Please Democrats, stop saying your party is weak on defense

[Mass]

These last few days, quite a few Democrats, Vilsack, Bayh, and Hillary Clinton... recently, have carried the meme that their party appears weak on national security (and that of course they will do better).

I am getting more and more irritated by this behaviour, that is only reinforcing the Rovian stereotype that Democrats is week in defense.

I was happy to see that I was not te only one thinking this way.

So, Bay, Hillary, Vilsack, ..., the best way for you to show that the Democrats are tough (and smart, please) on defense is to show you are, not to say the other ones are not.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/the-wimpy-empty-suits-und_b_15388.html

The Wimpy Empty Suits Undermining Dems on National Security (31 comments )
READ MORE: Iraq, CNBC, Rep. John Murtha, Google, 2006, New York Times, Fox News, George W. Bush

I promised myself that on my vacation this week, I would try to block out politics, but in even briefly reading the newspapers from my vacation outpost, it becomes painfully clear why the Democratic Party is perceived so poorly throughout America: because for every courageous, stand-on-convictions Democrat out there, there are other wimpy empty suit Democrats running around undermining the party for their own personal gain - no matter how stupid, pathetic, hypocritical and weak they make themselves look in the process.
he case in point this week is Democratic Senator Evan Bayh (D). You remember Bayh - he's the stiff, corpse-impersonating guy from Indiana who likes to tell everyone what a great, strong, macho national security leader he is and what a supposedly "tough and smart" national security strategy he has. Every morning this week I have opened a new paper - USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times - and there is the smug, smiling Bayh making headlines running around the country with this "tough and smart" mantra, creating straw men in his own party that he says are "afraid" of national security, and essentially regurgitating Fox News talking points about Democrats supposedly being "weak" on security. Adding insult to injury, this sententious, chest-thumping, just-bomb-em-all-back-to-the-stone-ages lecture aimed at courageous war critics like Marine veteran Jack Murtha comes from the privileged son of a Senator who has never had to serve in a combat area and who unapologetically voted for the Iraq War - a war which Americans believe has severely weakened U.S. national security.

[electropop]

1. What the hell is wrong with these idiots?

We need some serious primary challengers to these DINOs.

Bastards.

[yurbud]

2. We are strong on defense but prefer not to use our military to make

the rich richer.

[MichiganVote]

3. $400billion for defense annually does not make anyone in US

weak on defense. A moron could defend the US with that kind of budget. Oh...right...we already have that. :eyes:

[lostnfound]

8. We need a broad movement to shape public opinion of defense spending

I am shocked to find that people would rather raise taxes, cut social security or medicare benefits, etc. than cut defense spending.

It should be common knowledge just how bloated the defense budget is.

A campaign to make the public more informed on the subject -- not by high-profile Democrats, but by grassroots or leftwing think tanks -- would help the country a great deal and would especially help progressive Democrats seem more mainstream.

[Crazy Dave]

11. Carter was the last president to cut defense spending

As a matter of fact, Carter was the last democratic president that was a true democrat.

[Tinksrival]

4. Sick of hearing it! If Dems were in power,

* WE wouldn't have spent the 200 Billion dollars
* WE wouldn't have allowed UBL to get away in Afghanistan
* WE would be obeying the laws that keep us free
* WE would've used diplomacy long ago in dealing with Iran-- years ago
* WE would make the Ayatollahs irrelevant
* WE would've made friends abroad, instead of enemies
* THEY have NOT made us safer-- they've made us more vulnerable!
* WE feel the responsibility to care for our returning vets, wounded, suffering mental trauma, or otherwise
* WE wouldn't take away benefits from the Veterans, but rather give more to them and by doing so - recognize and honor their service

[Yollam]

5. Of course they are not

Even during the Clinton years, we spent twice as much on defense as we needed to, with troops stationed in over 100 countries, and unconscionably expensive weaponry, and Bushco have only jacked up that spending higher.

We're not any safer, we spend more than twice as much on military than all the other countries on earth combined.

Having a strong defense is not about throwing money at the problem. It's about spending less on defense, spending it wisely, and engaging the world strategically.

Isn't it funny that the "conservatives" think that the only way to keep America safe is by lining the pockets of defense contractors?

I remember reading an article on the cost of building MiGs vs. F-16's and for the price of 1 F-16, the Russians could build 70 MiGs. You could argue about the effectiveness of one plane vs. the other, but how many of our potential enemies have air power that would even be a match for 70 MiGs? There is a huge potential for massive savings in the Pentagon budget, but zero political will in either party to make it happen.

[TheFarseer]

6. You won't catch them saying they're weak on anything

If you try to say they are, they'll say, "No we aren't, YOU ARE!" And that's what we should say.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. We're wasting twice as much on "defense" as the rest of the world

combined. The ulitimate strawman put out by the generals and their partners the politicians and the arms industry.

[xchrom]

9. in the pocket of the military industrial complex.

corporatists -- who can't wait to send more jobs overseas -- especially india -- they're good at that tech stuff after all.

[leftchick]

10. I agree with this totally

and I actually posted it this AM! This shows perfectly how the fucked up DLC is fucking up the Democratic party.

and... corpse impersonating guy from Indiana! :rofl:

[Coastie for Truth]

12. Democrats Soft On Defense My Butt

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EARNED WITH BLOOD AND SWEAT
WORN WITH PRIDE

[madrchsod]

13. reagan used carters military build up to defeat

the russians and georgie is using clintons army in iraq. some democrats are so dam stupid it makes me wonder how they can get a job. wait a minute..throw in fdr,truman and kennedy. it was ike that said beware of the military industrial complex and i remember correctly he was a war hero republican.

[Warren Stupidity]

14. It just ought to be a red flag

anytime any of our 'leaders' starts regurgitating rightwing talking points we ought to just put 'em on the list of asshats who either don't get it, are terminally stupid, or are just plain agents of the dark side. Whatever their story is they no longer deserve our support.

Here is a clue: the propaganda memes from the other side are not 'constructive criticism' that we should take to heart and use to better ourselves, they are weapons intended to destroy us.

[Lefty48197]

15. The American people believe we Democrats are weak on defense.

The Republicans have worked their slander machine to create the myth. The only way to counter the fact is to address it directly with the American people. Admitting that the public feels that way is the first step, IMO.