REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Iraq Veterans Become Pro-War Candidates

POSTED BY: SKYWALKEN
UPDATED: Friday, February 29, 2008 10:38
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VIEWED: 1782
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Tuesday, February 26, 2008 6:33 PM

SKYWALKEN


Quote:

Scott Radcliffe believes two tours of duty in Iraq gave him the stuff to serve in Congress. As a platoon commander, he helped spearhead economic development, built citizen coalitions and made many tough decisions, often amid enemy fire.

"I would be putting all I learned in that pressure-filled environment into practice. So it really cuts through metal," said Radcliffe, 28, who seeks to unseat a newly elected Republican in northwest Ohio.

He's among the dozen young Republicans from across the country helping each other campaign under the banner of Iraq Veterans for Congress, cross-promoting each other and directing donors to a shared Web site. It's a response to the anti-war veterans whose campaigns drew attention in 2006, when Patrick Murphy of Philadelphia was the only Iraq vet to win election while openly supporting the war.

The platform of Iraq Vets for Congress grew out of the attitudes of the previous election: They believe in victory in Iraq, staying on the offense in the war on terror and taking care of all veterans, said founder Kieran Lalor, who's running for a seat in New York.

Lalor's pro-war band of brothers includes California's Eric Egland, a military intelligence officer who gained national attention for his book "The Troops Need You, America" and a charity of the same name. Other members of the group hail from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, Indiana and Maine.

"Most people say we (Republicans) lost the Congress last time because of the war," said Lalor, 32, of Wappingers Falls, N.Y. "I put my life on the line there, I lost friends there, and if I didn't believe American national security was at stake, I would be the first to say so.

"We as messengers are as important as the message."

The warrior returned from battle to serve in public life is as ancient as the Roman hero Cincinnatus and as familiar as five-star general-turned-President Dwight Eisenhower. Political scientist Costas Panagopoulos, director of Fordham University's graduate program in Elections and Campaign Management, said combat experience resonates with voters, especially during wartime.

"It doesn't surprise me that we're seeing this development in the current election cycle," Panagopoulos said. "We're a country facing major national security and international issues and ... that experience will grab attention on the campaign trail."

Both parties have recruited veterans in some of the nation's most competitive congressional districts. Democratic state Sen. John Boccieri, an Air Force reservist who's served in Iraq, is seeking the northeastern Ohio district being vacated by 18-term Republican Rep. Ralph Regula.

And in Maine's 1st District, where six-term Democratic Rep. Tom Allen is running for Senate, Republican Charlie Summers is seeking Allen's seat while serving in Iraq as a Navy reservist.

Despite the war's unpopularity, Americans still support their troops, and facing a veteran on the campaign trail can be difficult, said Michael Dejak, campaign manager for Summers' challenger in the Republican primary, Dean Scontras.

"It gives a candidate an unfair disadvantage because you're just kind of campaigning in a vacuum, but your opponent is draped in this ...," Dejak said, without finishing his sentence. "He's untouchable, almost."

Many veterans cite the military as essentially their only qualification for office.

"After you've been in combat and you survived it, you've got this real energized sense that, 'I can accomplish anything,' and you view your country differently," said Ohio Democrat Paul Hackett, among the notable anti-war candidates in 2006.

Hackett dropped out of a U.S. Senate race that year when Congressman Sherrod Brown, a star among Ohio Democrats, decided to run. But he gained attention a year earlier for nearly beating Cincinnati-area Congresswoman Jean Schmidt with an outspoken anti-war campaign in a heavily Republican district.

J. Ashwin Madia, a former Marine running in Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District, is among anti-war veterans whom Hackett has endorsed this year. He's also part of VoteVets.org, a counterpart to Iraq Vets for Congress that has created Internet ads for anti-war veterans seeking office.

Madia, 29, who opposed the U.S. entry into Iraq and now favors orderly withdrawal, said the war remains a focus of his campaign.

"Certainly there are other issues weighing on people's minds - the economy, health care, education - but the war is central to the campaign because people realize it's all related," he said.



On the Net:

Iraq Vets for Congress:

http://www.iraqvetsforcongress.com

VoteVets.org:

http://www.votevets.org

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Wednesday, February 27, 2008 9:22 PM

AVENGINGWATCHER


As a veteran myself I love our boys dearly, whether I agree with the war or not veterans should be taken care of without question, without thought, and I know that any veteran coming back would do that.

when there are no heroes where will we turn?

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Thursday, February 28, 2008 8:54 AM

ANTIMASON


you have to wonder though why Ron Paul has received more military donations then any other candidate. clearly it has to do with their support for non-interventionism, dont you think? the troops are not policy makers, they follow the orders of their commanders, who are subservient to policy makers. support for the military, and military policy are two very different things obviously. the data seems to indicate, at least to me, that if American troops had the choice to be here, protecting our home country, or fighting overseas, theyd be here in a heartbeat! and they should be, enforcing our border security rather then Iraqs. our military overseas isnt protecting us from people sneeking in our back door, in fact it just motivates them to do so; until we realize that, we're done for

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Thursday, February 28, 2008 10:47 AM

AVENGINGWATCHER


aside from the Ron Paul support I guess we agree on that anti. Hey why the name antimason?

When there are no heroes where will we turn?

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Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:52 PM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

avengingwatcher- Hey why the name antimason?


well, in a nutshell, its my opposition to an agenda known as the "new world order", of which historically the freemasons have played an important role. its definitely rooted heavily in conspiracy theory, and religious theology, and end times prophecy etc, but it provides me with a "canvass to paint from" so to speak

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Thursday, February 28, 2008 3:32 PM

AVENGINGWATCHER


lol alright, got ya. Been reading a lot of Dan Brown have we?;)

When there are no heroes where will we turn?

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Thursday, February 28, 2008 3:52 PM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

lol alright, got ya. Been reading a lot of Dan Brown have we?;)


almost, except Dan Brown doesnt believe the gospel, and i do. since gnosticism is a part of freemasonry, he becomes a proponent of it, and its goals, when he encourages these alternate explanations to the resurrection of the Lord. the gnostic scriptures are heretical by comparison, theologically damaging, and not as easily verified or credible as the NT accounts. nevermind the gateway it becomes to secular humanism, and the subsequent results that has on society(i.e. collectivism }; hes playing right into their hands!!

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Thursday, February 28, 2008 4:22 PM

FREMDFIRMA


Actually, and I've pointed this out before, it was once an american political party as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Masonic_Party

I don't agree with him, in fact I think his rockers a little sideways, but that doesn't exactly make him out of place with the rest of us cocoapuffs here in the asylum we call RWED.

PN's definately king of the frosted flakes though.

All your crunchberries are belonging to us!

-F

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Thursday, February 28, 2008 4:47 PM

AVENGINGWATCHER


I got ya anti, though I was just ribbing you a bit. Let me just preface this next segment that I respect your right to believe as you do and I hope you respect mine, I am not a Christian, I am a Diest so the gnostic as well as other religious rights practiced in initiation do not bother me much, but I can see how as a devout follower of Christianity this could bother you. However Christians make up a majority of the Masonic Order and religion is not really a centerpiece of the organization, nor would I think that they were powerful enough to affect any major change in policy, but hey not here to change your mind or even argue, just giving you my opinion on it, in case you gave a gorram. Ooh on the plus side my father-in-law has become a browncoat, finally we have something in common.

When there are no heroes where will we turn?

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Thursday, February 28, 2008 6:07 PM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

Actually, and I've pointed this out before, it was once an american political party as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Masonic_Party



nice link, i should take the time to explain better in detail occasionally... ive gotten lazy to where i brush over a lot of stuff anymore(im no expert on the subject- but for a time it was a main study of interest)


Quote:

I don't agree with him, in fact I think his rockers a little sideways..


lol how can you disagree!? .. its sufficiently documented, as even wikipedia points out. i guess its really just a matter of what position you want to take on the matter. now that the truth is coming out about the Fed(currency devaluation), and the welfare/warfare scam, the coming NAU, and the undermining of our constitution etc., i feel secure in my suspicion that this isnt just happening by accident, but by design. the NWO is not a conspiracy thoery.. can we agree? but at its core is a messianic notion of a new Atlantis, straight out of masonic/gnostic/occultic/secular humanistic 'lore'

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Thursday, February 28, 2008 6:25 PM

FREMDFIRMA


I don't attribute it as one great, grand all encompassing conspiracy, but rather a whole lot of selfish, greedy little petty ones initiated by smallminded idiots and all moving in the same direction for the same reason that crabs on a beach march in lockstep - cause they're so limited in their thinking that the same stimulus creates the same result in the puny feedback loops they call a thought process.

There might be an overall "vision" but in the devil of the details one should not attribute to overt malice what is clearly greed, selfishness, incompetence and stupidity - if it WERE a great, grand, organized conspiracy they wouldn't do such a halfassed and terrible (although arguably effective) job of it.

It's the whole religion angle where you and I cross wires - remember, imma Maltheist with an active hostility toward your belief system as a whole, although I do not believe it's not without it's merits.

It's kinda hard for me to respect it tho, when I believe your Diety is an evil force aiding and abetting the misery to feed on it as sustinence, with diminishing returns like any addict, and therefore upping the ante till we completely destroy ourselves.

-Frem

It cannot be said enough, those who do not learn from history, are doomed to endlessly repeat it

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Friday, February 29, 2008 4:19 AM

ANTIMASON


Quote:

Frem- i don't attribute it as one great, grand all encompassing conspiracy, but rather a whole lot of selfish, greedy little petty ones initiated by smallminded idiots and all moving in the same direction for the same reason that crabs on a beach march in lockstep - cause they're so limited in their thinking that the same stimulus creates the same result in the puny feedback loops they call a thought process.


oh i agree, thats how it plays out, its ultimately the consequence of ideologies and so forth..

Quote:

It's the whole religion angle where you and I cross wires


this is why i believe its deliberate, but in a less temporal kind of way. in Ephesians God says that there is a literal battle in the heavens between Lucifer(and his angels), and Gods angels, and that these events parallel those on earth etc. thats how i see the 'conspiracy' play out, in its relation to bible prophecy. if i had more time, id explain a bit more in depth, but youve heard it all before...


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Friday, February 29, 2008 5:20 AM

FREMDFIRMA


Yes, I have.

Might not agree, but it's an interesting perspective on it, and the more windows or viewpoints you have on a situation, the clearer you can see it.

I am not bound by any particular ideology other than wanting to be left alone, and don't believe in only one "correct" path to enlightenment, so I don't mind peeping through the windows that others offer me, it's helpful to have additional perspectives - more chance of knowing exactly where to dump the sand to jam the gears, you know ?

-Frem
It cannot be said enough, those who do not learn from history, are doomed to endlessly repeat it

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Friday, February 29, 2008 8:25 AM

FREDGIBLET


Quote:

Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
It's kinda hard for me to respect it tho, when I believe your Diety is an evil force aiding and abetting the misery to feed on it as sustinence, with diminishing returns like any addict, and therefore upping the ante till we completely destroy ourselves.



Have you by chance read the Preacher series of comics?

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Friday, February 29, 2008 8:31 AM

AVENGINGWATCHER


Anti, I am not directly against Christians, I was at one time a Christian, I have just been driven away but the absolute closed mindedness and cult like mentality of many of it's followers (This is not an implication of you in any way, I don't know you)I think that if you are looking for an organization that seeks to control the world any organized religion would be a good place to start. The fact that Christianity is based upon tolerance and understanding, yet it's most beloved preachers are hate mongers, has led me to believe that an active God would never allow his name to be sullied in such a way. Evil is in the hearts of men in the choices we make and the actions we take not from a book that is allegory one minute and literal words the next, depending upon who you talk to. So that is where I believe the NWO is. Again let me say this is strictly my opinion, I am not intending to attack your religion per say or your belief of it. Just trying to learn.

When there are no heroes where will we turn?

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Friday, February 29, 2008 10:38 AM

FREMDFIRMA


Nope, haven't read em, never even heard of em - most comics have such awful soap opera plotlines that it's a turnoff for me.

As for the other, I do believe a more detailed explaination is in order... I am usually unwilling to discuss it, but I will make an exception this time, since it doesn't make complete sense in a simple form.

I believe that what most people percieve as "God" is actually an entity of some sort, spiritual, ectoplasmic, interdimensional or however the hell you wanna describe it, that wrapped itself around our planet in search of food some many centuries or millenia back.

It's food ? in a word, suffering - misery, hate, fear, intolerance, bloodshed, that kind of thing.

And it functions by some manner of limited event manipulation, but mostly by influencing individuals susceptible to it's influence.

And it plays them off against one another, or pushes them to do things that create more "food" for itself, which feeds it, and it grows, thus requiring more "food", with a short hibernation cycle every thirty years or so for reasons unknown.

Knowing no other means to drive it off, some folk, including me, believe the best policy is to starve the damned thing till it dies or goes somewhere else, but it really does seem a lost cause sometimes.

The irony is that religion as practiced by individuals not really susceptible to its influence has more often than not been a force for good rather than harm, and oft-times those two forces are entertwined even down the level of households and congregations - so I simply judge folk by what they do, rather than what they believe, but believers of any kind make me skittish because I have no way of knowing where they stand until they act.

And without that explaination, my feelings and positions toward religion as a whole would be to most folk, utterly incomprehensible.

I don't care much for people who knowingly feed that thing, that's a fact.

-Frem

It cannot be said enough, those who do not learn from history, are doomed to endlessly repeat it

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