Scattered Veterans Day Thoughts
Few have commented on it since the Democratic National Convention last year, but to me there were some striking parallels between the election of 2024 and that of 1968. The biggest of these? A sitting Democratic president declined to finish his effort to win re-election, so the party had to rally around an alternative candidate late in the cycle -- who went on to lose. But that's not the only parallel. In 1968, America was mired down in a proxy war in Vietnam. Young people faced being drafted and sent off to fight and possibly die halfway around the world, and neither political party seemed to have any answer to the situation that didn't include a whole lot more of the same. This is where the parallel is not exact, because nothing like that is happening today.
But there is a groundswell of protest among young Americans over what is going on in Gaza. To those people who lived through or were otherwise affected by Vietnam, this is somewhat puzzling, since no college student now protesting is in danger of being forced to go fight in a foreign war. "It's not the same," they say, "since you aren't going to have to participate."
It is likewise puzzling for older Democrats to understand why a whole lot of young voters who normally would support the party essentially decided to stay home this election -- which could be the main reason Donald Trump won. Democratic turnout was way down (especially in liberal strongholds) and young Democratic voters were a big factor (if not the key factor).
A lot of older Democrats can't really understand all of this, since if you care most about American foreign policy in Israel, the Republicans certainly aren't going to be any better. Donald Trump is pretty obviously going to give Benjamin Netanyahu a green light to do whatever he wants -- which is going to lead to a worse outcome for those living in Gaza. So not supporting Democrats seems pretty self-defeating, if Gaza is your main priority.
But it doesn't always work like that, in terms of how people think (and vote). If you see the situation as both unacceptable and also hopeless, then you can wind up feeling like there simply is no point in voting -- nothing's going to change either way, so why bother? This is precisely the feeling -- that of neither political party offering an acceptable answer -- that dominated how young people thought back in 1968. After all, Vietnam was a war started by Democrats, not Republicans.
Vietnam changed our military structure in a big way. Afterwards, the draft was ended and never came back. The military went "all-volunteer" and has remarkably stayed that way ever since. Even after 9/11 and the two wars launched as a result, nobody faced being drafted to go fight in them. So no young person today is in danger of being forced to fight. But that doesn't mean they don't feel a moral sense of responsibility for what their country does.
What worries me a lot more is what could be America's next big challenge. If Donald Trump cuts off military support for Ukraine and Russia winds up in control of a large part (if not all) of the country, then it is going to send an enormous signal to China. China may make a simple calculation: If America can't be trusted to back their allies, then perhaps the time is ripe to invade Taiwan?
It's frightening to think about, but we may soon face a choice. Do we come to the aid of an ally -- to the point of getting involved in the war ourselves -- or do we just sit back and watch as they are defeated and taken over? Would America support waging war with China over Taiwan? What if that means American troops on the ground? Will our navy challenge theirs? Will our fighter pilots fly combat missions? This would be direct warfare between two nuclear-capable countries, which is why it is so frightening to even contemplate. But the calculation still exists -- would we be willing to wage such a war, or would we simply send some money and arms for a while and then eventually get tired of the fight and pull out? Is Taiwan really that important to us?
Donald Trump championed "America First" nationalism, and he derides the hawks in his own party for supporting overseas wars. So it's even more doubtful that in the next four years America would directly participate in a foreign war to save an ally. Doing so would go against Trump's political brand in a big way. He's been darkly warning of Democrats leading the country into "World War III" for a while now, so it'd be hard to see him doing precisely that over Taiwan.
I have no answers for any of this. These are just random and scattered thoughts on a day to honor America's veterans. So I'm not going to draw any sweeping conclusions here. There are no easy answers for the war in Gaza -- it will likely only end when it becomes politically unacceptable in Israel, not here. And the strength of America's alliances with other countries is being tested and will likely continue to be tested further. We finally extricated ourselves from both Iraq and Afghanistan, so there is no current danger of our military having to end its all-volunteer status any time soon. That, at least, is good news. College students are free to protest America's war policies without fearing they'll be forced to participate in them. Our military is made up of people who chose to enlist to serve their country. Not all veterans alive today were free to make that choice. Either way, though, all veterans are due their country's respect on the day set aside to honor them.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
But there is a groundswell of protest among young Americans over what is going on in Gaza. To those people who lived through or were otherwise affected by Vietnam, this is somewhat puzzling, since no college student now protesting is in danger of being forced to go fight in a foreign war. "It's not the same," they say, "since you aren't going to have to participate."
Classic American thinking. If it doesn't affect me, then why should I care.
I know that it wasn't just young voters who stayed home this election.
These are just random Remembrance Day comments that should not have been submitted. Sorry.
@cw,
you should have just received my donation.
CW,
I get it. I completely understand why you are so desperate to find meaning in the Uber Nuclear Orgasmic Shellacking that Democrats just received.
Any meaning that doesn't require even a smidgen of self-reflection.
But there isn't any meaning beyond the most factually accurate one and the most factually OBVIOUS one..
Americans are simply sick and tired of Democrat incompetence and Democrat identity politics.
I mean, look at the reality, CW... You Democrats HONESTLY believe that a man can be a woman JUST because he feels like it and that he should be allowed into female bathrooms and play of female only sports team..
The idea is COMPLETELY and UTTERLY ludicrous on it's face and yet that idea is a mainstream DEMOCRAT idea..
And ya'all wonder WHY Democrats just got creamed and ALL levers of power have been turned over to President Trump and the GOP???!!
:epic eyeroll:
What worries me a lot more is what could be America's next big challenge. If Donald Trump cuts off military support for Ukraine and Russia winds up in control of a large part (if not all) of the country, then it is going to send an enormous signal to China. China may make a simple calculation: If America can't be trusted to back their allies, then perhaps the time is ripe to invade Taiwan?
{{cough, cough}}Afghanistan {{cough, cough}}
Either way, though, all veterans are due their country's respect on the day set aside to honor them.
Thank you.
CW,
My donation was sent as well.. :D
It is likewise puzzling for older Democrats to understand why a whole lot of young voters who normally would support the party essentially decided to stay home this election -- which could be the main reason Donald Trump won. Democratic turnout was way down (especially in liberal strongholds) and young Democratic voters were a big factor (if not the key factor)
Democrats lost voters in virtually ALL demographics. Some demos by as much as 10 points..
Only ONE thing explains this Democrat loss of ALL demographics...
Americans are completely fed up with Democrat policies and Democrat hypocrisy.
It's really that simple..
@m,
there's another reason I think you kind-of ignored; Donald really IS that good at today's political game. his ability to see clearly what will get the most people interested and engaged, as well as what will throw his opponents off their stride and get them distracted, is practically supernatural.
JL
I just read that President Trump plans to issue an Executive Order imposing National CCW Reciprocity...
What that means is that if you have a Conceal/Carry Weapons permit in one state, you are authorized to carry in all 50 states..
Now THAT'S what I am talking about!!! :D
Dunno if it's true or not, but if it is??
Hell yeah, President Trump!!! :D
JL,
Agreed..
President Trump can really read a room..
What else explains how he was able to increase his supporters in deep Blue states like California and New York...
And now that Merchan is going to throw out President Trumps NY conviction Democrats will lose "HE'S A CONVICTED FELON!!!!" chant...
Isn't it a GREAT day to be an American, eh!?? :D
Remember when Republicans claimed to believe in states' rights as a matter of principle? Ha.
And as I was saying last thread, the basis for an employee being paid is the value their work provides to customers. If it's not contributing to the production of anything that customers want, it's a waste of the employee's time, and they should be doing something else instead. (That's at a regular for-profit company, of course. At a non-profit, or in government, it's whether their work is doing society any good in whatever way the organization is trying to.)
But people's time is valuable, even when they're not making money, because people have stuff they like to do besides work. If a job can't provide enough benefit to outweigh whatever the employees would be doing instead of paid work, then the employer isn't entitled to people's time. For that matter, hobbies are often productive. If having an hour's worth of actual vine-ripened tomatoes from your own garden is worth more than what an hour at some BS job would contribute to getting products to customers, the thing that indicates that is that the wage is too low to keep you away from your garden for another hour. Firms are just the intermediary between customers and workers. (Or to be precise, between customers and providers of factors of production. That includes workers, shareholders, and bondholders.)
Remember when Democrats claimed to believe in Free Speech and other freedoms as a matter of principle? HA..
To put it another way, employers aren't entitled to an opinion about what anything is worth. What stuff is worth is a matter of supply and demand. Demand comes from customers. Supply comes from workers, shareholders, bondholders, and owners of natural resources. Firms just make the connection. To customers, they look like supply; to workers they look like demand, but they're just intermediaries.
The situations where they do get a say are stuff like monopoly. Inefficient.
Btw, even if states are going to be compelled to recognize each other's firearm permits, there should be no role for the executive branch. The legitimate basis for such recognition would be the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution. Not the winner-take-all politics of the federal administration.
Michale,
The voters have spoken. While I’m shocked, shocked I tell you that Kamala didn’t wipe the floor with Trump and his Repugs, for the record the Oath that I swore to defend our Constitution means I swore an Oath to defend the will of the people. So Trump will be my President come January.
There. That wasn’t so hard.
I just read that President Trump plans to issue an Executive Order imposing National CCW Reciprocity...
It won't be worth the paper it's written on. If the POTUS could actually force one state to recognize the gun laws of another via simple written order, you'd most likely already have less gun rights and not more.
Trump already made the promise in 2016 to sign legislation to that effect, and it passed the House but never passed the Senate.
H.R.38 - Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017