Barely 2,000 protesters opposed to the war in Iraq marshaled to march through Chicago's Loop on Wednesday marking the fifth year of U.S. involvement in the Mideast country. That just about sums up what America thinks of us being there. We're so bored, we won't even protest.
Every day the U.S. is in Iraq means another $720 million to its cost which according to one study currently totals more than $1 trillion in war debt interest, care for 60,000 wounded veterans and replenishing equipment. You, your kids and grandkids will be footing the bill for this misadventure, let alone the cost to the naton of oil prices, interest rates and inflation. The Hound also has to pay his fair share.
Let's not forget the nearly 4,000 U.S. troops killed.
If John McCain thinks the way to get elected is to "stay the course" of the Bush administration's now-recognized folly, he better find new advisers or expect the Republican Party to become the next party, like the Whigs, to become extinct.
The American people, except for the Bush apologists are tired of the killing, tired of the expense and more interested in voting somebody off "American Idol". They could care less if the Sunnis or Shiites run the country.
That may be a short-sighted view of geopolitics, but the realization is nobody cares anymore. And as the economy gets worse, the electorate will be looking for a scapegoat.
George W. Bush is not on the ballot. John McCain is.
You're so right! This war has really begun to bore me. Let's retreat the hell out of there and let Al Qaeda have Iraq. Osama Bin Laden just told the world that he and his jihadists want it, so let them have it for their playground. Plus, it's so expensive. I mean, think how we would all be rolling in dough if FDR had pulled us out of WWII before we lost all those ships and military folks during the first months of that war. And the Federalists lost something like 160,000 killed during the Civil War, which was not all that popular. Lincoln should have just quit and save the nation a lot of lives and money. Fighting Muslim extremists just doesn't fire the imagination. We lost 4,000 troops during some WEEKS of WWII and WWI and the Civil War, and Chicago and New York combined have lost more citizens to violent crime during the time we've been in Iraq, but those were mostly minorities, so American doesn't really care. Prediction: McCain will be elected because most Americans don't buy the liberal desire to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
THE HOUND SAYS: Well, in fact 140,000 members of Union military units lost their lives in the Civil War. But why quibble over 20,000 deaths. And why quibble over 4,000 deaths. Besides, you're comparing apples and oranges by comparing the war in Iraq with World War I, World War II and the Civil War. We knew what was at stake in those three examples. We invaded Iraq to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and to fight terror. Al-Qaida wasn't in Iraq before the U.S. invaded Iraq, what with Saddam Hussein being the ruthless dictator he was. You obviously are one of the delcining numbers of Americans to continue to support Bush's war. The war is a side issue in the '08 presidential campaign. It's the economy. Now, if Iraq opens up its oil wells and sells the U.S. oil for say, $80 a barrel. Well, by November we'll all be lining up to vote for John McCain.
I feel really screwed! On one hand there are two candidates who want the government to be big enough to rule every aspect of my life, including making me pay a fine if I do not have health insurance, and on the other hand I have a "second verse same as the first."
Where is my choice? Why do more people know everything going on in NASCAR or the NCAA Tourney and vote on American Idol than are involved in how our lives are governed?
Where is the candidate who can run on the platform of a true STATESMAN? Male or female, black or white, Christian or Black Liberationists would not matter so much if any of them were STATESMEN!
On this war, we are already committed, so we need to finish or leave the "job site" so someone else CAN finish properly. No Candidate can or will make an immediate withdrawing of troops completely, but all promise BS, where is the logical decision maker?
THE HOUND SAYS: Dom, Dom. What don't you understand about bread and circuses which keep the proles entertained while the new bosses, same as the old bosses to quote Pete Townsend, run the country, including licensing skunks. Where were you four years ago when John Kerry campaigned on ending the Iraq war? The same place most of the other voters were. Voting for "American Idol".
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