Good for Gates

[Roger Perry]

Thank you, Sinner. I stand corrected. You are indeed old enough to know better, unless you fall into the 'lifelong' Democrat category. Many in your party use this as their guide to voting. How about you?

UB

10. I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.

9. I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

8. I voted Democrat because Freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

7. I voted Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.

6. I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.

5. I voted Democrat because I'm not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies through abortion so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

4. I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits.

3. I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the democrats see fit.

2. I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.

1. I voted Democrat because my head ...

.............................

it's unlikely that I'll ever have another point of view.

How about I voted Decomcrat because Bush 43 screwed up the U.S.of A more than any Democrat could have.

Or, I voted Democrat because McCain/Palin did not have a clue and would have continued to screw up things more than a Democrat could.

[huntinman]

How about I voted Decomcrat because Bush 43 screwed up the U.S.of A more than any Democrat could have.

Or, I voted Democrat because McCain/Palin did not have a clue and would have continued to screw up things more than a Democrat could.

Nope, those are not valid. Sorry.

[M&K's Retrievers]

How about I voted Decomcrat because Bush 43 screwed up the U.S.of A more than any Democrat could have.

Or, I voted Democrat because McCain/Palin did not have a clue and would have continued to screw up things more than a Democrat could.

I know you like to joke but do you really believe that Obama and his band of incompetents are better than the alternative? At least if M/P were in there, grid lock would have prevented the crap this administration with their lock in Congress has shoved down our collective throats.

[menmon]

I'm so tired of being non-patriot if I think that wasting young mens lives and taxpayer dollars on wars that can't be won. Killing a bunch of people does not change attitute...they still don't like us.

It is nothing against the men and women fighting if I don't agree that we should be at war. They are getting paid to suit up and fight, and they knew that was possible when they enlisted.

Most republicans I know don't believe in the wars either, mainly because now they think their taxes are going up because of them. Easy to be patriotic when it has no personal cost, like money or your life.

On another note, I'm tired of being told I'm not a Christian because I'm a democrat.

I don't agree 100% with the democrats agenda, but I agree more with it than I do the republican.

When I think of these wars, I think about the families that have lost their children, so military contractors can make more sales. What a waste!

[Jason Glavich]

Seriously though:
Lives? Out of the 950,000+ troops committed there were only 392 killed, 772 wounded of Coalition forces according to Wiki. I'm sure you view that as a loss. I prefer to look at the gain of so many of our troops coming back alive.

Money? Without that action, we all could have been paying $4 a gallon & up gas a lonnnng time ago. I view that extra money over the years and ability to maintain my lifestyle as a gain. In actual $'s, the US Department of Defense estimated the incremental cost at $61 billion. This additional cost included deployment, construction and operations in the Gulf. However, $54 billion was offset by contributions of other members in the Coalition. Two-thirds of the $54 billion was provided by the Gulf States ($36 billion) with the remaining one-third mostly provided by Japan and Germany ($16 billion).
How many billions might have flowed into Saddam's pockets if he had been allowed to stay in Kuwait or taken over Saudi Arabia as well, is impossible to guess-timate. Bottom line, The US paid roughly $7 billion, less than 12% of the total cost and less than half what Saudi Arabia and Kuwait paid.
I think it's reasonable though, to say that we would have paid more than that amount over the years just in gas alone.

The Coalition forces demonstrated vast technological & tactical superiority over Saddam's, this enabled modern armored warfare to become battles of maneuver over the old school encounter, bringing more of our family members home. Remember the ground campaign lasted only 100 hours, not days or months. GPS came into its own and has transformed the way many of us live our lives these days. This has also led to advances in UAV's and other robotic weapons, keeping more of "our guys" safe piloting joysticks in Colorado Springs & El Segundo CA instead of being in harm's way over A-stan & elsewhere. Definite gain, imo! You can decide on the "value" of that.

Lastly, we demonstrated the willingness and ability to stand by our allies and defend our interests. Though if the present trend continues, we may not have many, if any, allies to defend in the region. Thus self validating Gates' premise in his speech. Decide for yourself whether gain/loss.

I am going to try and say this without it sounding like a Prick, may be hard in this one instance.

Losing 1 life is too many. The cost of a life cannot be measured. Yes I served, Yes I lost comrades.

So with action, and lives lost you were able to maintain your lifestyle? I would gladly give up my "lifestyle" for any of those who gave their lives. I could care less about paying 4+ a gallon to bring them back, whether I knew them or not.

Those who put their @$% on the line to keep America great paid for all of our "lifestytyles" by giving their LIFE

[road kill]

I'm so tired of being non-patriot if I think that wasting young mens lives and taxpayer dollars on wars that can't be won. Killing a bunch of people does not change attitute...they still don't like us.

It is nothing against the men and women fighting if I don't agree that we should be at war. They are getting paid to suit up and fight, and they knew that was possible when they enlisted.

Most republicans I know don't believe in the wars either, mainly because now they think their taxes are going up because of them. Easy to be patriotic when it has no personal cost, like money or your life.

On another note, I'm tired of being told I'm not a Christian because I'm a democrat.

I don't agree 100% with the democrats agenda, but I agree more with it than I do the republican.

When I think of these wars, I think about the families that have lost their children, so military contractors can make more sales. What a waste!

Could you tell us which portions of the Democrats agenda you like??

Just askin'.....

RK

[menmon]

Could you tell us which portions of the Democrats agenda you like??

Just askin'.....

RK

There are some social issues I don't line up. Gun control is one of them. This doesn't mean I line up with the NRA either. I'm prolife, but I know that the court is not going to change it. Not too kine on gay marriages either, but all to their own, so I do really care. These are a few.

On something that is affecting your part of the world...I'm pro-union. I've seen what union busting will do first hand here in southeast Texas, so be carefull not to lose rights.

I use to be anti-litigation too, until I was the f@#kee and the f@#ker screwed me royally. So for twenty years, I voted away my rights and then I had no one to blame but myself when when I needed the courts help.

So don't buy into the state can't afford collective bargining. Even though it does not impact you directly, there will come a day when you need those rights.

[LokiMeister]

All this talk of Republicans and Democrats is making my head hurt...it really is.

It doesn't really matter who is in power, the government is going to screw us over one way or other. Those that are in power will do EVERYTHING they can to stay in power. There are a few power brokers in Washington right now and they manage to keep that power because they manage to do enough things to keep getting reelected, or like Tammy Baldwin, Democratic Congresswoman from Wisconsin, just happen to reside in a very liberal college town of Madison, Wisconsin (not that she has any power). We should have kept (pragmatic) Feingold (first Dem I ever voted for) and got rid of her but that is another story.

In any case, here is what needs to be done. Back in the late 18th century, there was a little conflict on the Eastern Seaboard. You guys are all probably familiar with it. The American Revolution. We need another one, today. We need to remove the people in power and replace them with people that actually care about the United States of America. I realize that people are going to die in this revolution or civil war or whatever you want to call it, but there really isn't any other choice here. Unfortunately, Americans don't have the stomach to do this so do this.

[Roger Perry]

I know you like to joke but do you really believe that Obama and his band of incompetents are better than the alternative? At least if M/P were in there, grid lock would have prevented the crap this administration with their lock in Congress has shoved down our collective throats.

Unfortunately yes I do. I felt and still feel McCain/Palin were more incompetent than the alternative. Do you have any idea how many times McCain flip floped on issues?????? http://thinkprogress.org/mccain-flip-flops/

Ever heard any Palin interviews?????????????

And you think these 2 together were qualified to run our Country??????? In 2009 we were on the verge of going into a depression. Thankfully we never made it that far. If Palin had any say in how things were to be run we would be smack dab in the middle of another war now with the goings on in the Middle East.

I think the only reason Bush and Cheney were not impeached was because of who was next in line (Nancy Pelosi) for the Presidency.

Here is more that I just came across. It seems McCain's economic advisor was architect of the Democrats Stimilus plan which McCain would have most likely followed his advise.


Economist predicts GOP cuts would cost 700,000 jobs

A report by economist Mark Zandi from Moody’s says that Republicans’ plan to cut spending would cost 700,000 jobs through 2012, the Washington Post reports.
Republicans, however, are pushing back, trying to discredit Zandi (who was an economic adviser to John McCain's campaign), calling him the "chief architect" of the stimulus.
"When considering the latest study from Mark Zandi on the GOP’s efforts to rein in government spending, let’s not forget that he was the chief architect of the Democrats’ failed stimulus plan," wrote Brian Patrick, a spokesman for Majority Leader Eric Cantor. "Even as unemployment climbed into the double digits, Mr. Zandi continued to defend this failed policy. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that he would come out against the GOP’s common-sense efforts to put an end to more stimulus-style spending."

[BrianW]

I am going to try and say this without it sounding like a Prick, may be hard in this one instance.

Losing 1 life is too many. The cost of a life cannot be measured. Yes I served, Yes I lost comrades.

So with action, and lives lost you were able to maintain your lifestyle? I would gladly give up my "lifestyle" for any of those who gave their lives. I could care less about paying 4+ a gallon to bring them back, whether I knew them or not.

Those who put their @$% on the line to keep America great paid for all of our "lifestytyles" by giving their LIFE

Jason, reading my post again through your eyes helped me see that I appear a selfish bastard, insensitive to the blood, sweat and tears incurred by those like yourself.

My deepest apologies to you for any offense, and to anyone else here who feels similarly,as that was not my intent, though evident effect.

I also offer my deepest thanks for your service and sincerest regrets & condolences on your suffering and losses of friends and family. You all gave some and some gave all, while many stayed here and reaped the benefits of your sacrifice.