I will go there. You skip over six decades to a Democrat Admin that was hawkish and think ‘samesies’? The nation and the Dems learned the lesson of the sixties including Vietnam. The parties shifted during the sixties so much it’s already a weak shot to suggest it was a Dem or Repub war once you bring in Congressional support/opposition and the results of party switching.
In the end, since the Vietnam war, the (new) Dems foreign policy is and has been a generally soft power preferred, hard power capable approach. Less so for the Repubs. As for the partisan approaches to the current crisis, and who would be better suited, I’d say the value of looking to historical precedent of party diminishes the further back you go (or should we bring Korea and the Civil war into it too?). The first three weeks of August saw more American deaths from COVID than during the worst year of the Vietnam war. So if you don’t see a difference in the lizards, one could at least see the value of a contrarian approach if one is life affirming. I certainly don’t think choosing one party over the other this November is a ‘either/or, it’s all the same’ moment.
you forgot to mention that there were a lot of other nationalities that lost people during the American War in Vietnam, not least Vietnamese civilians:
Well, we don’t have to worry about that happening again do we? I was involved after LBJ, Nixon just continued the policy. There was a draft back then. But no worries now about all races, backgrounds and education going off to war. It’s all “volunteer” which means a few patriots and a lot of poor folks that can’t find a good paying job. There is NO national commitment for service to your country as many other countries have.
The USA hasn’t won a war of any significance since 1945 but the USA spends more money on the military than the next 8 countries combined. A Trillion plus dollars a year.
It’s a banana republic now but with a very high cost of living.
And that’s not even the worst thing that sob did (which says a lot coming from me considering my dad died of Agent Orange) he also founded the World Bank which has been using taxpayer money to fund communists and dictators for decades while helping the mega wealthy (especially Communist superyacht owners like Wengui) buy more yachts.
Actually it’s not taxpayer money, the world bank pays criminals with US debt. Our taxes only fund the interest payments.
It’s not a lie, it’s called “Divide and Conquer” Set the population against each-other with non-partisan social issues so we don’t notice the bipartisan banking practices.
Read anything about the history of the Bank Of England or, if you prefer something Lighter and closer to home go read the dark satire Report from Iron Mountain alongside any newspaper from today.
Bringing this back to a maritime context. Why do you think the Jones Act gets bipartisan support? Why do you think the Jones Act has been turned into a social issue? If congress supports a strong domestic fleet then why does MARAD keep getting bipartisan cuts? Why do you think the largest flags of convenance were founded and are still managed from New York?
The conservative dilemma is straightforward: conservatism is not likely to be a politically popular cause in a democracy. Conservatism is the political movement that represents the interests of those who have against those who have not. When a country democratizes, conservatism reflects the interests of the old propertied class
As Ziblatt argued, nineteenth and early twentieth century European conservative parties found out that the way to attract public support was to combine nationalism for the masses with wealth protection for the rich
This, then is the engine that they argue has driven US Republicans ever further to the extremes. If they want to get their agenda through, they need popular support, and the best way to generate that support is through fostering division and extremism, amplifying the beliefs of a sufficient number of voters that their way of life is under threat from un-American, irreligious people who want to destroy their traditions. Plutocratic populism – the key phenomenon that they set out to analyze – is precisely a welding of a plutocratic agenda with populist rhetoric.
I’ll have to read that! Does it mention maritime interests? I doubt it. Banks don’t want maritime stories in the news because ships are the cornerstone of the entire world economy.
We are the most important element which is why our Jobs were the first to get outsourced.
Who facilitated the arrest of Steve Banon, who represents the US flag at IMO, and who allowed the flags of convenance to sail into US Ports? Who continues to have a huge presence at maritime finance conferences where shipowner and bankers discuss these topics?
Sun Tzu in China 2400 years ago is the earliest record of divide and conquer. He was a great leader and general, studied by most military institutions.
If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.
Politics is the art seizing of power and controlling people without weapons. Politicians may have good intentions when the seek office but soon succumb to the money and power offered to them by those that wish to own the wealth and labor of the country. The Kochs, Mercers and major financial institutions figured this out long ago. Look at how many of their representatives or people that “used” to work for them now work in the US government or in cabinet executive positions. It’s a revolving door. Hell, they even get a tax break to leave their multi-million dollar a year jobs to go work for the government!
lets see if the the Ukraine story gets played out, that was the start of the DNC funding a spy ring to spy on the opposition.
There was lots of cash being thrown about there
I guess you didn’t look a bit further down the thread.
If the concept is too difficult to understand, it means that what Clinton did has absolutely nothing to do with or excuses what Trump and his henchmen are doing to this nation every day.
So you’re saying that even if Charles Manson murdered people, it’s wrong for other people to murder also? And that if a person shot someone, say, on Fifth Avenue in NYC, it would be wrong for the spectators to say, “Hey, Charles Manson did it. Give the guy a pass!”
The illegal bugging of Trumps phone is the case that needs to follow the full path to resolution.
That might mean a whole heap of trouble for Obama.
Due to the use of various gov departments its far worse than Watergate by a huge factor.
And yet there remains no evidence of that, after POTUS45’s own DOJ investigated the claim. What’s more POTUS45 doesn’t even believe himself. From Wikipedia:
On April 25, 2019, Trump said that his original allegation of “wires tapped” was not literal, and that he really meant: “surveillance, spying you can sort of say whatever you want”. Trump also said that his allegations were made “just on a little bit of a hunch and a little bit of wisdom maybe”, and that he thought his allegations were “pretty insignificant” when he made them
So if the DOJ doesn’t believe it, and POTUS45 doesn’t believe it, how are you backing up your claim? Let me guess…
His initial claims were based on an article in Breitbart News, a website known to publish conspiracy theories.
