Military might?

Dwight Eisenhower was a war hero.  He planned the invasion of Normandy and probably won the war for us hence eliminating the worlds greatest tyrannical threat at the time.  He lead one of the most powerful armies in history and believed in a strong armed forces.  Sounds just like George W. Bush right? Wrong.  He warned the U.S. about overusing our military might for material gains (which we've used it exactly for for the past few conflicts abroad).  He knew we, after World War 2, would be the most powerful nation on Earth and it seems like he knew just how poorly we would handle that responsibility.  Here is an excerpt form his speech on the military industrial complex :

"Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."

He gave this speech in 1961, almost 50 years ago and look what happened...we fucked it up.  Please click on the link:

 http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html

 

and read the whole speech if you have a few minutes.  It really shows the difference between a real leader...a true leader of men and women... and what we have.