Restrepo: Birds Eye View of Afghanistan

MoonHowler

I just finished watching Restrepo.  It is available on Netflix.  It will also be shown again on NatGeo Monday night at 9 pm.  We have been so protected from our wars.  Only military families have suffered.  Industry and defense contractors have gotten rich.  The rest of us have basically remained untouched.

The war in Afghanistan is costing 2 billion dollars a week.  Our troops are being asked to be social workers.  Meanwhile, those same troops are suffering death, horrible brain injuries, loss of limb and overall life-altering injuries.  Military families have suffered because also because of the multiply deployments.  Children have grown up without a parent and spouses have spent 10 years with partners popping in and out of their lives. 

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Congress goes on break after NPR ‘Fiscal Emergency’

MoonHowler

Many currently in Congress ran on promises to tackle jobs and the budget.  Instead, they have taken on NPR and Planned Parenthood.  Many experienced Republicans have been frustrated by the newcomers who don’t seem to understand Washington protocol.  Republicans have ended up blocking Republicans. 

According to Washington Post  columnist Dana Milbank:

The lack of grown-up behavior is driving Americans to despair. In a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, only 26 percent said that they were optimistic about the future when “thinking about our system of government and how well it works.” That’s less than half the level of optimism felt in 1974, during Watergate.

The Democrats are only showing themselves to be slightly more adult.  The party leaders opposed Dennis Kucinich’s bill to just dump Afghanistan at the end of the year and bring everyone home.   Many Democrats felt his plan was foolish and irresponsible and most voted against it.

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