I am afraid

[Coyote_Bandit]

I have an 11 year old nephew. I'm afraid when he is 18 he will be drafted and sent to fight and die in fucking Afghanistan. If Obama is re-elected my nephew will be 18 when Obama leaves office. Obama has given no indication that he has learned the lessons of Vietnam. I have no reason to expect anything different.

I am SOOOOOOO hoping there is a viable Dem candidate to oppose Obama in the next primaries.

[DebbieCDC]

1. He has not learned the lessons of Vietnam

Nor that of the Russians in their 10-year Afghan war.

[rwheeler31]

2. Don't worry.

[Coyote_Bandit]

5. Thanks but

talk is cheap.

Anyway I slicew it the issue we are ultimately talking about is human life. I worry about a nephew in a not so distant future. Others worry today about loved ones already living in the conflict zone. Some of those are mercenaries. Others are innocent civilians.

[dysfunctional press]

3. don't worry about your son being drafted to fight in afghanistan.

maybe worry about him being drafted to fight in iran.

[patrice]

4. Don't worry. There's no one with guts enough to legislate for a Draft in the U.S.

China will get their pipeline on the backs of our Poor without Health Care.

[Coyote_Bandit]

That's really too bad

I suspect a lot of politicians might be less willing to wage war if their family members were at risk.

[patrice]

11. That should be a requirement of elected office.

[roamer65]

6. I'd be worried about a wider conflict

The whole ME region is a powderkeg waiting to go off.

[Coyote_Bandit]

8. You're probably right

Now I'm terrified.

[MichiganVote]

7. But we love war in the US. Don't worry, we seem to average one every 10 years anyway.

[Coyote_Bandit]

18. Yes, you're right and I suspect

that may be one of the reasons our media contains so much graphic violence and so little graphic sexual conduct. We peons need to accept violence after all.

[MichiganVote]

21. Yes, and in the 50's and 60's it was comedy. Now its just drama and tragedy.

[HipChick]

9. I can't hold that against Obama...my 12 nephew died from cancer last year..

Anything can happen..I cannot live in fear..should I hold Obama et al for not being accountable for stem research or any other advanced medical research that could have saved me from having to attend his funeral?

[Coyote_Bandit]

24. I'm sorry for your loss

but no one chose to give your nephew cancer and put his survival at risk.

Certainly more could be done to advance cancer research. But guess what? First, there are people who die in the US every fucking day because they have no meanibgful access to healthcare. Second, the expense of this war will require funding that might better be used to advance that research and to make healthcare for all more readily available.

IOW, our priorities - or perhaps those of our national leaders - are pretty fucked up.

[BrklynLiberal]

10. You are not alone. Who wants their child, spouse, sibling, etc. to be the last killed in

Afghanistan?

[rhett o rick]

12. There is no chance that the Democratic candidate will be other than Obama. nt

[Coyote_Bandit]

25. Don't be so sure

Seems there are lots of Dems that are less than delighted with Obama - for a variety of reasons.

Who cares if Obama gets the party nomination if he then gets his ass kicked in the general election because all those disgruntled Dems vote for third party candidates or opt to stay home?

[rhett o rick]

42. I am just saying that the party is under the control of the DLC. nt

[tnlefty]

13. I have 19, 16, and 14 yr. old sons...

The lessons of Viet Nam that seem to be forgotten is the human toll and that the country also suffers financially.

The young'uns around here, including the one who frequently comes home from college, are and have been ticked. I've raised them in a Democratic household and they're rumbling about looking elsewhere.

[Coyote_Bandit]

27. Good for them

Good wishes for all. You raised them well. No reason to vote for a label. We all should vote for candidates who support and advance our needs and interests.

[ShamelessHussy]

14. I told my 13 yo son to tell them you are 'gay' when they come call'n

he lol and asked if i was for 'real', i told him i was, and if that won't work, tell them you got a pimple on your butt, and if that won't work, tell me and I will protect you, as always.

peace

[Coyote_Bandit]

28. Yep

"The gay" is still bad even with a sitting Dem President and Dem majorities in both the House and Senate.

Apparently, our leaders do not really believe that we all are created equal. I think it is unacceptable and if I were gay I'd be really hacked off......

Good luck to your son.

[guyton]

29. he could always walk in and ...

sing a few bars of Alice's Restaurant :-)

[goldcanyonaz]

15. There won't be one.

[valerief]

16. There is no "learn the lessons". They know what they want. War.

Endless war. The Poppy Curtain. Period.

[earth mom]

17. Kucinich 2012!!! nt

[nonationbuilding]

19. So now Obama can play golf with Poppy Bush when he's done

just like real buddies

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[babylonsister]

23. +1. DU is amazing me. Not in a good way. nt

[inna]

34. care to articulate?

just curious, it's ok if you don't. :)

[rwheeler31]

35. The negative has gone crazy here. Is anyone trying to help

our President? It is just a bash fest, why?

[Coyote_Bandit]

37. I support candidates and politicians

who support my needs and interests. This President has failed to do that on some issues that wre important to me.

[Coyote_Bandit]

31. Really?

Why the hell should I think the US will be out of Afghanistan before Obama leaves office?

Don't you dare tell me that I should rely on Obama's word that we'll be out in 18 months. His ever evolving and changing position of so-called healthcare reform tells me that I can't trust his stated positions. He was for single payer before he was against it. Then he was for a strong public option. Maybe a weaker one would be acceptable. Or a healthcare co-op. Maybe mandated insurance coverage. He is a changling. His word regarding policy is not to be trusted. He apparently will do or say whatever is politically expedient at the time.

I'll feel better about my nephew not having to go to Afghanistan when I see some tangible conduct (as opposed to some shoveled bullshit) indicating that we are actively withdrawing. Have you seen any evidence of that?

[dred654321]

22. I wonder how many would support

this escalation if the draft were to come back. I bet this place would quiet down to a whisper. And what after 18 months? The taliban defeated? Al Quaeda gone? Nope, they are already operating from Packistan, Somalia, and several other countries. Shall we escalate some more to other countries? The pro-war crowd hasnt thought this through, and evidently neither has Obama. I fear Obama wants to do the right thing, but he has been basically told he would be JFK'd if he doesnt go along with the program.

[Codeine]

26. There is no draft. There will never be a draft.

Stop being a drama queen.

[Coyote_Bandit]

33. I disagree

and I suspect you are not old enough to remember the draft lotteries during the Vietnam War. Or the generous exemptions - and non-combat military assisgnements - granted to those with political connection.

[guyton]

30. the war would end in 6 months ...

if there was a draft. the only reason this one has lasted was due to the volunteer army ...

[inna]

32. "I am SOOOOOOO hoping there is a viable Dem candidate to oppose Obama in the next primaries."

not a chance, judging by the current political landscape.

i hope things change in the next couple of years - otherwise i'm voting third party.


i mean this 100%, i'm not voting for Obama in 2012 unless he starts delivering. (change? change to the positive for the working people, most of us hoped.)

[Coyote_Bandit]

36. I would prefer to support

the Dem party candidate in the next general election. If Obama gets the party nomination, like you, I do not intend to vote for him in the general election unless I see some conduct from him that advances and protects my needs and interests. Maybe I just won't vote. Maybe I'll vote for a third party candidate. But I damn sure am not voting for somebody just because they have a "D" next to their name. There is very little difference between voting for a puke that does not serve my needs and interests and voting for a Dem that does likewise.

[inna]

38. i've nearly agonized about this, and considered all the possible options/implications.

all i know is that:

1) i'd rather have a lobotomy than voting republican (i.e., that's not even an option)


2) for democrats, sitting (yet) another election out effectively means a victory for republicans


and,


3) the two-party model has failed the American people.



on edit:

i.e., i'm voting green, or socialist, or whatever leftish parties are out there in my area at this point in time.

[Coyote_Bandit]

39. If we had 20 political parties

then our politicians would have to build coalitions in order to govern. Now all they have to do is build a $$$ war chest and a media image and shovel some smooth sounding bullshit to voters.

I really think there is very little difference in voting for a puke that does not support my needs and interests and in voting for a Dem that does likewise. Either way I lose. And why should I support a candidate that does not support me?

I'm probably a lot more likely to withhold my vote and abstain from voting than I am to support a third party candidate - though the right third party candidate could certainly overcome that unwillingness.....

[phasma ex machina]

40. +1 -> If we had 20 political parties then our politicians would have to build coalitions

:kick:

[elocs]

41. There will never be another draft. No politician who wants to get reelected

would ever seriously propose one and if that were to happen it would never receive even near enough votes to ever pass. The reality is that we do not have enough troops to feed to the war machine while still managing to keep most of them alive and sane so the same ones will keep being sent back over and over until they are either killed, too wounded to ever fight again, or just plain crazy by the time they leave the service and no good or use to themselves.

I have a godson who finished his first tour in Afghanistan earlier this year. He is just 20 and my hope was that with the election of Obama that maybe he would just have to go that once. Next year he will be going to Germany and he is excited about that, but in reality that is just a closer hop to Afghanistan for someone who is already a veteran of that war. I would put money on that he will be going again, and again. That said, he knew and understood the consequences when he chose to enlist and I made them clear to him. He also should have understood the same consequences when he re-upped this year for an additional 6 years.