Tsig,
Oh boy, you are not getting it at all.
The MIC is more than just a bogeyman and certainly not something to ridicule or take lightly. You are missing the point badly.
Rather, the MIC is a powerful, controlling entity, all as more specifically and accurately described by then President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 17, 1961, in his farewell address to the nation, just prior to the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy:
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You can watch the address at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY
and at:
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5407.htm
Although he did not 'invent' the term
MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX (MIC), President (and former General of the Army) Dwight D. Eisenhower used the term as follows:
"A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction... This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together."
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) term 1953-1961
For as relevant as Eisenhower's statement and warning and admonition was in 1961, by 40 years later, in 2001, its full implications became oh so brutally apparent.
Eisenhower's MIC admonition should be required knowledge for every
5th Grader and learned by rote memory and practiced in speech classes in Middle Schools all over the USA.
It is that important. Accordingly,
Tsig, your joking about the matter is unfortunate and utterly inappropriate. You are not yet another apologist for the MIC, or SAIC or ARA, are you?
If you are not, then stop acting like one, please.
Do you get it now?