It shouldn’t surprise us when we learn Republicans are willing to set aside their deep-seated hatred of trans people in exchange for a $10,000-a-plate fundraiser...
It is the saddest thing in my life as an American that the last truly great Presidents we had were Truman and Eisenhower. LBJ for his domestic accomplishments, but too tainted by Vietnam. No one else comes close. The only person even worthy of the office since LBJ in my opinion was Barack Obama, but he was frankly too timid and ultimately too establishment oriented to have made much of an impact, aside from triggering a bunch of racists. The most effective President we have had since Eisenhower is President Biden. If he is not re-elected (assuming he is still alive, which I pray he will be), our nation will deservedly self-destruct in the small, greedy, corrupt hands of TFG. Vote blue, for every office at every level. November will show the world who we truly are now.
Actually, as deluded at LBJ might have been by the war mongers who lied us into the Vietnam conflict, LBJ did negotiate a Peace Treaty in Paris that would have been signed BEFORE the 1968 presidential election. LBJ MIGHT have gone down in history as the man who also ende that conflict, but Republicans secretly promised the South Vietnamese a better deal if they held off utnil after the election. And the peace deal fell apart, with NIxon prosecuting that war and expanding it to neighboring countries for SIX MORE YEARS.
That is not my idea, and that is not rumor, and that is not conspiracy. That is history. Look for the recordings between LBJ and Nixon talking about it. [Rumors of this treasonous act circulated for decades, and George HW Bush was often confronted with questions about it, but Republicans always denied and dismissed the accusations. Except it was true. The information was released 50 years after the fact. ]
Hey, Pat. Think suckers and losers. Nixon killed perhaps millions.......
So many still in denial. Patriotism is the last ventage of scoundrels. But we have the means to mitigate the fake patriotism the Republicans have effectively sold.
I've been a Vietnam vet since 1967. I take this stuff personally.
I'm in a discussion group trying to convince vet ultra MAGATs that although we've been screwed lo these many years, we can't support anyone who considers us suckers and losers for supporting our country and who actually stole from disabled war vets. It's hard to break through. I get a lot of advertising from veterans' charities that are still controlled by MAGATs, and a lot of the VA staff are camp followers. All I ask is that people keep repeating "suckers and losers" as it makes them choke on their beer. And some have had an epiphany.
Historian TCinLA in a recent Substack makes the case that LBJ was less deluded than his immediate predecessor, who with his "best and brightest" orchestrated the involvement in Southeast Asia that LBJ inherited. But of course we can't speak ill of JFK so LBJ takes more of the rap than he deserves. https://tcinla757.substack.com/p/poli-sci-fi-at-its-most-hackish
These people are clearly amoral , there abject refusal to see anyone but the wealthiest as worthwhile has left a gaping hole where there should be a mountain.
They keep hallowing out any benefits that regular Americans have been guaranteed by our Constitution, all in order to feed their empty souls.
Our only recourse right now is to vote in numbers greater than ever before .
Their disservice to our Constitution is illustrated most clearly by the Republican appointed ‘ grifters’ on the Supreme Court , who have avoided any responsibility by ‘self monitoring’.
If they were capable of self monitoring , we sure as hell wouldn’t be where we are.
The Court must be altered and not “ self altered “ . They are in need of some extension of voices on the Court as clearly shown by their rulings on Roe V Wade. Citizens United. And several other terrible decisions made to cater to far right fake Christianity.
It’s time for serious change . Vote for Joe Biden and other Democrats who have spines in the upcoming election .
We know who they are . They believe in real Democracy , not the authoritarian crazies led by a crazy authoritarian working for Putin.
Geez Thom, it's not like the MAGA crowd isn't used to mixed messages! In fact, they have become accustomed to prolific lying---they have even proved they like it. Beyond that is the absolute drivel and insanity they seem to enjoy at every rally.
Trump will have them downing that beer all across the nation with that one message. That is because they do not stand for anything. They don't have a platform; they have Trump. Pretty sure when they pop the tops of that beer, they will be toasting their favorite traitor, liar, rapist, thief, fascist, fool, deadbeat, insurrectionist, sell-out by just saying "Heil Trump".
When has this vile, unsympathetic, vengeful person ever given a second chance to anyone who isn't rich?
Back in the early 1990s, my professor in a social policy course bluntly pointed out the Republicans' whole philosophy was "to make the rich richer." It was clear to thinkers then, and the situation has only worsened greatly. Clearly, Republican strategists have been brilliant in building their fortress from School Boards and Town Councils up through the Supreme Court. Democrats were slow to catch on. No comparably sweeping efforts have met the ugly challenge. Now we face the not unlikely inception of a totalitarian state in January 2025. Maybe we can work hard enough to prevent the ultimate consummation of the Republican plan this time, in the short term. WHAT IS OUR BIGGER, LONG-TERM STRATEGY?
It's worth noting that many of the benefits wrought by Truman and Eisenhower flowed primarily to white people, and that when during the LBJ administration this started to change, many white people got pissed and became Republicans and swore that if Black people could have nice things, no one should have them.
If I wasn't a recovering alcoholic (44 years sober) I would boycott Budweiser. but wait. I never could drink that horse piss, almost as bad as that swill Crown Beer (Korean) , that arrived at Fire Support Bases in Vietnam, and sat untouched on the pallets on the ramps.
In Vietnam everything had a number. 33 was Vietnamese beer. In the field, even when we couldn't get artillery or air support we could get booze of some form or variety. Liquid courage.
We had Australians at the landing strip at my basecamp that make hops to the Philippines to replenish the booze supply, so even when we were in the field we could choose from Aussie, Philipino, and obscure US beers etc, that was flown in daily. Sometimes we got hard liquor. I'm sure that Charlie had no trouble finding our positions from that and from the odor of our "sundry packs" that had stuff like free cigarettes and the smell of C rations. When we didn't have sterno, we used C3 or C4 to heat them .
Ah Daniel, Ba moui ba (or 33) Vietnamese called 33 butterfly. was my drink of choice in Vietnam, they also brewed a Tiger Beer (pure horse piss). All beer was injected with formaldehyde to kill any nascent bacteria. They used water from the Saigon river to brew beer, and if you think American food standards are terrible, well try Vietnamese.
My favorite food was Pho, so I thought. I would order Pho with shrimps at the Vietnamese Officers club, outside the gates of Tan Son Nhut or at my favorite "Howard Johnsons", whenever I came in from the field. The Tea girls were in the bar given hand jobs to G.I.s. mpt fpr me though, not scruples, just that I never paid for sex.
I discovered later that what I thought was fPho, was actually chicken broth, that Pho was made of beef and cinammon.
làm ơn cho tôi một bát phở, please give me one bowl of Pho. I said that to a waitress at a Vietnamese restaurant and her jaw dropped;
You missed NO NUOC MAM. Major ingredient in Pho. In the altitude it would explode. Pungent. Could smell a village from about a mile out.
"Mixed fish sauce." Toi Oi!!! Fermented. NONG. In DC, many Pho restaurants, all using some weakened form of nuoc mam. My aunt lived in Oceanside CA, the defacto Vietnamese capitol. See Heaven and Earth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven_%26_Earth_(1993_film)
The French influenced the restaurants on the famous Tu Do Street in Saigon. As combat troops we were not supposed to enter but for a time we were assigned to Big Red 1 headquarters in Di An. Helped build Bien Hua Airport, Long Bien, supposedly the "art capitol" of Vietnam. Pulled our own security.
Most of the indigenous food in the field was inedible. Rats. Snakes.
Nuoc mam , fish sauce, Romans called it garam, I like it, keep a bottle of it my fridge.
I've been through Lai khe (1967) saw a kid, hold his ears, as G.I.s were walking down the street. Called out, there was a mine place in their path.
Christmas of 67, caught a chopper out of Bien Hoa (pardon if I play spelling NAZI with Vietnamese words, I did learn the language, somewhat, enough to save my life twice.
Anyway, an artillery unit got caught between Bien Hoa and Lai Khe,.; The VC or NVA had ambushed the lead and closed off the retreat. We were choppered in, to set up a Parachute Low AltitudeDelivery System (PLADS), for delivery of artillery shells and food. We were being shot at from the surrounding jungle, we were thankfully in a clearing. Not the first time I dodged bullets.
C-130s came over at 200 ft MSL, and a drag chute extracts the pallets from the aircraft., pretty accurate delivery when the drop altitude is 200 ft.
No time to worry or be afraid., totally concentrated on the mission.
I spent more time with the 2/2 Big red one (they wore black bandanna's called themselves Dracula. I have some war stories from my time with them.
As you know, no sooner than the army set up a forward support base (FSB) or even a fire support base, a hooch city popped up replete with Mamasan bars, brothels and souvenir shops, when I visitied Lai Khe the hooch city was pretty large
The 2/2 was quartered up the road from Lai Khe at Quan Loi, they also had a hooch city, but smaller than Lai Khe, as it was a Fire Support Base, not a Forward Support Base, I checked it on google and it grew quite a bit, after I rotated in 68.
What I enjoyed was the Wednesday round up of prostitutes, the medics would pick them up in a deuce and a half, and take them in for shots, and they truck would be full of giggling gals.
The Mamma san that ran one hooch, was enamored of my boss SSgt Freddie, and souvenired him with beers, she was an old gal, that had been a Tea girl when the French ran the plantation.
My first assignment was at Minh Thanh a rubber plantation (of course), always rubbeer plantations because they had dirt strips, which could accommodate , at first, C-123's. then enlarged to C-130's
I and 45 others were given 13 days notice to pack up, relocate our families and arrive at Travis AFB, CA for transport to Vietnam. we had no idea what we were vital to Operation Junction city, but the VC had moles in the military and knew about it and set punji stakes all over the drop zone, that was the end of that idea, there were supposed to be three airborne assaults in the "iron triangle".
So I sat out Junction city on a cot next to an air strip on a rubber plantation. scrounging C rations for beanie weenies, ham and eggs, ham and cheese, the only C's I could eat.
Mortar rounds would hit the trees, spreading shrapnel everywhere. We caught some VC INSIDE the wire.
I was assigned some of the time to support the 2/2. They lost a lot of personnel. We held the top and bottom of Black Virgin Mountain, 273 rd NVA held the middle. Lots of tunnels and caves. Huge body counts.
I was in Junction City and Cedar Falls. Battle at French Fort. With 173rd Combat Engrs. Also assigned TDY to CIDG. Search and destroy.
My parents shipped me cases of Chef Boyardee ravioli, held for me at the PX at Lai Khe. We took our motor pool with us during Cedar Falls. Roan plows. Dump trucks. Knocked over villages. Acquired a water purification truck.
My unit was supporting just about everyone that needed support, I worked with the Aussies, the ROK's the Khmer Serat (Free Cambodians) MACV, Marines, just about everyone except the Navy.
I say a ROK helicopter interrogation, for real, never saw one from US forces, but the word was out amongst the VC, don't phuck with the ROK's.
My experince with 2/2 are forever memorable, we bunked with the LRRP's (Long Range Reconnaisance Patrol for civilians), crazy dudes, went on recon with them (really crazy dudes with a death wish)
One night in the back of the squad tent, I heard some noise, checked on with my flashlight and there were the two of them, at it in passion.
The team leader just waived it off, and went back to bed, a couple of days later I walked into the squad tent, and everyone was hovering over a PFC, it seemed that they got ambushed on patrol and his lover died, quite an outpouring of sympathy and concern, and back in the states they were handing out dishonorable discharges like Tic Tac's if they had an inkling that one was gay. Then along comes that asshat William Jefferson Clinton and his Don't Ask Don't tell which became the basis for a full throttle witch hunt.
Goldwater, whom I admit I did vote for, famously said "You don't have to be straight to shoot straight", yet here we are in the 21st century and the same assholes are still pounding the same old drum. And safely so, because their victims are a minority of minority of minority's,
Lots of Muslims, lots of Jews, disabled have advocacy organizations with Money and clout, not smart politically to take on blacks, Asians and Hispanics up front, but LGBT? Open season, even with the narcissistic and self indulgent Log Cabin Republicans who only care about tax cuts and hob nobbing with the rich and powerful. -Quislings all.
The hive of society is taken by the stupid as something to be gamed so getting more than others is something you place on the people and anyone not in the game are left to die to the extent that hive collapse and extinction is a reality. Until society comes to understand that a basic level of income is required for all because society works best when all have what they need to thrive and succeed. The other side believes they know who the winners are and can cut out all that are losers. The truth is nobody knew at the time who the real contributors are for 9 out of 10 where. Only after a century or two are the real contributors were. Birkeland was not fully understood until after a century that he was correct and everybody in science was wrong. We honor him by Birkeland currents in space today. We have no idea of how many Birkelands are out there because they can lack basic resources to leave a record to survive their time on the planet. Only everyone able to thrive can maximize success and end hive extinction.
Where could society be now if we could solve the problem of greedy sociopaths? How many "Einsteins" are repairing automobiles to exhaustion to support their families when a guaranteed income could allow them to work part time and invent as a hobby?
We assume wealth equals intelligence because that is the story the wealthy sell us.
I don't think that the parable about Jesus and the money changers was about making money, but rather about defiling the temple.
The problem with the Bible (Old and New) is that, depending on your ideology and/or emotional proclivities, you can read anything into any verse or chapter that suits your proclivities or rather fulfills your needs and assuages your fears, which is the basis of all ideologies, be they sectarian or secular.
The only way to become truly wealthy is by being a sociopath, with a touch of psychopathy, totally devoid of any emotions other than those of self. That is the attraction, of libertarianism.
The cult of solipsism in it you will find libertarians and MAGAts, and even centrist Republicans and Democrats.
I find it is possible to discipline yourself to build a company to wealth. The discipline it takes to do it right makes it something the ego is not a part of. Wealth with purpose and not just money is the goal. But this represents very few while the majority seeking quick riches never get there. Their opinion of their natural ability is over burdened by realities they positively choose to ignore.
I care not for those that seek wealth. I am horrified by those that seek easy answers by those that proclaim to be able to give it to them that includes getting rid of our rights held by democratic institutions. They think they are our mothers to be able to tell us what we need to do for them. Mass formation psychosis.
Name me one Horatio Alger. One person that build wealth all on their own with discipline. You will find that they had help from insiders and others. Gates, Job, Bezos, Musk especially.
There is no such thing as a self made man (or woman).
Take Bill Gates. He stole DOS from a rather naive hippy, and thanks to his father, the richest lawyer in Seattle, he went for licensing his stolen product rather than selling it, and here we are today, software and internet licensing and user agreements are ubiquitous and frankly no one has the time, the wherewithal or the ability to read and comprehend the agreements.
So the thieves, and they are thieves and pirates, spent hundreds of millions to prevent their prodigy, other thieves and pirates from getting rich they way that they did.
I knew a guy, an Air Force air traffic controller who created a board game, took it to Parker Brothers, they offiered him $500 take it or leave it. He said I will just find another company, they replied too late, we've seen the game and we can make our own version. The game is Risk.
I don't understand what you mean by "getting rid of our rights held by democratic institutions"
That phrase is nebulous and can mean or refer to anything. Examples please.
The electoral college is stacked against us. We can't have a transparent election process with thw electoral college narrowing campaign efforts to focus on manipulatble swing states. We need election by majority, if the people are to get a say.
Alexander Hamilton reportedly said something to the effect of, “When you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything.” This is indeed true of Trump Republicans and Biden liberals as well. Biden reveals himself to be as racist as Trump at every turn, currently manifest in his complete dehumanization of the Palestinian people and his increasingly cruel positions on the southern border issue (although he did expand Trump's Title 42 twice so he was already on board with Republican border policy). He backed the Hyde Amendment for decades up until the 2020 election when he was forced not to, thus his milquetoast response to the Dobbs decision. Biden liberals stand for nothing, as do Trump Republicans (and most Republicans in office in general). So where does that leave us? With a Congress ready to spend $94 billion on sustaining American imperialism while arguing over $1 billion for food assistance for women and children. When Biden spouts rhetoric about "American values" these are our values.
Off with you Boris. You are as transparent as my front window. You give an obligatory nod to Trump as a Malefactor, but your real screed is against Biden and liberals.
You constantly accuse America of Imperialism, but ignore the real imperialist your sponsor Putin.
I wasn't sure if this was true, but it would make sense: "politicians can now keep most of the dark money they raise, even when they leave office".
I know that some are wealthy to begin with, some may start businesses once they become somebody or they use their name to improve their business, some write books, some are promised positions as soon as they are done, some "may" receive money under the table, so on and so on. There has to be reasons (greed) that they want these positions these days and cling so hard to keep them.
It is the saddest thing in my life as an American that the last truly great Presidents we had were Truman and Eisenhower. LBJ for his domestic accomplishments, but too tainted by Vietnam. No one else comes close. The only person even worthy of the office since LBJ in my opinion was Barack Obama, but he was frankly too timid and ultimately too establishment oriented to have made much of an impact, aside from triggering a bunch of racists. The most effective President we have had since Eisenhower is President Biden. If he is not re-elected (assuming he is still alive, which I pray he will be), our nation will deservedly self-destruct in the small, greedy, corrupt hands of TFG. Vote blue, for every office at every level. November will show the world who we truly are now.
Actually, as deluded at LBJ might have been by the war mongers who lied us into the Vietnam conflict, LBJ did negotiate a Peace Treaty in Paris that would have been signed BEFORE the 1968 presidential election. LBJ MIGHT have gone down in history as the man who also ende that conflict, but Republicans secretly promised the South Vietnamese a better deal if they held off utnil after the election. And the peace deal fell apart, with NIxon prosecuting that war and expanding it to neighboring countries for SIX MORE YEARS.
That is not my idea, and that is not rumor, and that is not conspiracy. That is history. Look for the recordings between LBJ and Nixon talking about it. [Rumors of this treasonous act circulated for decades, and George HW Bush was often confronted with questions about it, but Republicans always denied and dismissed the accusations. Except it was true. The information was released 50 years after the fact. ]
Hey, Pat. Think suckers and losers. Nixon killed perhaps millions.......
So many still in denial. Patriotism is the last ventage of scoundrels. But we have the means to mitigate the fake patriotism the Republicans have effectively sold.
I've been a Vietnam vet since 1967. I take this stuff personally.
I'm in a discussion group trying to convince vet ultra MAGATs that although we've been screwed lo these many years, we can't support anyone who considers us suckers and losers for supporting our country and who actually stole from disabled war vets. It's hard to break through. I get a lot of advertising from veterans' charities that are still controlled by MAGATs, and a lot of the VA staff are camp followers. All I ask is that people keep repeating "suckers and losers" as it makes them choke on their beer. And some have had an epiphany.
One of our group's key members is Fred Wellman.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBTQ3zC1b1LEosLEocu9MXQ
I've been trying to put Fred's organization, the DNC veterans committee together with Field Team 6.
Good on you, Daniel.
Historian TCinLA in a recent Substack makes the case that LBJ was less deluded than his immediate predecessor, who with his "best and brightest" orchestrated the involvement in Southeast Asia that LBJ inherited. But of course we can't speak ill of JFK so LBJ takes more of the rap than he deserves. https://tcinla757.substack.com/p/poli-sci-fi-at-its-most-hackish
WOW, that was great…
What a world we’ve been duped by .
These people are clearly amoral , there abject refusal to see anyone but the wealthiest as worthwhile has left a gaping hole where there should be a mountain.
They keep hallowing out any benefits that regular Americans have been guaranteed by our Constitution, all in order to feed their empty souls.
Our only recourse right now is to vote in numbers greater than ever before .
Their disservice to our Constitution is illustrated most clearly by the Republican appointed ‘ grifters’ on the Supreme Court , who have avoided any responsibility by ‘self monitoring’.
If they were capable of self monitoring , we sure as hell wouldn’t be where we are.
The Court must be altered and not “ self altered “ . They are in need of some extension of voices on the Court as clearly shown by their rulings on Roe V Wade. Citizens United. And several other terrible decisions made to cater to far right fake Christianity.
It’s time for serious change . Vote for Joe Biden and other Democrats who have spines in the upcoming election .
We know who they are . They believe in real Democracy , not the authoritarian crazies led by a crazy authoritarian working for Putin.
Probably take a 501 (c) (3) charitable tax deduction.
A charitable deduction only works if you itemize, and it is not worth itemizing unless your total expenses exceed the standard deduction.
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Geez Thom, it's not like the MAGA crowd isn't used to mixed messages! In fact, they have become accustomed to prolific lying---they have even proved they like it. Beyond that is the absolute drivel and insanity they seem to enjoy at every rally.
Trump will have them downing that beer all across the nation with that one message. That is because they do not stand for anything. They don't have a platform; they have Trump. Pretty sure when they pop the tops of that beer, they will be toasting their favorite traitor, liar, rapist, thief, fascist, fool, deadbeat, insurrectionist, sell-out by just saying "Heil Trump".
When has this vile, unsympathetic, vengeful person ever given a second chance to anyone who isn't rich?
Billionaires for jingoism and citizens united. Billionaires love SCOTUS.
Great post.
Those of us who know Ike was right realise that only with Biden can our futures be bright.
Back in the early 1990s, my professor in a social policy course bluntly pointed out the Republicans' whole philosophy was "to make the rich richer." It was clear to thinkers then, and the situation has only worsened greatly. Clearly, Republican strategists have been brilliant in building their fortress from School Boards and Town Councils up through the Supreme Court. Democrats were slow to catch on. No comparably sweeping efforts have met the ugly challenge. Now we face the not unlikely inception of a totalitarian state in January 2025. Maybe we can work hard enough to prevent the ultimate consummation of the Republican plan this time, in the short term. WHAT IS OUR BIGGER, LONG-TERM STRATEGY?
It's worth noting that many of the benefits wrought by Truman and Eisenhower flowed primarily to white people, and that when during the LBJ administration this started to change, many white people got pissed and became Republicans and swore that if Black people could have nice things, no one should have them.
If I wasn't a recovering alcoholic (44 years sober) I would boycott Budweiser. but wait. I never could drink that horse piss, almost as bad as that swill Crown Beer (Korean) , that arrived at Fire Support Bases in Vietnam, and sat untouched on the pallets on the ramps.
Doi mi doi. 33.
In Vietnam everything had a number. 33 was Vietnamese beer. In the field, even when we couldn't get artillery or air support we could get booze of some form or variety. Liquid courage.
We had Australians at the landing strip at my basecamp that make hops to the Philippines to replenish the booze supply, so even when we were in the field we could choose from Aussie, Philipino, and obscure US beers etc, that was flown in daily. Sometimes we got hard liquor. I'm sure that Charlie had no trouble finding our positions from that and from the odor of our "sundry packs" that had stuff like free cigarettes and the smell of C rations. When we didn't have sterno, we used C3 or C4 to heat them .
Ah Daniel, Ba moui ba (or 33) Vietnamese called 33 butterfly. was my drink of choice in Vietnam, they also brewed a Tiger Beer (pure horse piss). All beer was injected with formaldehyde to kill any nascent bacteria. They used water from the Saigon river to brew beer, and if you think American food standards are terrible, well try Vietnamese.
My favorite food was Pho, so I thought. I would order Pho with shrimps at the Vietnamese Officers club, outside the gates of Tan Son Nhut or at my favorite "Howard Johnsons", whenever I came in from the field. The Tea girls were in the bar given hand jobs to G.I.s. mpt fpr me though, not scruples, just that I never paid for sex.
I discovered later that what I thought was fPho, was actually chicken broth, that Pho was made of beef and cinammon.
làm ơn cho tôi một bát phở, please give me one bowl of Pho. I said that to a waitress at a Vietnamese restaurant and her jaw dropped;
You missed NO NUOC MAM. Major ingredient in Pho. In the altitude it would explode. Pungent. Could smell a village from about a mile out.
"Mixed fish sauce." Toi Oi!!! Fermented. NONG. In DC, many Pho restaurants, all using some weakened form of nuoc mam. My aunt lived in Oceanside CA, the defacto Vietnamese capitol. See Heaven and Earth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven_%26_Earth_(1993_film)
The French influenced the restaurants on the famous Tu Do Street in Saigon. As combat troops we were not supposed to enter but for a time we were assigned to Big Red 1 headquarters in Di An. Helped build Bien Hua Airport, Long Bien, supposedly the "art capitol" of Vietnam. Pulled our own security.
Most of the indigenous food in the field was inedible. Rats. Snakes.
My base camp was a French (Michelin) rubber plantation. I was MAC-V https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lai_Kh%C3%AA
We corrupted their entire society, inflated their currency and eventually deserted them.
Nuoc mam , fish sauce, Romans called it garam, I like it, keep a bottle of it my fridge.
I've been through Lai khe (1967) saw a kid, hold his ears, as G.I.s were walking down the street. Called out, there was a mine place in their path.
Christmas of 67, caught a chopper out of Bien Hoa (pardon if I play spelling NAZI with Vietnamese words, I did learn the language, somewhat, enough to save my life twice.
Anyway, an artillery unit got caught between Bien Hoa and Lai Khe,.; The VC or NVA had ambushed the lead and closed off the retreat. We were choppered in, to set up a Parachute Low AltitudeDelivery System (PLADS), for delivery of artillery shells and food. We were being shot at from the surrounding jungle, we were thankfully in a clearing. Not the first time I dodged bullets.
C-130s came over at 200 ft MSL, and a drag chute extracts the pallets from the aircraft., pretty accurate delivery when the drop altitude is 200 ft.
No time to worry or be afraid., totally concentrated on the mission.
I spent more time with the 2/2 Big red one (they wore black bandanna's called themselves Dracula. I have some war stories from my time with them.
As you know, no sooner than the army set up a forward support base (FSB) or even a fire support base, a hooch city popped up replete with Mamasan bars, brothels and souvenir shops, when I visitied Lai Khe the hooch city was pretty large
The 2/2 was quartered up the road from Lai Khe at Quan Loi, they also had a hooch city, but smaller than Lai Khe, as it was a Fire Support Base, not a Forward Support Base, I checked it on google and it grew quite a bit, after I rotated in 68.
What I enjoyed was the Wednesday round up of prostitutes, the medics would pick them up in a deuce and a half, and take them in for shots, and they truck would be full of giggling gals.
The Mamma san that ran one hooch, was enamored of my boss SSgt Freddie, and souvenired him with beers, she was an old gal, that had been a Tea girl when the French ran the plantation.
My first assignment was at Minh Thanh a rubber plantation (of course), always rubbeer plantations because they had dirt strips, which could accommodate , at first, C-123's. then enlarged to C-130's
I and 45 others were given 13 days notice to pack up, relocate our families and arrive at Travis AFB, CA for transport to Vietnam. we had no idea what we were vital to Operation Junction city, but the VC had moles in the military and knew about it and set punji stakes all over the drop zone, that was the end of that idea, there were supposed to be three airborne assaults in the "iron triangle".
So I sat out Junction city on a cot next to an air strip on a rubber plantation. scrounging C rations for beanie weenies, ham and eggs, ham and cheese, the only C's I could eat.
Mortar rounds would hit the trees, spreading shrapnel everywhere. We caught some VC INSIDE the wire.
I was assigned some of the time to support the 2/2. They lost a lot of personnel. We held the top and bottom of Black Virgin Mountain, 273 rd NVA held the middle. Lots of tunnels and caves. Huge body counts.
I was in Junction City and Cedar Falls. Battle at French Fort. With 173rd Combat Engrs. Also assigned TDY to CIDG. Search and destroy.
My parents shipped me cases of Chef Boyardee ravioli, held for me at the PX at Lai Khe. We took our motor pool with us during Cedar Falls. Roan plows. Dump trucks. Knocked over villages. Acquired a water purification truck.
My unit was supporting just about everyone that needed support, I worked with the Aussies, the ROK's the Khmer Serat (Free Cambodians) MACV, Marines, just about everyone except the Navy.
I say a ROK helicopter interrogation, for real, never saw one from US forces, but the word was out amongst the VC, don't phuck with the ROK's.
My experince with 2/2 are forever memorable, we bunked with the LRRP's (Long Range Reconnaisance Patrol for civilians), crazy dudes, went on recon with them (really crazy dudes with a death wish)
One night in the back of the squad tent, I heard some noise, checked on with my flashlight and there were the two of them, at it in passion.
The team leader just waived it off, and went back to bed, a couple of days later I walked into the squad tent, and everyone was hovering over a PFC, it seemed that they got ambushed on patrol and his lover died, quite an outpouring of sympathy and concern, and back in the states they were handing out dishonorable discharges like Tic Tac's if they had an inkling that one was gay. Then along comes that asshat William Jefferson Clinton and his Don't Ask Don't tell which became the basis for a full throttle witch hunt.
Goldwater, whom I admit I did vote for, famously said "You don't have to be straight to shoot straight", yet here we are in the 21st century and the same assholes are still pounding the same old drum. And safely so, because their victims are a minority of minority of minority's,
Lots of Muslims, lots of Jews, disabled have advocacy organizations with Money and clout, not smart politically to take on blacks, Asians and Hispanics up front, but LGBT? Open season, even with the narcissistic and self indulgent Log Cabin Republicans who only care about tax cuts and hob nobbing with the rich and powerful. -Quislings all.
The hive of society is taken by the stupid as something to be gamed so getting more than others is something you place on the people and anyone not in the game are left to die to the extent that hive collapse and extinction is a reality. Until society comes to understand that a basic level of income is required for all because society works best when all have what they need to thrive and succeed. The other side believes they know who the winners are and can cut out all that are losers. The truth is nobody knew at the time who the real contributors are for 9 out of 10 where. Only after a century or two are the real contributors were. Birkeland was not fully understood until after a century that he was correct and everybody in science was wrong. We honor him by Birkeland currents in space today. We have no idea of how many Birkelands are out there because they can lack basic resources to leave a record to survive their time on the planet. Only everyone able to thrive can maximize success and end hive extinction.
Where could society be now if we could solve the problem of greedy sociopaths? How many "Einsteins" are repairing automobiles to exhaustion to support their families when a guaranteed income could allow them to work part time and invent as a hobby?
We assume wealth equals intelligence because that is the story the wealthy sell us.
I don't think that the parable about Jesus and the money changers was about making money, but rather about defiling the temple.
The problem with the Bible (Old and New) is that, depending on your ideology and/or emotional proclivities, you can read anything into any verse or chapter that suits your proclivities or rather fulfills your needs and assuages your fears, which is the basis of all ideologies, be they sectarian or secular.
The only way to become truly wealthy is by being a sociopath, with a touch of psychopathy, totally devoid of any emotions other than those of self. That is the attraction, of libertarianism.
The cult of solipsism in it you will find libertarians and MAGAts, and even centrist Republicans and Democrats.
I find it is possible to discipline yourself to build a company to wealth. The discipline it takes to do it right makes it something the ego is not a part of. Wealth with purpose and not just money is the goal. But this represents very few while the majority seeking quick riches never get there. Their opinion of their natural ability is over burdened by realities they positively choose to ignore.
I care not for those that seek wealth. I am horrified by those that seek easy answers by those that proclaim to be able to give it to them that includes getting rid of our rights held by democratic institutions. They think they are our mothers to be able to tell us what we need to do for them. Mass formation psychosis.
Name me one Horatio Alger. One person that build wealth all on their own with discipline. You will find that they had help from insiders and others. Gates, Job, Bezos, Musk especially.
There is no such thing as a self made man (or woman).
Take Bill Gates. He stole DOS from a rather naive hippy, and thanks to his father, the richest lawyer in Seattle, he went for licensing his stolen product rather than selling it, and here we are today, software and internet licensing and user agreements are ubiquitous and frankly no one has the time, the wherewithal or the ability to read and comprehend the agreements.
So the thieves, and they are thieves and pirates, spent hundreds of millions to prevent their prodigy, other thieves and pirates from getting rich they way that they did.
I knew a guy, an Air Force air traffic controller who created a board game, took it to Parker Brothers, they offiered him $500 take it or leave it. He said I will just find another company, they replied too late, we've seen the game and we can make our own version. The game is Risk.
I don't understand what you mean by "getting rid of our rights held by democratic institutions"
That phrase is nebulous and can mean or refer to anything. Examples please.
Profound, Clayton.
The electoral college is stacked against us. We can't have a transparent election process with thw electoral college narrowing campaign efforts to focus on manipulatble swing states. We need election by majority, if the people are to get a say.
Trump wanting to give Anheuser-Busch a second chance, will cost him dearly at the ballot box. Hatred of lbqt is the glue that holds the GOP together.
Haters need to hate, and LGBT is a safe universal hate,it transcends religions, genders, ethnicity, race and ideologies.
The vast majority of which are patriarchal, and LGBT poses an existential threat to patriarchy.
Alexander Hamilton reportedly said something to the effect of, “When you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything.” This is indeed true of Trump Republicans and Biden liberals as well. Biden reveals himself to be as racist as Trump at every turn, currently manifest in his complete dehumanization of the Palestinian people and his increasingly cruel positions on the southern border issue (although he did expand Trump's Title 42 twice so he was already on board with Republican border policy). He backed the Hyde Amendment for decades up until the 2020 election when he was forced not to, thus his milquetoast response to the Dobbs decision. Biden liberals stand for nothing, as do Trump Republicans (and most Republicans in office in general). So where does that leave us? With a Congress ready to spend $94 billion on sustaining American imperialism while arguing over $1 billion for food assistance for women and children. When Biden spouts rhetoric about "American values" these are our values.
Off with you Boris. You are as transparent as my front window. You give an obligatory nod to Trump as a Malefactor, but your real screed is against Biden and liberals.
You constantly accuse America of Imperialism, but ignore the real imperialist your sponsor Putin.
What a phony you are.
I wasn't sure if this was true, but it would make sense: "politicians can now keep most of the dark money they raise, even when they leave office".
I know that some are wealthy to begin with, some may start businesses once they become somebody or they use their name to improve their business, some write books, some are promised positions as soon as they are done, some "may" receive money under the table, so on and so on. There has to be reasons (greed) that they want these positions these days and cling so hard to keep them.
Google millionaires in congress.
The Alexander Hamilton quote seemed to explain in one sentence what a MAGA is.