Politics: J'accuse!

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
The military used to be more heterogenous, politically speaking, than it is now. It's really not a healthy thing for the military or the country for it to side with one or the other party.

The reason our military is largely Rep is because it is an all volunteer military and it is mostly Reps who volunteer.

If more Dems volunteered, then the military would have more Dems.

The kids who join are typically from the South, Texas and the Midwest and many (if not most) are from small towns. (note I said typically). Contrary to what I hear some of you Dems say, they are not only joining for economic benefits. Many of them are very patriotic people and join out of love of country. I am sure that they like the economic benefits, but for many of them, that is far from being the main reason they joined. The demographic from which the ranks of the military come is by and large a Rep group.

If more Dems volunteered for military service, the military service would have more Dems in its ranks.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Not Me
The reason our military is largely Rep is because it is an all volunteer military and it is mostly Reps who volunteer.

If more Dems volunteered, then the military would have more Dems.

The kids who join are typically from the South, Texas and the Midwest and many (if not most) are from small towns. (note I said typically). Contrary to what I hear some of you Dems say, they are not only joining for economic benefits. Many of them are very patriotic people and join out of love of country. I am sure that they like the economic benefits, but for many of them, that is far from being the main reason they joined. The demographic from which the ranks of the military come is by and large a Rep group.

If more Dems volunteered for military service, the military service would have more Dems in its ranks.

More low-income people join the military than high-income people, and they tend to be Democratic in orientation. But the officer corps trends Republican.

I don't know who you think said that people join the military only for economic benefits, but it sounds like something that one of you conservative law-and-economics types would say. People are motivated by more than money, you know.

[Not Me]

• Hamas Leader Rantisi Killed in Israeli Missile Attack
  
  GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israel assassinated Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi in a missile strike on his car Saturday, part of its declared campaign to wipe out the Islamic militant group's leadership ahead of a planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
  . . .
  
  Earlier Saturday, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at an industrial park between Israel and Gaza, killing an Israeli border policeman. Israeli officials said there were no connection between the bombing and the killing of Rantisi.
  . . .
  
  Hamas is responsible for most of the 112 suicide bombings that have killed 465 people on the Israeli side during 3 1/2 years of violence.
  
  . . .
  
  Israeli government sources said they had struck at the first available opportunity, but had to wait for weeks because Rantisi had surrounded himself with children.
  . . .
  
  Rantisi was one of the most hard-line members of the militant movement, which rejects all compromise with Israel and calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.
  . . .
  
  During the mourning period for Yassin, Rantisi was defiant about Israel's threats against him. "We will all die one day. Nothing will change. If by Apache or by cardiac arrest, I prefer Apache," he said.
  
  Hours before Rantisi was killed, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at the Erez industrial zone, killing an Israeli border policeman and injuring three security workers. The bomber had passed through a metal detector at a security check, said Col. Yoav Mordechai, a commander at the crossing.
  
  The militant groups Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade took responsibility for the attack, identifying the bomber as Fadi Al-Amoudi, 22, from Beit Lahiya, a town near the crossing.

Well it looks like he got his wish.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
More low-income people join the military than high-income people, and they tend to be Democratic in orientation.

While it is true that more low-income people join than high-income people and that low-income people tend to be Dems, that doesn't prove that the low-income people who join the military tend to be Dems. The reason the military is largely Reps could be (and likely is) because by and large those low-income people who aren't Dems (i.e., from the South, Texas, and Midwest and from small towns) are the ones volunteering.

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
But the officer corps trends Republican.

So do the enlisted ranks, which outnumber the officers. There are more privates than generals in the army. You yourself admit the military is fairly homogenous in its political ideology. If it were only the officers that were Reps, it would be more a heterogenous military with the enlisted ranks being Dems and the officers being Reps. But it isn't.

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
I don't know who you think said that people join the military only for economic benefits, but it sounds like something that one of you conservative law-and-economics types would say. People are motivated by more than money, you know.

Who was it that made the arguments about Jessica Lynch (and others like her who join) being expoited because they had no other economic options and they only joined to get a job/college scholarship money?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
People are motivated by more than money, you know.

Money and getting girls. But for me neither of these really pointed to joining the military. Girls may like a man in a uniform, but not as much as a man in a Jaguar.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Not Me
So do the enlisted ranks, which outnumber the officers. There are more privates than generals in the army.

remember the military absentee ballots in Florida? they were pretty heavily for Bush. that wouldn't be true if it was just the officers who were Republicans.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Girls may like a man in a uniform, but not as much as a man in a Jaguar.

I hate to admit it but there are far too many women who are nothing but whores. They may not take cash per se for sex, but they trade sex to be with men who buy them things. Not morally different from a streetwalker, just a safer way to prostitute yourself.

Those men who have wives that are considerably better looking than they are but make more money than she does should quit deluding yourselves that she married you for your sense of humor/personality or whatever. She is a whore and you are her john. Marriage in that context is just legalized prostitution.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Not Me
Those men who have wives that are considerably better looking than they are but make more money than she does should quit deluding yourselves that she married you for your sense of humor/personality or whatever.

I used to think mine married me for sense of humor, but then people here started telling me I don't have one, so now I know it was just for money- which hurts.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I used to think mine married me for sense of humor, but then people here started telling me I don't have one, so now I know it was just for money- which hurts.

you are supposed to roll around on the nice soft folding money, not the hard cold coin money. dumbass.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I used to think mine married me for sense of humor, but then people here started telling me I don't have one, so now I know it was just for money- which hurts.

If the woman is better looking by more than 1 or 2 looks categories and especially if she is more than 5 years younger than you, and you make/have more money, especially if you are generous in spending it on her, it isn't your sense of humor that attracted her to you.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Not Me
If the woman is better looking by more than 1 or 2 looks categories and especially if she is more than 5 years younger than you, and you make/have more money, especially if you are generous in spending it on her, it isn't your sense of humor that attracted her to you.

is it a plus or minus if my tits are getting bigger than her's?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Not Me
While it is true that more low-income people join than high-income people and that low-income people tend to be Dems, that doesn't prove that the low-income people who join the military tend to be Dems. The reason the military is largely Reps could be (and likely is) because by and large those low-income people who aren't Dems (i.e., from the South, Texas, and Midwest and from small towns) are the ones volunteering.

So do the enlisted ranks, which outnumber the officers. There are more privates than generals in the army. You yourself admit the military is fairly homogenous in its political ideology. If it were only the officers that were Reps, it would be more a heterogenous military with the enlisted ranks being Dems and the officers being Reps. But it isn't.

First, I started with the observation that the military runs toward the GOP, so you're preaching to the choir. Second, that said, there are a lot of minorities in the military, and it's not clear that anyone has ever studied how they vote. If you can point to something empirical on this, I'd like to see it, but if you're just blowing smoke out your ass as per usual, that's fine because we probably generally agree. Enlisted men and women are probably more conservative than their non-uniformed peers, but are probably less GOP-aligned than the officer corps.

Who was it that made the arguments about Jessica Lynch (and others like her who join) being expoited because they had no other economic options and they only joined to get a job/college scholarship money?

I give up. Who was it?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Money and getting girls. But for me neither of these really pointed to joining the military. Girls may like a man in a uniform, but not as much as a man in a Jaguar.

Men in uniforms in Jaguars can be chaffeurs. Do they do well with the ladies?

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
is it a plus or minus if my tits are getting bigger than her's?

Any of these you?

[SPREE - nudity, not work appropriate]
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/djol/b3ta/mob.html

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
Men in uniforms in Jaguars can be chaffeurs. Do they do well with the ladies?

Where I grew up, we all knew that someone who hires a chaufer for driving their Jaguar is nouveau riche trash. A cultured man waits until he can at least buy a Bently, before taking on his 3rd servant.