One century later, we have the might of the American military-industrial complex stymied by unlawful combatants with makeshift weapons. We have a legal system that affords rights to terrorists, and a world that has attacked discrimination with such a vengeance as to surrender the entirety of Western civilization to barbarians—all while claiming the moral high ground.
Instituting democracy by force has become not just accepted doctrine, but ex cathedra. Profiteering is endemic, and the current war-without-end continues apace. Tens of thousands die and our American military languishes in countries most couldn’t find without consulting Google Maps.
The quote I find most applicable:
“So we can see: Once you’re in a war of national survival, there’s no point in thinking about whether it’s “futile” or “unnecessary.” Instead, the point is to win it, with as few casualties as possible—or, more precisely, with as few casualties on your side as possible. As George Patton—by then Lt. General Patton—said in 1943, “No dumb bastard ever won a war by going out and dying for his country. He won it by making some other dumb bastard die for his country.” “
Where is America failing today? Recognizing a war of national survival. That war is occurring on multiple fronts while the nation perseverates about the colored underwear of a mentally-ill former Olympian. Spies, saboteurs, terrorists and armies without uniforms have none of the rights granted to honorable combatants. Once we were a country that understood such concepts; now we fight about the very existence of any concept.
Today, America wrangles with political sophistry as our children squander the birthright purchased by the blood of their fathers.
Your post is more prescient about today’s insanity and what it means for our future than Pinkerton’s history lesson.