2008 Woodie Awards
EIC a relic of distant historical constructs
Issue date: 10/25/06 Section: Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
One of the popular phrases in political parlance is the term Cold War relic. The word "relic" refers to something that has survived the passage of time, especially an object or custom whose original culture has disappeared. One such Cold War relic is the phrase Military Industrial Complex. According to the editor the MIC was a slogan first used by "Dwight Eisenhower (as he) warned against in 1961 (when) he handed the presidency over to John F. Kennedy." In political science the MIC is known as the Iron Triangle because of the relationships between the Department of Defense, Congress and military contractors in regards to appropriating funds for defense spending. This term, however, is no longer relevant to today's political discussion. James Kurth is the Claude Smith Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College, where he teaches defense policy, foreign policy and international politics. In 2004 Kurth also became the editor of Orbis, a professional journal on international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kurth has stated, "By the mid-1980s ... the term had largely fallen out of public discussion," and opined that "[w]hatever the power of arguments about the influence of the military-industrial complex on weapons procurement during the Cold War, they are much less relevant to the current era." I can almost hear the air escaping.
The editor of the Sonoma State Star makes his point abundantly clear that our current rate of defense spending is bankrupting America. He points out that his generation (whatever that may be), my generation, and our children's generation will be burdened with our "overspending" on defense. What he does not say is that deficit spending has been a fixture of American government since he was probably in diapers. It was defense spending that helped us defeat fascism in WWI and WWII. It was defense spending that helped us defeat communism during the Cold War. And it will be defense spending that will defeat Islamic fundamentalism. I believe that our children and their children would expect nothing less. After all, what kind of world will we leave them with if we do not confront the ills of humanity today? I believe it was John F. Kennedy who said, "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." What good is liberty if there is no one alive to uphold it? JFK was what the Democratic Party used to stand for. Today the only Democrat who comes remotely close to this is Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who was shunned by his party and forced to run as an Independent. So I ask the editor, what does the Democratic Party stand for? Do not answer with what you think they stand for. I can do that myself. I am asking you tell me what is it that these adults say they stand for?
~Sanford Hobbes Paine
One of the popular phrases in political parlance is the term Cold War relic. The word "relic" refers to something that has survived the passage of time, especially an object or custom whose original culture has disappeared. One such Cold War relic is the phrase Military Industrial Complex. According to the editor the MIC was a slogan first used by "Dwight Eisenhower (as he) warned against in 1961 (when) he handed the presidency over to John F. Kennedy." In political science the MIC is known as the Iron Triangle because of the relationships between the Department of Defense, Congress and military contractors in regards to appropriating funds for defense spending. This term, however, is no longer relevant to today's political discussion. James Kurth is the Claude Smith Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College, where he teaches defense policy, foreign policy and international politics. In 2004 Kurth also became the editor of Orbis, a professional journal on international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kurth has stated, "By the mid-1980s ... the term had largely fallen out of public discussion," and opined that "[w]hatever the power of arguments about the influence of the military-industrial complex on weapons procurement during the Cold War, they are much less relevant to the current era." I can almost hear the air escaping.
The editor of the Sonoma State Star makes his point abundantly clear that our current rate of defense spending is bankrupting America. He points out that his generation (whatever that may be), my generation, and our children's generation will be burdened with our "overspending" on defense. What he does not say is that deficit spending has been a fixture of American government since he was probably in diapers. It was defense spending that helped us defeat fascism in WWI and WWII. It was defense spending that helped us defeat communism during the Cold War. And it will be defense spending that will defeat Islamic fundamentalism. I believe that our children and their children would expect nothing less. After all, what kind of world will we leave them with if we do not confront the ills of humanity today? I believe it was John F. Kennedy who said, "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." What good is liberty if there is no one alive to uphold it? JFK was what the Democratic Party used to stand for. Today the only Democrat who comes remotely close to this is Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who was shunned by his party and forced to run as an Independent. So I ask the editor, what does the Democratic Party stand for? Do not answer with what you think they stand for. I can do that myself. I am asking you tell me what is it that these adults say they stand for?
~Sanford Hobbes Paine