Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, no! They weren't *booing*. They were yelling, "Support the trooooooops!"

Anyway, the GOP has shat on the military for decades. I mean, aside from placing little magnetic flags on their bumpers. But they've been effective at playing "culture war" so the subset of the military that is very young, very southern, and very rural tends to just not think about it very much and pull the lever for the "Dixie/Country Music" party.

Listen to the video. They are clearly booing. It's only a handful. And then when Santorum esentially states he will reinstate DADT, there is huge applause.

The GOP, however, has given the military the best pay raises. Also, the GOP tends to fund the most number of defense projects. This means better equipment to the troops.http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/06/~/media/Images/Reports/2010/b2418_chart1_1.ashx?w=600&h=478&as=1 " border="0" class="embeddedImage" />

Horseshit. "Most number of defense projects" has no bearing whatsoever to "better equipment for the troops." This is the sort of thing that only someone who knows *nothing* about the military would believe. As far as "the gop...has given the military the best pay raises", that also smells like horseshit. The fact that you've merely parroted it rather than providing any evidence leads to the conclusion it's a partisan article of faith rather than a rationally held belief.

Under the GOP, defense contractors do very well. As do very rich people in general. Generally speaking poor and lower middle class people get the shaft. Most of the troops in the field are lower middle class. You do the math.

Yes, LOTS of money to build fancy weapons but how about supporting the actual people doing the fighting and not just well-to-do contractors?

I read this morning that a blogger who was in the audience said that it was only one person booing and that the other people around him tried to shut him up. So it's distressing that even one person thought this was okay to do but at least there were other people who in the audience who tried to do the right thing. At any rate, I hope that the average person watching this understands now how damaging homophobia has been to our society and be more reflective about this in the future. It was really quite shocking that even one person thought that this would be acceptable behavior - but then I think that attitude has been encouraged within certain segments of our society.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2011/09/23/the_truth_about_the_boos.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, no! They weren't *booing*. They were yelling, "Support the trooooooops!"

Anyway, the GOP has shat on the military for decades. I mean, aside from placing little magnetic flags on their bumpers. But they've been effective at playing "culture war" so the subset of the military that is very young, very southern, and very rural tends to just not think about it very much and pull the lever for the "Dixie/Country Music" party.

Listen to the video. They are clearly booing. It's only a handful. And then when Santorum esentially states he will reinstate DADT, there is huge applause.

The GOP, however, has given the military the best pay raises. Also, the GOP tends to fund the most number of defense projects. This means better equipment to the troops.http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/06/~/media/Images/Reports/2010/b2418_chart1_1.ashx?w=600&h=478&as=1 " border="0" class="embeddedImage" />

Horseshit. "Most number of defense projects" has no bearing whatsoever to "better equipment for the troops." This is the sort of thing that only someone who knows *nothing* about the military would believe. As far as "the gop...has given the military the best pay raises", that also smells like horseshit. The fact that you've merely parroted it rather than providing any evidence leads to the conclusion it's a partisan article of faith rather than a rationally held belief.

Under the GOP, defense contractors do very well. As do very rich people in general. Generally speaking poor and lower middle class people get the shaft. Most of the troops in the field are lower middle class. You do the math.

TheManWithAUsername wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, no! They weren't *booing*. They were yelling, "Support the trooooooops!"

Anyway, the GOP has shat on the military for decades. I mean, aside from placing little magnetic flags on their bumpers. But they've been effective at playing "culture war" so the subset of the military that is very young, very southern, and very rural tends to just not think about it very much and pull the lever for the "Dixie/Country Music" party.

The support within the military for Bush over Kerry was just amazing. We need a book, "What's the Matter with the Military?" Of course, somehow the incompetent Kerry campaign failed effectively to educate everyone that his "flip-flopping" was actually his true support for military members and families, as opposed to empty platitudes.

It makes sense if you think about it. In 2004, we were heavily involved in 2 wars. The last thing you want is a change in direction. That mindset had changed by 2008 when everyone was plain sick and tired of the war.

To put it in a better perspective, when you are overseas fighting, seeing friends die for a cause you may or may not support, the last thing you want to hear is that your friend death was for absolutely no reason. Part of you has to believe that his death means something, that he died for a just cause, even if you don't believe in it yourself. The belief that your mission is important to the nation is what keeps you going. Believe me, I've been there. I argued until I was blue in the face that we shouldn't go into Iraq with classmates at a military college before we went in 2003. But the moment you are commanded to go, you stop questioning. When I was serving in Iraq, my sister kept telling me ho we shouldn't be there. It has caused a rift to this day. Logically, I understood her point. But don't tell someone that's putting their life on the line they shouldn't be there. It's the last thing they need to hear.

Also, I have to agree - the flip-flopping campaign by Bush was brilliant, and Kerry never successfully countered it.

Anonymous wrote:No, no! They weren't *booing*. They were yelling, "Support the trooooooops!"

Anyway, the GOP has shat on the military for decades. I mean, aside from placing little magnetic flags on their bumpers. But they've been effective at playing "culture war" so the subset of the military that is very young, very southern, and very rural tends to just not think about it very much and pull the lever for the "Dixie/Country Music" party.

Listen to the video. They are clearly booing. It's only a handful. And then when Santorum esentially states he will reinstate DADT, there is huge applause.

The GOP, however, has given the military the best pay raises. Also, the GOP tends to fund the most number of defense projects. This means better equipment to the troops.http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/06/~/media/Images/Reports/2010/b2418_chart1_1.ashx?w=600&h=478&as=1 " border="0" class="embeddedImage" />

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Republican, and I thought it was horrible (the booing). But then again, I am like most Republicans I personally know, and we are not the base. The crazy stupid effin' base. I couldn't care less about social issues and think the government should stay out of them.

What we really need is a credible 3rd party to represent people like me and conservative Democrats, which is probably 60% of the population. You know reasonable people, not the wacky fringes on either side.

Totally agree with you!

Anonymous wrote:No, no! They weren't *booing*. They were yelling, "Support the trooooooops!"

Anyway, the GOP has shat on the military for decades. I mean, aside from placing little magnetic flags on their bumpers. But they've been effective at playing "culture war" so the subset of the military that is very young, very southern, and very rural tends to just not think about it very much and pull the lever for the "Dixie/Country Music" party.

The support within the military for Bush over Kerry was just amazing. We need a book, "What's the Matter with the Military?" Of course, somehow the incompetent Kerry campaign failed effectively to educate everyone that his "flip-flopping" was actually his true support for military members and families, as opposed to empty platitudes.

Anonymous wrote:

What we really need is a credible 3rd party to represent people like me and conservative Democrats, which is probably 60% of the population. You know reasonable people, not the wacky fringes on either side.

Sorry, but the culture war *is* the GOP. Without it they'd never win another election. The difference between the GOP and the Dems is that it's the conservative Dems and moderate Republicans who set the Democratic agenda. It's the fringe elements on the right who set the GOP agenda.

If you don't understand that the Democrats "represent people like me and conservative Democrats" you haven't been paying attention. Or perhaps you really do think that Obama's economic policies of bailing out Wall Street, and passing a stimulus bill that had mostly tax cuts and almost no spending, etc, etc... were secretly crafted by a cabal of Bernie Sanders, Ward Churchill, and that guy in the Che Guevara t-shirt.

Obama *is* the centrist you've been waiting for.

Have to agree with that, for the most part. He's not as socially left as many would want.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What we really need is a credible 3rd party to represent people like me and conservative Democrats, which is probably 60% of the population. You know reasonable people, not the wacky fringes on either side.

Isn't it amazing that "reasonable" people always think exactly the way you do?

Yep. And they're always dead-center on the political spectrum. That's why everyone self-identifies as "independent" and centrist. Of course everyone thinks the world revolves around them, and that their feet are straddling the center-line of political thinking.

You need a real libertarian leaning party. The TPers talk that game, but they're full of it. We need at least four parties, to cover economic right/left and social right/left.

What we really need is a credible 3rd party to represent people like me and conservative Democrats, which is probably 60% of the population. You know reasonable people, not the wacky fringes on either side.

Sorry, but the culture war *is* the GOP. Without it they'd never win another election. The difference between the GOP and the Dems is that it's the conservative Dems and moderate Republicans who set the Democratic agenda. It's the fringe elements on the right who set the GOP agenda.

If you don't understand that the Democrats "represent people like me and conservative Democrats" you haven't been paying attention. Or perhaps you really do think that Obama's economic policies of bailing out Wall Street, and passing a stimulus bill that had mostly tax cuts and almost no spending, etc, etc... were secretly crafted by a cabal of Bernie Sanders, Ward Churchill, and that guy in the Che Guevara t-shirt.

Obama *is* the centrist you've been waiting for.

Anonymous wrote:What we really need is a credible 3rd party to represent people like me and conservative Democrats, which is probably 60% of the population. You know reasonable people, not the wacky fringes on either side.

Isn't it amazing that "reasonable" people always think exactly the way you do?

No, no! They weren't *booing*. They were yelling, "Support the trooooooops!"

Anyway, the GOP has shat on the military for decades. I mean, aside from placing little magnetic flags on their bumpers. But they've been effective at playing "culture war" so the subset of the military that is very young, very southern, and very rural tends to just not think about it very much and pull the lever for the "Dixie/Country Music" party.

I'm a Republican, and I thought it was horrible (the booing). But then again, I am like most Republicans I personally know, and we are not the base. The crazy stupid effin' base. I couldn't care less about social issues and think the government should stay out of them.

What we really need is a credible 3rd party to represent people like me and conservative Democrats, which is probably 60% of the population. You know reasonable people, not the wacky fringes on either side.

In the past, the republican party could count on the military vote, mostly because they gave them great pay raises, and because they got horribly cut under Clinton.

Anyway, I'm not sure how booing a soldier will play out. Most in the military support the repeal of DADT. He's an Iraq veteran, and deserves respect for serving his nation.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/09/23/140732553/boos-heard-at-gop-debate-after-gay-soldier-asks-about-dont-ask