The disgust is only the beginning

[elfs]

Once upon a time, I read National Review. Writers like John Derbyshire and Victor Davis Hanson were, a few years ago, interesting, fresh with new ideas, and startlingly intellectual. Hanson has since devolved into a cheerleader for the President because he can't imagine an alternative, and Derbyshire recently shot himself in the foot by referring to the victims of Virginia Tech as "cowards" for refusing to take on an armed assailant all by themselves.

And then I am reminded that the senior editor at National Review once said that the goverment should mandate that every positive HIV diagnosis in this country should come with a tattoo warning for potential sex partners, preferably on the buttocks. I wondered what should be written there. "Abandon every hope, ye who enter?"

But an entry today by Thomas Sowell reveals the vicious mindlessness to which they have descended:

When I see the worsening degeneracy in our politicians, our media, our educators, and our intelligentsia, I can't help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup.

That's all you need to read. Really. Go ahead and "enjoy" the rest of the article, but really, that encompasses the whole of his thought.

Comments

I don't think Sowell is crazy...

[ideaphile.livejournal.com]

But I don't think he's thought this through very well, either.

Damiana_swan probably has the truth of it-- a military coup would not be a good thing for the Republican or Democratic parties.

After all, a military coup in the US wouldn't be like a military coup in, for example, Libya. We don't have a bunch of madmen like Qaddafi running our military. With few exceptions-- and probably none at the highest levels-- our military leaders are very sensible fellows who have devoted their lives to preserving freedom and democracy in the US. They tend to be scholars, businessmen, leaders, and nice guys all at the same time.

In the last 40 years there must have been hundreds of Army and Air Force generals and Navy captains with the power to decapitate the Federal government, but it's never happened. The fraction of Presidential candidates who would overthrow the government if they could appears to be much higher.

Bottom line, if I had to choose between a military coup and electing some of the current candidates, I'd take the coup with no hesitation.

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Re: I don't think Sowell is crazy...

[mikstera.livejournal.com]

I somehow doubt you'd be as happy about your stance a few months into the coup...

Re: I don't think Sowell is crazy...

[ideaphile.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't be happy about the coup per se to begin with, but comparing the history of accomplishment of these men vs. that of Hillary Clinton, Dennis Kucinich, Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, or some other notable candidates, I know who I'd rather have in charge:

General T. Michael Moseley, US Air Force http://www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=6545
General George W. Casey, US Army: http://www.army.mil/leaders/leaders/csa/index.html
Admiral Michael G. Mullen, US Navy http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=11
General James T. Conway, US Marine Corps http://www.usmc.mil/cmc/34cmc.nsf/cmcmain

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Re: I don't think Sowell is crazy...

[mikstera.livejournal.com]

Nope, no sale. No coups for me... I don't want anyone in office that I can't vote out, and I don't want the Head Office to change due to the barrel of a gun... and I don't care how peachy keen the guy with the gun happens to be.

Re: I don't think Sowell is crazy...

[elfs.livejournal.com]

"I, _____, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice."

I find your reasoning absurd: all of these men have sworn the oath above, and have gone through the most rigorous training the world has ever seen to indoctrinate them to the idea that the overthrow of the government by the military is absurd or impossible. What you're asking for here is the final stage in the Failure of Generalship, at which point not one of these men has any idea how to put the republic back together or where to find leaders better than the ones you dismiss.

I mean, why you'd want to condemn the US to the kind of political mess we've left in Iraq is beyond me.

Re: I don't think Sowell is crazy...

[ideaphile.livejournal.com]

I didn't say it was possible any of those men would violate their oaths. I agree with you on that point-- I don't think it is.

I don't think they've been indoctrinated to believe in the absurdity or impossibility of a military coup in the US, though. I don't think it's "impossible" at all, and what does "absurd" mean in this context? I'd go along with "inconceivable," though. I doubt any of them would consider it for a moment.

And whether or not they believe they have some potential as political leaders, I bet they all have little lists of where to go for better leaders than the politicians I mentioned, none of whom could lead the country in any good direction. After all, they probably understand they might need such lists in the event of catastrophes entirely unrelated to military coups. Preparing for extreme if unlikely scenarios is just part of the job.

I don't know how Iraq figures into this-- our military leadership has had essentially no role in guiding political development there.

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