Andrew Bacevich: Seduced by War

"When you look at the shock of 9/11, it’s really remarkable that there was virtually no debate about plausible alternative responses. The problem is not terrorism; the problem is the threat of radical Islam. Again, the political elite — meaning Republicans and Democrats and the establishment media, which very quickly embraced this — almost immediately concluded that the necessary response was a global war, which by common consent is going to last decades, generations. They all think there are no plausible alternatives. Let me be clear: it could be that other alternatives were defective in some way, but my point is, we never really looked for them. We instantly embraced this notion of open-ended global war. This shows the extent to which the political elite in this country has bought into the notion that if you have a big problem, the way to solve it is by going to war."

Enter the Circle

"The simplicity of the idea is remarkable. We collect the dung of elephants, we turn it into paper and then products. We then sell the paper and return profits to feeding and caring for the elephants.

"We call it The circle of conservation."

And the Rest is Silence

With Gene Scott dead and Al Goldstein selling bagels, there really is nothing on any more but reruns of Law and Order.