What The World Knows About The Pentagon Is A Blind Spot For U.S.

"Bug Splat" by Anthony Freda. Drone operators often call their victims by this dehumanizing name.

How the world see the U.S.: purveyors of death from above, unaccountable, and aiming at their children as often as not.

How the U.S. sees itself: lush with cute camo and cheaply earned patriotism.

Ok, it's not that cheap. Taxpayers allow the Pentagon to give NFL teams $5.4 million of their hard-earned money each year to keep halftime shows cranking out the slick images that blind us to how others see us.

For starters, can we stop calling ourselves Americans? As if the U.S.A. was the only nation state on this vast continental spread.

How the world sees us: a cancerous growth on the planet, currently spread to around 800 military bases of various sizes and toxicities.

From a baseball game in Tempe, Ariz., November 2004.

 (Donald Miralle / Getty Images)

How the U.S. sees itself: exceptional, and surrounded by enemies. 

Liberals are posting a lot about their incredulity that a racist, climate change denying demagogue with ridiculous hair -- however wealthy -- could be seriously considered a candidate for chief executive officer / commander in chief of the armed forces.

Intellectuals around the globe are sounding not so surprised.

The U.S. blind spot about our bootprint on the planet's neck will not shield us from its consequences. Ok, maybe you have to be a history major to think so. 

An old school history major, that is. Did you know that the latest iteration of federal education law finally funds social studies -- but only the study of U.S. history and civics? Here's a quote:

"The Secretary (of Education) is authorized to carry out an American history and civics education program to improve education by educating students about the history and principles of the Constitution of the United States, including the bill of rights, and elevating the quality of teaching of American history, civics and government." 

There are probably several other alarming truths you and I don't know about. Keep sharing information -- while we still can.