Midnight Special said:
I Really don't agree with (or even know what the hell) your talking about...
You seem to follow the same script as most other liberals. HATE Bush, GET Bush, Destroy Bush!! Truly - What would be Yours and Kerry's plan? From 911 on?? To go on blaming?? We could've been hit many more times since 911, but weren't. Does that mean anything to you?
And what if the cynics prevailed during Normandy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, on & on & on... You know; those battles didn't go very well either. I can only assume you would've sat in your chair and criticized Roosevelt for the tens of THOUSANDS of troops who died there...And they were a hell of alot more poor (on the heels of the Great Depression) Rhonda than some of these troops are. Where would we be today if a Kerry were prominent then??
My earlier posts here summarize a bigger picture based on working with and knowing/ admiring veterans from our greatest generation who unfortunately with their passing, goes the memory and appreciation of their sacrifice. I hate to say it - But until you can show me how all this finger pointing is benefitting our troops and this country - a terrible history will indeed repeat itself... Again.
No worries - We'll always be "brothers in cars" tho Arlie ;-)
Tim,
I know you were not responding to me on this but I still need to comment regarding *my* thoughts.
I do not hate President Bush or want to destroy him. I do personnally feel that he is not particularly competent. As for going into Iraq there are valid arguments for doing so. There were equally valid arguments for not (I can go in to the for/against arguments in another posting if needed). So, while I was against the initial invasion because I thought the arguments against outweighed the arguments for, once we did go in I backed completing the job. In fact, the *military*, our troops, *won* the war. They did what they were trained to do and were stunningly successful at it. The politicans and adminstrators win or lose the peace. President Bush and those around him apparently did not use history as their guide for winning the peace - this is where I find the adminstration to be less than competent. In a number of cases they ignored history (specifically WWII history) and they ignored thier military advisors (look at the links I provided). It does not help that few in the upper echelons of the adminstration have never served in the military or were never in harms way.
Its not clear to me that the invasion of Iraq did anything to prevent us being hit after 911. I think the increased security within the country and the increased interaction between intelligence agencies has more to do with this than anything else. And it has been argued that an unstable Iraq (which we have now) actually generates more terrorists than what you would have had otherwise.
Now, you keep bringing up WWII. OK lets take your analogy of 911 being the same a Pearl Harbor. After Pearl Harbor we turned around and took on Japan (and Germany after *she declared war on us*). After 911 we took on Afganistan and the Taliban. But in WWII we didnt unilaterally attack *another* country just because it was (1) Asian, (2) close to Japan (3) had a similar religious structure, and (4) had a despot at its head. That's effectively what we did with Iraq. If anything, WWII tells us to focus on defeating the enemy at hand. We are still trying to finish the job in Afganistan.
Also, the underlying current (I sense from the thread) is somehow that Republicans = Good and Democrats = Bad. Well, again, with regard to WWII (and WWI) our country had Democrats as presidents during both those wars. Both FDR and Wilson were extremely capable - *far* more capable that either Kerry or President Bush.
You're right that "fixing the blame" (finger pointing) is not the same as "fixing the problem". In that you are right that Kerry shouldn't have even tried to make a joke at the Presidents expense. But people do need to understand how we got here so that history will not repeat itself. That's how it benefits the country.
Finally, Republicans and Democrats are not sports teams. When you vote, vote the man not the party.
James
