Obama targets veterans’ votes
The Associated Press reports that the Obama campaign thinks it has a lock on veterans’ votes because he ended the the war in Iraq and has a generally good record on national security. While I’ll concede that he has presided over the military during a successful period, it’s only because he’s interfered with the policies established by the Bush Administration less than we expected.
The Associated Press gives him credit for the new GI Bill, which was signed before he came into office by his predecessor. It was the Obama Administration which screwed the pooch and paid veterans months after they’d promised because they only had a year or so to figure the whole thing out, while troops and their families suffered financially.
And remember when he wanted to force service-disabled veterans to buy insurance? Do you really think he’ll cave as easily next time when there’s no election to worry about?
Oh, yeah, and he’s got the Defense Department doing his dirty work jacking up TriCare premiums, so he can go around proclaiming that he won’t balance the budget on the backs of veterans.
Did I mention that Obama and his hitmen are slashing $800 billion out of the defense budget – so much so that the American Legion commander says it imperils our national security? That this President has never given veterans a cost of living increase but our healthcare costs are rising along with fuel that we use to get to veterans’ treatment facilities?
So what has really done? He failed to successfully negotiate a Status of Forces Agreement which forced us to withdraw from Iraq while it descends into violence. Disregarding the advice from his commanders, he half-assed surged in Afghanistan hoping that drones would make up for the number of troops…and then lost drone bases in Pakistan.
He won’t admit that service members in Fort Hood and Arkansas were victims of Islamic terrorists, pretty much refusing to recognize that war against terrorists has followed the troops home.
He’s made a lot of pretty speeches to veterans that few of us believed. And, bin Laden and al Awlaki were killed under his command, so that’s something.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Military issues, Veteran Health Care, Veterans Issues
Given that leftists of his ilk consider themselves to be soooo superior in every way to we who actually find our country worth defending from leftists of his ilk (and anyone else who threatens her), well, yeah, he would, like, feel, like we’d swallow any little piece of tripe he might throw at us. Sure. ‘Cause, you know, they are just that delusional.
He will never, ever, ever, ever, ever get my vote. What a putz.
I’m voting for him!!!
Voting for him to leave office as soon as possible, that is.
As a veteran Obama will never get my vote. I won’t touch the SOFA talking point…..some memes won’t die.
But Islamic inspired terrorism is Islamic inspired terrorism. And the promises to disabled vets is just that.
With all of the faults that will keep sane people for voting for him……I don’t see the need to invent issues.
Bin Laden was killed AFTER the SCOAMF slept on it. He needed a night to think.
Think? Is that what we’re calling it these days??
“The Associated Press gives him credit”. It’s not called the Administration Press for no reason. And, he’ll never get my vote, unless I can vote in the affirmative for his retirement.
I always thought that AP was the Associated (with terrorists) Press.
Huh.
I usually don’t talk politics on blogs, but the next election I’m not voting for any of the assholes running for either big party. As far as I can see, both have screwed the pooch….and will fuck up a soup sandwich.
I din’t volunteer for Iraq because I felt that Bush and his dumbass bunch did the right thing, I voluteered to do what I could to help my brothers and sisters.
Both the republicans and democrats have acted like children and itiot in the last 10 years. My suggestion is to not vote for any of them until they come up with somebody worth a shit.
I’m sure some will argue with me…and frankly I don’t care…it’s time to stop “fighting” in Washington and work to solve some of the problems we have…all the jerks there are totally out of touch.
Not going to argue with you CI, you’re entitled to your right to vote for whomever you see fit.
But if you vote 3rd party or write in someone you more identify with but who has zero chance of winning in the next election, you’re essentially throwing your vote away.
The system is what it is and we can’t fix it between now and Nov. 2012, so you will have to decide whether you want another 4 years of Obama, b/c that’s essentially what you’re doing by voting for anyone other than the Republican who runs against him.
I don’t disagree with your feelings on the matter, but your moral victory and voting with your conscience isn’t going to help the country turn things around or make life in and out of the military better for veterans and retirees.
We have too many people who simply don’t understand the system running around preparing to cast votes because of their frustration with national politics. That’s basically handing the keys to the Dems until 2017, so enjoy that and understand that you helped it happen, because there is zero chance their frustrated, radical base is going to pitch in for anyone other than BHO.
They have pandering military votes for a year. His wife and all that military family BS is an obvious play.
As a senior citizen and veteran there is no way on God’s green earth that I would ever vote for the purple lipped one or any of his ilk (socialist, liberal, democrat).
My resolve is strengthened by the fact that my dad (WWII Submarine Vet) and son (Desert Storm Navy ATC) still believe he walks on water.
@10 Ptolemy in Egypt – I have to disagree with you although for many years I held your same beliefs. Several times since the early 60s I have held my nose and voted for the ‘person most likely to defeat’ the libturds/dhimwits. Sometimes the man I voted for won … sometimes he lost … and the system rarely changed. However, I always had more money in my paycheck with the republicans in office. The last insult was voting for McCain (but only after I investigated Sarah Palin) and decided to concede once again. Never again!!!
Americans give away their rights when they compromise. America needs better representatives than those we are currently offered due to previous elections ‘for the one who can defeat’ yada yada yada. This Republic probably has the worst voting record of any democracy with less than 50% turning out on election day. The ‘politicians’ screw us most of their term and the final year sooth our anger with their false promises depending on which state and environment they are in at the time the cameras are turned on.
If Americans reclaim their right to vote for their representatives, then perhaps those who choose to represent America will begin to listen once again.
Obama has had two definitive military successes on his watch. They are the deaths of Bin Laden and Al Walaki. Both are great for the nation but are a wash for him politically because their very success was predicated on policies he opposed and were created by his predecessor. Everything else at best is neutral or rolling backward.
1) Iraq. The Obama administration’s inability to extend the SOFA agreement or negiotate a new frame work has been a disaster. The country as it stands today is rolling backward.
2)Libya. We still have absolutely no idea who exactly is running that country. Qaddafi was a dictator who we cowed into cooperation, was no threat to us, did not support terrorists, and, had given up his WMD program. Above all he knew we could quash him at our convenience. What is the incentive to cooperate with us now for the rogues of the world? Why not just throw your lot in the bad apples and build your own WMD capability as soon as possible. Even the most powerful nation on earth can’t occupy and search every inch of the planet.
3)Afghanistan. The administration’s artificial timelines, which were created entirely for political reasons and not military ones will not ultimately be successful. We have had some notable victories in the south but much of the east has been conceded to the enemy. We needed long term reinforcements not a surge.
4) Nevermind the overextending of our Operators for tangents that belong to the line formations. Or the bow around the world tour. The snuggling up to Argentina over the Falklands as opposed to Britain. The constant demanding of Israeli to make concessions that will make the nation almost indefensible. Or what about using our Eastern european allies as bargaing chips, abandoning missile defense, for a reset of Russia.
All of the above does not count the 800 Billion dollars he wants to cut from DOD that would cripple our ability to project power in the world. Yeah alot for Vets to support.
Toothless Dawg- So as not to get repetitive.
I do not disagree with your sentiments. But that’s what they are- sentiments.
Our political process is not going to allow for anyone other than a candidate from the “big 2” parties to be elected. Change takes time and there isn’t enough of a groundswell in this country yet to go against the Dems-Republicans…and win. That’s the key part- winning the election.
I for one, don’t want another 4 years of BHO…do you? That’s what you’ll get if you throw your vote away on someone who has no real shot at winning.
Can’t get there from here in 2012…
@15 – They may well be sentiments, which I agree with…but the status quo has been proven to both not be successful and to not be popular.
Romney will likely be the next POTUS…..and government will grow….spending will continue….and in the next one or two election cycles, the pendulum will swing back the other way, and the Democrats will take up residence again.
Then we’ll have the same rhetoric of ‘the most important election of our time’, etc…
One can just as easily throw their vote away by casting it for a party or politician who doesn’t embody anything close to a majority of their beliefs.
Whether Obama is reelected is immaterial. The GOP needs to win the Senate with a significant majority. Senator Reid already rewrote the rules, so there effectively no filibusters any more, and cloture votes are a thing of the past.
The next Senate will:
– Oversee the confirmation of at least 2, possibly 3 Justices of the Supreme Court
– Oversee the confirmation of the next Attorney General, after trying the current one.
– Oversee the filling of the Judiciary
– Dismantle DOJ’s Civil Rights and Voting sections: no more hard-core racists and Maoists undermining freedom in America
– Dismantle the czars
– Send the FLOTUS the bill for her high living on our dime.
Obama does not govern, does not lead, and does not care. He’s The SCOAMF.
Better efforts are to be made down-ticket. Governors, state legislatures and so on. The GOP must grow the House and seize the Senate. Failure to do so means that no matter who wins the Presidency, The SCOAMF’s legacy will live in perpetuity.
I can’t find anything to disagree with in your post, Dave. The Senate is far more important than the White House in 2012. And we need to elect enough people to overcome the built-in handicap of Collins, Snowe, Grahamnesty and McCain.
I have a problem with everyone who claims to be a conservative that is in the running. You see, for too long we have been told not to vote for any person who doesn’t have a D/R behind their name because it means it’s a vote for the party you don’t want in power.
That is what I deem the giant manipulation of the voting population. Every time we hold our noses to vote for the “lesser of two evils” we get the same shit. If more people stood with the candidates that really mirrored their principles, the shitbird in the WH wouldn’t be there. You can’t vote on promises anymore. It comes down to actions and the only place you can see that is with a prior governor,senator, or rep.
In refrence to Obama’s targeting I’ll share with you a saying we had downrange,”When you’re fed bullshit every day the new stuff may smell different but it all tastes the same.”
I tell him good luck because it seems he has few friends in the military these days and probably fewer when the cuts hit.
To my view, Romney is the Albino Obama, so voting for him is no different than voting for Obama. They are the two sides of the same coin.
I cannot, in good faith, cast a vote for someone who does not represent my beliefs. As above, I, too, have held my nose and cast a vote for someone, in order to keep someone else out of office. No more. I live every day of my life in pain because of my military service. I earned every bit of my right to vote, and I will damn well vote or not vote based upon how I see the candidates and whether they actually represent me.
The only way that either of the two major parties will begin to understand the depth of the change that this nation needs is if we, the people, start to withhold our votes from them, if we vote for candidates whom we feel best represent us.
I agree that winning the Senate is far more important than winning the White House. Gaining control, a firm, death-grip on BOTH the House and Senate is the only way to affect the changes that need to be made.
Romney, Paul, Perry, & Gingrich bring nothing to the table for me. I could vote for Bachmann, possibly for Santorum. I’d prefer to vote for Palin.
We’ll see what happens, but I can damned well assure everyone that I will NOT be voting unless I find someone who represents my views. I will no longer be a foot soldier for the GOP, a slave to the toadies who run the organization like it’s their own fiefdom and tell us who we will support. Screw that. I am a Conservative first, and my vote, and my support will only go to someone I CHOOSE.
V/R
@21 – “I cannot, in good faith, cast a vote for someone who does not represent my beliefs. As above, I, too, have held my nose and cast a vote for someone, in order to keep someone else out of office. No more.”
Well said.
Take some solace in the apparent fact that there are possibilities for your vote in the future; as a conservative Libertarian, I can’t find a candidate who supports economic liberty and personal liberty in anything close to equal measure. The pessimist in me is believing that I will forever be disappointed in the national race.
#21, #22…We call ourselves “Crispians”. (We few, we orphaned proud conservatives).
I voted my principles in the last election. And I will do it, again.
At some point, hopefully, other people will understand that compromise sometimes is not good enough.
Don’t be too disappointed, CI…we are all fallible. There are enough people who think alike and who will fight for the Republic and what it stands for regardless of the lunes in charge. That’s what makes it great to be here in USA, rather than anywhere else.
Happy New Year!
If he’s smart then he won’t take credit for the new GI Bill: I’m an out of state student at a pretty affordable public university. Even then I still need two scholarships, a Stafford loan, a Pell Grant, and a part time job to cover my tuition and fees. The VA drags it’s feet so much that the college has to put in a special waiver for all the veterans, without which we’d be disenrolled for nonpayment of tuition. The living stipend is adequate, but only pays based on the percentage of time you are in school each month (since I guess the government thinks I only owe rent for days that fall within the academic calender?) The VA seems to only want to communicate when informing me they’re ‘working on my claim.’ My one C&P trip to the local VA Hospital has led me to include a, ‘If the VA is the only option then please send a drunken Conrad Murray to slit my wrists with a dull pencap before VA Hospital admittance’ clause in my living will.
Vote people. That’s all you can do. We know his history with the military – disappointing to say the least. Make your voice heard.