I don't get it, Brian. We spent plenty on defense before 9/11. I don't think it was a money issue back then, but one of strategy (electronic surveillance vs. human intelligence). After 9/11 and we went to war, we nearly doubled defense spending, unified the DHS and funded all sorts of defense outside the DoD. How about we go back to pre-9/11 levels of DoD spending, adjust for inflation, and call it a day? Bring the troops home wherever possible. As far as Afghanistan goes, what does victory look like? So far it looks like Taliban gone early on, a lot of needless shooting at one another, drone attacks on our ally there, and nothing really positive. We certainly spent a lot of blood and treasure to build a nation, but there never really was a nation there and there won't be (at least short term).
I understand your point of view. However, there are those of us who actually like the First Amendment.
Let's just ban all parties other than the Democrats. History says that works out well for individual freedoms.
Yep, there are idiots on the right. Thanks for noticing. Do you really think the right has a monopoly on morons?
Liberalism/socialism has always been a path to fascism, at least by their leaders. You create a dependent class, you control the media, and fascism ensues. I am being serious on this one. Talking about abolishing political parties is normal conversation on left-wing/liberal sites these days. We see it on this board, with people like crandc and MickZagger being the most intolerant posters I've seen on the internet in a long time.
You've told me all I need to know. When did you decide to become a common troll? It's disappointing. I guess I'll treat you accordingly.
Fez, that's just bullshit. I see stupid shit all the time from the extremes of the right and the left. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous. And I am a liberal. EDIT: I see it more from the right, but I don't know if that's legitimate or if I just see it more because I read more left winged material which tends to highlight the bananas from the right. But I saw that photo, and the list of tweets with the n-word, but I have never heard any of our posters pose beliefs like that. Give them the dignity of not brushing them with the same stroke as the extremists you reference. I think that being on the right is wacko, but its not offensive like those other posts.
What I take away from this thread is that instead of becoming introspective after this easy Democratic victory, Republicans think that the future base of the GOP is to continue the same old gimmick slogans against the majority of Americans. They keep getting little adrenaline rushes from their little attack-and-run phrasings that cannot be sustained in any practical reality. For example, sure, you can kill everyone on Social Security or Medicare. But 10 years later, who will you kill then, to continue the military spending and historically low tax rates for the rich? Republicans always have temporary solutions, and can't even offer up any numbers for those gimmicks, out of fear the numbers won't balance, since they know they won't.
Watts is in LA, not the south. Remember riots there? There were riots in Chicago, too. There have been numerous lynchings in northern cities, including Illinois. And Brown v. Board of Education was a lawsuit against the state of Kansas. All I can do is shake my head at the outright ignorance of certain posts.
