wkmac may misunderstand me, but I can blame my own text for that.
I am not a Party member. (That was a
lot more fun to say when the USSR still existed. Try it with a fake Russian accent!) I like to think I take after George Washington in respect to party affiliation. I doubt that I have ever voted all-Democrat on any ballot, but I
know I have voted all-Republican in the past. But that seems such a long time ago.
I am not against political parties. (OK, so I am not much like President Washington.) I think we need more parties, like other democratic republics in this world. Most democracies seldom have a majority from any one party, so parties
must work together to get anything done.
Our two-party system limits choices, and it becomes even worse when ideologues control a party. The GOP has become a dictatorship, supporting only those candidates who support the entire NeoCon package. Oregon Senators such as Mark Hatfield (R) and Wayne Morse (R, then I, then D) would be shunned by today's Repugnant GOP.
<see above for the entire text, if you want to>... If you really sit down and hard analyze our wars since the Civil War, all could have been avoided if we had a better foreign policy. No arguement that we were attacked by Japan leading us into WW2 but if you look hard at political actions leading up to this timeframe you have to wonder if we should have done some of the things we did which accelerated a possible if not inevitable conflict.
Even our Civil War may have been avoidable, and, of course, the path ahead is not so easy to see as the path behind.
Another thing to consider: those who shape and implement our foreign policy may
want to go to war. I think FDR wanted us to take part in WWII while the American people thought we should leave that hemisphere to itself. Nothing changes our outlook quite like a surprise attack.
...
Say what you want about the republicans Senior but the fact is 2 of the people the Neo-cons point to in their empirical quests are none other than 2 democrat presidents in Woodrow Wilson and FDR. ...
Both parties have changed, though the names remain the same. The fact that Roosevelt was a Republican (Theodore), or that Roosevelt was a Democrat (Franklin) has little bearing on what those party names mean today.
I hate the neos too and I applaud you and diesel for speaking out but I also know that the dems are in lock step with the plan, they just change the name to fool the folks while at the same time they skip America down the primrose path of destruction. They in huge numbers approved the Iraq war plan and don't give me the "they tricked us" nonsense either.
I assume this is about Congress giving the President the authorization to go to war. I do not think that a specific
plan was voted upon by Congress, I think our laws and Constitution make the President responsible for those details. Once the authorization is made, Congress can either withdraw that authorization or attempt to apply conditions with the only other tool they have - the purse strings.
... The only reason the dems scream now is they want the mess cleaned up before Nov. 08' because they don't won't to have to deal with it....
Yes, and the Repubs want to put as much as blame at the feet of the Dems as they possibly can. Some (of each side) appear to be responding to their constituencies! You would think they're running for office!
Which party in the end is better for vets?
NEITHER!
Oh, yes, the question that is the topic of this thread. I
was going to put the Neither Party on the list, but I figured that was a weasel answer. The Neither Party has not made it on our ballot yet. (So I put the Libertarian Party on there, so some people would try to deduce what a Libertarian government would actually do for veterans.)
If you look at the Congressional Scorecards published by veterans groups 6 or so years ago, the Repubs were preferred. About 3 to 4 years ago, the Repubs had a small lead in most cases. Looking at recent scorecards, the Repubs appear to have nearly abandoned vets.
...
Hugs and kisses guys!
Time to quit squabbling, and make up?