Do I need to tell you what the fuck you can do with an aluminum tube?

9/21/2012 5:40:22 PM

dammit, I took godwin's law, not ad hominem, in the betting pool...

9/21/2012 7:26:27 PM

Its not like the only way to take out ships is with ships. We could build more land to sea and land to air defense mechanisms on our home soil that long with the capability to launch long range fighters and bombers could take out the Chinese navel thread without much naval support and without any foreign deployment. I think we even had bombers that could take off from oklahoma, bomb anywhere in the world and sleep in their own bed. and this was 10 years ago.

Quote :

"how does the average citizen benefit from having a military that ensures the strait of hormuz, through which 1 out of every 5 barrels of oil passes through, stays open and free for navigation?"

nah we wouldn't need hostile oil anymore if we reduced only <10% of our current military spending into renewable transportation.

50 billion per year would get us a high speed rail system linking and providing local transit for the 40 largest metro areas in the us. if you double that you could also include high speed freight which would enhance the economy by providing the ability to move resources across the country in an instant and reduce total us oil consumption by 50 over ten years%. All of these numbers are assuming no revenue is generated by the system. Our current freight system is very outdated.

What I would do with the 600billion defense budget

100billion: transportation enhancement fund

100billion: NASA unmanned research, exploration and space occupation (in the 60s we only spent 1/3rd of that) imagine how alien our technology would become with this budget, which would allow us to protect the world for cheaper with less force.

100billion: homeland security and coast guard (yes i know coast guard is currently military) but together they could invest in amazing R&D to create a technological fortress around all of our borders

300 billion: the worlds most advanced military spending more than double what russia spends when combined with double what china spends.

[Edited on September 21, 2012 at 9:45 PM. Reason : these things would make everything better instantly]

9/21/2012 9:39:12 PM

^Every one of the train cars represents a job for a truck driver...yes, it would be more efficient, but it would all but exterminate over-the-road trucking.

9/21/2012 9:53:43 PM

Quote :

"Its not like the only way to take out ships is with ships. We could build more land to sea and land to air defense mechanisms on our home soil that long with the capability to launch long range fighters and bombers could take out the Chinese navel thread without much naval support and without any foreign deployment. I think we even had bombers that could take off from oklahoma, bomb anywhere in the world and sleep in their own bed. and this was 10 years ago. "

That kind of range would require a large tanker fleet. Yes we fly B-52s and B-1s out of the midwest downrange, but that kind of shit is taxing on the aircrew and airframe. Also, the generally attack static targets such as buildings, they can't exactly be wheels up, on target in an hour.

Tankers are equivalent to civilian airlines, except instead of passengers , it's all fuel. They are slow, heavy and defenseless. Without control of the seas they are flying over, they could be shot down rather easily.

[Edited on September 21, 2012 at 10:18 PM. Reason : a]

[Edited on September 21, 2012 at 10:22 PM. Reason : a]

9/21/2012 10:17:43 PM

^^Over the road trucking is what we want to exterminate. even if we subsidize it with a 600 billion dollar military, oil will run out someday. also, this would be cleaner and its not like the trains would run themselves (although that would be really cool and possible but the people who automate it would have jobs that pay even more anyway)

9/21/2012 10:24:55 PM

Look you can argue all you want over the value of clitoral combat ships and how little I know about the military (after I admit I'm not that knowledgeable on the subject). Do you honestly think that a military budget this huge is warranted to protect our borders and keep me safe in bed at night? I'm arguing basically that that is the role I want my military to have.

Fuck dabbling in every country in the world that is "unstable" and generally messing shit up worse than before we "intervene". Why am I paying for this shit?

9/21/2012 11:01:14 PM

Our military is grossly inefficient at spending money and this needs to be fixed, however, we need to maintain our present size. The initial argument presented was 'lets get rid of 4/5s o four military' which in my opinion, is a terrible idea.

9/21/2012 11:06:05 PM

Quote :

"Our military is grossly inefficient at spending money and this needs to be fixed, however, we need to maintain our present size."

why?

9/21/2012 11:58:45 PM

Didn’t want to create a new thread.

The fact that Hegseth thought himself remotely qualified to address that room of generals and admirals (not even talking about the material in his speech) is troubling.

The speech itself..well, speechless. I just hope that the folks in that audience don’t start to resign, because that will open up those positions to people who actually agree with, and think like, Hegseth.

10/2/2025 10:25:28 AM

There is chat on that topic in the cabinet thread, fyi

10/2/2025 10:38:40 AM

admittedly this is junk food discourse but I did get a chuckle out of this

10/2/2025 10:41:24 AM

Pretty soon the pentagon gonna be all "who is your daddy and what does he do" with the polygraphs

10/2/2025 11:00:04 AM