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An invasion with tactical nuclear support is a very different operation than originally planned.

If I'm not mistaken I think Cindy was suggesting that further use of nuclear weapons would be halted while we went ahead with the planned invasion. I can't see that happening. Some sort of land invasion definately (which in a sense we did anyway, can't occupy without troops on the ground) but not an end to the dropping of atomic bombs.

I seriously doubt it. From a military perspective, devastation of the enemy's civilian population is always preferable to massive losses of your own troops. A land invasion when another option existed just wouldn't have been defensible.

Does "American" mean anything at all anymore?

It isn't cultural, we're taught that diversity is inherently good and that the dominant white anglo cultural foundation is evil.

It isn't the principles of the US Constitution, those have been out the window for a very long time.

Is it just residing within a political boundary? Hardly seems like a powerful binding force.

Is it just some general "feeling" of being American?

Seems to be if we rectify the first two points we'll be a long way toward achieving that shared understanding.

I'm not trying to be all doom-and-gloom either, I firmly believe we can turn this around and really achieve something. But first we have to wake up.

It doesn't appear to be. Testing has been improving. Iraqi missiles actually were intercepted in the opening days of the invasion there. It can be done, maybe not 100% but good enough to significantly cut down the damage.

So kick up domestic production. We have plenty of oil right here in the good ol' US of A. At least having the capability to produce our own oil on short notice would be prudent.

I had this dream last night in the brief moments of sleep I managed to get. No, this shouldn't be in "Apropos of Nothing." Content isn't so important, it's that it was just a little off and got me thinking this morning. That subconscious has a way of dredging things up and connecting the dots.

Anyone familiar with the name Stanislav Petrov? Google it. He was driving the RV in the dream, or so the Chinese girl said.  :?

So I start looking into some things and a few realizations coalesced. First, I must admit to. . . an error of judgment on my part. I missed something about this Iraq thing.

Yes, yes Bill and Clark, revel in it.  Cobra missed a move or two on the array of chessboards before us. Or Go if you prefer.

Anyway, I recall reading a translation of some Soviet military doctrine text when I was a kid. I was a weird kid.  Anyway, it repeatedly made the case that the United States, being a bunch of imperialist warmongering capitalist pigs, was planning to attack the Soviet Union at some indefinate point in the future. I'll have to dig up the text again, it went on to explore a multitude of indicators of what stage those preparations were in and thereby determine when the attack would occur, the idea being that he who launches the first strike has the best chance of surviving the exchange.

Those same indicators also work in reverse.

Now I'm not going into some paranoid rant about Russia saying "Fooled you" while they run the hammer and sickle back up the Kremlin flagpole as we wake up to "Red Dawn," but I am saying that modern Russia has near-Soviet capability, a soviet mindset and Soviet leadership. I don't trust this Putin guy, Bush looking into his soul or not.

Then we have China. Sure, we hear that nations which trade don't go to war. Maybe. We'll see how it plays out but they are most certainly preparing for a serious bit of fisticuffs.

So if you're leading a totalitarian state like China or Russia and you need to get your people conditioned to put up with all the crap of a major war that may well involve a nuclear exchange, how do you do it?

First, they need to be fired up about their own country. The Chinese have a resurgent uber-nationalism with thousands of years of history backing it up. Russia has a KGB President doing his damndest to stoke that warm commie glow in the hearts of the Russian people. All that superpower nostalgia seems to run deep. By comparison, we've got plastic flags.

But that's only half of it, you'd also have to make the enemy out to be a viscious warmongering monster. And we've been playing into that. Whether it be missile defense (what for, unless you expect to need it) or invading Iraq, we're helping the propagandists make us the bad guy.

Not that I'm saying we should cut and run, we still have significant interests at stake and we can still win this. But we need to be aware that a near-term victory for us also helps the big bad guys of tomorrow get their people ready for a confrontation. At the same time, it makes some things (like missile defense) much more important to perfect and deploy.

In short, the Jihad thing is a sideshow. An opening act. We're currently number one on the world stage. Russia wants back in the game and China is working its way in as well. To believe that we're all going to be buddies working hand in hand for a better, peaceful world is blithering nonsense. And they both think far more long-term than we do.

The era of large-scale war between nation-states is far from over. Perhaps it's time to examine the world through paranoid Soviet eyes from time to time. And time to look at ourselves in terms of the Sukhomlinov Effect.

At any rate, time for a joke about Russian computers and a toast to Colonel Petrov.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled horse flogging.

"The Village" was predictable and contrived but yes, "Team America" was hilarious, albeit rather juvenile.

Back to the point, at its most basic level the problem in current American culture isn't so much that we're splintering or that we're essentially selfish materialistic people, but that on a very real sense we don't care about anyone or anything. Culturally we're nihilists on some level.

Further, it would seem that our "compassionate" welfare apparatus is in part responsible for that just as much as our unbridled consumerism.

We have a portion of "ours" taken from us for the stated purpose of providing for the poor, so we've already been compelled to do our part. It's taken care of. Oooh, plasma screen.

Don't worry, I'm not going into a Right-wing rant about social programs.

We're conditioned to believe that the unfortunates in our society are cared for by the "safety net" we pay vast sums into even while more is demanded to solve the problem, breeding indifference and contempt at the same time. We're bombarded with the message that this new product is essential to our happiness. We are effectively (and some might say deliberately) denied knowledge of our own collective history and culture. We have no cohesive narrative, we have no history but the bastardized and intentionally divisive version spoon-fed to us in educational institutions which indoctrinate as much as they educate.

Still here? Okay. I assure you I'm not just being paranoid. Not sure exactly where I'm going with this yet, but we'll see.

We're too focused on ourselves, too focused on now and too centralized. What we feed back into the younger members of our population only increases the tendency toward these things creating a population that in general grows more selfish, self-righteous and ignorant with each new generation.

Yes, there are exceptions, I'm speaking generally.

While culture can't be "created" through politics, it can be molded by politics. Unfortunately it's not just a matter of smashing socialist government programs. The problem isn't just government centralization but centralization generally. Large centralized corporations are just as damaging to both the social and economic welfare of a people as large centralized governments are.

Which was all well and good in colonial times but how can any of this apply now? Modern industry requires centralization, both in manufacturing and in regulation doesn't it? Sure, but we're also approaching a point where that could all change. We're rapidly approaching getting to where individuals will be able to make whatever goods they want with some modestly priced equipment. This doesn't even require nano machine uber-tech but simple industrial "fabbers" of the type that are already in use for prototyping. Manufactured goods could be made anywhere to exact custom specifications with technology that is on the near-term horizon. Entertainment can already be produced and distributed by artists themselves without the need for big corporate entities and it will only become more widespread. Farming has been practical on a small scale since the earliest glimmers of human civilization.

In short, we seem to be approaching a level of technological development where we won't need these big centralized entities anymore. Aside from the basic functions of government (maintaining social order, protecting property rights, etc.) none of the rest matters. If we start paving the way now we may well be able to return to a more self-reliant and historically and socially aware mentality similar to that of this nation's founders, only for everyone. All the comforts in less time with less effort. Plenty of time for more intellectual pursuits for those so inclined. Not a utopia by any stretch, afterall someone still has to kill the cattle, ship the meat and take out the garbage, but a world with more leisure time and more freedom than currently.

Or, we can botch it and end up worse off. We're either on the edge of turning it all around or screwing it up horribly. In which case at least we'll be able to fab our firearms. 

Sadly, the state of US culture today looks to be fostering the latter outcome.

But some of us aren't out of the fight yet, going off on some damn fool idealistic crusade like our forefathers did. 

The first response that comes to mind is simply "fuckin' a." Right on and I hear ya.

Followed by welcome back, good to see you around here again.

I know exactly what you mean. While I come from a middle-class background and currently work in a white collar enviroment, I can say from experience that spending a little time working the fields with immigrants offers a very useful expansion of one's perspective.

Been that way as far back as I can remember. Not all that long of course. 

Hope we hear from you when you get back from Canada. I'll bring the beer and Cheetohs. 

Without question.

Pretty much agree with this as well. Simply postponing D-day probably wouldn't have given Germany enough breathing room to halt to Soviets. But an armistice with the Western Allies very likely would have.