Only Warships Can Find Their Way Across #BigWater #OceanWater

Photo: PPH

The U.S. Navy Secretary was palling it up at General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works shipyard yesterday, accompanied by Maine's neoliberal Representative Chellie Pingree, Maine's "Independent" Senator Angus King, and our two Republican Congress critters Senator Susan Collins and Rep. Bruce "Where's Bruce?" Poliquin.

Protesters outside the gates offered their solution to the problems caused by endless preparations for endless wars: conversion to building things that people actually need.

General Dynamics builds weapons of mass destruction that sail across the big water ocean to menace the shores of China, Iran, Russia and other far away lands.

It also makes big campaign contributions to elected officials. Navy Secretary Spencer was reassuring about future warship buildig contracts flowing to General Dynamics dba BIW.

There is always money for war and weapons but not, apparently, to save U.S. territory Puerto Rico from slow death following two massive hurricanes in a row. 

The demagogue with bad hair offered a feeble excuse for not delivering aid to the nearby U.S.-controlled territory where he once made millions on a golf course deal that went bad:  "This is an island surrounded by water. Big water. Ocean water."

Here's a list of only U.S. aircraft carrier (i.e., not other warships) deployments in the big ocean water around the planet:

The U.S. Navy has in fact had a hard time steering its many warships lately, with four major collisions since the demagogue took the helm of the ship of state. Senior commanders have been relieved of duty following negligence that resulted in the death of several sailors in the big water near Singapore. And, over 1,000 gallons of oil were spilled into Tokyo Bay in one of the crashes.

To recap Puerto Rico's geographical location and likelihood of being reached quickly by U.S. ships with competent commanders, it's right here:

Native son Miguel A. Cruz-Díaz writing in Counterpunch about the demagogue's inaction said his

message to Puerto Rico was clear: pay up and drop dead. The island is expected to pay its imaginary debt for the dubious “privilege” of being an imperial colony in the way it’s always done so: in blood. Wall Street’s interests have priority over securing the very survival of nearly four million people. God forbid that millionaire Wall Street bondholders suffer the horror of payment forfeiture over a minor inconvenience like Hurricane María, only the worst storm in eighty years!

Cruz-Díaz predicted that the disgust of diaspora Puerto Ricans like himself may lead to something positive: a rejection of the U.S. empire, which feeds only those who are already fat.

BIW shipyard workers told interviewers that they voted for the demagogue with bad hair because he was pro-military and would keep the contracts flowing. Next year's proposed Pentagon budget has reached a whopping $700 billion, so their short term thinking appears to be correct.

Long term thinking is not a strong suit of those raised on infotainment, video shooting games and celebrity gossip.

Empires have always depended on the passivity and compliance of their masses of well-fed citizens. Imperial hubris leads those at the top of the heap to believe their precarious ascendance is ordained and eternal. 

Specifically, hubris leads today's imperial masters to believe they can go on belching carbon and fueling climate catastrophes that mostly poor people of color will suffer from. The wealthy believe the most likely outcome for them will be additional opportunities to profit from the suffering.

History tends to suggest that pride goeth before a fall.