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Archived: Okay...how many of you are actually old enough to vote?

I am 42 im old enough hail obama screw mcain or whatever his name is old fart.

What really is funny is people just assume the current problems in the country are related the current administration, they are not. Hey are directly related the Clinton Administration and Alan Greenspan pointed that out during this testimony on the Hill last week.

The US economy takes to either improve or crash. Most economists will say it can take it 8-10 years to make a major move either way. Regans policies took a little longer to move, but they did and Clinton got credit for that. Clintons policies took about as long as Regans to take hold and now it is President Bushs fault.

I seriously doubt that either candidate will be able to produce the programs they want during their first term. If McCain wins he will have a Democratic House and Senate. We will more of what we have had the last two years. If Obama wins his party will be in control of both houses and we will see a series of programs passed to help every one, but in reality they will dig us deeper into debt.

It is pretty cut and dry on the board that those who support Obama will not change and those of us who support McCain will not change. But I really would like to know how many of each side has made their choice as part of a well informed decision. There are racists and bigots out there who do not want Obama to win because he is black. There are People who do not want him because of his Muslim early education. Sure he was a child then, but none the less it is there.

I do not like racism. I do not care who is running for an office or where they are from, but I do say this, no matter how off base some of you are. I do feel a person wanting to be president should serve the country in it military. I feel there should be mandatory military service for everyone over 18 in the US as well. Those who have served know what it is like and know that the military is our best chance to keep our freedoms.

How many other countries in the world can we openly have this type of debate? Not many. Why is that? Because of the US military. They have died to protect this country and will continue to do so. I bet every person saying it does not matter if you were in the military or not has never been in, You could possibly never know what it is like to be thousands of miles away from home doing a job for everyone back at home.

So, say what you will about Military service, it does make a person better and it does make one candidate better than another.

The only thing I could tell someone is go in with an unbiased opinion and look what the party platforms are and be realistic at the same time i.e. don't expect everything to be perfect.

I'm in the media and I hate it when people tell me I vote such and such b/c that's the way my parents did it or I vote this way b/c my dad was a union guy.

Make your own decisions and be flexible. The chances are very good that you will not agree 100% with the party you affiliate yourself with.

I'm in one party and my best friend is in the other party. We have fierce discussions sometimes, but the one thing I always remember when we're done is that we both love this country we just have different opinions on what's best for it and how to get there.

Speaking of military, check these numbers out.

In case you missed this week's issue of the Army Times

here are the results of the Army Times' poll of Military

personnel re the election (in percent):



Verify here:

Army Times



McCain Obama



Overall 68 23



Army 68 23



Navy 69 24



Air Force 67 24



Marines 75 18



Retirees 72 20



White Non-Hispanic 76 17



Hispanic 63 27



Black/African-American 12 79



Enlisted 67 24



Officers 70 22



Somehow I missed seeing this in the New York Times.

Now tell me military service does not count.

OK, military service doesn't count... and I'll explain why.

That was a poll done by The Army Times. Just like every other poll done this year there is a fundamental flaw, that represents a very small fraction of the voting population. What I didn't see there was a number of how many people were polled. Just like the Fox News polls and CNN polls there was probably only around 1-2 thousand people polled. If I asked 10 of you who you voting for and reported that the XBA forum poll showed:
Obama 90%
McCain 10%

Well that's not entirely accurate, but only 1 of the people I asked is going to vote for McCain. Don't trust polls people! They are weighted in favor of whoever is conducting the poll. Fox News polls always have McCain closer to Obama than MSNBC's polls. That's because Fox News = conservative and MSNBC = liberal.

Youre an Army wife and you say the military doesnt count. Gee, that is a little off.

So, you back Obama, good. Watch us run away from both Iraq and Afghanistan and see what happens.

You make a blanket statement that the military does not count, but yet you state every person you know in the military is voting fro Obama. Well, every vet, retired, active duty, and reservist I know is voting for McCain.

The military does matter and you should know that. Obama has stated he will pull out of Iraq. He has stated he will drop the ballistic missile defense system. He has stated he will stop construction of the Navies new destroyers, cruisers, and cut sub production along with carrier production. He has stated he will reduce the F35 program and F22 Program. He will reduce development of new military hardware and use what we have.

On the other hand, Russia is developing new ballistic missiles. They are building 15 new ballistic submarines. China is planning to triple its Navy. China is developing a generator 5 aircraft. Russia is developing a generation 5 aircraft. India is building its own carrier. China is building its land forces. Russia is building its land forces. Iran wants to destroy Israel. Iran is working toward nuclear weapons with missiles able to reach Europe. Venezuela is buying Russian Mig fighters, T80 tanks, and looking to import missiles capable of hitting Florida and the gulf coast. China is building 3 fast attack subs to our one. Russia is developing new tanks, new artillery, and new attack helos.

Obama wants to cut all of our military to support his social spending programs. So, the military does not matter? Ask your husband how he would feel being in a fox hole needing air support but not getting it because the planes are broken down or just do not exist.

Islamic militants are still around the world and still want to attack America. Our borders are still not secure against them. Obama wants to sit down with them and talk. We should talk to them as Ronald Reagan talked to them, with the end of a bomb. Look at how Herbert Hoover handled the economic problems in his time. Look how he failed. Look at how he tried to protect American industry from foreign competition. Look how he failed. Look at how Obama wants to do the same.

Look what also happened during the 1930s around the globe. Japan invaded China. Germany turned to National Socialism and began to rearm. Italy began to expand in Africa. Spain fell to Fascism. The US ignored cries for help because we could not due to failing domestic policies. History can and does repeat itself.

So ignore the past and we will surely fail.

I know exactly what party Hoover was in and I also know what party FDR was in. I know how both acted to fix problems and I know how they both ended.

But why would a democrat in 2008 look to a Republican from the 1930s for solutions? Why would he think to maybe use a flawed system how and think it would work? Carter cut military spending and increased domestic spending. By doing so he allowed Russia to invade Afghanistan, Cuba to export its political ideals around Central America, and help to create the Iran we know today.

No we should have never invaded Iraq. But we did and we need to make sure Iraq can control itself before we leave. 2012 is the current target.

Tell Obama, the surge worked!

A military background is most certainly helpful.

Oil supplies are shrinking all over the world. China and India and using more and more everyday. The US I hope will work to reduce its use of oil. Russia will start to use more and more oil and their economy continues to improve.

So, where does that leave everyone? 4 large countries wanting and needing oil. Three countries with expanding militaries. One country with a shrinking military. Get the picture?

The economy will be hurt by a shrinking military. There are companies all over the US who depend on the military portion of their world to help pay the bills. My own company doe 50% of its work for the military. Several of the programs Obama wants to cut are programs we work on. So, tell me how is that helping the middle class? If we loose half of our business how can they afford to keep everyone here? We are but one company of 100s that face the same problem.

Now do you see a potential problem? Cut this and that military program. Then small business that needs the work to stay in business fails. Then we have more people out of work with now health care and fewer people working. The government needs to cut more spending from her and there to funnel into domestic spending. Then lest say China and India decide to attack say Indonesia for their oil. Then what?

Or Russia decides to take over Georgia for its oil. Who is left to stop them?

So who will win if America cuts its military, pulls its troops back home, and tries to spend its way out of the current mess?

I absolutely disagree with this comment. If this happened then it would seem like we would start to become a military controlled nation. I'm sorry but isn't there something about if you have flat feet you can't be in the military, and if you have bad knees or something like that. And the way that people are today where we have obese kids, i dont think they would make it in the military. Having a mandatory military service would be completely idiotic.

It would help give kids something their parents are forgetting to give them discipline. Too many kids sit at home and do nothing. Ask them to do something they ignore you. If I ever ignored my father or mother, I had made a big mistake.

Todays youth are lacking in so many areas that Older Americans had drill into them from a young age.

I feel mandatory service would help in many areas and also get people working and much more productive after their time spend in the military. But that is just my own opinion.

A civilian is in charge of the military in the United States.

Quote by Capt Adams67:

It would help give kids something their parents are forgetting to give them discipline. Too many kids sit at home and do nothing. Ask them to do something they ignore you. If I ever ignored my father or mother, I had made a big mistake.

Todays youth are lacking in so many areas that Older Americans had drill into them from a young age.

I feel mandatory service would help in many areas and also get people working and much more productive after their time spend in the military. But that is just my own opinion.

A civilian is in charge of the military in the United States.

It's not the government's place to give discipline to our children, or to instill family values. If that stereotype you just painted was really true, it would reflect a change in the American culture. Families mold their children, and if kids aren't being adequately mannered, it shows that our society no longer values such things. The government is meant to reflect the will of the people, and if we no longer value manners, then there's no reason to use the government to enforce it.

I agree that it can seem a little off that someone with no military experience can be Commander in Chief, but there's a reason for the cabinet. By providing expertise the President lacks, he can still make informed decisions.

I am not saying the government should take over places values or morals in our kids. By the time the are 18 and would enter into any type of military service or maybe even a job corps they would pretty much have their values/morals instilled into them.

It is hard to explain I suppose, but I just see something like that helping out over all. Kids over the past 20 years have been given too much. The demand too much and some parents give their kids too much. We all see it everyday. That spoiled kid wanting something and the parent giving it to them.

Here come a real kicker, video games certainly do not help. OH gosh, I said it so ban me for life. Too many kids spend useful time sitting in front of the TV playing games. They know nothing other than that as a form of entertainment. I had a game system when I was young, an Atari 2600, but I did not spend my free time playing games all day. Heck, I have a 360 now and hardly play it.

But children today are no where close to the children I grew up with. We rode our bikes to school. We mowed yards in the summer for extra $$. We were in scouts, we played sports, we were just busy all the time. Today kids in general do not do any of that. Yes, some do, but for the most part they do not. Try to get one to rake your leaves fro you in the fall. Try to get a kid to get a summer job and work.

Maybe I am just a crab and/or getting too old, but I just do not like the way kids are today and I just feel something should be done. It never will be done, but I can still express my opinion.