The Maniacs Have Taken Over The Asylum

Last night over dinner at Marche in Chicago I was with a Democratic Party member friend of mine ( a member is someone who donates money or time to "the cause" ) talking about Iraq, the universe and everything.

Over 30% of the American public believes President Bush called OPEC and the oil companies and had the price of oil dropped (apparently a phone call Jimmy Carter never knew he could make). Just as many people believe that Bush and the GOP was behind the attack on the World Trade Center. Over two dozen left wing Professors have actually gone as far as to say we, as in the U.S., planted explosives in the building!

I can assure you none of these people are Republican or Libertarian.

He raised the issue of the far right, and I pointed out that Jerry Falwell's group is in bankruptcy, has declined in membership and is almost never on the news anymore. I pointed out that the Democrats too had a group within them that was far larger and anti-abortion, called Catholics. He then confessed he was both Catholic and favoring restrictions on abortion limiting it to only extreme situations. So I asked, how come we never hear about the threat to abortion by a huge chunk of the Democratic Party?

I also reminded him that Falwell was brought to the political arena by Jimmy Carter, who remains to this day a member of Falwell's church!

Next up we talked Iraq. I reminded him Gore was going to increase troop size, and Rangel had a bill to start the draft waiting, a bill Bush said he would never sign. (Remember when Howard said there would be a draft last year by March under Bush? Where is it?). Gore was going to bring back the genius of the North Korea negotiations, Albright, and also set up an office in Washington that would steer the Iraq war.

Bush didn't want to, but gave in to Lieberman's idea to create Homeland Security. By the way, today Democrats reject the more troops idea, hate Homeland Security which FEMA is under, and guess what they think of Lieberman today?

A draft. A war run from a base a world away. Hundreds of thousands of troops pouring into Iraq.

In other words, if Gore had won, we really would be in another Viet Nam, right down to the Democratic Party going to war against itself.

How could Americans today think that would have been great?

My friend admitted I was right! And he added our colleges would be exploding.

So, how did we get set up to want to send lambs to the slaughter (Hillary ain't gonna leave Iraq folks)?

Most Americans believe what they were taught in college. They were told we lost Viet Nam because the U.S. was defeated militarily, and it is usually claimed this happened at the Tet Offensive. Thus the reality of our defeat is unknown to college students and Professors alike.

You can't fight a war indefinitely with draftees, you can't run a war from another country around the world, sending in hundreds of thousands of troops to fight cell phone bombers will only provide more targets, all this we learned in Nam.

Or did we?

Logic won't work here anymore. Too many believe space aliens are hidden on a military base, don't understand that if we leave Iraq it would take many months to get troops to Iran or Syria if necessary, most don't even see the war as one front stretching from Somalia to the UK to Afghanistan to here. Sadly, our enemy has no problem with this concept. Too many think Bush could make a phone call and change the price of oil.

We tried to ignore al Qaeda under Clinton. We have grown weary of fighting in Iraq under Bush.

And the best the Democrats can come up with, is to create another Viet Nam.

We may be headed for an election it will take decades to recover from.

If we can recover.

These aren't your garden variety lunatics. Bean counters for a general's job. The outcome appears to support evidence of their interest in profits over liberation. If the basis for policy is profit, the planet's getting a taste of corporate down-sizing in moral and human accountability.

Originally posted by Psychomike
Last night over dinner at Marche in Chicago ...

From your post it sounds more like you were hanging out at democraticundeground.com instead of being out on the town for dinner.

Funny but if think that you can not trust the politicians of today if you do your are for a bigger ride.

We have not honesty, sincerity or anybody working for the people anymore.

They work for big interest and behind the so call "war on terror" is a power grab of control over middle east oil.

Yes the Bush family has its best friends with the Saud family and they are readily available to give a Help to its friends in time of need, like mid time elections and the timely oil prices change of hart.

We are a nation of great people but with rotten, corrupted politicians that happen to be in power right now and they will stay in power the same no matter what party rules the nation.