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Thursday, March 24, 20051111716000
Blood or Money?
"Base Closure Countdown," Rapid City Journal, 22 March 2005, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2005/03/22/news/opinion/top/opin01.txt.
"RCJ whistles different tune, has fingers crossed," by Seth, Clean Cut Kid, 22 March 2005, http://www.cleancutkid.com/2005/03/22/rcj-whistles-different-tune-has-fingers-crossed.
Before CCK only implied that Daschle was a merchant of death. Now, South Dakota's own MyDD joins the "gold for blood" party
First, Seth notes that John Thune personally believes that Ellsworth is an "effective" base, though it needed to improve its value:
Now, though, I want to discuss the about-face that the Rapid City Journal pulled today. At issue, once again, is Ellsworth. During the 2004 General Election, the editors were falling all over themselves gushing over John Thune, saying “Thune supports President Bush’s war on terrorism, supports strengthening the military and will work to preserve Ellsworth Air Force Base’s effectiveness. He told the Journal that adding to Ellsworth’s missions was the surest way to improve the base’s value to the Pentagon’s long-range plans.”
CCK knows the best place to fly these airplanes is...
Pennington County, South Dakota
But, horror of horrors, the RCJ will defer to military experts when the question of base closing comes up:
So why is the Journal talking about western South Dakota’s “anxious months ahead” today? Once reliant upon John Thune to make the base vital to national security, the editors now suggest a different tactic, hoping that those of us west of the Missouri are “keeping our fingers crossed.”
Thank you editors at the Rapid City Journal, for selling western South Dakota’s economic future to the highest (conservative) bidder. At your recommendation, we now have an impotent representative in Washington who is unable to secure missions for Ellsworth. Why stop at crossing our fingers, though? I propose we make voodoo dolls of the members of the BRAC and then place curses on anyone who votes against Ellsworth.
The Aforementioned Pennington County
The passage which enraged the South Dakota Kid is this:
Defense needs in World War II created Ellsworth; defense needs in the Cold War kept the base in operation. The B-1 bomber has since been modernized and has shown its value over the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan. We are confident that Ellsworth's rural location is strategically useful, and its mission is important to the defense of the country. How Ellsworth fits in with future defense needs will decide whether the base remains a fixture in Western South Dakota for decades to come, or closes for good.
The Rapid City Journal believes the purpose of the military is to secure the nation.
Patriotic.
Clean Cud Kid believes the purpose of the military is to bouy the economy of Pennington County
Sickening.
20:00 Posted by Dan tdaxp (Webmaster) in Blogosphere, South Dakota | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this | Tags: rapid city journal, cck, ellsworth, thune
Trackbacks
Hello and Good Bye
Hello South Dakota Politics fans! SDP was kind enough to link to me, twice!, and I appreciate it.
For getting around this site... In the left column you will find categories, including South Dakota news. The right-hand column has recent stories...
Trackback by: tdaxp | Saturday, March 26, 2005
Overinvestment in China?
"Investment Bubble Builds New China," by Joseph Kahn, New York Times, 23 March 2005, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/23/business/worldbusiness/23invest.html (from Dawn's Early Light).
Bill Rice, whose blog I added to tdaxp's blogroll today, had e...
Trackback by: tdaxp | Sunday, March 27, 2005
Bush Opposses Blood Pork
"Bush appoints panel to decide the first military-base closings in a decade," Associated Press, 3 April 2005, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002229297_bases03.html.
President Bush smacks down Republican Senator Lott's attempt at ...
Trackback by: tdaxp | Sunday, April 03, 2005
Comments
Dan,
First off, get a life. You don't address anything that Seth said in his posts, and instead question his patriotism.
These kinds of accusations that the GOP likes to throw around is going to catch up with them one day. I for one am sick and tired of having my patriotism and my worthiness of God's love questioned just because I don't follow the GOP party line of what patriotism and values are.
How long do you think people are going to be fooled by this?
--Chad.
Posted by: Chad | Friday, March 25, 2005
You've done this on CCK, on now here too... You accuse "Republicans" of questioning other people's patriotism. Why? Do you truly believe this, is it easy rhetoric? Am I sleep-blogging, making groundless accusations without realizing it? Some other reason?
As long as we have security-forces, blood will be spilled and money will be made. Military-industrial profit-seekers will naturally form and try to follow the money. Hopefully, they will push the military in the wrong direction. As some boondogles have shown, however, this profit-motive can have disasterous consequences for our security and the lives of soldiers.
Seth wants Pennington County to receive federal funds. A reasonable desire. In particular, he wants this money to come from the Pentagon in the form of Ellsworth Airforce Base. OK. But he does too far in willing to sacrifice readiness, posture, or security to achieve this. He has repeatedly implied self-interested political pressure has a legitimate role to play in this debate. It does not.
Seth is discounting the lives of American soldiers too severely. He is not the first to do this, and he won't be the last. I am not saying he is not patriotic, or that somehow "real" American are free of these base instincts.
But his views are sickening.
Posted by: Dan | Friday, March 25, 2005