Reply #41: When, when WHEN did Democrats get the rep of being peace doves? [View All]

[The Backlash Cometh]

I remember my Republican relative, (back in the early 90s when I was still speaking to him), told me that only Democrats start wars. Let me repeat that. The Republican image of Democrats back in the early 90s, was that only Democratic presidents started wars. I was flabbergasted, of course, and stammered that Eisenhower had committed us to Vietnam, and he responded, that was not a war, that was a conflict.

The point is, that you're chasing a ghost. You're chasing an illusion created by Republicans that Democrats are not tough on crime, or that they are not warmongers when they have to be. Remember, it was Clinton who increased the police force and it was Bush who was looking for reasons to cut it back. Today, when a Bush is governor of Florida, Orlando has one of the highest homicide rates.

You have to find a way to tell the truth to the lazy brains. The truth is, that Democrats have already experienced war up front, something that Bush and the chicken hawks haven't done. So the Dems know that no country can sustain a perpetual war without eventually resorting to conscription, and conscription, under the best of circumstances, will only buy you time. Eventually, the Hamburger Hill of bodies that piles up, will be the reason why every American will be willing to chuck the Constitution out entirely and start new, rather than continue on a path that results in endless casualties.

And Dems know, that a perpetual war will also make it impossible for American businessmen to walk safely on this planet to work in a global economy. Or that the number of exchange students will diminish if we remain hawkish, making it impossible to create the relationships we need with foreign countries, so we can understand one another, and avoid misunderstandings which are usually exploited by ambitious politicians, who are too close to the military-industrial and or petroleum corporations.

Anyway, Kerry got it right. We need to wage the right war, and think about fighting it for the duration, but we need to do it wisely.