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As of 7:30pm, there were 618 entries total — 440 in Contest Thread #1, 177 in Thread #2, and one emailer whose posts weren’t showing up on the site. Random.org selected comment #580.
Commenter Evap, please email me at AnneLaurie @ verizon.net (direct link via the Contact list, to the right) with your mailing address!
Thanks to all who participated (yes, I read every comment, so your jokes did not go to waste). Newbies, welcome to our virtual Place Where Everybody Knows Your Nym, don’t hesitate to jump into the conversation again!
Those who were waiting can now order their own copies of Drift: the Unmooring of American Military Power in paper, Kindle, or Audible formats. Our own Mistermix has a review here (spoiler: he liked it).
Here’s an excerpt from the Terry Gross interview on NPR:
Maddow’s new book Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power traces how U.S. national intelligence agencies have taken over duties that were once assigned to the military, and how this shift has increased the public disconnect from the consequences of war.
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“Politically, secrecy is a great excuse,” Maddow tells Fresh Air’s Terry Gross. “If something is being done on a secret basis in national security, that’s a great reason for elected officials to not talk about it. And that’s a great way to shirk accountability for it with the public.”
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That lack of accountability, says Maddow, lets America’s national defense operate without public oversight or knowledge.
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“When things are done in secret in our name, we can be held accountable for them, even if we can’t hold accountable our government for directing it,” she says. “And that feels very un-American to me.”…