Common Sense Cure Blog, ending systemic corruption in government one idea at a time

Exxon’s Army: My Time at War and How We Can Really Thank Soldiers for Their Service

7/27/2016

On February 24th, the nation and I both celebrated a 25th anniversary. For it was on that day in 1991, at the age of 20 years and 2 weeks, that I drove my tank into Iraq and my country went to war.

When I mentioned this anniversary on social media, it elicited multiple comments; many of them thanking me for my service. I’m appreciative because I know people’s gratitude always comes from a genuine and heart-felt place.

At the same time, being thanked for my service can also raise an uncomfortable question…
Who was it exactly that I served?

Certainly I served my country, but I joined up mostly to serve myself. I wasn’t close to being ready for college at eighteen, but knew I’d probably want to attend eventually; so I did what countless other young men and women with similarly limited options do each and every year all across America…I enlisted in the military.

In my case, I committed to a 2 ¼ -year stint in the U.S. Army as an M1A1 Battle Tank Operator (Driver); earning money for college tuition via the G.I. Bill and Army College Fund.

We’d been at peace for so long at that point -something which must surely sound strange to younger readers- that I thought the likelihood of us going to war to be minimal. Certainly I thought the risk worth the payoff in tuition money…and maturity too. So I went in with eyes open, and when I drew the short straw, I dutifully joined my comrades and off to war I went.

L to R: Pvt Pillar (loader), Cpl Neal (gunner) and the author (driver)

By the time the tanks rolled in, we’d been pounding the Iraqis pretty hard for over a month, not only from the air, but also with artillery and by bellying our tanks up to the berms (giant mounds of dirt) dividing Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and shooting anything that moved.

When the ground-war began, my division (1st Cavalry) was responsible for creating the diversion up the middle which allowed others to flank the enemy on either side. When we punched through that day, they were beaten and battered, but also dug in and waiting for us.

My time at war was mostly experienced with a sense of detachment and surreal-ness that is difficult to describe. It’s a testament to the level of training they put U.S. soldiers through that I could be so calm driving my tank backwards through a minefield, surrounded by oil-filled trenches rigged to explode as small-arms fire pinged off our tank’s armor.

I can still see a mortar land where we’d been a scant few seconds prior as we backed through that minefield with only the shouted directions from my tank’s loader to steer by.

I can still remember him yelling for me to look right as I cut the smoke generator.

I can still see the two Apache helicopters, looking like cobras about to strike, moments before they launched the hellfire missiles that almost certainly ended the lives of the Iraqis who had been trying to kill us just moment before.

About five hours after the engagement described above. We'd stopped to bang the sand out of the tank's air-filters and took a quick photo; later framed, signed and given to each crew member. (Author 2nd from left)

If the patch on the front of the uniform said “Exxon” or “Lockheed-Martin” instead of “U.S. Army”, would soldiers be so willing to lay down their lives?

Would people be so quick to thank them for their service?

If the answer to these questions is no, we owe it to those fighting on our behalf to ensure that the people we elect can be trusted to only send our sons and daughters into harm’s way when it is absolutely necessary.

Unfortunately, America no longer elects the best and brightest; we now mostly select candidates with the deepest pockets able to convincingly deliver blatant lies and half-truths. Thus, those making the critical decisions regarding this nation’s defense and the fate of its soldiers over the past few decades -regardless of party- have primarily been a collection of hacks, shills and yes-men owing their political careers to one special interest or another.

Without question, there are threats in the world which need to be addressed on occasion, sometimes militarily, but always with forethought and intelligence; not in such a ham-handed way that it all but guarantees blowback.

The best way to guard against hornets is not to vigorously kick the nest.

However, if the people pulling our government’s strings are all heavily invested in the tools of war…well, then going to war without any clearly defined definition of victory, blowback be damned, is probably exactly what we’d do. Sound familiar?

Every single soldier who has died or whose life has been inexorably altered, not in the service of defending America from imminent danger but to defend the economic interests of the Political Donor Class, is a stain on the soul of our nation and a complete waste of life and potential.

When I went off to war, I did so because I made a commitment to go where I was ordered to go, and to fight who I was told to fight. My fellow soldiers and I have honored our end of this bargain time and again.

In return, our government and nation make a reciprocal commitment to soldiers and veterans that they will not be treated with disregard; that they will only be asked to fight when there is a grave and imminent danger to the nation’s security; and that those who fight a nation’s battles will be well cared for when they return home.

Can we honestly say we’ve lived up to any of those commitments very well?

M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank

By permitting people unworthy of such a sacred duty to decide when and where our soldiers are asked to risk their lives we -you and I, every one of us- are badly failing in our commitment to this country’s soldiers and veterans.

The economic downturn squeezed young people like no other, which ended up being a fantastic recruiting tool for the military. A nation full of disaffected young people with scant options means a limitless supply of cannon-fodder for the special interests that truly run our government.

I was going to ask why it is that one of the only ways for young people in this country to get a much needed leg-up requires them to risk their lives in the process…but I think I just answered my own question.

Is this really who we want to be, America?

Admitting there is a problem is the first step towards fixing it…and America, we have a problem.

We must start by ensuring that our government is once again run by the best and brightest, rather than the best fund-raisers, campaigners and unrepentant bullshit artists as is currently the case. This doesn’t mean voting for charlatan populists from the donor class like Donald Trump, or for politicians deeply beholden to special interests like Hillary Clinton; it means demanding real changes to a badly broken system. It means voting honest people into office who are willing to do the difficult work required to fix this cancer destroying our nation from within…and who will honor the nation’s sacred commitment to its soldiers and veterans.

The (exhausted) author and his comrades after a long march in Basic Training. We fought for you...will you fight for us?

If you really want to thank a soldier for their service, stand up and demand a government far better than the broken and corrupt one with which we are currently plagued.

Thank a soldier by electing people who won’t betray this country’s commitment to them simply to pay back political donors.

Thank a soldier by ensuring that our country is once again exceptional in deeds, not just words; a nation which they can truly be proud to serve.

3 Comments

Political Discord Delivered Right to Your Door...How Demonizing Political Opposition in Pursuit of Campaign Contributions is making America Ungovernable

6/24/2016

0 Comments

If you’re at all politically disposed, chances are that you receive the occasional (or not so occasional) entreaty for money from a candidate, political party or interest group. These solicitations usually focus on a recent hot-button issue or make a more general ideological-driven appeal…but invariably urge the recipient to pledge money.

The one constant in these mailings is that political opponents are usually portrayed in the most unflattering way possible (to say the least). Is it any wonder America is so polarized when, in addition to increasingly vitriolic campaigns, we must also endure non-stop appeals begging for money to stop the demonic hordes of the opposition party?

Delivering today's 2 minutes of hate. Enjoy!

Can we really be surprised that compromise has become such a dirty word when people are led to believe at every turn, in the basest terms possible, that the other side is to be despised and feared?

The relentless and never-ending effort to finance the campaigns of those seeking office has fed this beast; coarsening discourse to the point where we are now barely governable. You often hear people talk about speech needing to remain free for a republic to function, and that is true, but respectful discourse which allows for mutually beneficial compromise is pretty darn important as well!

Our system has become a biennial contest of mutually assured destruction… no matter which side wins, the public’s belief in the government’s ability to work for them erodes just a bit more. In the end, it doesn’t much matter who’s in charge if all that remains to rule are the scorched remains of a once-great country undone by our inability to cooperate.

Do YOU ever feel all alone...surrounded by enemies?

So how do we improve the quality of discourse without infringing on freedom of speech? As long as the driving force in elections is money, then the pursuit of money will continue to trump all else. Lessen or eliminate the need for that money, and the incentive to pull out all stops in pursuit of donations lessens as well.

A few potential solutions:
~ Create a federal clean-money system which provides qualifying candidates campaign funds in order to compete against the well-financed establishment candidates who are typically little more than mouthpieces for special interests…corporate, union or otherwise. This would offer voters alternatives to candidates beholden to special interests, although it wouldn’t completely forestall fundraising efforts. However, it very well might make going negative more difficult as the conversation expands beyond the narrow (special-interest approved) paradigm currently constricting most election discourse.

~ Similarly, universal transparency of political donations and/or spending might discourage some of the nastier stuff campaigns and PACs will sometimes mail out. Just as candidates often tend to be slightly more civil at debates when their target is standing there ready to defend themselves, so too would the tone modulate if people knew who was financing all political activity. Politicians surely know who’s behind these ads (they have to so the back-scratching loop can be closed) – increased transparency would allow voters, media and regulators (or whatever passes for one at the completely worthless FEC) to operate on a more-level playing field. This alone would not significantly improve the quality of discourse, but among its many other benefits, it might take some of the harder edges off political rhetoric.

~ There are numerous other proposals out there to lessen money’s influence on elections & public policy, up to and including constitutional amendments. In fact, Senate Democrats recently unveiled a bundle of reforms they intend to use as an election issue. Of course, they're willingness to openly admit this should give pause to progressives and reformers before they charge blindly behind Democrats who will happily reap the benefit without ever delivering any tangible results if allowed to do so (more on that another time).

~ As for a constitutional amendment, most proposals suggest taking private money out of elections entirely and/or allow Congress to regulate political spending. Either would surely have an impact, but given the way money always seems to find a way in, it would likely only be a partial one at best. Further, some of the amendment proposals being floated could easily lead to unintended consequences should they ever be ratified.

Additionally, an amendment limiting speech or granting Congress extended powers is extremely unlikely to gain the broad public support necessary to gain passage when conservatives have a much different idea about how to fix the problem of money in politics via an amendment (term limits are another popular conservative solution).

Thus, the text of any amendment needs to be precise, and for this reason alone it is unlikely any amendment capable of actually passing would close even half of the avenues currently being used to funnel money into the political process.

The likely result of any actual campaign to amend the Constitution.

Clearly this is not a problem easily solved, but something vitally important that everyone can do right now is to take note of the constant negative barrage being endured by the most politically active people in this country.

We would all do well to remember that this onslaught is designed to paint the opposing side in the worst possible terms. This has an immensely corrosive effect on our perception of our fellow citizens, and on our ability to effectively govern ourselves, and it hits the most politically active the hardest.

Under such relentless reinforcement of the ‘Us vs Them’ narrative, it takes a conscious effort to remind ourselves that most people who disagree with us politically are not our enemies; they are simply people just like us working towards a similar goal. Their ideas for how to get there might differ from our own, but they are not our enemy; they are our brothers and sisters...who we just happen to sometimes feel like hitting upside the head with a whiffle-ball bat.

Unfortunately few are willing (or capable?) of making this effort with any sort of consistency, and the quality of discourse and governance alike have suffered accordingly…and will continue to do so until we recognize the severity of the problem and stand up to demand change.

The ironic part is that we don’t even like the people shoveling this swill. Opinion polls would not be so universally low if most Americans agreed with the platforms of either of the two major political parties. Yet it is our unrelenting acquiescence to this two-party dynamic which helps to ensure that little ever really changes.

Ready for something better than the lesser of two evils?

The problem isn’t that people on the left and right can’t compromise, it's that the Democratic & Republican Parties and the machinery propelling them both forward through vitriolic elections and inept governance all stand squarely in our way of doing so.

Politicians cannot effectively cooperate so long as they must raise money by portraying their opponents in the absolute worst possible terms. Unfortunately money rules all in Washington D.C. and cut-throat operators run most well-funded campaigns, so there is zero incentive to do anything but viciously demonize political opponents in order to secure votes and inspire maximum contributions.

This winner-take-all, scorched earth campaign unleashed on the American public every two years is without a shadow-of-a-doubt a major contributor to the widening partisan divide in this country. The fact that it is delivered so innocuously doesn’t make it any less of a threat.
In fact, it makes it a far, far graver one.

Cooperation shouldn’t be a dirty word, and those whose political beliefs differ from our own shouldn’t be our sworn enemies demonized at every turn. Money in political campaigns creates a direct motivation for political campaigns to perpetuate a harmful narrative…especially when voters keep rewarding them time & again for doing so!

0 Comments

Exxon’s Army: My Time at War and How We Can Really Thank Soldiers for Their Service

Political Discord Delivered Right to Your Door...How Demonizing Political Opposition in Pursuit of Campaign Contributions is making America Ungovernable

Author

Archives

Categories

Exxon’s Army: My Time at War and How We Can ﻿Really﻿ Thank Soldiers for Their Service

Political Discord Delivered Right to Your Door...How Demonizing Political Opposition in Pursuit of Campaign Contributions is making America Ungovernable﻿

Author

Archives

Categories

Exxon’s Army: My Time at War and How We Can Really Thank Soldiers for Their Service

Political Discord Delivered Right to Your Door...How Demonizing Political Opposition in Pursuit of Campaign Contributions is making America Ungovernable