I Ask You This Question. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH VETERANS? Why So Many Rabidly GOP?

[TheMastersNemesis]

Why do so many veterans support Trump, conservative. and the GOP. The Trump gang has directly said they will "FLUSH" veterans down the toilet. Privatizing VA, military pensions, health care and not raising military pay is a royal screw job. The GOP has successfully "fucked" up the VA system since Bush. VA problems are directly related to GOP sabotage. And they want to take away military pensions and put the military under 401k system.

So many veterans support these pricks and will actually threaten to kill you if you go against the GOP. The American Legion post where we have a monthly Democratic breakfast is so racist, hateful and bogoted and pro GOP its is no funny. At least that's the way it looks. I am a Democrat and I see very few veterans around in support. As the WWII vets decline I see almost no Vietnam vets on board. Other vets organizations are "neutral". What a crock.

The Legion, VFW and other veteran organizations voice "ONLY CONCERN" about GOP and Trump plans to dismantle the system. God damn they should be taking GOP and conservative prisoners.

Could veterans all have been so brainwashed by serving in the military?

[MFM008]

1. My dad

Was in 23 years.
There is a herd mentality.
Fiercely misogynistic.
A lot of racism.
You see this in cops to because sooooo many are x military.
The perfect republican constituency.
This was just MY experience with it.
My dad was a democrat.

[Eliot Rosewater]

27. The lie that many returning soldiers from Vietnam were spat on, by hippies who are now

liberal democrats, has poisoned the minds of millions including most in the military.

[SCVDem]

53. 1974

I was a Marine walking on Katela Ave near the Bob Hope USO when a car rolled to the curb, called me a baby killer and then spat at me. (Near Disneyland )

Be careful what you call fake or bullshit. This really did happen.

The commercials showing cheers when the Gulf vets returned did not help!

[randr]

67. There is no excuse for such behavior

At the same time that person who spat at you and many like them were responsible for saving countless lives by helping to end the Viet Nam conflict.
Too bad no one has given the protestors any thanks either.

[WinkyDink]

79. Are you saying you were wearing your uniform?

[SCVDem]

83. No

The short hair was all they needed to figure I was a Marine. That and El Toro and MCAS H was in Tustin.

[Eliot Rosewater]

85. The lie is that this was a common occurrence. I dont believe that is the case.

But would be very hard to prove.

Even if it was, using it as a reason to imply all liberals, which is what they say, are like that, is insane.

[Brother Buzz]

107. No one spat on me because I was invisible

And I was wearing my uniform. I experienced zero eye contact, like I didn't even exist. It was weird, but I was totally fine with it because I was just a dumb draftee wanting to get back to the real world, and I did.

[busterbrown]

62. My best friend recently passed..Vietnam Vet..

Earned Silver Start... Battle of Khesahn ...
All his close friends were against the war.. he couldn’t wait to get back, smoke some weed and hang with his hippie friends
He never saw any disrespect from hippies.. And the lie rather pisses him off... Perhaps a few nuts engaged in that kind of behavior...

[flt rsk]

101. I was home on leave, between tours,

I was home on leave, between tours, in Dallas, TX. There was a peace rally at the park, so I went. I was in uniform and wearing my ribbons. Ended up smoking weed with the hippies, some of them were vets. I was spat on by one girl’s dog, when I scratched its neck.

[busterbrown]

106. Yep.. We just wanted to provide friendship.

imposssible to even think how difficult your situation was..

[whathehell]

78. I don't know that there were "many" who were spat on, but I did meet one vet to whom that happened.

Appalling. .

[WinkyDink]

81. How do you know? See article:

http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/04/30/debunking_a_spitting_image/

STORIES ABOUT spat-upon Vietnam veterans are like mercury: Smash one and six more appear. It's hard to say where they come from. For a book I wrote in 1998 I looked back to the time when the spit was supposedly flying, the late 1960s and early 1970s. I found nothing. No news reports or even claims that someone was being spat on.

What I did find is that around 1980, scores of Vietnam-generation men were saying they were greeted by spitters when they came home from Vietnam. There is an element of urban legend in the stories in that their point of origin in time and place is obscure, and, yet, they have very similar details. The story told by the man who spat on Jane Fonda at a book signing in Kansas City recently is typical. Michael Smith said he came back through Los Angeles airport where ''people were lined up to spit on us."

Like many stories of the spat-upon veteran genre, Smith's lacks credulity. GIs landed at military airbases, not civilian airports, and protesters could not have gotten onto the bases and anywhere near deplaning troops. There may have been exceptions, of course, but in those cases how would protesters have known in advance that a plane was being diverted to a civilian site? And even then, returnees would have been immediately bused to nearby military installations and processed for reassignment or discharge.

[whathehell]

92. Um, I know and trust the men who told me?

including the DUer who just posted.

[WinkyDink]

95. Notwithstanding, the article has impressive information.

[whathehell]

96. I'll read it. n/t

[SCVDem]

98. Thank you!

The slant of this is that they singled out combat vets who returned.

They forget the home based in CONUS. Whether for training or support, we all served the orders of the CIC.

My best friends in So. Cal. turned out to be bikers. These were the other 1%ers and didn't deride the people who serve or are veterans..

Do I sense a push of 'fake news' to further mess with my resentment for how our Vietnam vets were welcomed 'home'? Now we will call their experiences bullshit?

Semper Fi !

[whathehell]

104. Your very welcome..

I wasn't in the war, but I am of that era.

[hvn_nbr_2]

109. My experience as a vet

I'm a vet (army '69-'71). I was never spat on or any other negative experience because of being a vet. However, the person standing next to me at an anti-war demonstration WAS spat upon, right in the eye, by a raging, screaming rightwing pro-war nutcase.

Pretty much the only reaction I've gotten was that, beginning around when I was 60, people started saying, "Thank you for your service." Every time I hear it, it seems kind of dumb.

[TimeToGo]

35. When I was in

Basically no one talked about politics. At all.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

2. I think you are only seeing the ones who get publicity.

I'm here on this site and I'm a veteran. I know plenty of veterans, and retired career ones, who are NOT conservative. The organizations seem to be, that's why I'm not a member of any of them.

[TheMastersNemesis]

4. I Do Not Understand Why Vets Are Not Kicking GOP Politicians Asses Over Policy.

When I started working for Department Of Labor Job Service in 1974 veterans' assistance was absolutely high priority. We had programs that fully supported veterans and veteran's employment issues. Reagan and the GOP destroyed all of it.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

7. I think your answer lies in your answer.

Any individual, group or organization that takes a stance against the GOP and its policies are often marginalized, discredited and accused of a lack of patriotism.
The Right is very well financed and organized and seems to want to reduce the US to a one nation party. Most of us who feel different are trying to make a living and live our lives. We are not on a level playing field...........

[mitch96]

28. Could veterans all have been so brainwashed by serving in the military?

"organization that takes a stance against the GOP and its policies are often marginalized"

Agreed. I think it's the old "to a hammer, every problem is a nail" If you are not aligned with the military industrial complex and it's need for war (and profits from said war) you are a problem.
m

[luvtheGWN]

60. My great-nephew joined the Canadian Armed Forces

five years ago. He went in as a liberal -- social and fiscal -- and now he's both a social and fiscal conservative who also thinks Trump is the cat's meow. His parents are gobsmacked. Herd mentality, maybe. I often think it's the training -- to conform, to obey etc. But i don't know......

[MineralMan]

3. The reality is that most veterans have nothing to do with any

veterans organization. Only a small percentage of veterans belong to or participate in any of them. For most people who have served in the military, it was just a part of their lives for a while. Then, they moved on. But, for some people who were in the military, that was the only period in their lives when they felt part of some sort of male-dominated authoritarian thing. They liked that. Some became career military people, while others left the military, but continued to crave that sort of environment.

Veterans organizations no more represent all veterans than baseball teams and their fans represent the cities where the ball field is located.

Most veterans are not saying political things from a veteran's point of view. Most veterans never even mention their service. Most veterans have moved on with their lives. It is only those for whom military service was a peak point in their lives that being a veteran means much of anything other than spending some time serving the country.

You're getting a distorted view of veterans, it seems.

[BBG]

51. Authoritarians' Love of Authority...

for some people who were in the military, that was the only period in their lives when they felt part of some sort of male-dominated authoritarian thing. They liked that. Some became career military people, while others left the military, but continued to crave that sort of environment.

And there you have it. Some vets like being ordered around and not having to think about things. Add in their lack of critical thinking skills so they can't connect the politicians actions with their personal circumstance (some call it cognitive dissonance but I call it ignorance) and you have the recipe for blind adherence to authority figures and entities.
Full disclosure here - post Vietnam vet with a definite anti war attitude

[LOL Lib]

5. It extends further.

Consider all the poor whites in red states that consistently support the party that has a boot on their throats. It is bizarre and must be some kind of ingrained pattern. I don't get it. This is not the same GOP their grand father supported, yet the GOP ropes them in with so called Christian values. Depressing that they can't look at the overall picture and make a choice that truly benefits them.

[TheMastersNemesis]

6. I Do Not Know How You Change It.

They believe and are like rabid dogs if even questioned. Racial hatred and rage runs so deep in this country.

[MineralMan]

8. Here is some information:

National membership in the VFW is only about 1.7 million (from their website)
National membership in the American Legion is only about 2.3 million (from their website)

Add those numbers up and you have about 4 million in the two main veterans organizations. That's less than 2% of the US population.

There are 21.8 million living military veterans (from U.S. Census bureau), so those two organizations only represent about 18.3% of veterans.

You're giving those organizations way too much importance. They don't really matter, nor do they represent the opinion of military veterans in any real way.

[Wounded Bear]

13. Not sure how you came up with that math...

but I would presume that there is a lot of overlap in the two groups you mentioned. 18% might even be a little high.

[MineralMan]

26. I suppose some vets belong to both organization, yes.

So, the percentage may be a bit lower. Either way, it's a small minority of veterans who belong to those groups.

[Achilleaze]

9. No damn 5-time republican Draft Dodger is fit for command

Puzzles me why so many republicans Assume the Position and line up submissively behind a freaking 5-time Draft-Dodging Casino sharpie?

Mighty peculiar.

[hack89]

10. No, we were not all brainwashed - what an insulting comment.

I know many veterans that are Democrats. I think it is pretty simple - progressive vets come from and return to blue states. Conservative vets come from and return to red states.

The veterans organization don't really represent younger vets. I view them as mainly a bunch of Viet Nam vets.

[AJT]

66. It may be a higher percentage of republicans

with younger vets. This an all volunteer military which may attract more authoritarian types.

[hack89]

70. No. More women in the modern army

they tend Dem.

The military has been all volunteer for 40 years. In my 20 years I ran across many liberals, especially among POC. I work with the military now as a civilian. Much less conservative - I personally know senior gay officers in same sex marriages.

[AJT]

74. That's good news.

[atreides1]

11. I'm a veteran

I am also a lifetime member of the VFW...but I'm not a member of the local posts! I did attend meetings of a local group, for a few months...didn't like it!

So, I resigned from the Post and became a member at large! I was asked why I was leaving, and I told the commander it was too Christian centric, right wing and conservative, for me!

[Wounded Bear]

12. This Vet is not in that group...

[moondust]

14. The military

is a top-down, authoritarian dictatorship--similar to Republicanism. Those who are compatible with that often stay in and rise in the ranks, while the more independent-minded who are not particularly compatible often get out after one hitch or maybe two.

You've probably heard Republicans in Congress described as "marching along in lockstep." Those who "break ranks" may be punished with a well-funded primary opponent or bad committee assignments or something, similar to military punishment for not following orders.

[Initech]

15. Because so many of them live in rural areas.

Where the only media available is right wing talk, local news (owned by Sinclair) and Fox News. So if you only have a toxic media diet and no further education, it's pretty much garbage in, garbage out.

[TheMastersNemesis]

18. RW Radio Is The ONLY Talk Radio Around In Most Of The Nation.

Sinclair along with the Romney group "Clear Channel" have been successful in eliminating progressive talk radio since 2008. Only about 1% of talk radio now is progressive. It used to be about 10%. I know Denver lost its progressive station several years ago to sports talk. We have two or three RW stations in Denver plus the usual mediocre stuff. No progressive talk any where.

Plus if you we a progressive talker you life could be on the line line. In today's atmosphere I do believe it would be more dangerous. Alan Berg took on the RW years ago and was machine gunned at his house by a white supremacist. Alan was a no holds barred talker and went after them with a vengeance.

[Initech]

22. If the current political climate had been around in 1942....

We'd be looking at a world where the Nazis won WWII. Uncle Sam would be replaced with Pepe The Frog. The American flag would be replaced with the Kek flag. The police would be replaced with the ICE, Oath Keepers, and III%ers. Scary shit.

[Cosmocat]

30. It was the same shit back then

Not as virulently as today, but same basic dynamic.

It came before WWII really started to get going, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot

FDR was president, Rs hated him and knee jerk went against him on most things, including taking sides in Europe, a lot of them had business interests with Germany.

Just the usual right wing jack assery that they always throw around Chamberlin's weakness with Hitler as a means of bashing us, when their party HERE IN AMERICA was highly resistant to us entering into WWII.

If Japan had not gone full on stupid with Pearl Harbor, who knows if/when we would have gotten into it.

[2naSalit]

52. Please remember...

that many rural folks are not RWNJs and are quite progressive, our voices are not heard is why you would think that all rural folks are imbeciles.

[Initech]

57. Oh no I am not saying that at all.

It does seem like the only ones you hear about are the RWNJs.

[2naSalit]

59. I'll give you that...

I happen to be a long-time rural person and know many who are well educated and progressive, it's just that we are ignored, swept aside. I have been chastised for having a college education by mansplainers who are jealous of my education more than once. Also by women who think it's a crime to to be intelligent.

[Initech]

64. I live in the city and I know people who hate education.

But here at least in Los Angeles, we have access to other media and other opinions. What I was getting at is when in you're in a small town, you may only have access to the conservative media and will only get conservative opinions.

[DVRacer]

16. That's a big brush you are painting with.

Sure you may see the outspoken ones but their are many more than the people on Fox News. Tammy Duckworth comes to mind right away 18 million vets do not all think the same just like any other group.

[TheMastersNemesis]

21. I Believe The Vote Tallies Show Wide Support Of GOP Among Veterans.

I run into few veterans who are Democratic. There are very few veterans active in our Jeffco Democrat organization. I am the ONLY Vietnam veteran than I know of. Certainly there are Democratic veterans, but they do not represent the majority who voted for Obama, Hillary or other Democrats.

Plus the Legion, VFW and other vets groups have not endorse a Dem for President. They supported Reagan and the Bushes.

[MineralMan]

17. I'm a veteran, and have nothing to do with any of

Last edited Fri Jul 7, 2017, 03:03 PM - Edit history (1)

those organizations.

If you're still reading this thread, have a look at my informational reply above. The two major veterans organization have only about 18% of living veterans as members. A small minority. You're overreaching and being way too general in your comments about veterans.

[rzemanfl]

34. Have an "o" on me. n/t

[MineralMan]

36. Thanks for that. I had run out of them, so

I took yours and used it in an edit of that post. Much appreciated!

[rzemanfl]

40. Yu're welcme. n/t

[MineralMan]

41. Aw...geeze. I used the last ne. Damn!

[rzemanfl]

43. N prblem.

[kentuck]

19. A bunch of "lifers" brainwashed by the Republican Party over decades...

...to believe that they are all heroes and that they are always right and patriotic.

[DrDan]

20. "Could veterans all have been so brainwashed . . . "

you do realize that is probably offensive to the many vets here . . . myself included.

[TheMastersNemesis]

23. Many Vets Are Brainwashed, They Just Do Not Realize It.

I went through training and I know what they tried to do. It never worked on me or many of the draftees I trained with. Vets deserve all the benefits they get once they have served. Far too many have been denied.

If you are supporting someone who is saying they will harm you by taking away your earned benefits and they are waving the flag while doing so, then you have to question that decision to support.

[kentuck]

24. If you decide to make the military your career...?

then the odds are that you have probably been "brainwashed".

[DrDan]

48. "many", not "all"

[TheMastersNemesis]

32. Addendum - What The GOP Proposes On VA and Veteran's Care System Almost Treasonness.

I worked in and with veterans programs for 24 years while at DOL. Too many veterans have been denied services under our presenht system. Since Bush the GOP and its allies have eroded and undermined veterans care system with a number of actions. FDR and Truman started many of the support systems for veterans. Over time the GOP has poisoned them with initiatives too many to mention.

Right now the VA system has problems mostly cause by the GOP. Democrats and Obama could not address these issues due to obstruction. Were it up to Bush the VA system would be gone now as we know it.

The GOP wants the VA and Tricare under a "coupon" voucher system with civilian insurance as the provider. They also would contract out military hospitals as well. They will not say that openly of course. But if you look at the entire agenda that is where they want to go.

Now if you are a veteran and will still support a GOPPER who says "directly" I support taking away your VA, why would you vote for them. Letting nationalism, patriotism and honor for the flag you decision is questionable at best.

There is no way the civilian system can care for veterans issues. And if you let the insurance companies deny care for pre existing conditions or have caps or higher premiums for those groups, the result is obvious.

Besides I was asking a question about vets being brainwashed. I was not stating they were.

Up until Reagan such an attack on the VA system and veterans' care as planned now by the GOP would have sent them running for their lives. The outcry would have been very clear to these bastards.

[yuiyoshida]

25. I would like to say, having gone by to visit a friend at the VA Hospital

I have witnessed Veterans getting out of their chairs, and going to the Lobby TV and turning if off FOX NEWS and many of the other Veterans applaud him. Tell me, ALL VETERANS support Trump and the GOP, these guys didn't and there were a lot of them in Medical Practice who did the very same thing.

[doc03]

29. I am a veteran and I can't stand him. Probably because they are old. The ones that

hang out at the bar at the VFW and AL go for barroom talk such as tRump.

[Alea]

31. Local VFW here is mostly older folks

They haven't forgotten who was spitting on them when they returned home in the late 60s and early 70s. They don't like flag burners, anti-war protestors, anti-cop protestors, hippies, socialist and commies, all of which they attribute to the Democratic Party. Modern Veterans may have a little different take on things as they are treated better than most Vietnam Veterans in the 70s and 80s. There are more Dems in the Military now too, still out numbered by Reps, but as they get older and more involved in Veteran Organizations things may change.

I agree with others that say this OP is painting with a broad brush.

[oasis]

33. Ronnie Reagan locked many of them into the GOP camp for years to come. nt

[TheMastersNemesis]

37. The Point Of OP Is Why So Many Vets Pro GOP With GOP So Obviously Wanting To Flush Them.

I did not SAY that all veterans were brainwashed. I was merely asking that question. What the military did to veterans did NOT work on all of them. Yes there are many Democratic veterans. But they are not the majority. who vote for GOP.

When I worked for DOL there were many GOP and Democratic veterans who were strongly against ANYONE Democratic, GOP or otherwise who DID NOT SUPPORT taking care of veterans. Even many Republican legislators were careful NOT to screw with veteran's benefits that were earned through blood, sweat and tears.

The question is, why is it now so different. Is it because we have a volunteer for as apposed to a drafted one?

In the past TOUCHING OR CUTTING ANY VETS PROGRAM WAS OUTRIGHT POLITICAL SUICIDE. Now it is not. The GOP trashed Duckworth in several elections and she lost. They trashed Max Cleveland as a terrorist and he lost his Senate seat. Then we have Cotton who is a complete idiot and really anti veteran who probably supports ending the VA system.

Look at how many recent veterans running for are so pro war and extreme right wing. Look at their stance on "reforming" VA and the support they get from fellow vets.

[madville]

38. Most veterans I know are pro-gun

Many i know may be center-left on just about every issue except firearms. I'm a veteran, I'm left on most things but I enjoy firearms and shooting as a hobby, have a concealed weapons license, etc.

[Amishman]

99. Yup, they tend pro-gun and pro military spending

Both push them towards GOPness.

(And by pro gun, we're not talking revolvers and hunting rifles either)

[Hoyt]

39. Because they like war, guns, intimidation, and such. It's been that way as long as I can remember.

Of course, when I was growing up in the South, it was Dixiecrats pushing for war, promoting guns and racism, and the like. But in recent decades, they have become GOPers.

[Joediss]

45. Vietnam veteran

I am a Vietnam veteran , I don't know why these veterans support repugs , but why do poor people support repugs, don't figure.... I was raised a democratic , my daddy was a ww2 veteran. He knew repugs were for the rich people, All I can think of is the right wing media tell these people lies about who the democrats are, that's all they got to say, they don't have to say what the repugs will do do .. at least they are not the democrats... They will think.... I believe that all the repugs has to do to get these people vote. And these veterans , I think don't like the government helping out poor people , the gays or the blacks..I think a lot of people vote is really based on hatred of the other, they like the message of it is the other's faught

[wasupaloopa]

42. This Vietnam vet has always been a Dem

I would never join the VFW or the Legion

[NCTraveler]

44. Many, in the prime of their life, are submersed in a male dominated culture. nt.

[LBM20]

90. They were right wing BEFORE they joined the military.

[NCTraveler]

91. Most 18 to 20 year olds don't have a strong and consistent ideology. Nt

[Kaleva]

102. Those who join tend to be more conservative

18 and 19 year olds who are more politcally and socially liberal would shy away from joining a militaristic, authoritarian culture. That's probably one negative about tjhe all volunteer force. With the draft, everybody, liberals, moderates and conservatives could get called up

[unitedwethrive]

46. Makes no sense

People who volunteer to serve would seem to be some of the most altruistic of our citizens, putting their lives on the line for their fellow countrymen. You would think they would also share the Democratic principle of lifting up those in need to make a stronger country, instead of the selfish, unspoken "me first" attitude of the right.

[Baitball Blogger]

47. Follow the money.

I admit that growing up a civilian on a military base I didn't see it at first. I mean, it was the sixties and everyone went through the usual rites of passage. The drinking, cursing and an understanding that the pot smokers were the cool kids. No one really talked politics because it was all about peace and love.

But, forty years later, I see it. Most of them have turned into hardcore right-wingers and it's not hard to see why when they owe their existence to public funds, through their military alliance. It's a sacred cow in our country, that even I feel wary about exposing, but it's a fact that needs to be addressed. I understand that I am thankful for their watchdog role against foreign enemies, but these are people who grew up inside a tight culture that doesn't allow for differences. And that's shocking because most of them think all the Americans in the private sector that don't revere the things they revere, are also enemies against the U.S.

I have often wondered what will happen the day the Republicans find a way to cut them off.

[mgardener]

49. They like being told what to do?

Whose budgets are going up?
Military. They think they will be taken care of by the government.
They have no clue they will be privatized like everything

[magicarpet]

50. Most military men are blindly driven by the macho macho thing.....

Military is hyper macho.
Warmongering is macho.
Misogyny is macho.
Rape is macho.
Anti abortion is macho
Racism is macho.
White supremacy is macho.
Drug war programs are macho.
Hyper law and order and privatized prisons are macho.
Anti intellectualism is macho
Anti science is macho.
Hyper Republicanism is macho.
Fox nuz is macho with hot babes galore.
Rush Limbaugh and hyper right-wing shock jocks are macho.
Football, boxing, wrestling, and NASCAR are macho.
Hyper (hypocritical) Christian is macho.

Liberals, progressives, Democrats, Social Democrats., welfare programs, government oversight agencies, unions, non-discriminatory policy programs for the destitute poor and elderly, immigration support programs, and any other government expenditure programs - except those the feed the military industrial complex, a helping hand to fags foreigners and females and all of the above are pinko commie feminized political strategies. Real men do not under any circumstances discuss, support, subscribe, or vote for that.

[kairos12]

56. I am Army Infantry Vet. Still look it. The

funny thing is rethug vets think I'm one of them and when they speak let the flame wars begin.

[magicarpet]

72. Thank you for your military service to our country.

Thank you for maintaining your independent political thoughts and voting actions - and not taking the easy way out and just following the herd.

Differentiating right from wrong, positive from negative, compassion from selfishness and what lends support to the betterment of humankind is indicative of a real man who cares about society and the generation that follow him. A shallow thinker is incapable of that depth of thought.

[Submariner]

54. Like myself, many were scorned by the Hippie generation

when our enlistments were finished and we got out of the service in the latest 60s.

The Vietnam vets were bad mouthed as baby killers and blamed for losing the war. Many local VFW's with WWII and Korea vets, didn't want loser Vietnam vets hanging around drinking telling loser Vietnam war stories.

I believe many, or most, Liberals like myself abandoned the veterans organization that our father's enjoyed post-WWII. So only the war mongering kill em all and let god sort em out fake tough guys inhabit the vet organizations nowadays.

[hunter]

55. That's not my experience

Then again, many of the vets I encounter saw the larger world and decided there was no way in hell they were ever returning to the spiritually and intellectually empty places they'd escaped from by joining the military.

My own grandfather was such a person. Return to backwater Montana or take a job in the Los Angeles aerospace industry doing what you love... hmmm. What would you do?

I'm not someone who romanticizes white rural and profoundly ignorant anti-intellectual racist U.S.A.. I don't give a shit how "patriotic" and "Christian" they claim to be.

[LiberalArkie]

58. The guys that I know that have served for several years are the type people

that prefer being told what to do today. Tonight we will do this. Tomorrow we will do this. Tomorrow afternoon we will do this. Here is a manual that tells you how to do that.

No thinking required.

[tblue37]

61. Don't forget, Armed Forces Radio plays Limbaugh several times during the day.

I'm sure that is a factor in their brainwashing.

Also, the lousy economy hits hard in the rural parts of the country, and there is a long tradition of military service in those parts, too, as well as decades' worth of GOP Southern Strategy. Then you also have the influence of RW fundamentalist pastors and fundamentalist families in the areas that send so many young people into the military.

With the all-volunteer military and the fact that there are so few other economic options for young people who have been indoctrinated both by long tradition and by the GOP Southern Strategy and their control of media, as well as by fundamentalist Christianity and pastors who tell them to vote GOP, it is not so surprising that they fit right in with the authoritarian structure of the military and reinforce its right wing tendencies.

[magicarpet]

73. And the Air Force is hyper Theocratic Dominianist Christian

[Alea]

63. Only on DU would Conservative Veterans get bashed

The liberal media doesn't even go that far.

[sarisataka]

65. Gee, I can't imagine

Why brainwashed authoritarians aren't flocking here

According to the 2013 Minority Veterans Report, approximately 22% of vets are minorities and that portion is dramatically higher among younger age groups. The current active military is 40% minorities.

Even if you assume every white veteran or military is a right wing racist, there is a huge potential pool of traditionally Democratic leaning demographics.

But by all means, stereotype and broad-brush those who serve(ed), if it makes you feel better. I'm sure there won't be any negative effects.

[SHRED]

68. Repubs equal strong and manly

Dems = weak and feminine.

That's how they think.

[Texin]

69. Well, a great many vets were enlisted from rural poor areas.

The very composition of the military since the Draft was eliminated subsequent to Vietnam has resulted in vast numbers of troops that are from traditionally rethug strongholds, i.e., the south, rust belt and the bible-toting flyover regions. Sadly, they're in rural, depressed areas with high numbers of only modestly or minimally educated people (high school and no college or secondary vocational training). It doesn't surprise me at all. They are a lot of similar birds flocking together, so to speak.

[Hieronymus]

71. Military & authoritarian go hand in hand.

[magicarpet]

75. Add hyper Fundamentalist Christian into the ....

....authoritarian mix and you have a recipe for un-resisted brainwashing with full compliance - no questions asked.

[juxtaposed]

76. most veterans were part of an oligarchical system, shit rolls down hill.

With brainwashing and peer pressure, group think works well with most. God, Flag, and country, sheep all the way to the slaughter house. If you doubt me go on memorial to a national cemetery. You'll see the clown posse show up with their bikes and R/W B/S.
Not all but, what I've seen and experienced has been a sheep.

https://www.cpsk12.org/cms/lib8/MO01909752/Centricity/Domain/3528/Sparta%20%20A%20Military%20Oligarchy.pdf

[NobodyHere]

82. After reading your post

It's hard to imagine why veterans don't flock to the left

[Jake Stern]

77. Possibly for the same reason there are people who prefer prison over being in the free world:

Top down Authoritarian order.

For many that kind of unyielding structure is preferable to having to think for themselves. It's easier to be told when to eat, when to sleep, what clothes to wear and how you will and will not interact with others.

[NobodyHere]

80. The military does need to go to a matched 401k type system

Currently only people who get any kind of benefits are those who stay in 20 years or more. People who do 4 years including a tour in Iraq get nothing.

Also I believe a healthy 37 year old does not need a pension.

On a personal note: I was never in the military but I was in the Air Force...

[Alea]

86. Military is already doing the TSP (401K)

Been doing it for years. I had to role mine over when I got out. They still do the 20 year retirement too, although it now only pays 40 percent of your base pay instead of the 50 percent it previously paid before TSP went in to effect, unless you joined prior to 2006.

[NobodyHere]

87. But there's no matching

And that 40 percent does go up with each additional year you stay in over 20

[madville]

100. The new blended retirement system has TSP match and

A 2% pension for every year of service, still need a minimum 20 years to receive that but the TSP match will be nice.

Current pension system is 2.5% per year so when someone does 20 they get 50% of their highest three base pay years.

Most current military members have the option to switch systems in 2018, new members will automatically be in the new system.

[Kaleva]

105. Many police forces offer a pension after 20 years of service.

I agree with you about the 20 year mark. I think that system to be obsolete.

[TheFrenchRazor]

84. propaganda, macho BS, and extreme emphasis on group think. nt

[Victor_c3]

88. I don't get it either, especially pro-trump veterans

We know exactly what trump thinks about POWs and vets with PTSD. We know about his foot issue that kept him out of the draft, yet didn't seem stop him from being a collegiate athlete. We also know how he believes that his time in a military high school makes him think that he knows more about soldiering than those who actually served.

I don't get the support vets give him. I for one am a very liberal combat veteran. I'm kind of an oddity in my circles, but I've been doing my best to knock some sense into my peers.

[LBM20]

89. They were right wing BEFORE they joined the military. It's part of their culture.

[Kaleva]

103. +1000

[HAB911]

93. Military live in a bubble of their own making

The Air Force Academy is a Fundamentalist Christian school, not sure of the others

[Duppers]

94. Authoritarianism.

I live in one of the largest military/retired military areas in the country (Tidewater Virginia) and in all of my 40 years of living here, I have met only one retired military Democrat. Only one!

I have no association with military except that 80 to 90% of the neighborhoods I have lived in here have been and are retired military. Whenever I've discovered another democrat anywhere, I want to hug them.

[NobodyHere]

108. Read the thread

It seems that many people here have a very dim view of veterans and are not afraid to show it. So why would veterans join us?

[Jakes Progress]

110. I second authoritarianism and provide a link.

[link:https://verdict.justia.com/2017/07/07/altemeyer-trumps-supporters|

This link is also cited in another DU thread. It gives, what I feel, is a good explanation for this bizarre behavior.