Q: What else are you talking about besides law, economics and feminism, you mentioned another cause reflected in the themes of King Saud --
A: Well, I don’t want to get into that yet, it’s too radical and we don't have enough media power yet, I mean, we've submitted to the Redford Organization, because you know Sundance supports an umbrella of non-profit organizations with the same idea we’ve been putting out here about the right and most powerful use of media, I really respect Redford like that, and the values he put out in Lions for Lambs, everybody expresses an idea in their own way artistically, I express it differently and perhaps more radically and in a more deliberately incendiary manner in King Saud, but it’s the same values and outlook.
Q: Which are?
A: That it’s the most cowardly and gutless thing on the planet for older men to spend younger men’s lives in war like we do, that's not just one generation robbing a younger, naive generation, like the student loan crisis, it's one generation killing another, though it's the same criminal pattern of taking advantage of trust and naievete. That has to change, and it can change in our time.
Q: How would you change it?
A: Well, I've been radicalized on this, which I'm not economically, Keynes is actually our heritage, you couldn't get more mainstream than Keynes, he's the mind behind our modern economy, he has to be applied to our time by someone who knows how, things have changed since his time, but the answers are in there, we've just grown so decadent we don't realize the great things about our heritage, so the right solution actually seems radical now because we've gone so astray and don't understand the potential of our system. And we never even implemented the best part of Keynes, we didn't finish the job, it was never possible, he always said it would only be possible in our time, but now the greatest "minds" in the country have forgotten how and they couldn't move anyone to action even if they could remember, they're rhetorically powerless. That could change, they could be stirred, but right now they've lost belief. So I'm not a radical economically, we're just finishing the job bequeathed to us by Keynes, the Roosevelts and our forefathers. But militarily, yes, I'm a radical, but really being a radical and a rebel in terms of the military, what could be more American? Our original military were radicals and rebels.
Q: How were you radicalized?
A: Same way all Americans are nowadays, just paying attention. I guess it started in the early 90's, when the mainstream first encountered Hussein. I read all about him and being in my twenties, young, dumb and full of cum, my reaction was, "Hey, let's go kill that motherfucker, that is one evil motherfucker! Enough talk." So, ya' know, I figured I'd put my money where my mouth was and go sign up for the reserves, just in case they needed me. I went down there, they gave me the most idiotic test in the world, I scored 60 out of 60 on it, and they're like, "We're gonna make you an officer!".
So I was just about to sign, they gave me the contract, and I started reading the thing . . . and I'm like, "You have GOT to be fucking kidding me."
Q: What didn't you like about it?
A: You're just a pawn, at the whim of inferior people, if you sign up for the military for the best reasons, and not for bad reasons, that's all you are, you become the pawn of and cannon fodder for politicians, and the overwhelming likelihood is you will not be used well, quite the contrary, you will be used to do exactly the opposite of what you set out to do. It doesn't have to be that way, but under the current law, that is usually the way it ends up.
Q: So at this point you became a pacifist?
A: That will never happen.
Q: Why not?
A: Seen what happens to lambs in this world, not a huge fan of it. Even when it's a conscious choice, say you're trapped and death is the only way out, I still prefer Malcolm X to Dr. King. I'll go so far as to say fighting is the wrong answer 999 times out of a thousand, you should win for both parties without fighting. Still, there's that one time, so don't get too idealistic. That one time can wipe you and the whole tribe out in a heartbeat.
Q: I'm still waiting for an answer as to what your plan is.
A: You may be waiting awhile baby, there is an answer, but it's no easy answer, this will take time. Ya' know I'm not a huge fan of the baby boomers, they inherited the best economy the world has ever seen and they're handing us back a pile of shit. But you look at their singular accomplishments I never thought we'd live to see: they elected a black President and I believe we will elect a woman President in my lifetime. But the point is: look how long it took from the passage of the Civil Rights Bill for that to happen, about 50 years. I don't think it will take that long to fix our military but it could. I really don't have that long though, so we need to speed this shit up. But it's been done before, it's always done, after every major war, it takes a few decades, but the soldiers complain, the people complain, and the military does change, never perfectly, but it improves --
Q: What's the main thing wrong with our military?
A: Wrong with our country, the military are victims, pawns, we're the ones in the wrong -
We keep killing and maiming our kids for no good reason. The very structure of our current law of war insures we will always have chickenhawks leading us to war as well. This is the main thing I currently find most puke worthy in the world, even beyond the corruption of our economy, and it's a major theme of King Saud.
Q: How would you fix that given you're not a pacifist?
A: I would forbid anyone under the age of 40 from serving in a high risk position, and also take away from the President the power to commit ground troops in a war not imminently threatening the American mainland. Troops cannot be committed without the assent of the military and approval of a war plan and objectives. If you serve, you get a vote, you can't be sent in a war of choice against your will, simply joining the military does not mean you assent to be a pawn. I know this is a radical idea but I would believe in it if I was the last and only person on the planet to do so, because it makes me better and forces me to strive. It keeps me in shape too, I never get more than two months of training away from the ideal, no matter how much crap I've got to do in the world.
War is not a career and it's not something you put in the hands of children, of whatever age, it's the most serious choice a person can make in life, the choice and power of life and death. This means Americans over 40, must step up and lead, fill the quota for whatever we'd need in high risk positions (which is actually not that high, as the overwhelming number of jobs in the military entail no more risk than the civilian population). Speaking for myself, I can do that as can most of the special forces, who trend older, better educated, so in terms of personnel, it’s much more doable than the civilian population understands. If you can't do that you're not a leader, you have no claim to leadership. If you can't, you need to step it up or forever shut your fucking mouth when it comes to complaining about these wars or being bombed by Al Quaeda. www.war-reform.com is our non-profit.
Q: That is indeed a radical solution.
A: Well, you asked. The Iraq War radically made me want to puke. And look at Syria right now. There's already 300 to 500,000 dead. I'd say there's a decent chance for a full fledged genocide of one of the factions if either gains leverage over the other. And there's no Richard Holbrooke rising from either side to negotiate any peaceful settlement there any time soon like we had in Bosnia, the sides are way too far apart and too much blood has been shed. Those things take time, and at this rate that means at least another 3 to 500,000 dead, millions in refugees whom nobody wants because they think they'll breed terrorism and more problems in whatever country they come to. Now nobody wants to admit there's a military solution, because the military solution is terrible.
Q: What's the military solution?
A: You send in enough ground troops to occupy the country and instill martial law, not enough just to lop off the head like we did in Iraq. I mean lock it down. Maybe twice the troops we had in Iraq. Anyone caught with a gun or firing upon the occupying force gets a bullet through the eye, no discussion, no trial. Best you just lay down your fucking weapons and make peace motherfucker or you'll be seeing Allah soon enough, we are not fucking around this time. You stay there until peace and democracy are established as we did in Germany, Japan and South Korea.
Q: That is enormously expensive, in both dollars and lives, that can take decades, Americans will never go for that after Iraq.
A: You're right for now, Trump cut and ran, and who can blame him after Iraq? But you’re wrong in the long run, the American people need to be challenged, men especially need a challenge, we're suffocating on this post-feminist mush and whining, we should attempt this, I don’t mean invading somebody, I mean War Reform, just the challenge alone is worth it. Ya' know, it's just like feminism, southern senators appended women to the Civil Rights bill because they thought it was such a joke it would never pass, and whatever the current setbacks, we will have a woman President in my lifetime, maybe Tammy Duckworth, Jennifer Granholm or Tulsi Gabbard (though she's blown it with me recently), they're all far superior to Hillary or Harris. But the point is the impossible is possible, reforming the military is no more daunting a task than feminism was, huge challenges are in fact what Americans do to keep ourselves from dying of boredom and fulfill our potential. It amazes me how little the sexes understand one another, or why you can't see we need to do this -
Q: You're a neocon?
A: Horseshit! The neocons are chickenhawks. Something like this makes war 99.9% less likely, if older men had to fight. But if we can, if we're not enfeebled and gutless yet, we should be given that power, and then it's likely to be only done when absolutely necessary, and you won't be abusing the kids, or going off half-cocked on some joyride led by an imbecile. I'm a lot more judicious in the use of force and when I fight at my age, I don't fight unless I have to, just to train, or if I actually have to fight, physically or in court, just ya' know, get it over with quickly, who has time or energy? At least have it as an option which gives leverage for negotiation, and just getting us in shape to do it would be a great thing, I love that standard, maintaining that standard, it's the healthiest thing in the world, it keeps you young. If I were the last or only person in the world who believed this, and I may be, I would still believe it because it makes me a better person, it drives me to higher standards and keeps me in shape. It will just take an extended and extreme exercise in theatre of the real to stir us up and get enough of us in shape, with a properly adjusted attitude --
Q: Do you know how expensive war is? Did you not get the memo, we're 20 trillion in debt already --
A: As for the money, I would say to the world, as Bush Sr. did in the first Gulf War, "You want this done, we will do it, but we're not paying for it. You're paying for it. If you're not gonna cough up the money for the war fuck you, take your sanctimonious horseshit and stick it up your ass. Stand back, watch them die and know you could have done something." As for the lives, we would only use over forties in high risk positions, and I don't see that these useless motherfuckers are doing anything else so important anyway. Most guys my age stay out of the military, even if we like the training and enjoy violence, because the Commander in Chief is generally too much of a pinhead to be giving them that sort of power. No President who should have it wants that sort of power or responsibility. But see, this could change that? Not that many would die but it's a good death if they do, better than rotting away in a nursing home or steering all their pent up aggression to go all pathological in the stock market. Economic hysteria, that's what caused the crash, a bunch of fucking men, who now think they're women, don't know what to do with themselves, but go fucking cuckoo over greed. Maybe they could regain the respect of the country and the world rather than being a pack of greedy, castrated old losers whom everybody treats like a pack of mewling pussies because that's exactly what they are.
Q: Americans just don't have the stomach for another war right now after Iraq.
A: Yeah I know, I said this would take years just to get the military in shape to where we could look ourselves in the mirror and not be an international embarrassment, but unless you're willing to do it, your other choice is to sit back and witness a genocide. Don’t think that doesn’t have consequences, Syria could become another Afghanistan, Somalia or Rwanda and breed a truckload of Bin Ladens at the rate it’s going now.
Maybe a master politician could save the day, negotiate peace, but do you see another Holbrooke rising out of this pack of dwarves? And even Holbrooke died with his boots on in the middle east, he couldn't do it. The only reason he was able to pull it off in Bosnia without further bloodshed (though thousands died while he negotiated) is because he had the leverage we might intervene with force, you need both a carrot and a stick. This has the potential to be another Rwanda, it's already halfway there. Rwanda happened because after Somalia we were like, "Fuck this shit, let'em drown in their own bullshit." They had UN peacekeepers there, you saw what they did. The Rwandans are furious at the UN, because they made it seem like they were going to do something, that there was protection, so the people didn't think to protect themselves, but there was none.
Q: It's also very unrealistic about over forties being physically able to serve -
A: Horseshit. I'm over 40 and I can do it, there's nothing special about me. I can and will maintain that standard until death. Don't project from your own limited imagination, weakness and impoverished standards that the world has been reduced to women and children quite yet, and I'm using women and children in the most pejorative sense one can -
Q: I got that.
A: The best women in the country can do it as well, a lot of them are even better than me, they're real feminists, not this worthless phony golddigging brand our generation has bred. Do you know there's a platoon of Kurdish women, Peshmerga, rape victims of ISIS, who formed their own unit, and now they go and kill ISIS?
Q: Yes, yes, I know all about the Peshmerga, the designer sunglasses, the red berets, the machine guns, Jesus, you're hardly original, that is every guy's I know wet dream -
A: They're formidable, it's very attractive --
Q: You want to bop the Peshmerga?
A: Bop is a crude and vulgar word, I didn't say anything about sex, maybe you're projecting, maybe you're the one with sex on the brain constantly, besides I would think they're more in need of sexual healing --
Q: Let's just all go get raped by ISIS so we can be Peshmerga too?
A: So cynical, there's something beautiful about people who suffer bravely and it doesn't crush them, it makes them better, stronger. Compare them to the bullshit whining, bitching and golddigging hypocrisy you get in this country. The point is, they got crushed and found out they were strong, they were reborn, men and women don't know what we're capable of until we press ourselves, and people generally don't do that until we get our asses handed to us. So don't give me your bullshit about over forties being too gutless and feeble to do this, that's utter horseshit, by the time you're forty, just gravity has kicked your ass into the ground and you either stand up against it, achieve your full potential, rise up to God's challenge or rot back into the earth never to be heard from again and good riddance. I won't speak for the rest of these pussies, and by pussies I mean men for the most part, I'm using the word in a non-sexist manner, or what's left of us, but I can certainly do it and there's nothing special about me. If you don't like the word "pussies" I guess you could call us cunts, that's going to be our epitaph at this rate, "Generation of Cunts" (I'm using this in the British, non-sexist sense, to apply to both men and women), we'll have presided over the complete meltdown and corruption of the American economy and the complete ineffectuality and corruption of the US military. We abolished the draft after Vietnam, nobody thought that would ever happen, to have a 100% volunteer army, who says we can't make another radical leap forward? Canters, can'ters and --
Q: I get it.
A: That’s when you do these things, after a period of war when Americans are fed up with how the wars were executed and are receptive to a dramatic and radical improvement, it would involve some redistribution of power into the proper hands --
Q: Yours?
A: Not just mine, a lot of peoples, if they're worthy. It requires you be in good physical shape to speak about it with any credibility, but I'm in that shape and there's nothing extraordinary about me. Look at General Petraeus, he's much older than me, and in way better physical shape, so it's a high standard, but not an impossible one.
Q: General Petraeus? He of the national security leak -
A: Oh fuck, give me a break, I love Petraeus, there'd be five times as many dead in Iraq if it weren't for him, I wanted him to run for President, him or Tulsi Gabbard, I don't like some of the PR stunts she's doing lately, but no more of these Wall Street whores. The thing you don't understand about Republicans is if you want to ram a liberal agenda down their throats, you can't do it softly, they need a firm hand or they get all whacky about shit and start voiding their bowels. Somebody in the military, like Eisenhower, one of the most liberal Presidents we've ever had, can get them to accept a liberal agenda because they trust him, and Petraeus is as close as we have to that. I'm hardly alone like this, I mean David Halberstam, Maureen Dowd, Christopher Hitchens, Camille Paglia, Vanity Fair, Matt Taibi, David Geffen -- a long list of really reputable liberal media, maybe the most, who were fed up with the Clinton bullshit even before she lost --
Q: Camille Paglia thinks like a man by the way, it's no wonder you like her so much --
A: And I know that equates to evil in your worldview. You have all these rules for us, we only have one rule for you: just don't fuck anyone for money or power if you want us to respect you, OK? I guarantee if you can keep clean like that, we’ll have a woman President, and probably a damn good one. We need women like Petraeus too, even more than Petraeus, lots of them, warriors, feminists, there can't be enough of that sort as far as I'm concerned, and there are such women, that's potentially maybe even most women, we just need to start glorifying them rather than this other sort. But anyway, Petraeus is living proof that what I'm talking about for the military is possible, he's ancient, and can still top 17 year olds athletically, plus he's got wisdom. Just not with the press. But I have that, I'm media savvy, and I can maintain that standard of physical fitness until death too, and if I can do it anyone can do it. So that, along with the completion of the Keynesian revolution, this is why we’re trying to stir things up in King Saud, not just to cause trouble, though we hope to cause a shitload of trouble, as much trouble as people can get into, but for the best possible reasons. There is a way to do it, we just need media power.