damn war

Yesterday my friend Kenneth Burns used a phrase on his blog that i'd never seen before: "gimlet eye." But even though i'd never heard of it i knew exactly what it meant. I happen to have a beautiful set of gimlets out in my woodworking toolbox and those little suckers are sharp. With very little twisting they will dig their way into the hardest of oaks.

Now, even though i felt confident about what that phase meant i googled it just to be sure. In short order i was directed to Wikipedia and to an entry about a fellow named Smedley Butler, aka Old Gimlet Eye.

I don't know if you've clicked on any of the links i've provided you yet, but do check out that entry on Old Gimlet Eye, and here's why: That former Marine and two-time winner of the Medal of Honor wrote a book called War is a Racket. He also "came forward in 1934 and informed Congress that a group of wealthy industrialists had plotted a military coup to overthrow the government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt." (AND, beyond being called Old Gimlet Eye, he was also nicknamed Old Duckboard and The Fighting Quaker. What must one do in this day and age to get three nicknames? but i digress...)

Anyway. Here's what i wanna say: Over the past 30 or so years--starting at the point when you see Rumsfeld and Cheney showing up in the White House--a group of wealthy industrialists have again been involved in a coup to overthrow our government. And war is still just as much a racket now as it was when Old Gimlet Duckboard pointed it out back in 1935 and again when outgoing President and former General Eisenhower popularized the phrase "military-industrial complex" in his famous 1961 speech.

Anyway, i'm writing all this because i just want to vent a little bit about how careful Nancy Pelosi was yesterday in leveraging the latest poll on how a majority in the U.S. now believes that we should get out of Iraq. The news states this morning that she indeed agrees that we should pull out, but was quick to state that "the war is not lost."

Man, please somebody end this crap. Just stand up and speak truth. If you'll do it...i mean, i'd do it, but nobody'll listen to me...if you'll do it, i swear i'll make it one of my life's goals to get you into Wikipedia with TEN nicknames.