[Springboard] Absolute Must See

[Jack Gilles]

Dear Colleagues,

I don't often suggest that there is something we all must see/read,  
but in this crisis and with this election, I think the following is a  
foundational piece we need to understand and talk about.  Perhaps many  
of you who regularly watch Bill Moyers will have seen this, but I  
hadn't.  I am sitting here in Mexico almost stunned having just  
watched it.  We are in a time of reckoning that we have all talked  
about, but now is here.  I would hope we might have a constructive  
dialogue on this.

The interview is with Andrew J. Bacevich who teaches at Boston  
University.  It was just posted on the Bill Moyers web site yesterday,  
the 26th.  It is the discussion of his book The Limits of Power.  <http://www.pbs.org/moyers 
 >  Here is a blurb from his biographical sketch.

As campaign ads urge voters to consider who will be a better  
"Commander in Chief," Andrew J. Bacevich — Professor of International  
Relations at Boston University, retired Army colonel, and West Point  
graduate — joins Bill Moyers on the JOURNAL to encourage viewers to  
take a step back and connect the dots between U.S. foreign policy,  
consumerism, politics, and militarism.

For me, it is sobering to realize that the election of Obama will not  
make the difference we hope for.  I don't want to expand on this, but  
you will see that we are existing in a profoundly flawed system and  
until the contradiction is faced and dealt with, nothing will change  
and the consequences will be severe.

Peace,

Jack