THere’s so[m]ething wrong with watching Senators like Biden debate on the floor as if it matters. After all, the major decisions are made behind doors when votes are bought. The senate debate sessions are simply performance acts for the camer[a]s.

The only one saying “stay the course” is you. Do you really believe anyone else’s family in the military chose their “course” that President Bush would declare war against Iraq and conduct the war in the way that he did? Of course not, but staying the course is a useful catchphrase to replace real reasoned arguments, which is why you prefer the phrase, is it not.

None of these problems will magically disappear should even 90% of the US male population be mobilized. Israel has a larger percentage serving in reserves and the mandated military services than the US, yet their government is actually more left wing and appeasement based than Bush’s. Who sets the course for the US and the military forces here is the government, and no one else. Military families can only, at best, be an indirect influence on policy by changing the minds of a few select individuals, but let there be no mistake, government and the leadership still makes the majority of small, medium, petty, and large policy decisions.

The US is no democracy that can have its course changed by a public plebecite sentencing someone inconvenient to death or life.

Petraeus is a general. Is he staying the course or is he not a general in your view? Or simply not a general that you agree with.

“Laura, jJust out of curiosity, do you have any views that are not self-referential?”

In context of the war, I have views that are “group” referential.

“Can you imagine a sound decision that adversely affects you personally?”

It depends on the context. If you are talking about the war, and continuing on the same course without end, and YOU would label that sound, then I see that that decision affects my group personally.

I’m not the only military family member. You have radical groups both left and right. Most are in the middle, like me.

Can you imagine a sound decision that adversely affects you personally?

A combination of demographic and political changes has transformed our military and their families from reliable Republican voters into swing voters, whose votes were in play throughout the 2006 campaign, and whose votes will remain in play heading into 2008. Data from a variety of sources, including The Washington Post, the Pew Research Center, Democracy Corps, and the Department of Defense’s own armed forces surveys, consistently showed that military families’ votes were competitive in 2006 and remain so today.

Such a shift in the attitudes of the military has important implications. The one and a half million active-duty military, the one million reservists, and the millions who comprise their families formed one of the largest, most important, and least-discussed blocs of swing voters in the 2006 election. Their growing distance from the GOP signals an important shift in the political landscape which could have an impact on our elections and, more importantly, our foreign policy, for decades to come.

“Evidence also suggests that military families have turned away from President George W. Bush. In polls conducted by The Washington Post, these respondents persistently registered strong disapproval of Bush throughout the fall of 2006 and well into 2007, mirroring attitudes of Independents much more closely than those of Republicans.”

Now, you might say that politics don’t have any business mixing with war, and that would be completely naive. They are blood brothers.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/09/14/military_donors_turn_to_democrats/

So, asking me who I will get behind to lead is a very loaded question. I will get behind whoever can admit the mistakes that were made and present a CLEAR plan, not spin on AQI, with realistic expectations of the Iraqis and lack of the BS that seems to run rampant in these parts.

I think that whole MoveOn debacle is a dog and pony show, that’s my opinion. To take that much time on the floor to hammer it home while not bothering to vote on the Webb ammendment infuriates families like myself, middle minded folks who have soldiers. On the floor of the Sentate yesterday, Murkowski stated that she was terribly frustrated by what she sees in her own state, Alaska, praised Webb for the bill and at the same time pointed out that it was unrealistic in order to protect troops already there. My point is that to execute the war in realistic fashion, which HAS NOT been done and so many military generals have said so, one must keep in mind that only 1% of the population is fighting in it. It’s easy to say “stay the course” when you don’t personally have to make those sacrifices. So, if I’m not conservative enough, tough. Guess what, not liberal either. Many military families find themselves in the exact position that I do.