Thursday, June 05, 2008
Who is this guy?
Other than on cars owned by me, you just do not see bumper stickers like this in Princeton.
OK. Technically this truck was not in Princeton. I snapped this in the parking lot at the Santa Fe Grill in Rocky Hill. But still.
12 Comments:
By 
, at
Thu Jun 05, 10:12:00 PM:
The SantaFe Grill is one of the best places around for anyone who actually wants to engage in spirited and honest dialogue about politics, religion, sports and women. I heartily recommend it. I had not known it was a TH hangout, but will keep my eyes peeled in the future.
By 
TigerHawk, at
Thu Jun 05, 10:19:00 PM:
I was there between about 7:30 and 8:30 this evening with my kids, actually. Had the bacon bleu cheese burger and a Magic Hat IPA.
By , at
Thu Jun 05, 11:04:00 PM:
By Escort81, at
Fri Jun 06, 12:09:00 AM:
U.S. Marines tend to be fairly blunt in their statements.
At a presser during November 2001, relatively early in the Afghan conflict, Gen. Peter Pace was asked by a reporter how U.S. forces would deal with caves and tunnels -- was there some sort of specialized approach that involved storming the caves with SOF? He responded, "Our specialized approach to caves and tunnels is to put 500-pound bombs in the entrance."
One nit -- I am not sure communism was ended by war, at least not in the same sense that fascism was (and slavery in the U.S.) Still, point well taken.
By , at
Fri Jun 06, 09:00:00 AM:
It was a Cold War, with 1001 and 1 skirmishes and battles; Inchon, Khe Sanh, fast attack subs chasing each other around the ocean, the Bay of Pigs, various crisis in Berlin.
And it lasted for decades. Ask any F-15 driver that made intercepts of Russian bombers over the North Pole when they made practice strike runs on the US. And there were plenty of casualties, outside of Korea and Viet Nam. They were usually buried in small columns in the back pages of the newpaper, listed as 'training accidents', which they were, but casualties of a war just the same.
"Eternal Vigilence" and all that. I grew up around people in the Strategic Air Command, and those jobs took plenty of wear on people and their lives and families. They sure thought they were in war, so to speak.
-David
By Escort81, at
Fri Jun 06, 01:24:00 PM:
David - I agree with your characterization, which is why I used the phrase "at least not in the same sense." Fascism was completely crushed in 1945 at the end of a hot war, communism fell of its own weight, unable to compete in a Cold War after decades of constant push back involving political, economic, and, most certainly military power as means of countering the Soviet totalitarian regime. But has communism been discredited as a philosophy? There sure seem to be a number of self-described Marxist and quasi-Marxist professors at major universities in the U.S. and abroad. Fascism is dead -- and the Islamists don't count, because perhaps the sole positive feature of (European) fascism is short-term strong economic organization and growth, obviously not present among Islamists, especially ex-oil.
By , at
Fri Jun 06, 01:31:00 PM:
prior to heading back to the US after the invasion of Irag, then Majgen Jim Mattis spoke to the Marines.
"When you get home you will see some of these hippy protesters. What I want you to do is to simply look him in the eye, shake his hand, and then wink at his girlfriend because both you and she know hes a pussy."
The Colonel.
Also, please delete the comment if the language is innappropriate for this board.
By , at
Fri Jun 06, 02:03:00 PM:
This comment relates to the bumper sticker as well as the post about university professors. I teach at a California Community College. A couple of years ago one of my esteemed colleagues tried to organize a student protest against a Marine recruiter on campus. I bought a bumper sticker from the same company that said, "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a Marine." I put it in her campus mailbox along with my business card and never heard back. But there were no more "demonstrations" either. Oh, and if you couldn't figure it out, I was a Marine once, too.
By Dawnfire82, at
Fri Jun 06, 03:31:00 PM:
"Fascism is dead"
European fascist parties are currently larger than European communist parties.
Just sayin'.
By Escort81, at
Fri Jun 06, 04:01:00 PM:
DF82 - Didn't know that. What are you counting as fascist political parties? Could you throw out some names or links?
By , at
Fri Jun 06, 09:43:00 PM:
Escort81:
OF course, you're right too, in a sense. The ideas floated by "communism" still live; but the combination of Russian Nationalism and international socialism died with the end of the Cold War. Big power politics will always be with us, and Marx-Engels-Lenin 'communism' just gave intellectual heft to all the stupid collectivist ideas that have been around since our tribal hunter-gatherer days.
Crypto-fascist and and crypto-communist ideas will still be here long after you and I are dust. There doesn't seem to any immunity to stupid political ideas.
-David
By Pax Federatica, at
Tue Jun 10, 01:43:00 AM:
Anon, responding to Escort81: Crypto-fascist and and crypto-communist ideas will still be here long after you and I are dust. There doesn't seem to any immunity to stupid political ideas.
This seems like yet another appropriate occasion to link to one of my all-time favorite essays: Why Isn't Socialism Dead?
