A half-century ago, it was common to fund war debt by the Government's hideously everpresent campaign to "BUY WAR BONDS NOW OR ELSE OUR BOYS DIE HORRIBLY". We seem to have gotten past that---maybe the bond market isn't quite what it used to be---but the President at one point encouraged people to go spend money.

Since then, war and its impact on the civilian populace have changed. Instead of lining up for ration cards that cover sugar, gasoline, and other things, we're sitting around complaining because gas is increasing in price or grousing because the stock market's not back to 12,000 as it was during the years of Hope and Glory.¹

Anyways. Since the economy's supposedly a defining factor of our progress in the war against Islamist terror---like USA, Inc. is going to be taken over by al-Qaeda, LLC in a tender offer---the President has indeed urged us to go out and spend money. By the way, that helps his re-election effort too.²

Since I'm going to be a spectator to the war effort---if it's ever necessary for me to be on the field of battle, then manpower's the least of our worries---I've often wondered just what the heck I'm supposed to do. Well, mindful of the President's advice, I went out in recent periods and loaded up on DVDs:

The Final Countdown
Kill Bill, Volume 1
The Matrix: Revolutions (Yeah, I've got the other two; might as well...)
National Lampoon's Animal House
K-19
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Go figure. I've done my part, yet again, for the war economy and for the re-election of President George W. Bush. I expect my post in the Department of Defense or Department of Transportation to be passed out immediately. Paging Donald Rumsfeld and/or Norman Mineta... ¹ I have distinct memories of the economy being hailed as the greatest thing since sliced bread back when the Dow went north of 10,000 and hovered around 12,000 during the Clinton years; from what I understand, it's back over 10,000 and has been playing with the 11,000 barrier for a while. Yet, the economy's in the tank and so forth. I may be a rural rube, but can someone differentiate these two scenarios for me other than to say that there's a difference in Presidential administrations?

² We're supposed to help by contributing directly to Bush-Cheney '04, which is now being abbreviated 'BC04' by various outlets. Me, I get confused by that. I stared for a second or so the first time I saw it trying to figure out just what the heck 'Battlecruiser 04' was, and then I remembered that it must've been one of the Alaska-class battlecruisers (USS Phillippines to be exact) but then I figured it out. Sneaky right-wingers! As for donations, I'm a struggling graduate student who has no money in any amounts worth donating.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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