Ducey and Kemp - just two more spineless, cowardly Republicans. Hey, insult me, insult my wife, insult my family - no problem - I'll kiss your ass. Thank you sir, may I have another!! Useless pieces of shit.
Maybe there’s something innate about most people who are willing to go into politics that allows them to compartmentalize and ignore any pangs of conscience they may feel.
I cannot comprehend how anyone could simply accept and ignore insults directed at their loved ones and themselves. Personally, I couldn’t and wouldn’t do it.
Hmmm…..maybe that’s one more reason I’m not in politics….in addition to never being able to be completely honest and open with anyone, having to publicly support positions I really don’t agree with because it’s the “party’s position,” and constantly having to calculate how anything I say or do can be used against me.
I cherish the occasional politician who at least seems to be a caring, rational, principled, and decent person. Maybe they’ve always been rare creatures, but they’re almost extinct these days.
I am not quite that cynical. Ducey, my former Republican governor, has very elastic morals in the way you describe, imo. Mark Kelly, my Democratic senator, and Mesa, Arizona mayor Giles, a Republican who has endorsed Harris because his party is corrupt, have some moral fiber, I think.
Mary I'm also in AZ. In fact I live in Mesa . I'm proud of our mayor for standing up for his principles. Ducey, not so much. He expanded the school voucher grift, I mean program over the voters defeating it at the ballot box. The state now has a 900 million deficit because of that move Now he's announced he's throwing his support to Chump and Fake Lake. Another GOP hack.
Doesn't Ducey own a share of a private/charter school in AZ called Kind Hearts, or something like that? I know that Hugh Hewitt owns a stake and used to talk about the school on his horrible radio show, not disclosing his interest in it.
That wouldn't surprise me. Some GOP members have financial ties to Charter schools and have made millions. It's part of their plan to destroy public education.
I agree…about Kelly, at least (I don’t know anything about your mayor, of course). There still exist (I think & hope) at least SOME politicians of moral & ethical fiber in this country, and hopefully more emerge as we (again, hopefully) work out way out of the stinking political morass that trump has engendered.
If Kamala wins in Nov, I think we will, eventually, work our way out of the morass. That's what we in the pro-democracy coalition need to start working on in 225.
No problem there. Surely he has another set in his bathroom cabinet. Wouldn't surprise me a bit to learn he has a set in gold...the pyrite kind, not the element.
They aren't cowardly. They are cunning. They know how bad the things they are going along with are, but they want more riches and power for themselves.
I bet when the Snake in Chief tells his snake tale at rallies, he mentally superimposes any number of gutless GOP hotshots as the woman who took him in. Except some hot shots keep taking the Snake in or now they've decided it best to accept Hannibal's dinner invitation.
Ann Coulter says she’s voting or him this time because, if he loses, he’ll just run again 4 years from now and cost them 4 elections. Let him eat us now so he doesn’t eat us later. That is the kind of logic that makes the GOP great.
I have seen Liz Cheney's "Our Great Task" emails quite clearly saying Trump isn't fit to serve but I've not yet seen her explicitly support the D ticket for POTUS
The party has spent the last 8 years trying to find and expel anyone with a spine. They have been largely successful. I was surprised the Republican mayor of Mesa AZ endorsed Harris. I did not think there were any politicians with a moral compass left in the party.
Just as an experiment I would love to see Democrats automatically adopt the nicknames Trump creates for his fellow Republicans ie. Lyin’ Ted Cruz. The responses would be entertaining and educational.
Exactly what I was thinking. And what does Ducey have to lose? He’s termed out as gov and was adamant he didn’t want to run for senate. Of course, what does that even mean when a politician is “adamant” these days, particularly a Republican.
This whole “Stolen Valor” nonsense is ironic. Vance disparaging Walz when his boss Trump had five deferments! Walz served honorably for 24 years, rising to the highest non-commissioned rank in the army. Walz could have retired four years before he did; deciding to run for Congress. If this is all they’ve got, good luck with it!….:)
I know this is old news now, going all the way back to yesterday, but I find myself increasingly angry over one specific aspect of the DJT-Musk feelgood session. Somewhat lost in the shuffle is how DJT praised Musk for suppressing employees’ efforts to unionize and how they both had a good laugh over how much fun it is to fire people and keep them economically repressed, for their own personal gain. It has the look and feel of two adolescents enjoying picking the wings off of flies, just because they can.
Really, how hard it is to see that these guys have no interest whatsoever in the "little people" -- the average working person trying to make ends meet and establish some reasonable sense of financial security? They care only about their own power structure, wealth, and how to both use them and flash them for maximum impact. I easily could see these two sitting on a hill with beverages, watching someone's home float downriver in a flood and joke about it being a hillbilly houseboat. No working person with any respect for how hard it is to go through life on a basic budget and save for the future should ever want anything to do with either of these two self-absorbed turds. Boycott both with your purchases and your vote.
As a classical Democrat/leftie I've always supported and admired (and somewhat envied) the working class people who have skills and know how to make and fix things. In fact, since I have none of those skills I have to live at the mercy of tradesmen. That's why it feels like such a kind of betrayal that so many of them have embraced a person who has no real interest in making their lives better. In fact I'm convinced after a rally Trump walks off stage thinking, "God, I can't get away from these people fast enough."
What I sometimes ask people is: would DJT ever have Joe the Plumber over to his home for a cookout and some beverages? If not, you're looking at a purely transactional relationship.
Agreed, that should be made into a political ad immediately. Trump pretends to be pro-union, but I think he revealed what he really thinks of unions, and it wasn't pretty.
Apparently the UAW is filing a case (or something) against them for worker intimidation over that comment. Can't imagine it goes anywhere, but who knows.
DJT and Elon would sooner piss on any working/middle-class person than lift a pinkie finger to help them in any way. The Harris campaign--really any Dem running for office--should use clips from that disgusting X interview in their campaign ads to emphasize just how little the modern GOP cares about workers (or about anyone who's not in the top 0.1%). Keep emphasizing this until election day.
What do you mean? Gas prices were lower when DJT was president! As far as I can tell, that's good enough for most of middle America. [I'm only half kidding. Sadly.]
Yes, according to those yokels, we are only another pandemic away from greater purchasing power across the board. At least until people start hoarding and reselling toilet paper again.
In his first campaign, Trump said "Our wages are too high" and it made U.S. companies uncompetitive. Asked about it afterward, he repeated the claim.
Evidently someone told him it wasn't a great vote-getter, because he dropped the idea. But when a Trump apologist later asserted that Trump "promised to raise wages," I wondered: When did he say that? How did he promise to do it?
In fairness to the propaganda-pilled, some critiques of some unions have merit. There are definitely unions out there whose leadership is in it for themselves and not their members, and I could see how a person who had experience in that type of situation might sour on unions in general (though they'd be wrong).
Because unions can be as heavy-handed and even unlawful in their behavior as management, an not just in the dim past either. I remember in the 1990s group proposing a charter school for the county held a community forum at the library to answer the public's questions. The teacher's union represented by a couple of burly football coaches blocked entry. The union rep had called the organizer the night before and told her to cancel the forum because the union would see to it that no one came.
Well, Sean O’Brien (the idiot who spoke at the RNC) noticed - called it 'economic terrorism'. Perhaps that will give him some credibility with his Trump-leaning members, because you can be sure every Teamster is going to know what Trump said.
Dave, please note most members of the military are eligible for forward deployment and stray rockets can hit even REMF (rear echelon ...). But Vance is a former Marine and "all Marines are riflemen." There are no chaplains or medical staff in the Marines (these roles are performed by the Navy) because all Marines are combatants. He signed up, he served, and I would ask all our Bulwark community to choose another line of attack on him, of which there are many.
I respect Vance's service. I do not respect his attacking another's service. But Vance is the prime example of a right wing "sorter" - just like Trump does not prefer losers and suckers, Vance does not prefer nonparents, divorcees, left wing Christians, Muslims/Hindis/etc, recovered drug addicts, or women who have had life-saving abortions, to name just a few.
I had an acquaintance from college who died in Iraq on a rear base from a mortar attack. I am sure there were a few truly safe spaces, but nothing is ever certain. That being said I honor Walz's service, I can easily put myself in his place. He had already put his 20 in, re-upped after 9/11, was gone over a year with a young family, and I am sure knew at some point he would be called up again. At some point it is okay to say I have done my service and it is time to retire. It isn't as if he skipped out right before deployment it was a full 10 months.
Exactly. Voluntary service isn't indentured service. He is free to go. One could just as easily ask why Vance didn't see fit to stay in voluntary service.
I think we can hold these separate thoughts in our heads at the same time. Walz and Vance both honor us with their military service. Vance is acting like an ass. Walz is acting like an adult. That's where the line is there.
He can be told his military service is respected and appreciated but that he doesn't get a pass for being a civilian asshole just because he wore a uniform.
I have no military experience and no one of my forebears ever served. But... Vance was a military journalist, wasn't he? I am sure he faced real risks. But despite what you say, it does not sound like he did much rifle shooting.
He would still have had rifle training in basic training, and some level of required annual training. As far as I know, he never shot a rifle in combat, but that doesn't mean he would have been incapable of doing so had a situation occurred where that was necessary.
All of his attacks on Wallz are still bullshit though.
From what I know of annual training, it is a trip to the range where you are issued an unzeroed M-16. All you have to do is vaguely aim at the target and pull the trigger a few times. Then you turn the rifle in for the next person. I am not even sure if these rifles are taken apart and cleaned regularly. And the training doesn't always occur annually, maybe only once in four years.
I like your emphasis on respect for the service. My former Marine friends call Vance a pog. They apparently have some hierarchy of respect for type of service in the ranks.
My daughter served in Public Affairs in the WI National Guard. She was deployed to Guantanamo Bay. She is currently married to an active duty marine. I am a Vietnam Era veteran who had a cushy four years in the service. I might not like JD Vance, but I will NEVER disparage anyone who served honorably regardless what they did, or did not do.
I don't see this current Walz military controversy as having much in the way of legs. It simply isn't a matter that resonates with the vast majority of Americans who tell us that they are worried about cost of living and the border. Sure, the political right will try to gin it up to the point that it becomes staggering drunk. But that's what people do when they are desperate. If they really want to have that discussion, then by all means let's be sure to bring up again DJT's fine military record of avoiding service altogether and why. That is far more relevant, in how it both reflects and defines character.
The GOP wants the high ground back, by any means possible. Walz and the campaign have addressed the issue. Now continue forward, on message. I see today that the Consumer Price Index has slowed below 3 percent for first time since March 2021. Let's discuss that instead and why it matters so much more to the average working family. (https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/14/economy/us-cpi-consumer-price-index-inflation-july/index.html) And while we're at it, that Project 2025 matter deserves a still deeper dive into its substance and what that stands to do to us all. Again, the question remains: the past versus the future. Let's keep having that talk. When in doubt, ask: is what matters more what Tim Walz did in his uniform or what J.D. Vance would do to you while wearing a suit?
JD Vance has much to answer for so let's focus on that. 1) His letter to the DOJ suggesting they reinstate the Comstock Act. 2) His sad and pathetic response about his wife - "She's not White, but I love Usha." He should have made crystal clear he loves his wife, is proud of her. Her skin color and her heritage do not matter to him. Nor should that be an issue for anyone else. 3) His consistent lying that can easily be fact checked and blown up must to be front and center. His lies should be debunked the instant he blurts them out. 4) He is a damaged individual. He grew up around violence, alcoholism, and a drug addicted parent. Those combined childhood traumas take a great toll. Nobody comes out of that unscathed. I grew up around relatives who were alcoholics. That was bad enough, without the added violence and drug addiction. It takes years long work with mental health professionals to help sort those traumas out. I continue to do that work today. Based on his remarks about cat ladies without children, making silly statements about Walz's military record, his austere views about abortion, and his weak defense of his wife, I would bet he has not made peace with his traumatic upbringing.
He is a deeply troubled guy. Which, even more troubling, does seem a totally logical VP pick for DJT. It is no child's fault that the parents and the home were a disaster. But as you say, it needs to be addressed , and made peace with, to function well as a healthy adult.
Vance has done the polar opposite. Doubled down on all that is small and basically rooted in meanness. Saying he loves his wife even though she isn't white? This is a despicable 'reveal' of who this man is. By I'll give him credit: he's in the right campaign. Fitness for duty not required. ♍️
You captured JD Vance very well. I agree that we don't choose our parents or the situations we have to tolerate when we are too young to make our own choices. It is our choice whether or not we seek help as adults to give ourselves the tools to overcome and live healthier lives.
The reason Swift Boat was sort of successful on Kerry is that Kerry came back from Vietnam and publicly opposed the presence of the US there and said that US military committed war crimes there. For some people that was unforgivable so they were quite willing to believe the Swift Boat allegations. The Walz situation has no similarity to that.
Ducey and Kemp - just two more spineless, cowardly Republicans. Hey, insult me, insult my wife, insult my family - no problem - I'll kiss your ass. Thank you sir, may I have another!! Useless pieces of shit.
Maybe there’s something innate about most people who are willing to go into politics that allows them to compartmentalize and ignore any pangs of conscience they may feel.
I cannot comprehend how anyone could simply accept and ignore insults directed at their loved ones and themselves. Personally, I couldn’t and wouldn’t do it.
Hmmm…..maybe that’s one more reason I’m not in politics….in addition to never being able to be completely honest and open with anyone, having to publicly support positions I really don’t agree with because it’s the “party’s position,” and constantly having to calculate how anything I say or do can be used against me.
I cherish the occasional politician who at least seems to be a caring, rational, principled, and decent person. Maybe they’ve always been rare creatures, but they’re almost extinct these days.
I am not quite that cynical. Ducey, my former Republican governor, has very elastic morals in the way you describe, imo. Mark Kelly, my Democratic senator, and Mesa, Arizona mayor Giles, a Republican who has endorsed Harris because his party is corrupt, have some moral fiber, I think.
Mary I'm also in AZ. In fact I live in Mesa . I'm proud of our mayor for standing up for his principles. Ducey, not so much. He expanded the school voucher grift, I mean program over the voters defeating it at the ballot box. The state now has a 900 million deficit because of that move Now he's announced he's throwing his support to Chump and Fake Lake. Another GOP hack.
Doesn't Ducey own a share of a private/charter school in AZ called Kind Hearts, or something like that? I know that Hugh Hewitt owns a stake and used to talk about the school on his horrible radio show, not disclosing his interest in it.
That wouldn't surprise me. Some GOP members have financial ties to Charter schools and have made millions. It's part of their plan to destroy public education.
Lake, once the supporter of Obama. Talk about elastic morals!
I agree…about Kelly, at least (I don’t know anything about your mayor, of course). There still exist (I think & hope) at least SOME politicians of moral & ethical fiber in this country, and hopefully more emerge as we (again, hopefully) work out way out of the stinking political morass that trump has engendered.
If Kamala wins in Nov, I think we will, eventually, work our way out of the morass. That's what we in the pro-democracy coalition need to start working on in 225.
Anything like that from Trumpster and he would be swallowing some teeth.
No problem there. Surely he has another set in his bathroom cabinet. Wouldn't surprise me a bit to learn he has a set in gold...the pyrite kind, not the element.
Even John McCain supported Trump in 2016.
😫
They aren't cowardly. They are cunning. They know how bad the things they are going along with are, but they want more riches and power for themselves.
They are like pilot fish who swim with sharks.
I bet when the Snake in Chief tells his snake tale at rallies, he mentally superimposes any number of gutless GOP hotshots as the woman who took him in. Except some hot shots keep taking the Snake in or now they've decided it best to accept Hannibal's dinner invitation.
Ann Coulter says she’s voting or him this time because, if he loses, he’ll just run again 4 years from now and cost them 4 elections. Let him eat us now so he doesn’t eat us later. That is the kind of logic that makes the GOP great.
I have sincerely no idea why anyone would ever listen to her. She's for him, she's against him, she's for him because he's so bad...what?
That's what has caused their current predicament.
Where’s the Republicans Nancy Pelosi?
Liz Cheney is supporting the Democrats this year.
Is she though?
Cheney isn't close to what Pelosi accomplishes / achieves for her party.
Agree. Pelosi got the head of her party to step down, to save the party, and the country.
I have seen Liz Cheney's "Our Great Task" emails quite clearly saying Trump isn't fit to serve but I've not yet seen her explicitly support the D ticket for POTUS
The party has spent the last 8 years trying to find and expel anyone with a spine. They have been largely successful. I was surprised the Republican mayor of Mesa AZ endorsed Harris. I did not think there were any politicians with a moral compass left in the party.
98% successful
That's the whole point: they don't have one.
Nowhere to be found
Just as an experiment I would love to see Democrats automatically adopt the nicknames Trump creates for his fellow Republicans ie. Lyin’ Ted Cruz. The responses would be entertaining and educational.
Exactly what I was thinking. And what does Ducey have to lose? He’s termed out as gov and was adamant he didn’t want to run for senate. Of course, what does that even mean when a politician is “adamant” these days, particularly a Republican.
They are just saying they you for your service, Donald. :)
Ironic as they seem to live for servicing Donald.
C'mon, what do you REALLY think of them?
Talk about cucks! They should take a vacation to Cancun with Ted Cruz, another truly weak man.
RE: The Harris campaign should question how seriously Vance "actually treats service to the country..."
And their answer should be that Vance treats nothing seriously unless it's actually in service to himself.
This whole “Stolen Valor” nonsense is ironic. Vance disparaging Walz when his boss Trump had five deferments! Walz served honorably for 24 years, rising to the highest non-commissioned rank in the army. Walz could have retired four years before he did; deciding to run for Congress. If this is all they’ve got, good luck with it!….:)
If you crack open a thesaurus to the word "irony", you'll find "Republican" as the first synonym listed in most current editions. :-)
And after "Republican" you would have "hypocrite" as an alternate synonym.
So true…:)
Fast learner that hillbilly, copying OCF's Life's Motto that quickly.
Like this! Just like his boss.
Well there's that.
I know this is old news now, going all the way back to yesterday, but I find myself increasingly angry over one specific aspect of the DJT-Musk feelgood session. Somewhat lost in the shuffle is how DJT praised Musk for suppressing employees’ efforts to unionize and how they both had a good laugh over how much fun it is to fire people and keep them economically repressed, for their own personal gain. It has the look and feel of two adolescents enjoying picking the wings off of flies, just because they can.
Really, how hard it is to see that these guys have no interest whatsoever in the "little people" -- the average working person trying to make ends meet and establish some reasonable sense of financial security? They care only about their own power structure, wealth, and how to both use them and flash them for maximum impact. I easily could see these two sitting on a hill with beverages, watching someone's home float downriver in a flood and joke about it being a hillbilly houseboat. No working person with any respect for how hard it is to go through life on a basic budget and save for the future should ever want anything to do with either of these two self-absorbed turds. Boycott both with your purchases and your vote.
As a classical Democrat/leftie I've always supported and admired (and somewhat envied) the working class people who have skills and know how to make and fix things. In fact, since I have none of those skills I have to live at the mercy of tradesmen. That's why it feels like such a kind of betrayal that so many of them have embraced a person who has no real interest in making their lives better. In fact I'm convinced after a rally Trump walks off stage thinking, "God, I can't get away from these people fast enough."
What I sometimes ask people is: would DJT ever have Joe the Plumber over to his home for a cookout and some beverages? If not, you're looking at a purely transactional relationship.
Agreed, that should be made into a political ad immediately. Trump pretends to be pro-union, but I think he revealed what he really thinks of unions, and it wasn't pretty.
He has nothing but contempt for people who do actual work. His record of stiffing his contractors makes this plain.
Apparently the UAW is filing a case (or something) against them for worker intimidation over that comment. Can't imagine it goes anywhere, but who knows.
Stephanie Clifford has already spilled the beans about one of them, and impressed she was not. As for Musk, maybe some former paramour can spill.
Mayber Nicole Shanahan
Just 2 boys gabbing about the size of their...stuff.
DJT and Elon would sooner piss on any working/middle-class person than lift a pinkie finger to help them in any way. The Harris campaign--really any Dem running for office--should use clips from that disgusting X interview in their campaign ads to emphasize just how little the modern GOP cares about workers (or about anyone who's not in the top 0.1%). Keep emphasizing this until election day.
What do you mean? Gas prices were lower when DJT was president! As far as I can tell, that's good enough for most of middle America. [I'm only half kidding. Sadly.]
Yes, according to those yokels, we are only another pandemic away from greater purchasing power across the board. At least until people start hoarding and reselling toilet paper again.
Yes! I used to have a bumpersticker that said "The Labor Movement - The Folks Who Brought You The Weekend."
I might send for another one.
That's very good!!! Few Americans know their history and even fewer know anything about the Labor Movement and what it accomplished.
In his first campaign, Trump said "Our wages are too high" and it made U.S. companies uncompetitive. Asked about it afterward, he repeated the claim.
Evidently someone told him it wasn't a great vote-getter, because he dropped the idea. But when a Trump apologist later asserted that Trump "promised to raise wages," I wondered: When did he say that? How did he promise to do it?
No response.
But there are a whole lot of people who could be unionized that are against unions. I'm not sure why.
Propaganda.
ding ding ding!
In fairness to the propaganda-pilled, some critiques of some unions have merit. There are definitely unions out there whose leadership is in it for themselves and not their members, and I could see how a person who had experience in that type of situation might sour on unions in general (though they'd be wrong).
Because unions can be as heavy-handed and even unlawful in their behavior as management, an not just in the dim past either. I remember in the 1990s group proposing a charter school for the county held a community forum at the library to answer the public's questions. The teacher's union represented by a couple of burly football coaches blocked entry. The union rep had called the organizer the night before and told her to cancel the forum because the union would see to it that no one came.
No argument here. "two adolescents enjoying picking the wings off of flies, just because they can" indeed.
Well, Sean O’Brien (the idiot who spoke at the RNC) noticed - called it 'economic terrorism'. Perhaps that will give him some credibility with his Trump-leaning members, because you can be sure every Teamster is going to know what Trump said.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/economic-terrorism-teamsters-president-finally-144732214.html
iirc, one of the union leaders is talking about suing Musk for illegal union suppression.
Vance military career was in PR. His boss “losers and suckers” is a spineless draft dodger. WTF are we even talking about here?
Dave, please note most members of the military are eligible for forward deployment and stray rockets can hit even REMF (rear echelon ...). But Vance is a former Marine and "all Marines are riflemen." There are no chaplains or medical staff in the Marines (these roles are performed by the Navy) because all Marines are combatants. He signed up, he served, and I would ask all our Bulwark community to choose another line of attack on him, of which there are many.
I respect Vance's service. I do not respect his attacking another's service. But Vance is the prime example of a right wing "sorter" - just like Trump does not prefer losers and suckers, Vance does not prefer nonparents, divorcees, left wing Christians, Muslims/Hindis/etc, recovered drug addicts, or women who have had life-saving abortions, to name just a few.
I had an acquaintance from college who died in Iraq on a rear base from a mortar attack. I am sure there were a few truly safe spaces, but nothing is ever certain. That being said I honor Walz's service, I can easily put myself in his place. He had already put his 20 in, re-upped after 9/11, was gone over a year with a young family, and I am sure knew at some point he would be called up again. At some point it is okay to say I have done my service and it is time to retire. It isn't as if he skipped out right before deployment it was a full 10 months.
Exactly. Voluntary service isn't indentured service. He is free to go. One could just as easily ask why Vance didn't see fit to stay in voluntary service.
I think we can hold these separate thoughts in our heads at the same time. Walz and Vance both honor us with their military service. Vance is acting like an ass. Walz is acting like an adult. That's where the line is there.
As Adam Kinzinger suggested, the services basically will say after 20 years, go. You'll be replaced.
He can be told his military service is respected and appreciated but that he doesn't get a pass for being a civilian asshole just because he wore a uniform.
I have no military experience and no one of my forebears ever served. But... Vance was a military journalist, wasn't he? I am sure he faced real risks. But despite what you say, it does not sound like he did much rifle shooting.
I could maybe tolerate his claims of stolen valor if he had a "more alpha" role than Wallz.
He would still have had rifle training in basic training, and some level of required annual training. As far as I know, he never shot a rifle in combat, but that doesn't mean he would have been incapable of doing so had a situation occurred where that was necessary.
All of his attacks on Wallz are still bullshit though.
From what I know of annual training, it is a trip to the range where you are issued an unzeroed M-16. All you have to do is vaguely aim at the target and pull the trigger a few times. Then you turn the rifle in for the next person. I am not even sure if these rifles are taken apart and cleaned regularly. And the training doesn't always occur annually, maybe only once in four years.
I like your emphasis on respect for the service. My former Marine friends call Vance a pog. They apparently have some hierarchy of respect for type of service in the ranks.
My daughter served in Public Affairs in the WI National Guard. She was deployed to Guantanamo Bay. She is currently married to an active duty marine. I am a Vietnam Era veteran who had a cushy four years in the service. I might not like JD Vance, but I will NEVER disparage anyone who served honorably regardless what they did, or did not do.
My dad was in Marines for 21 years. He was in payroll, desk job for the duration. Retired a Major.
Still had a flag on his coffin and a 7-volley rifle salute at his funeral.
Careful how you characterize someone's service. You can denigrate Vance's character pretty easily without a shot at this military record.
I don't see this current Walz military controversy as having much in the way of legs. It simply isn't a matter that resonates with the vast majority of Americans who tell us that they are worried about cost of living and the border. Sure, the political right will try to gin it up to the point that it becomes staggering drunk. But that's what people do when they are desperate. If they really want to have that discussion, then by all means let's be sure to bring up again DJT's fine military record of avoiding service altogether and why. That is far more relevant, in how it both reflects and defines character.
The GOP wants the high ground back, by any means possible. Walz and the campaign have addressed the issue. Now continue forward, on message. I see today that the Consumer Price Index has slowed below 3 percent for first time since March 2021. Let's discuss that instead and why it matters so much more to the average working family. (https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/14/economy/us-cpi-consumer-price-index-inflation-july/index.html) And while we're at it, that Project 2025 matter deserves a still deeper dive into its substance and what that stands to do to us all. Again, the question remains: the past versus the future. Let's keep having that talk. When in doubt, ask: is what matters more what Tim Walz did in his uniform or what J.D. Vance would do to you while wearing a suit?
Don't forget that DJT sees himself as the moral equivalent of a veteran because he dodged STDs.
Given his current mental state, he may not have dodged a couple.
slow-acting syphillis?
C'mon Mike, don't forget he got to lead the parades at his military academy.
Sounds like we know who our General Scheisskopf is.
Is there a mechanism for citizens to start the ball rolling for a Medal of Honor commendation? Clearly long overdue in this case!
His Vietnam
JD Vance has much to answer for so let's focus on that. 1) His letter to the DOJ suggesting they reinstate the Comstock Act. 2) His sad and pathetic response about his wife - "She's not White, but I love Usha." He should have made crystal clear he loves his wife, is proud of her. Her skin color and her heritage do not matter to him. Nor should that be an issue for anyone else. 3) His consistent lying that can easily be fact checked and blown up must to be front and center. His lies should be debunked the instant he blurts them out. 4) He is a damaged individual. He grew up around violence, alcoholism, and a drug addicted parent. Those combined childhood traumas take a great toll. Nobody comes out of that unscathed. I grew up around relatives who were alcoholics. That was bad enough, without the added violence and drug addiction. It takes years long work with mental health professionals to help sort those traumas out. I continue to do that work today. Based on his remarks about cat ladies without children, making silly statements about Walz's military record, his austere views about abortion, and his weak defense of his wife, I would bet he has not made peace with his traumatic upbringing.
He is a deeply troubled guy. Which, even more troubling, does seem a totally logical VP pick for DJT. It is no child's fault that the parents and the home were a disaster. But as you say, it needs to be addressed , and made peace with, to function well as a healthy adult.
Vance has done the polar opposite. Doubled down on all that is small and basically rooted in meanness. Saying he loves his wife even though she isn't white? This is a despicable 'reveal' of who this man is. By I'll give him credit: he's in the right campaign. Fitness for duty not required. ♍️
You captured JD Vance very well. I agree that we don't choose our parents or the situations we have to tolerate when we are too young to make our own choices. It is our choice whether or not we seek help as adults to give ourselves the tools to overcome and live healthier lives.
On #2, I didn't know he said this, so I looked it up. You left out the context in which he said it, and you didn't quote it correctly either: “'Look, I love my wife so much. I love her because she’s who she is... Obviously, she’s not a white person, and we've been accused — attacked — by some white supremacists over that,' he said in an interview with Megyn Kelly on her SiriusXM show" [https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/us-elections-veteran-author-to-trump-s-bold-vp-choice-who-is-jd-vance-124080700717_1.html].
And Agenda 47. Although Trump is trying to distance himself from Project 2025, it’s mirrored by his own Agenda 47 - right there on his website.
The reason Swift Boat was sort of successful on Kerry is that Kerry came back from Vietnam and publicly opposed the presence of the US there and said that US military committed war crimes there. For some people that was unforgivable so they were quite willing to believe the Swift Boat allegations. The Walz situation has no similarity to that.
Plus Kerry's campaign made a big deal out of his military service as central to his qualifications for office
"gin it up to the point that it becomes staggering drunk" - love your prose, professor!
And yet here we have 3 articles about it at the Bulwark ffs