politics
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
view the rest of the comments
It wasn't even a decade ago when the Republican party was all about the wounded vets and veterans in general. They were THE American heroes and were honored extensively. They used them to speak about how the libs didn't give a damn about our soldiers and all that crap.
Then Trump came in with his "I like soldiers who don't get hurt or captured" bullshit and all the POW/MIA flags disappeared and got replaced with the Gadsen flag and the Iron Cross.
They don’t have a good faith position. Trump’s attitude towards both the military in general and vets in particular- especially wounded ones - were voiced in public while he was still just a candidate for the Republican nomination. He thinks only an idiot or loser would join the military because they aren’t qualified for anything else.
People - even Putin - thought his campaign was over when he insulted Gold Star families, but the “pro-vet” republicans just supported him even more.
Any position they take is just for optics and can switch at a moment’s notice.
It doesn't really surprise me that that's Trump's stance on things, but it does surprise me that the military loving Republican voters didn't even have to think about it. They just immediately went "yeah! Fuck soldiers!!".
Hell, most of the active military personnel we have are heavily right leaning and even they didn't have a word to say about it. They just lined up, voted for him, and bought more merch.
It's a bit more complicated than that.
The enlisted/younger/minority troops tend to skew politically in a way consistent with their age and demographics- that is, liberal/left. Commissioned/older/whiter troops also tend to skew politically consistently with their own demographics.
There's definitely a demographic in the military that are drawn to enlist out of right-wing sentiment, especially family-tradition/legacy soldiers, doubly so if they're from the sort of family that can get them a commission. It happens, but it's hardly the rule- after all, a solid contingent of the enlisted folks are there because it promises to help them pay for college
They use them to look good but they're also the party that cuts the services they most need.
They weren't even that before Trump. They were busy dismantling the VA and cutting benefits for veterans before him. Jon Stewart had to go to Congress to argue for benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits.