Comments on: Why Not In Arizona?

By: tiponeill

tiponeill — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:32:18 +0000

the dem party in fdr’s/truman’s day is not the same dem party of today. I think it is more fair to say that it is the repub party that is not the same today as it was under Eisenhower. It was inexorably changed under Nixon's Southern Strategy when it absorbed the former Dixiecrats and became the current party of religious right rednecks. Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. - Eisenhower

By: Mike Brewer

Mike Brewer — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:53:16 +0000

That is cool ‘mopkoe’. You should submit it to the Urban Dictionary. I just put one in, “anal detention” defining the U.S. Senate. Or “Weapons of Mass Dilapidation” Gotta do something in retirement!

By: mорское

mорское — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:43:12 +0000

escalatedinitially … much cooler word that escalated

By: mорское

mорское — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:40:57 +0000

the dem party in fdr’s/truman’s day is not the same dem party of today.

“arose during the Vietnam War” really? and the vnam conflict started under whose watch and then was escalatedinitially under whose watch. eisenhower the initial instigator and then jfk and johnson, with the later being the biggest, were all war mongers for the American way.

the va benefits and programs have been atrocious under all the regimes ……. dem and reps. period. this nation has never treated its’ vets right. ever. not after ww 1 or ww2 or korea or vnam ……. not ever and not now. it is better than it was but far from where it should be.

who is to blame ……… the American people.

By: tiponeill

tiponeill — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:26:35 +0000

Wished we knew more about you. Are you a teacher? Or just a really well read dude?
Hey – I can’t claim to be that well read – it is more a matter of having lived through it – I’m happily retired.
To clarify the comment a little bit about what happened:
Democrats were perceived as anti-war so the military naturally gravitated towards the Repubs who seemed more friendly towards the military.
When this happened, with the usual simple minded “with us or against us” mindset of sports fans, the military also adopted the rah rah capitalism anti-big-government ideology of the Republican fat cats even though they had always been the biggest beneficiaries of big government largess.

By: mike_brewer

mike_brewer — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:22:11 +0000

How wild Tip. Your observation about FDR just happens to be a thesis of one of our presenters at our second Veterans Forum at Himmel Park Library this Sunday, 28th from 1-4pm. He was an Army Lt. and platoon leader in Vietnam.
The theme of the forums is focused on increasing the knowledge of the community of the needs of returning veterans. There are a ton of outreach programs for the vet, but virtually nothing for family, friends, neighbors, and employers. You are so correct about FDR Veterans preference, the GI Bill and many more programs had their roots in his administration. Since Vietnam, we have had to work to simply restore those benefits and sometime enforce them.

There is no doubt that you have a fund of knowledge that is packed with American History. And for that reason, you have been one of the most engaging commenter’s that we have read since the beginning of these blogs. Thanks for hanging with us. Wished we knew more about you. Are you a teacher? Or just a really well read dude?

By: Mike Brewer

Mike Brewer — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:48:24 +0000

Well said Tric. I think we need a nation of women like you to take over for Rosie! God bless you Tric.

By: tiponeill

tiponeill — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:45:57 +0000

This is due simply to the mis-alignment of the politics of the military which arose during the Vietnam War.
As a result – especially under Reagan – the politics of most career military became strongly Republican.
The result is people who have spent their entire lives as government employees ranting about big government and claiming that the government can’t do anything right and budgets and taxes should be cut – and electing politicians who do exactly that.
Under FDR vets were strongly Democratic and elected politicians who took care of veterans.
Today’s vets vote for politicians who don’t believe the government should help anyone, and then whine about not getting any help.

By: Tric

Tric — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:37:27 +0000

My daughter just “came home”. Our conversation was about trying to understand just what you implied in this article. WHY? Why is there not more action taken to support troops returning? Why is the Govt reducing bonuses and wages? WHY? The Govt did not expect the numbers of wounded soldiers, visible and invisible, to be so high. My opinion is they did but ignored it thinking the situation will take care of itself. The five year plan to eliminate homeless veterans does not seem acceptable. As you stated: If we can get lathered up about things that do not effect life or death, what are we not getting lathered up about the life of our soldiers willing to die and now willing to survive in what seems to be a Third World America. Rosie is alive and well, gathering her “latherers” for our troops. America, “we the people” are rising up to go beyond a bumper sticker and do something even if for ONE soldier at a time. Americans are becoming more aware of the devastation our media does NOT report. Veterans are NOT receiving the help they deserve. We are waking up. You’re article is timely and right on. Thank you.