Christine the Lioness (3122)
Christopher the Pyro (1986)
ProphetJoe the Irreverent (1253)
Trouble the Pirate (601)
Keith the Director (573)
Mara the Peacemaker (533)
eric the Lil' Devil (351)
AJ the Zen Master (305)
Ben the Kingpin (213)
Haas the Addict (187)
Christine 2 the Mercenary (131) Lei the Mercenary (124) Katie the Mercenary (115)
John1040 the Soldier (59)
A Different Chris the Virgin added
Don’t forget the letters of disapproval. I can’t wait to see the impact they will have.
Christine the Lioness chimed in with
Well, call me an idealist, but I believe that the tip of the scales– voting in the Dems and out with the Repubs, sends the message that people are not happy with what’s been happening in Washington plain and simple. If things were really great for everyone, they’d be all for maintaining status quo. But that is clearly not the case.
Likewise, if the Repubs had been riding out a steady stream of things getting better and better, I think people would have again, given them a chance, hoping the trend continued. Also clearly not the case. Since there was no viable exit strategy by the Bush Administration to get our troops out of Iraq, I think people are willing to see if the Dems can rise to the occasion where the Repubs have fallen short.
I, for one, certainly hope they can… not just because I’m a Democrat… but because I want what’s best for this country.
Christine the Lioness thought this
Oh by the way… I’m gonna pull a Keith here and comment twice in a row… I’m sure all the bad guys have called it a victory that Dems are now in the majority. I don’t know a single leader who would publicly tell his people that they are in pretty big trouble now. Leaders tend to always spin things their way… I mean, look at Bush. He’s a perfect example of that. So I don’t put much stock in what bullshit Kim Jong Il is spouting off this week… or next… or the week after that.
Christopher the Pyro got all philosophical
I think people are sick of what’s going on in washington, infact most polls show that voters hate EVERYBODY in washington, they are just sick of their concerns about things like Iraq & Immigration being pushed under the table. I’m also a big believer in democracy and if people vote it will work I personally doubt anything has changed all that much, there were more then enough moderate republicans in congress to keep the religious wackos from doing anything to insane.
As for Iraq, I’m still not sure why having an exit strategy is important, what if exiting out of Iraq isn’t what is in America’s best interest… I mean it great for the American people to play policy makers but the reality I could make arguments all day long for having troops in Iraq for the next 100 years.. even if a thousand a month were dying.. the ROI for America as a country may very well be worth it. It’s a cold statement and in no way do I not value our troops, but I think we need to be realistic that war isn’t nice and straighting out messed up countries isn’t easy and sometimes we need to do what is best for our country and not for our bleeding hearts.
Christine the Lioness chimed in with
Well if 12,000 troops are dying a year, and for every troop, even four of 8 family members agrees that his/her death was worth it, that’s still 48,000 people a year directly affected by that loss, staying over there will lose popularity pretty fast. The truth is, Americans would rather let that country fall to pieces than lose the lives of our own troops. Saving American lives, in the opinion of many, is always what’s best for the country.
Christopher the Pyro commented
I agree that many people do think saving troops is always best for the country but this thinking is inherently flawed by the fact that American History in now way supports it. Would we be better off by not having the Civil War and allowing the South to break away? How about allowing Mexico to have Texas. How about allowing Hitler to turn Europe into one large country that includes Africa and Russia, China? Aha maybe Vietnam was a bad idea, unless we look at it from a long term point of view that spending the Soviets through war into bankruptcy helped avoid a nuclear war which would have killed hundreds of millions of Americans. Yes 12,000 people dying is horrible and wrong, but we should not make these decisions based on popular opinion. At this point, I still think more people died in 9/11 then in Iraq in 4 years so.. I’m not sure where or why people are upset the reality is.. maybe the right plan isn’t to leave at all. Let’s also remember the 48,000 poeple isn’t even 1/2 of 1% of the people in America.
Christine the Lioness up'n wrote this
That argument is based on the the concept that you can take human emotion completely out of the equation and look at simple numbers and statistics (which Christopher tends to do with pretty much every situation)… but the reality is… each of those 48,000 people have family and friends who’d rather they be alive than dead. And just occupying a country without “winning a war” or “protecting American soil” which is difficult to quantify because you’ll never know what would have happened if we hadn’t invaded Iraq, doesn’t do a lot to justify the death of these troops in the minds of the people who loved them… or even the American people who sympathize with the families that lost sons, daughters, husbands, wives, mothers, and fathers. Despite the fact that Christopher would love to look at this like an algebra question, whenever human life is being lost, there is a human component that is simply inseperable.
And if you’re going to say we shouldn’t base these things on popular opinion, that’s a bit misguided. Popular opinion is what caused the Republicans to lose their foothold in Washington, so it does matter. But then again, it doesn’t surprise me that Christopher doesn’t understand that concept… apparently there are lots of Republicans who haven’t quite wrapped their heads around it.
Christopher the Pyro quibbed this
We I certainly think people who make important decisions need to take emotion out of the equation as much as possible… especially if their jobs are protecting Americans. The reality is nobody feels good about people dying, but sometimes things need to be done that are uncomfortable.
I think what Christine is failing to realize is that neither party has really lost their foothold or power in a long long time. Things just are not in the scope of things all that different then they were three weeks ago. It’s sad, but it is also true. I will bet anybody $100.00 there are still troops in Iraq, 6 years.. hell 10 years from now. I think someone really needs to quantify what winning is because way more American’s died in the Suburb crime or to Drunk Drivers last year then this 4 year “war”.
Again, I apologize for arguing with facts.. I know it makes it difficult to argue against.
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