I am fascinated by the conservative wordsmiths who capture feelings in soundbites. Who would of thought that the Bush Administration and their conservative media echo chamber would resurrect a Medieval sounding phrase - Blood and Treasure - that seems more of the thinking of the Third Reich than a modern democracy; an unquenchable thirst for power that the sacrifices of other people's lives and wealth cannot buy.
And conservatives express their mock sorrow over the loss of our "warriors" in these misguided wars. Crocodile tears. "Warriors"? When was the last time America had warriors? Didn't they use to be Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines? How many New Mexicans have died or been crippled by these wars? The local media never tell the cost at home. Simple bad news like that doesn't sell papers or radio ads.
Blood? Whose blood, whose lives are sacrificed in the pursuit of national wars? Not the leaders who proclaimed the wars, not their children today. Apparently our immortal American corporations don't bleed, either. Our "national" blood? Sounds deep and mythic. Bullshit.
Treasure? What is treasure? Hoards of wealth held by the top 1% which includes the leaders who proclaimed war? And whose "treasure" did they spend and waste? Not their's. Apparently all of ours, though, all of America's, except for the war profiteers, speculators and politicians who paid nothing and escape scrutiny. Now we are told to give up national healthcare insurance and social security to pay the bills. More and deeper bullshit and hypocrisy. If this is what Mitt Romney and his ilk offer us, God save us all.
Why can't the punditocracy and the corporate media talk about the reality of death and debt that the Bush Wars cost us? Are we so blind to the truth? Why are they so blind?
A sad measure of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is the idea that we, I mean all Americans and especially the poor and middle class, could pay off the Bush War debts with a simple tax of one dollar per gallon of gasoline and diesel to be sunsetted after 15 years. Just 15 years! Has anyone talked about the cost of war in such direct terms? That's all it would take to pay off our 21st Century Chickenhawks' wasted fantasies.
Yeah, the Neo-cons, and the fantasists of the New American Century had a couple of free wars that we'll pay off for the rest of our lives. Gotta love those patriotic Americans! Grover Norquist and his Right-wing pledgers promise to make the American government so weak that it could be drowned in a bathtub. In reality, they must be and old-fashioned Fifth Column for China today, destroying America from the inside with their lies and waste.
Will we pay that tax? No. Will the American Rich pay for their triumphs? Not yet. But having squandered our blood and treasure on useless wars instead of building a great country, they will. At this rate, America will become a large, third-world country, fit for dictators and oligarchs to roost on. Won't they be proud citizens of the world!
To paraphrase Malcolm Gladwell, the American Rich would get so much more value by paying higher taxes and living in a better country than they will ever enjoy as latter-day princes in a global wasteland. In the meantime, we have to choose how to pay for our wars and create a better life for our children. The current crop of Republican leaders will do neither.
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