government institutions.
Just when you think everything is going just perfect…. he goes off his meds…
Everything is a conspiracy. We don’t need to make up more.
Right now Dan’s probably conspiring with the misses on how to sell more hot dogs. Did you know he actually started this site to spread propaganda against tofu?
Until you know his deep dark secrets, you’ll never prove me wrong.
“Paranoia is having all the facts.” — William Burroughs
Bay of Tonkin – faking an attack to start a war;
Iraqi – faking WMD to start a war;
New World Order – H.C.R. 487 as proof;
North American Union;
The General Motors streetcar conspiracy;
The Federal Reserve;
JFK assassination theory of one shooter;
McCarthyism.
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Clemons wrote “The federal reserve bank is our the citizens bank”
I don’t know about you but as I remember it we used Treasury notes backed by Silver called Silver Certificates during the 50s and most of the 60s. So that tends to be an in accurate statement. We trusted in Bi-metalism right through the Kennedy Administration and not the Federal Reserve. It was Johnson’s plan and Nixon’s implementation that put the Federal Reserve in charge of our tender.
Dam the whorenuts have been disturbed, it was the 16th amendment that turned our currency over to a private bank known as the federal reserve bank. The same amendment that created the IRS, it was 1913 and only the top 2% were going to pay for the federal reserve, JFK signed EO1111 to turn back the currency to the treasury. Dam I even remember where I was that dreadful day he was terminated by the world bankers.
“With the stroke of a pen, Mr. Kennedy was on his way to putting the FederalReserve Bank of New York out of business. If enough of these silver certificats were to come into circulation they would have eliminated thedemand for Federal Reserve notes. This is because the silver certificatesare backed by silver and the Federal Reserve notes are not backed byanything. Executive Order 11110 could have prevented the national debtfrom reaching its current level, because it would have given thegevernment the ability to repay its debt without going to the FederalReserve and being charged interest in order to create the new money”.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4597758/JFK-EO-11110-and-the-Fed
Perhaps the draft was better in that it created a more diverse military population. While it was presented as a right of personal freedom, the military was more than happy to stop enlisting “troublemakers”. Maybe a little dissent in the troops was a good thing.
Agreed… the draft made the military reflect the people both good and bad. It was the one thing that all young men White, Black, Rich or Poor could relate to. Compulsorily Militia training was what our founding fathers felt was one of the things that would bind us as a nation.
Not exactly correct, Dan.
Many of the privileged whom chose not to to be drafted were not drafted. Remember all those with deferences? Take Dick Chaney, just as an example. That fleabag had four deferences. Then when he got his V.P. office in the White House, he grew some cowardly paper-balls and started a war based upon lies and misinformation. That useless bastard caused the death of 4484 Americans. Total wounded… over 100,000
http://antiwar.com/casualties/
Remember our troops were sent over there without armored Humvees? Remember families sending their sons and daughters armored vests? Remember our troops frantically improvising to armor their Humvees.
Iraqi deaths due to the invasion: 1,455,590. Iraqis are important too. All life in important, not just American lives.
Oh, btw, that coward and charlatan made a killing (intended pun) off his stock and benefits off Halliburton. He’s probably still getting his payback in greenbacks. Lets call it blood money of Americans. He ought have been drafted. Maybe things would have turned out differently.
Hows many others in congress got their deferments and are now millionaires + ?
Almost correct.
Dick Cheney started the war?
Thank you Branson, I did not know that.
here’s one for you:
Over 100,000 Kurds killed or “disappeared”. No reliable figures for the number of Iraqi dissidents and Shia Muslims killed during Saddam’s reign, though estimates put the figure between 60,000 and 150,000. (Mass graves discovered following the US occupation of Iraq in 2003 suggest that the total combined figure for Kurds, Shias and dissidents killed could be as high as 300,000). Overall an estimated Kurdish 4,000 villages and towns are razed and hundreds of thousands of Kurds are “cleansed” from the region by forced deportation. Many Kurds flee across the borders with Turkey and Iran. More than 100,000 Kurdish civilians are reported as killed or “disappeared”. By the end of 1989 the Kurdish resistance has been crushed.
Like I said desertrider, all life is important. Seems we agree.
All life, except that evil Dick Cheney’s and that dupe GW Bush’s life aint that important either, right Branson?
That Saddam guy, he was just a mis-understood do-gooder.
you iraq war supporter may want to clue yourselfs in Shaking Hands with Saddam Hussein:
Thanks Mark, I will add Rumsfeld and Reagan to the evil list.
Going to have to spend some time with this, Rumsfeld while working for a company that makes the ingredence for chemical weapons is an envoy representing the US visits the nation that is using chemical weapons? I hope a reread proves my first read wrong.
Well thank you again for that off topic rant.
I think we have made it clear that generally speaking that the entire Bush II administration are evil and for argument sake should be taken out and interned at Guantanamo Bay.
Yeah yeah I know Bush Bad…. Obama Good. 1235+ American Deaths and counting in Afghanistan since Obama took the reins. That means that nearly two-thirds of the U.S. fatalities in the war in Afghanistan have occurred during the Obama administration, which has managed the war for a mere quarter of its duration. But lets not confuse the facts with your propaganda. More than half of all deaths during the Iraq and Afghanistan war caused by the policies of Obama the present commander and chief.
He promised you poor souls that he would pull the troops and end the conflicts upon taking office. 3 years later we finally ended the Iraq conflict…. well sort of…
Afghanistan has now become the hamburger grinder. Everyone from the time of Alexander the Great to the Russians know you can not win a land war in Afghanistan… But the great Khan Obama thinks he can. Afghanistan is a hole in the earth that you throw troops and treasure in.
Obama rips defeat from the grip of victory…. God forbid an incarnation of Richard Nixon. But lets not digress.
I believe Mike and I were discussing the Founding Fathers belief that Compulsorily service through either Militia Service or the draft is the great leveler of class and position. has it always worked … no but we I believe both understand the concept….
I am at a loss to figure out how your railing at an all volunteer Military and poor leadership fits into that discussion.
“For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me.”
Does anyone know who said the above?
I don’t see where it says the government will take from you to do good to them.
Pretty much seems like it is up to the individual…
Ron Paul we should heed eisenhowers addvice
Ron Paul 2012, He is the closest thing we got to Ike, bring our kids home, get out of the post-cold war mindset, take care of this country first and above all, END THE FED!! send the world banking elite packing! and evict the overpriced new world order idiot ran UN, they should set up thier shop in neutral Switzerland. How about a New American Order! Wake the hell up people.