Gilligan Continues “Perpetual War”

In these 11 months since the inauguration, since Gilligan (Obama) has overthrown the Skipper (Dick Cheney), it appears that Gilligan has contracted War-Monger Disease from Bush. We’ll get Puckistan, Afghanistan, and now Yemen, as suggested by the junior senator from Connecticut. Actually, Janet Napolitano would make a better Skipper than Alan Hale, Jr. Why doesn’t the US government just take over all the oil producing Middle-eastern countries and declare the entire territories new States of the United States of America. And if the people there don’t like it, kill them. That’s the Bush-Obama way. At least that would be more honest and above board than what they’ve been doing so far.

I’m glad that David Kramer in this post at LRC included a link to this great article, Perpetual War For Perpetual Peace, excerpted from Harry Elmer Barnes’s collection of essays regarding war propagandists, mostly dealing with World War II, published in 1953.

… It has been well established that Roosevelt lied this country into the Second World War against the wishes of at least 80 percent of the American people. This war cost the United States about a million casualties — 227,131 were killed in action, 26,705 died of wounds, 38,891 died of other causes, 12,780 were missing, and 672,483 were wounded. Its direct monetary cost to the United States was about $350,000,000,000 — the ultimate cost will be at least one and a half trillion dollars, not counting military costs after 1945 which resulted directly from President Roosevelt’s war and which are increasing fantastically today. There were other great cultural and moral costs…

That sure sounds so…recent. Doesn’t it?

Barnes compares the lies, distortions, hysteria and propaganda to that of George Orwell’s novel, 1984. Also discussed is the relationship between the US and Japan in the years leading up to the Pearl Harbor Attack.

Another example of propaganda includes the myths of the American Civil War, which was not to end slavery (which was diminishing anyway), but was a war initiated by President Lincoln who refused to let people of certain territories exercise their God-given right of self-determination and independence and their right to sever ties from the centralized federal US government.

Mark Steyn doing the Rush show referred to Janet Napolitano as “Janet Incompetano.” It’s appropriate. Perhaps Janet can shorten that to Janet Inc.

And make a business out of it.

And go bankrupt.

And get bailed out.

Make Gilligan Vice President.

(That’s Barnes’s book ripping apart the myths surrounding WWI.)