From President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the Nation
January 17, 1961:

"Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

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 State house, 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."

The Military is Too Big for Its Britches
Schuyler was preparing cocktails in the great room as everybody started to arrive. Tonight, he made a drink we'd never tried before, a Gloom Chaser. He made them with Grand Marnier and Curaçao, and for those who didn't want alcohol, he had some nonalcoholic sparkling wine. Why a Gloom Chaser? Well, we just had a cold snap and couldn't sit out on the porch, and the thought of friends and relatives losing either their jobs or their health benefits had many of us worried.

As each person arrived, Alex and Jane handed them copies of parts of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell to the Nation address. After everybody had arrived, gotten a drink, and had a chance to read those paragraphs, the import of President Eisenhower's message began our discussion.

Bob told us that the Neocons, the Bushies, have always favored the health of the Military-industrial complex over anything else. Bob also told us something we didn't have much stomach to hear, that as early as 1992 Shady Cheney and Wolverine Wolfowitz were touting the need for the United States to engage in preemptive assaults on other nations who might, just possibly, be a threat to the United States. Since 1998 Donald Rumsfeld has been counseling anybody who would listen, that Saddam Hussein had to be "gotten rid of."

Not Really That Much Money
Well, you could say things could be worse and guess what? You just might be right. Now really, so what if George is spending 558 billion on his Neocon military? Doesn't affect anything, does it? Well, maybe just a tad, since his budget doesn't include the 85 billion that he's spending in Afghanistan and Iraq, which he didn't include in his "budget." That comes from "supplemental appropriations."

Alex pointed out to us something that in the general scheme of things, seemed just a bit unusual. Some companies were making money hand-over-fist: Lockheed, General Dynamics, Honeywell, Boeing, Raytheon, International Military and Government LLC, United Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Bell Helicopter, General Electric, General Dynamics subsidiary Electric Boat, Halliburton, Science Applications Int. Corp. and Computer Sciences Corp.

And All For Snuff and So Your Friends and Relatives Would Lose Jobs and Health Benefits
Well, not that kind of snuff; not the kind you delicately pinch from a snuffbox and snort: no sonny, Bob said, we're talking about how all these companies have made untold fortunes to snuff out 1996 American service personnel and approximately 100,000 Iraqis.

Other victims of this sick scheme of Bush & Co., General Motors and Ford Motor Company, the real bellwethers for the country. We'd all heard 'as goes General Motors, so goes the U.S.' And now, The New York Times is reporting, both of these companies are bleeding millions of dollars. Ford is planning to shutter untold factories; they'll have 'significant plant closings.' GM is going to cut benefits, and it reports that this year they have lost $4 billion! So, soon, Ford will start laying off employees, and, can GM be far behind? So, Ford and GM will be casualties of the Neocons, and who will gain?

Eisenhower Was Right
So what about the plowshares. Are they not, too, important? The neocons are still reacting to their extreme distaste, as author Robert R. Reich writes in his book "Reason", against the "permissiveness, self-indulgence and anti-war softness" of the sixties, but in doing so, they are dragging the country down, and we have to regain our footing and save the country from these 1984 goons. And gee, do you think if we spent less on killing, [don't forget their constant harping on the culture of life], we just might be able to feed more people and house the homeless, or do just about anything else that me be kind and good?

Dinner, as Respite From Hell
We can't blame the teenagers for always wanting the gong to sound, announcing dinner. Sometimes, we too are very hungry, or like tonight, just anxious for a chance to get off the topics brought down upon us by these chancres.

Charlotte, as soon as we had all taken our places, served us some small Manchego Cheese and Radicchio Quesadillas and for those of us who wanted them, small glasses of Patrón Tequila Reposado. Terry and Art had brought some beautiful eggplants from their greenhouses, and made a Garlicky Roasted Eggplant soup.

Max brought a Fumé Blanc from their wine cellar to go with the soup, and his choice was one of the best of the California Fumé Blancs, a Château St. Jean La Petite Étoile Vineyard Russian Valley Fumé Blanc.

Shelley and Cathy suggested we not have a fish course tonight, and instead they roasted some really spicy Cornish Game Hens. The two said that this was such and easy dish to prepare that it was almost effortless. Remember that they had to serve twenty-eight adults and fourteen teenagers! Once again, we all sang the praises of the enormous, old French range and all its ovens, plus the two built-in ovens we had put in a few years back.

To give you an idea of what we mean when we emphasize "spicy" these are some of the major spices that made the dish so delectable: garlic, rosemary, mustard, Dijon and coarse-grained, paprika and pepper. We toasted them for this wonderful dish, and agreed with Max that the same Fumé Blanc would be best with the hens, one of the rare times we did not change wines when we changed courses. For vegetables, Charlotte had made one of her splendid vegetable terrines which added a richness and complexity to the roasted hens.

Unusual for us, we did not have as many dishes as we normally do, but the plump little Cornish hens signaled to Shelley and Cathy that we would not need both a fish and a meat course tonight. However, we did want dessert, and were not at all disappointed with Charlotte's splendid "south of France" Raspberry and Fig Clafouti, dusted with powdered sugar. Charlotte served this heavenly dessert with a beautiful wine from her wine cellar, a 2003 Château de Malle Sauternes.

Back to the Teenagers
Max brewed some of his special-blend after-dinner coffee which we drank after joining the teenagers back in the great room. Each couple wished only the best for their children, a world where money could be used for good, and not for war. Max, coffee cup in hand, said a brief but poignant toast: "To peace, and to the success of United States industry devoid of military interests, and to regime change and the rebirth of a political party that puts people first."

Summary:
The cost of emphasizing the value of the Military-industrial Complex over the lives of human beings is taking a drastic toll on non-military United States industries. Jobs are being lost to other countries, and U.S. citizens are paying an inhuman price.