4. What are some of the dumbest things ever said by a bunch of American Generals and Admirals?
“Not Even Wrong”
A Veterans Against War Statement on the Flag Officers 4 America’s
Open Letter on America’s being under “assault” and in “deep peril” from “tyrannical government”
Executive Summary and Opening Salvo
“That is not only not right; it is not even wrong.”
– Theoretical Physicist Wolfgang Pauli on an example of particularly incorrect or careless thinking
Executive Summary. This is the Executive Summary and Opening Salvo of the Veterans Against War [VAW] reaction and response to, and critique [as opposed to mere criticism], rebuttal, and rebuke of the 10 May 2021 “Open Letter from Retired Generals and Admirals,” published by Flag Officers 4 America [ https://flagofficers4america.com/ ]. FO4A is an organization of retired U.S. military Admirals and Generals who describe themselves as follows:
We are retired military leaders who pledged to support and defend the Constitution of the United Slates against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Although retired from active service, each of us feels bound by that oath to do what we can, in our capacity today, to protect our nation/rom the threats to her freedom.
This provides an Overview of VAW’s Comments on, Questions about, Challenges to, and Conclusions regarding FO4A’s Open Letter.
The full response is in Final Working Draft, and will be provided shortly.
That full Statement will react and respond the Flag Officers’ assertions about Election2020, President Biden’s “dictatorial manner” with all his Executive Orders, and the Democrats’ embrace of Socialists and their Socialism, Marxists and their Marxism, and, while not explicitly stated, one can assume Progressives and their Progressivism, as well.
It will also address what FO4A considers to be the “Key Issues” confronting America beyond all that: the Border Crisis, China, Big Tech, the Iran Nuclear Deal, the Keystone Pipeline, the U.S. Military’s War Fighting Capability, Law and Order, and, interestingly enough, the Mental and Physical Condition of the Commander in Chief. It will then critique the Flag Officers 4 America for being apparently completely ignorant of the actual, real Existential Threats confronting America.
The preliminary purpose of the entire VAW “Statement on the FO4A Open Letter” is to demonstrate just exactly how Not Even Wrong these Generals and Admirals are about just about everything they spoke of in that Letter. The ultimate purpose is to invite Americans to see just exactly What and Who is assaulting America and How, and just exactly how deep that peril actually is.
Opening Salvo
Purpose. The immediate purpose of this Opening Salvo is to examine the opening paragraph the FO4A Letter, which, in a mere forty-three words, displays a disturbing and disconcerting apparent ignorance of~ or deliberate ignoring by ~ the Admirals and Generals of: 1] American Political History, 2] American Military History, and 3] Political Ideology. All in 43 words.
It reads:
Our Nation is in deep peril. We are in a fight for our survival as a Constitutional Republic like no other time since our founding in 1776. The conflict is between supporters Socialism and Marxism vs. supporters of Constitutional freedom and liberty.
It is seldom that the opening paragraph of an “Open Letter” raises so many red flags to alert the reader that facts, logical reasoning, and sound conclusions will probably be in short supply in what follows.
1. Ignorance of American Political History. For starters, this Republic wasn’t founded in 1776. That was when the American Colonies declared their independence from the British Empire. Whatever that was back in 1776 that ultimately became the United States, it was certainly not a Republic. That didn’t happen until 1788 after a successful War of Secession, when the proposed Constitution was sufficiently ratified, thereby terminating the Articles of Confederation as the ruling document of the former Colonies, and thus bringing into formal, official existence the United States of America as a constitutional, federated Republic.
[Note: What is termed “The American Revolution” was not a revolution at all. It was never the intent of the American Colonists to overthrow the King of England, his Empire, and his Parliament, and to replace them there in London with their own set of new Rulers and system of government and governance in a revolution. That is what a “Revolution” is: the overthrow and replacement of a Ruler and perhaps the current system of rulership. But also perhaps not if that system suits the new Rulers’ fancy.
Rather, the Colonists’ intent was to throw the King’s Governors, and his and their Laws, Rules, and Regulations, and particularly, their Tax Collectors and Soldiers out of the Colonies, and to then secede from the Empire. The King and his Empire and Parliament in London could continue to rule with imperial impunity and do whatever they wanted – to and with whatever and whoever they wanted to – elsewhere in the world, but not here in the soon-to-be former North American Colonies south of Canada. Thus, this was no War of Revolution, but rather, a War of Secession. Which leads to the next demonstration of FO4A’s apparent historical ignorance.]
That a group of retired Generals and Admirals would publicly display such confusion about the beginnings and the evolution of America’s system of government and governance is, at best, puzzling, if not a bit strange, But it gets curiouser.
2. Ignorance of at least the ignoring of American Military History. Thus, the so-called “American Revolution” was merely the First War of Secession fought by Americans. Given its cost in Blood, Treasure, and Opportunity to this nation, it is virtually impossible to fathom how the Admirals and Generals could call what is happening in America today “a fight for our survival as a Constitutional Republic like no other time since our founding in 1776.” [Emphasis added.]
Apparently they forgot about the Second War of Secession fought by Americans: aka “The War of Southern Secession,” or “The War for Southern Independence,” or more commonly, “The American Civil War,” back in 1861 to 1865. But they are right about one thing: America today is a People and Nation no longer merely “divided,” but fractured ~ even to the point of disintegration ~ in ways not seen in the more than 160 years since the eve of that First American Civil War.
The results of Election2020 speak for themselves. No politician, party, or special interest group championing any cultural, social, economic, or political agenda has a national “mandate” to do anything in this country about anything. Not Biden; not Trump; Nobody. Especially those of the Sandersista/Warrenite, “Squad,” Green New Dealer ilk, and other current spawn of Socialism and Marxism, the FO4A, notwithstanding.
That 25,000 troops were needed to secure the inauguration and, four months later, that several thousand are still in town should make that simple, stark fact amply evident. That the United States Senate is now in the hands of the Tyranny of a Majority of One demonstrates this irrevocably [be it the VP or a rogue Democratic Senator or two].
It also indicates that Biden’s plans and pleas for “Strength Through Unity” are going to be a very tough sell; and not just out in the hinterlands of Flyover Country. And that the US government is on the verge of declaring a “War Against Domestic Terrorism” [whoever they may end up being] is further indication that that time, 160 years plus ago, may turn out to have been the eve, again, of merely the First American Civil War.
Obviously, the folks at FO4A know all about the American Civil War, whatever it is called. It is singularly curious that they did not include it when they railed about “the greatest threat” to the survival of the federated American constitutional Republic in its history.
3. Ignorance of Political Ideology. And finally, and by far most importantly, F04A’s identification of the protagonists in this fight for America’s survival is both very right and very wrong.
It is ~ with a caveat ~ right in that it is “supporters of Constitutional freedom and liberty” who are aligned against those who would destroy the American experiment in a federated Republic with a democratically-elected representative government under a Rule of Law before which All Human Beings ~ regardless of nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, economic or social class, age, sex, sexual proclivity, or any other discriminator ~ before which All are created equal and treated equally.
The caveat is that there are all kinds of different and totally contradictory definitions, interpretations, and assertions these days as to just exactly what actually constitutes “Constitutional freedom and liberty,” let alone a “Rule of Law” and, particularly, “Equality.” So the first questions are: Whose definitions, interpretations, assumptions, and assertions are to apply? And on what basis are their claims to accuracy, legitimacy, and authority to be asserted, accepted, and acted upon?
But beyond that, F04A is completely wrong when it identifies the greatest threats to America ~ and the biggest enemies of those “supporters of Constitutional freedom and liberty,” whoever they actually are ~ as “supporters of Socialism and Marxism.”
The greatest threat to America is not Socialism and Marxism [or their spawns-Communism, Progressivism, Democratic Socialism, etc], but creeping and inexorably also openly-growing Fascism. And while none of this started with Trump, it is most definitely continuing to grow under Biden.
All Trump did was continue the work pulled off by Obama, who continued the work of Cheney/Bush II, who continued the work of Clinton, who continued the work of Bush I, Reagan, and Carter all the way back to FDR and his New Deal, and ultimately, to Wilson and his Federal Reserve, Income Tax, and his “War to end all War and make the world safe for Democracy,” to say nothing of Wall Street and the nascent American proto-Empire fresh from its conquests in Hawai’i, China, the Philippines, and throughout Latin America.
And Biden [like Trump and all the predecessors] could not have done any of all of that without the willing and able abetting and assisting of and from those folks at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, the Congress of the United States; an institution that, over the years, has abdicated almost total power and authority to the White House in critical, core areas of Constitutional authority and responsibility. Again, for quite some time now. That is how Fascism has happened ~ and is happening now more than ever ~ in America’s history.
Clarification. The argument that the greatest threat confronting America is “Fascism” ~ as opposed the F04A’s claim that it is “Socialism and Marxism” – is based entirely on how the term “Fascism” is used; just as their claim [presented without argument or proof, but simply as a given} depends entirely upon how they are using the terms “Socialism” and “Marxism.”
Nowadays, when most folks [at least on the Left] use the term “Fascism” [or “Fascist”], they are usually referring blanketly to somebody/ anybody/anything who disagrees with what they believe in, stand for, and are trying to accomplish, culturally, socially, economically, and especially politically. It’s the Left’s doppelganger for “Socialism/Socialist” [or “Communism/Communist” or, in this case, “Marxism/ Marxists”] that those on the Right use to describe those on the Left [and sometimes even in the Muddled Middle] who disagree with Them about what they’re up to. Used that way, “Socialism/Socialist,” “Marxism/Marxist,” and “Fascism/Fascist” are essentially absolutely meaningless and thus useless terms.
But a little bit of what the ancient Confucians called “rectification”~ the clarification of the meaning of words so that they best describe the reality they name – shows that “Socialism” [and its variant, “Marxism”] and “Fascism” are but two very similar systems for the centralization and concentration, the maintainment and sustainment, the perpetration, expansion, consolidation, and perpetuation of Power by one distinctively minority group of Humans over the masses of Others thru the machinations and manipulations of The State, and its executive, legislative, judicial, regulatory, and above all, its police and military or “security” and “defense” functions and authorities. In both theory and historical fact, there is little difference in Principle between Socialism and Fascism; only in the specifics of organizational structures and operational systems, and their designated enemies.
In Socialism [and Communism, etc], the government [more specifically, the “Vanguard,” on behalf of “The Party,” on behalf of” The People”} owns everything ~ all the public and private facilities, factors, and forces of production, distribution, and consumption ~ and has total control over all economic policies, procedures, and execution, from the national to the regional to the local economic activity level, and even to the individual level. The government is both prime producer and determiner of distribution and consumption. Its enemies are capitalists, corporatists, fascists, conservatives, neoconservatives and neoliberals, and anybody who disagreeswith them; especially classical liberals, anarchists, and libertarians.
In Fascism, there is private [mostly corporate] ownership of business; and that is the only significant difference. The facilities, factors, and forces of production, distribution, and consumption are indeed under private, corporate ownership and day-to-day managerial direction. However, it is still the government that dictates policy, procedures, goals and objectives, and execution at all levels in all aspects of economic activity. And it is the government that is a~ if not the – prime and primary customer. Fascism’s enemies are socialists, communists, syndicalists and unionists, post-modem liberals, proto- and neo-progressives, democratic socialists, socialistic democrats, and anybody who disagrees with them; also especially classical liberals, anarchists, and libertarians.
The main difference between Socialism and Fascism is that in Fascism, the concepts of private ownership and, particularly, private profit have not been abandoned, as in Socialism. The similarities between the two are as follows:
a. Both systems place government in the business of meeting Human Needs and satisfying Human Wants, at the inevitable cost of violating Human Rights.
b. Both systems make extended use of state-of-the-art manipulation of the Needs and Wants of those they like to call “The People,” and the obfuscation, suppression, and obliteration of those same folks’ Rights.
c. Both systems survive and thrive best in the presence of an “Other”: a real Enemy, or at least a credible Threat of one. And if they don’t have one, they are both very skilled at creating one.
d. Both systems are created, maintained, and sustained for the express purpose of giving Ruling Elites ~ real and/or woulda coulda-shoulda-been wannabes ~ ready access to Power [the ability to force another Human Being to do something, whether they want to do it or not], and Wealth [the ability to buy and sell Power at a profit]. [Note: Thanks to Jim Mora.]
Given those definitions and descriptions of Socialism and Fascism that clearly differentiate the two ~ based entirely upon whether ownership of the means of the production and distribution of economic goods, products, and services is by the government or by private
individuals, organizations, or institutions [primarily corporations] ~ it should be very evident that America is much more of a Fascist nation than it is or ever has been a Socialist nation. And it has been that way for a very long time.
While Socialism and Fascism differ most markedly as regards to who owns [and derives profit from] what factors of economic production and distribution, they both are marked by extensive, if not total government control of those factors: the processes by which goods, products, and services are created, distributed, consumed, and ultimately disposed of.
Outside of infrastructure and education, governments at all levels in the United States actually own and operate relatively few economic enterprises compared to those under private ownership and operation. And they own and operate significantly less than governments many, if not most other nations on the planet.
On the other hand, the amount of control by executive order, legislative Jaw, bureaucratic regulation and rule, and/or judicial fiat by all levels of American government [particularly at the Federal] of all that private ~ from individual to corporate ~ economic activity is as extensive and intensive here as it is anyplace on the planet, as well. And that speaks nothing of American governments’ attempts to monitor and effort to control the personal behavior of its Citizens, from what they ingest in their bodies, to who they share their bodies with, to what they can and cannot access on the Internet, and so forth.
Validation. Having said all that, and moving beyond mere definitions about systems of government and governance, what other basis
is there for declaring that America is indeed a nation with very definite Fascist characteristics?
Consider the following list of fourteen common features of Fascism exhibited by Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, Tojo’s Japan,
Franco’s Spain, Salazar’s Portugal, Papadopoulos ‘s Greece, Pinochet’s Chile, and Suharto’s Indonesia. And then ask Yourself whether or not America, its ruling elite, and its government run by that elite’s wholly-owned and -operated politicians and bureaucrats exhibit any of the same characteristics:
- Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.
- Disdain for the importance of human rights.
- Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
- The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.
- Rampant sexism.
- A controlled mass media.
- Obsession with national security.
- Religion and ruling elite tied together.
- Power of corporations protected.
- Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
- Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.
- Obsession with crime and punishment.
- Rampant cronyism and corruption.
- Fraudulent elections.
To which can be added
15. Central Banking and dependency on budget deficits, borrowing, and governmental debt [linked to #s 2, 4, 7, 9, and 13].
16. Political, economic, and military imperialism [linked to #s 1-4, 6-9, and 13].
17. Corruption and militarization of law and regulatory enforcement [linked to Ns2, 9, IO, 12, and 13].
18. Racism, ethnicism, xenophobism, sectarianism, ageism, and classism [linked to #s 1-3, 7, 8, 10, and 11].
19. Restrictions on and/or violations of freedoms of conscience, speech, press, assembly, and association [linked to #s 2, 3, 5, 6, and 9-1I].
20. Violations of freedom From ~ along with and as opposed to merely Of ~ religion [linked to #s 2, 5, and 8].
[Note: The full list of Numbers 1-14 with explanations is at the article, “Fascism Anyone???” by Laurence Brittby [https://secularhumanism.org/2003/03/fascism-anyone/]. Numbers 15-20 will be explained in the Follow-up to this piece.
Given those 20 characteristics of classical, traditional, post-World War I-, World War II-, and Cold War I-epoch Fascism, it was easy to characterize The Age of Tromp and the reign of POTUS Maxximmuss XLV as “Fascist.” But which of those characteristics were and are equally applicable as accurate descriptions of the Obama, Bush II, Clinton, Bush I, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Truman, Roosevelt, Hoover, Coolidge, Harding, and Wilson regimes? To say nothing of Lincoln’s. An easier question to answer would be which of those listed properties and attributes of Fascism were and are Not characteristic of any of those earlier administrations?
And what has changed in Items 1 thru 20 above since the onset of The Age of Bidenopia?
It is critical to understand that the Fascism engulfing America is not that 20th century Fascism of Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Franco, Pinochet, Suharto, and the others like Batista, Noriega, The Shah, Somoza, Marcos, etc, American client-dictators all. At least not yet.
Nor is it its 21st century variants like China and Russia with their “State Crony Capitalist Fascism.” Or like virtually the entire Middle East from Turkey to Saudi Arabia and Iran, and back to Israel, with their lslamo- and Ziono-Fascisms, respectively. Or elsewhere, in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Oceania, or Europe.
Rather, it is what various scholars have termed “Fascism with 21st century American characteristics,” “Fascism with an American Face,” “Participatory Fascism,” “Democratic Fascism,” “Friendly Fascism,” and, ultimately, just plain old “Good Fascism.” And such is manifest at full throttle in Swampland and the other corridors and labyrinths of political Power at virtually all subsidiary levels of government and governance in America today. Particularly since The COVID-19 Event and its economic, social, cultural, and psychological fallout and collateral damage. See Item 9, Sources and Acknowledgments, below for specifics.
Implications. Based on the above, the opening paragraph alone of F04A’s “Open Letter from Retired Generals and Admirals” should aler tall readers that what follows may probably not be worth the time spent digesting it; at least if one is interested in a realistic, accurate, and usable estimate of the Threat Condition that confronts America today. And, the full VAW Statement will further validate that suspicion.
But it would be a serious mistake to simply dismiss the Admirals’ and Generals’ Letter on the grounds of its seriously wrong assessment of that Threat and its actual, root Source. These are the none-too-idle musings of people who are used to saying and ultimately deciding things. And then having other people ~ as in their subordinates ~ agreeing with them [with or without serious reflection], and then using those statements and decisions as the basis and justification for carrying out whatever action the General or Admiral has ordered.
Casual dismissal of the F04A Letter would be easier if it hadn’t come within weeks of a 21 April 2021 similarly-spirited Open Letter
from more than 1.1 00 retired French Generals, Senior Officers, and Enlisted personnel to French President Emmanuel Macron, his Cabinet, and the Members of Parliament-warning of “Race, Religious, and even Total Civil War.” All caused primarily because of Muslims relocated to France from what, back in the good old days, used to be French Colonies in Northern and Sub-Sahara Africa and the Middle East. It concludes as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen, stop equivocating–the hour is late, the work ahead is immense. Do not lose time, and know that we are ready to support political leaders who would undertake the rescue of the Nation.
However, if nothing is done, heedlessness will continue to spread its poison throughout society, inexorably, In the end, there will be an explosion, and our comrades in active military service will be forced to step in and undertake the perilous mission of protecting our civilizational values and the lives of our fellow citizens.
It is easy to see that the time for hesitation is over. Otherwise, tomorrow, civil War will put an end to this growing chaos, and there will be thousands of deaths, of which you will bear responsibility.
Source: https://americanmind.org/salvo/twilight-in-paris/ .
The two most noteworthy things about the French Open Letter are:
~ That it was released on the 60th anniversary of the 1961 failed coup attempt against Charles de Gaulle’s Fifth French Republic,
which was engineered by French Generals who wanted to keep Algeria, then a French Colony, from gaining independence,
~ That polling data shows that 58% of the French people agree with the Letter; that 84% of those polled believe that racial,
religious, and class violence in the country is increasing daily; and that 73% agree that France is “in decline.”
First of all, wouldn’t it be interesting to see how similar polling among Americans about the American Generals’ and Admirals’ “Open Letter” would turn out?
Second of all, when’s the last time You watched Seven Days in May, released in 1964? Or have You ever watched its 1994 remake, The Enemy Within, which takes a slightly different approach to an American coup d’etat?
[Available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWL06wa0AGw , and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReZsAhULSds , respectively.]
If a critical mass of sufficiently resourced, trained, motivated, and led individuals, then groups, then organizations within America’s military-industrial-police complex and its surveillance-secrecy-security-safety panopticon decide and determine to stage a coup and install TRUE “supporters of Constitutional freedom and liberty” ~ as defined, of course, by, say, F04A or the like ~ then who and/or what is going to stop them?
Conclusion. As stated at the outset, the preliminary purpose of the entire YAW “Statement on the F04A Open Letter” is to demonstrate just exactly how wrong these Generals and Admirals are about just about everything they spoke of in their Letter. Presumably, this Opening salvo will have demonstrated just how valid that assessment is, at least based on a critique of F04A’s opening paragraph.
But, again, the ultimate purpose and focus of this whole effort is to invite Americans to see just exactly Who is assaulting America, How they are doing it, and What exactly is being accomplished by their efforts. And, just exactly how deep the peril confronting America actually, really is.
Once that has been established, acknowledged, and accepted, the process of figuring out what to do about all that ~ and how to change it ~ can begin.
Sources and Acknowledgments.
It should be noted that Americans have been being Warned about a “Fascist equivalent” in the United States since even before the Fascist realities of Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo had been destroyed, with three books published in 1944: Ludwig von Mises’
OMNIPOTENT GOVERNMENT: The Rise of the Total State and Total War; The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich A Hayek [dedicated “To the socialists of all parties”]; and As We Go Marching by John T Flynn.
The Warnings continued in 1975 with Charlotte Twight’s America’s Emerging Fascist Economy; in 1980 with FRIENDLY FASCISM: The New Face of Power in America by Bertram Gross; in 2008 with DEMOCRACY INCORPORATED: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism by Sheldon Wolin, and in 2013 with FASCISM Versus CAPITALISM by Lew Rockwell.
And most recently, Jeffrey Tucker’s RIGHT-WING COLLECTIVISM: The Other Threat to Liberty [2017] and Carl Boggs’ FASCISM OLD AND NEW: American Politics at the Crossroads [2018] have brought all those older works up to date and right into the 21st century, at least thru Trump.
It is these works that have served and are serving as a source of information, insight, and inspiration in the preparation of this Statement, and they are strongly recommended to any American ~ but particularly any GenXer, GenZer, and Millennial ~ who wants a very clear look at what America’s future could very easily hold, and why.
It is a shame my parents’ generation [once the “Greatest,” now the “Silent”] didn’t read, react and respond to, and
act upon Mises, Hayek, and Flynn back when they had the chance. And it is a tragedy that my Boomer generation missed those foundational works and that of Twight and Gross when we had our chance, as well. Hopefully, the next Generations of Citizens and those they choose as their political, economic, social, and cultural leaders will not make the same mistakes.