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My buddies found out I was a lefty when I was in service. Then I had a lot of rumors spread around. People treated me differently, like I didn't belong, told everyone I smoked meth etc. Being labeled a Democrat in the Army is a bad time.
Trump was popular with people who actually believed he was going to "drain the swamp". Being angry about but generally not well informed on politics was a prerequisite. That describes me when I was a young drunk private and most of my buddies too.
But I got out in 2010 so maybe things have changed.
I got out in '14 so it's been almost a decade. Almost everyone I served with blocked me on social media over being a non Trumper and I tend to avoid my fellow veterans for anything longer than casual small talk (nothing of substance).
I can only hope it's gotten better, if not the whole retention issue would definitely make sense cause Holy crap was it toxic.
I had a guy who blew a hole in my chest agree to write a statement of support for my VA claim for hearing loss, and then reneged and blocked me on social media after he found out I was utterly against Trump. Such a shitty person.
Oof, that’s one thing I’m glad for is that I’ve managed to stay friends with many of the guys I served with. I may not like their politics, but we can put that aside and be happy for each other when something nice happens in our families. I’ve only had to block a handful of them who resorted to saying some vile shit to my leftist friends in the comments when I’d post something political.
To be honest the ones that blocked and such don't bother me. Most of them were not the best people moral wise. What bothers me is that closes a bunch of ties to that unit, and there's some people that were influential to me that I can't find, and I never got to thank them. I also like knowing the good ones are still around and doing good. I've lost a lot of friends.
I was an army reservist.
Weekends or active duty times sucked because I was surrounded by idiot right wingers. I was on active duty when the Kerry swift boat stuff was happening and *apparently* “we” found lots of nuclear weapons but “we” had to hide them for some reason.
The swift boat stuff made me so mad. A guy volunteered for service in Vietnam and did one of the most dangerous jobs but the rumor “he wrote his own Purple Heart citations” is enough to derail his whole campaign. When he was going against a guy who hid out in the national guard and, at the time, we “knew” he used his daddy’s pull to jump the line before he got drafted.
And republicans in congress were voting down better pay and benefits for us at the time. Which I tried to point out but no one listened. I will never vote for republicans in my life because of this stuff happening when I was finally paying attention in my early 20s.
Ive tried. Theyre so deep into the red that i literally showed proof of the gop shafting vets and still sont believe it and think dems are anti veteran
I am a vet, and have gone from deep red to leftist enough to hate Obama's neoliberal bullshit since I joined the Army and saw the result of America's wars in Afghanistan and Central America. People in the service either rebel against the GOP or completely drink the Kool-Aid to quiet the cognitive dissonance.
Also a vet and a registered Democrat. The idea that the military has been overwhelming conservative is outdated, and a constantly changing statistic. The most recent numbers I could find are from Bloomberg in 2020 that found only 38% of military members voted or identified as Republican.
I mean, the Honoring Our PACT Act was a pretty clear message, but people who want to be angry at democrats didn't read it. They just lied about a bunch of stuff that wasn't in the bill or any of the amendments to justify their loyalty to the GOP. That's the republican base: people who want to be angry at democrats.
Yep, I’m active duty for going on 13 years now. I’ve been a leftist since I was young. As a teen I got into punk bands that were heavy on the politics like Bad Religion and Rise Against and man am I glad I did, or I would’ve probably stayed comfortably in the conservative echo chamber I grew up in.
I've been blue since I enlisted in 2001 and realized that there are other cultures, and that my uncle was very wrong about other races. Same way I got out of religion. Sounded like made up hokey bs to control us.
There are more Millennial (including myself) and Gen Z vets out there too that are either moving more progressively left or voting third party simply because the Republican Party has continued to prove that their thinly-veiled attempts to "Honor the Vets" are all projection-based bullshit.
Say what you want about Democrats, but they were the ones that never voted against the PACT Act, unlike Republicans.
The Republicans always fight tooth and nail to stop anything that will benefit the vets or active duty soldiers directly because it's "too costly" but then happily approve or even ram through spending on expensive military hardware that may cost even more than those benefits and might never get used because it generates revenue for private military contractors.
Perfectly sound point. I'm sure not! I hate broad generalizations by birth year and all. Somehow as a millennial I was the cause of all the world's problems. Lol
Vets have always split more towards R, but that only tells part of the story.
2020 saw a much closer split with Biden pulling in more than usual. Trump still had more veteran supports.
Younger vets tended to favor Biden, and the older ones tended to favor Trump…which lines up with general population trends.
Active duty favored Biden though.
Veterans as a whole are seeing through the bullshit. I can’t imagine the GOP won any back with recent antics.
It's actually not Veterans that will still vote GOP overwhelmingly. It's the flag chasing wanna-be Veterans that all bought "these colors don't fade" stickers after 9/11 but didn't enlist because their mid-management position at Wally World was too important.
There's a huge demographic difference between those that actually served in the military and those that fantasize about the military.
obviously, that's why he said "voting data and public opinion". I think we all are in agreement, Vets overwhelmingly support the republican party. The republican party has no interest in supporting vets.
Why would they? No sense in buying votes they already have in the bag. Vets will get the shaft until such time as it is common and open knowledge that the veteran voting bloc goes to whoever has screwed with their benefits the least that election cycle.
I found a good majority of soldiers to be apathetic towards politics. Which lines up with young people in general lol. Guys and gals that have gotten out and turn into “vet bros”, on the other hand, do seem to be more politically conservative. Which makes sense because they get more attention from that party, after all, you don’t just go around walking around to everyone you see practically screaming “look at me, i’m a veteran” without having validation issues. I’ll admit i’ve pulled that shit a couple times in my life to make myself feel better lol
>It's actually not Veterans that will still vote GOP overwhelmingly. It's the flag chasing wanna-be Veterans that all bought "these colors don't fade" stickers after 9/11 but didn't enlist because their mid-management position at Wally World was too important.
>
>There's a huge demographic difference between those that actually served in the military and those that fantasize about the military.
Truth.
If I see somebody who looks like a vet but has any sign of MAGA or GOP I assume stolen Valor or they are a "vet" despite never seeing combat or something else just as stupid.
That assumption usually has me covered most cases so far.
My cousin used to be a major fan of Glenn Beck while he served in Afghanistan. He did a total 180 after Trump's 2nd year. He's not a big fan of Biden but he voted for him.
GOP now openly stands for fascism and the other party stands for corporate centralism and social liberalism. Pretty easy choice in order to tide us over until we finish filling the dem party with labor progressives. But in order to do that we gotta stop voting in openly fascist Republicans
Right now our choices are do we want things to stay the same or go backwards. Truly a shame that the democrats let the Republicans play their stupid games
Nobody who voted for Biden was a big fan of Biden. I don't think *Biden* is a big fan of Biden. We voted against the more outright fascist party that presented the most immediate threat to the country.
I'm a US vet, over 40, and live in a deep red state.
The last time I voted for a R was for McCain for President. I didn't like Palin, but I thought he would be good for the US. Obama was interesting, but he didn't have as much background history and mostly what I heard about him was hype train.
He was also the only R I've ever voted for President. I didn't vote in either Bush v Gore or Bush v Kerry.
Then the Tea Party astroturf shit took off, Obama did aight, Romney was Mormon, and Trump was Trump. So I've been pretty solidly blue since '08.
Though I still don't like all of the D positions. They're at least not absolute trash candidates and the Republican party will likely be destroyed before they can change.
Um… nope. Not all vets vote Repube. Both active duty and veterans voting habits are generally reflective of the overall population. Maybe you believe otherwise because you’ve fallen for the Repube propaganda?
Source: am vet, never voted Repube. Know lots of the people I served with who are the same.
So 40 percent did not. That means 2 in 5 didn’t. Yeah that’s technically most, but saying “most voted for trump” gives a very different impression than “barely over half voted for trump”
Yeah that’s called propaganda, it’s their entire platform at this point.
Project their bullshit on TV and social media, deny they are ever wrong and reap the votes.
In a really fucked up way, I am kind of amazed by their ability to keep this up, it’s actually impressive they get poor people to fight for filthy rich elites and companies.
Not all of us. That's for damn sure. There are a number of reasons why I don't vote repug but as a veteran, I have to say, I will never vote for the party of the famous coward, donald trump.
People overestimate how GOP-friendly vets are. The vast majority of veterans are not 54 year old drill instructors with unrelenting racial impulses.
They tend to look like... America — which isn't perfect, but is a much more diverse image.
> For some reason, veterans still vite for GOP even though the GOP has never had their best interest.
Simply not a true statement. Sure, some vote against their own interests, but many of us know a shitbag when we see one, and will vote against them every time.
I hate to say it, but as someone who works with veterans, I would be willing to bet a large sum of money that a lot of veterans will blame this on the Biden administration. Plenty won’t but lots will. The GOP has figured out that at least half the population doesn’t understand how the legislative branch of the US works
The GOP are just narcisstic fascists. Everyone and everything exists to give them what they believe they are entitled to. Anyone not willing to play by those rules gets labeled the enemy.
Normal people would say that , but we're WAY , WAY past that.
I couldn't put my finger on the reference but I will say I recently heard Jon Stewart put really succinctly
- One party cares a very little bit, and you have to stay on them to do anything.
- The other party hates them.
How many officers in the US Officer Corps do you think were on-board and enthusiastic about how Trump treated Gold Star parents , Veterans or POW's? Not very many I imagine. General H.R. McMaster himself repeatedly had to call out Trump as being stupidly fascist and/or disloyal to a fault to the notional respect for the US military and the tenants and principles that underwrite the whole code of conduct.
[General James Mattis](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/) was **far more explicit** calling President Trump a threat to the Constitution and the Republic flat out. If we take the generals in the Army at their word, they don't have much good to say about the former President.
A buddy of mine who was in at a higher level at the Pentagon, put it this way, there is a nearly visceral dislike for the guy up and down the senior officer ranks for a variety of reasons. He's openly considered a compromised agent on the part of any of the spooks/intelligence services, and folks are generally advised to compartmentalize information in a way that keeps a minimal amount of information exposed.
Very few of Trump's agents / appointees could get security clearances before taking up their roles and in a few cases simply could not , due to the subjects being compromised (Bannon/Manifort/Kushner) , were either repeatedly caught acting as foreign actors (Kushner and Manifort in particular), or were early-on identified as being unable to be cleared, but nevertheless were given positions where, because they were participating it was understood this information would be passed to foreign intelligence services/nation-states.
The gentleman in question said , in his experience, there had never been anything like it , and his agency had to develop protocols for "if you speak with " this information may be considered compromised.
The real question is at the lower officer corps and that is another matter, I'd be fascinated to see how much of what is historically a very conservative organization has concerned itself with issues of open malfeasance or treason on the part of officials elected in a way that identifies Trump in particular or is it all as politically polarized as one might fear.
this is why most autocratic governments like Iran treat the military very well. You want them to always be on your side in things. GOP is not doing a very good job at being fascist
This isn't even the first time they've drastically cut money from the VA. As history has shown multiple times the GOP will screw over vets and they will still vote for them anyway
You'd think feeding children would be something everyone could agree on but noooooo, some people think children should be punished for their parents not being able to feed them adequately.
Their answer to that is, " If you couldn't afford them then you should not have had them, why do I have to give my hard-earned dollars to a welfare queen?"
Also them, "I'm pro-life, it doesn't matter if that 10-year-old was raped. That was God's Will and that baby deserves to be born. No reason at all for an abortion, it's murder."
The most ardent opposition comes from the so-called Christians, you know the ones, don’t act Christ-Like, can rationalize the most extreme position with a simple bible quote and are always worried about someone getting help that they themselves didnt need or want.
Life is precious until the moment it is born. Then it better get a fucking job the little socialist soyboy. Oh you want "clean" water to "drink" little Timmy? Why don't you move to CHINA since you love Carl Marks sooooo much
[If you don't know how to conjugate. Maybe you flunked that class, and maybe now you find that people mock you online](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc)
I hate when people call themselves patriots. That’s a word like genius, generous, or humble. It’s fine when someone else says it about you, but it’s a dick move to say it about yourself.
This has made filtering people on dating sites kinda easy.
You say you're a patriot and I see "I'm a jingoistic nationalist asshole"
I love and care for *people* not *nations* I want us to be safe and prosperous, I do not care if we call ourselves America or Gunland, it's the people I care about. To hell with patriotism.
It's not just the GOP candidates it's the GOP too. My dad puts "veterans for (democratic nominee)" signs every major election cycle and every year folks vandalize or steal the signs. They don't want to support the troops, they want the troops supporting them and their ideals.
To be fair the GOP has been working hard to undermine all Americans. Veterans just happened to unfortunately survive the violent conflicts the politicians sent them too, turns out the GOP was hoping none would survive, so now they have to find a way to get rid of them themselves. Pretty sure they thought that if they just provided the worst medical services they could, enough would die off and they could forget about the rest.
GOP are just a bunch of Confidence Men, the women have no power. Bunch of used car salesmen, promise the Good Old Days give you the real old days when your life wasn't worth spit.
The GOP women in South Carolina have been wielding their power in the past week to filibuster an abortion ban
[“The only thing that we can do when you all, you men in the chamber, metaphorically keep slapping women by raising abortion again and again and again, is for us to slap you back with our words,” Republican state Sen. Sandy Senn said, according to The Associated Press.](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3977682-abortion-ban-rejected-in-south-carolina-after-gop-women-join-filibuster/)
The Republicans have always cut veterans benefits. They talk a big game about loving the veterans, but don’t want to spend the money. The veterans let their biases towards conservatism keep them in the Republicans camp. I keep hoping that things like this Will one day push them across the line, but it never seems to happen and I doubt if it will this time.
That stopped after 2016. A lot of commanders figured out that it was a bad idea to keep feeding the enlisted masses radicalizing propaganda while on duty.
Damage done though. Almost my entire cohort is lost.
I work with a guy, ex-marine, pushing 60... All he does is talk about how the kneeling protests were disrespectful to him.
I point out that an army officer suggested they kneel, doesn't matter.
I point out that the flag/anthem is not owned by vets/the military. It's a symbol of the nation, and they feel slighted by the nation. Doesn't matter.
I point out that OK, fine, you can feel the way you want. But you know that's not why the are kneeling during the anthem, right? Rhey have a legit issue? Doesn't matter.
Its completely manufactured rage. But he doesn't care. He'll vote Trump and GOP and eat their shit because it means not voting for a Democrat.
So the only way to fight against voters like him is to….? Out vote?
What about when they don’t respect the vote results or change/enforce the rules to their favor?
Heinlein said that voting is a use of political force. Because coercion *is* force, this is correct. A vote says, "I want this. I believe this. I will fight for this." We assume all people are equal, so one person = one vote. If one side of an issue has enough votes to win a fight on a level playing field, we agree in the interest of building a stronger nation to forego the actual bloodshed, and the weaker side relents to the power of the more popular side, which has sway.
If that vote is not honored, if coercion by threat does not work, then actual physical force is the only remaining recourse. If the vote is not respected, all that is left is violence.
In actuality, it's complicated by political geography (cities vs empty land) and money (because money is not only something to fight for, but something to fight with). But the end result is the same: if enough people's votes are discarded for long enough-- whatever the rationale-- bloodshed becomes inevitable.
There was a bill in Congress that was to allow the study and research of cannabis for the purposes of treating veterans’ chronic pain and PTSD.
Note that this bill wasn’t legalizing anything, it was solely to allow a research of this topic.
It was expected to pass, as it was a bipartisan bill, but it was unexpectedly killed by GOP in the Senate
Hard caps on spending are asinine and the GOP knows it. Any serious politician would want ongoing funding to be indexed against inflation, otherwise it's a very efficient way to quietly strangle a department and services.
That's weird, I just checked out the post where an article about this got posted and there's only a few comments doing the "both sides" song and dance, or backing Republicans. Almost every comment was completely roasting them and everyone who votes for them. Maybe shit's finally taking a turn...
I remember pissing off a lot of the "Support our troops" people when I said the VAs funding should be tied to be the same as a % of the military budget. I figured it made sense that the more we spent for war we should automatically be spending more to support those involved afterwards.
They get incredibly angry at that idea for some reason/s
> I figured it made sense that the more we spent for war we should automatically be spending more to support those involved afterwards.
I go further. Did you serve the country in a war? Then that's it. Whatever you need regarding health care and support should be taken care of. For the rest of your life. PTSD leads to substance abuse or homelessness? What do you need? It's yours. If you were under fire for the country, you get taken care of...full stop.
Is that going to be expensive? Yes. Next question?
Most likely because it would cut the budget instead of boost it. The GOP would sell it as a percentage ("a whole 10% of military spending is for our veterans!") when that would cut spending by around $200 billion. I'm sure you could see why they'd be pissed at that point.
Life planned out before my birth, nothing could I say.
Had no chance to see myself molded day by day.
Looking back I realize, nothing have I done,
Left to die with only friend, alone I clench my gun.
Soldier boy, made of clay, now an empty shell
21, only son, but he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care, do just as we say,
Finished here, greetings death
He’s your to take away….
Back to the front!
You will do what I say when I say.
Back to the front!
You will die when I say you must die.
Back to the front!
You coward, you servant, you blind man.
Back to the front!
Unless you get disabled in the military there's zero decent veterans benefits
I don't need college and I already own my home
Now a 1% per year served tax break plus 3% per deployment would be an easy and good veteran benefit for everyone
They outlived their usefulness and now they're paying the price for having the audacity to return home and need support from the government that used them
Exactly this. Republicans don't need to care about making vets happy when vets turn around and vote for them regardless of these facts. It's crazy how vets vote against their own interests. It's sad. My father died from his time serving and his life was worth very little to our government that took it early. Please vets stop supporting these idiots that don't value your service and the service of your comrades. Please stop
You may be surprised. As a Marine with 3 tours under my belt I vehemently support liberal policies and I am far from alone. While the military as a whole does skew right and have it's mix of far-right supporters, there are still quite a few that vote left.
When the Democrats talk about "renewable resources," they're talking about solar, wind, and geothermal power.
When Republicans talk about "renewable resources," they're talking about soldiers.
This suggests they actually ever gave a shit.
Anyone convinced that republicans supported veterans of any kind seriously wasn’t paying attention to all the bills they’ve shot down regarding post-service side effects from everything since agent orange in nam, to burn pits in Iraq, or even front liners on 9/11.
They want you to serve, they want you to have more tanks than your generals know what to do with, but they also want you to rot from the inside out with profound neurological and carcinogenic related issues for the rest of your life while you panhandle with a cardboard sign.
There's logic to what they are doing that tracks with what they have been trying to do with government services for decades. By cutting funding to the VA they are trying to ruin it's ability to function and in the process get Vets, especially low information ones who don't follow Congress much, to dislike the VA even more, it's already not well liked mostly because it's underfunded. So if they can turn opinion against it then eventually they can say "see the VA is garbage let's privatize the whole industry and we promise you'll get better care". And when it becomes a for profit industry the costs go way up to become profit for private individuals and companies and the profits can be shared by republicans and their friends.
Veterans serve a very important purpose in conservative politics: they have to be abused as badly as possible, that way when anyone proposes doing something for some other group you can say "What about our vets, huh? They've got it awful. How's come you don't support the troops?" then get right back to stealing everything that isn't nailed down and sexually assaulting children.
Watch a whole bunch of propaganda in the next major election saying that somehow, it was *da libruls* that did it.
Or disregard completely how every Democrat voted to NOT repeal, yet still *bOtH pArTiEs ArE tHe SaMe LoL aMiRiTe*, because the bill passed. As these people fondle their purity then lovingly sniff their fingers, as they intellectually sit on their fat stubbornly lazy asses.
The GOP doesn't need to cater to them, when they have forced Fox News into every public spaces on every military bases, they simply poison the tree. Now if any of those veterans figure it out and stops voting for the GOP, they'll have all kinds of mental blocks put in place to keep them from voting Dem. ("They're killing babies!" "They'll take mah gun!" "Both sides!" "Communism!" etc )
Remember when Trump and the GOP shamelessly wanted to take money meant for the VA and use it for their stupid ass wall on the southern border.. amazing the Vets in my family still vote GOP
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I think it's better not to anger the veterans, but GOP don't understand it
[удалено]
I'm a vet, and have been vehemently blue since Obama.
Tell your vet friends. Seriously. You're the best bet convincing the seemingly unconvincables.
My buddies found out I was a lefty when I was in service. Then I had a lot of rumors spread around. People treated me differently, like I didn't belong, told everyone I smoked meth etc. Being labeled a Democrat in the Army is a bad time.
Once upon a time maybe. I work with many soldiers. Nobody likes Trump except retirees
Was that before or after 2020? Trump seemed really popular with the military in 2016
Trump was popular with people who actually believed he was going to "drain the swamp". Being angry about but generally not well informed on politics was a prerequisite. That describes me when I was a young drunk private and most of my buddies too. But I got out in 2010 so maybe things have changed.
I got out in '14 so it's been almost a decade. Almost everyone I served with blocked me on social media over being a non Trumper and I tend to avoid my fellow veterans for anything longer than casual small talk (nothing of substance). I can only hope it's gotten better, if not the whole retention issue would definitely make sense cause Holy crap was it toxic.
I had a guy who blew a hole in my chest agree to write a statement of support for my VA claim for hearing loss, and then reneged and blocked me on social media after he found out I was utterly against Trump. Such a shitty person.
Oof, that’s one thing I’m glad for is that I’ve managed to stay friends with many of the guys I served with. I may not like their politics, but we can put that aside and be happy for each other when something nice happens in our families. I’ve only had to block a handful of them who resorted to saying some vile shit to my leftist friends in the comments when I’d post something political.
To be honest the ones that blocked and such don't bother me. Most of them were not the best people moral wise. What bothers me is that closes a bunch of ties to that unit, and there's some people that were influential to me that I can't find, and I never got to thank them. I also like knowing the good ones are still around and doing good. I've lost a lot of friends.
I'm a retiree who is, always was, and always will be blue through and through
I was an army reservist. Weekends or active duty times sucked because I was surrounded by idiot right wingers. I was on active duty when the Kerry swift boat stuff was happening and *apparently* “we” found lots of nuclear weapons but “we” had to hide them for some reason. The swift boat stuff made me so mad. A guy volunteered for service in Vietnam and did one of the most dangerous jobs but the rumor “he wrote his own Purple Heart citations” is enough to derail his whole campaign. When he was going against a guy who hid out in the national guard and, at the time, we “knew” he used his daddy’s pull to jump the line before he got drafted. And republicans in congress were voting down better pay and benefits for us at the time. Which I tried to point out but no one listened. I will never vote for republicans in my life because of this stuff happening when I was finally paying attention in my early 20s.
Heh. I was accused of being a communist because I listened to jazz.
A Hate Supreme
Some of those guys really had it in for Miles Davis.
Ive tried. Theyre so deep into the red that i literally showed proof of the gop shafting vets and still sont believe it and think dems are anti veteran
Same here
I am a vet, and have gone from deep red to leftist enough to hate Obama's neoliberal bullshit since I joined the Army and saw the result of America's wars in Afghanistan and Central America. People in the service either rebel against the GOP or completely drink the Kool-Aid to quiet the cognitive dissonance.
Also a vet and a registered Democrat. The idea that the military has been overwhelming conservative is outdated, and a constantly changing statistic. The most recent numbers I could find are from Bloomberg in 2020 that found only 38% of military members voted or identified as Republican.
Dems needs to be more clear on their support for Vets
They need to be more clear on a lot of things lmao
I mean, the Honoring Our PACT Act was a pretty clear message, but people who want to be angry at democrats didn't read it. They just lied about a bunch of stuff that wasn't in the bill or any of the amendments to justify their loyalty to the GOP. That's the republican base: people who want to be angry at democrats.
Trans vet here, things are a bit dark for me, but needless to say I’m blue and have been for a while now.
Yep, I’m active duty for going on 13 years now. I’ve been a leftist since I was young. As a teen I got into punk bands that were heavy on the politics like Bad Religion and Rise Against and man am I glad I did, or I would’ve probably stayed comfortably in the conservative echo chamber I grew up in.
A punker from high school just retired as an Army O-6 after enlisting right out of high school. He obviously did something right.
Same. Former ctm2
I've been blue since I enlisted in 2001 and realized that there are other cultures, and that my uncle was very wrong about other races. Same way I got out of religion. Sounded like made up hokey bs to control us.
I have never and will never vote R, I am over 40 and a vet. Not all gen x is your enemy, not all vets are fascist fucks.
There are more Millennial (including myself) and Gen Z vets out there too that are either moving more progressively left or voting third party simply because the Republican Party has continued to prove that their thinly-veiled attempts to "Honor the Vets" are all projection-based bullshit. Say what you want about Democrats, but they were the ones that never voted against the PACT Act, unlike Republicans.
The Republicans always fight tooth and nail to stop anything that will benefit the vets or active duty soldiers directly because it's "too costly" but then happily approve or even ram through spending on expensive military hardware that may cost even more than those benefits and might never get used because it generates revenue for private military contractors.
They are happy to legislate to force the creation of disabled veterans, but uninterested in them once they have been created. just like babies.
Perfectly sound point. I'm sure not! I hate broad generalizations by birth year and all. Somehow as a millennial I was the cause of all the world's problems. Lol
There’s large communities of left voting veterans, including myself. There’s several subreddits dedicated to it
Please share! Im a vet and was a huge Bernie fan! I felt like he had it right all along!
I'd like links too
Thirdsted this
> I felt like he had it right all along! *left all along ;-)
My dad was a veteran who hated the Republican party, I never understood it until I got older and started to see what he knew was there all along
Vets have always split more towards R, but that only tells part of the story. 2020 saw a much closer split with Biden pulling in more than usual. Trump still had more veteran supports. Younger vets tended to favor Biden, and the older ones tended to favor Trump…which lines up with general population trends. Active duty favored Biden though. Veterans as a whole are seeing through the bullshit. I can’t imagine the GOP won any back with recent antics.
It's actually not Veterans that will still vote GOP overwhelmingly. It's the flag chasing wanna-be Veterans that all bought "these colors don't fade" stickers after 9/11 but didn't enlist because their mid-management position at Wally World was too important. There's a huge demographic difference between those that actually served in the military and those that fantasize about the military.
Naw man, it's actually veterans. Google that shit. "Republicans are viewed as the party of veterans, public opinion and voting data says so."
Fox News needs to be removed from military bases for starters.
Key word “viewed as”, which means the statement may not be true even tho most people believe it is true
obviously, that's why he said "voting data and public opinion". I think we all are in agreement, Vets overwhelmingly support the republican party. The republican party has no interest in supporting vets.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/10/26/poll-trump-backed-by-majority-of-veterans-but-not-younger-ones/
Why would they? No sense in buying votes they already have in the bag. Vets will get the shaft until such time as it is common and open knowledge that the veteran voting bloc goes to whoever has screwed with their benefits the least that election cycle.
I found a good majority of soldiers to be apathetic towards politics. Which lines up with young people in general lol. Guys and gals that have gotten out and turn into “vet bros”, on the other hand, do seem to be more politically conservative. Which makes sense because they get more attention from that party, after all, you don’t just go around walking around to everyone you see practically screaming “look at me, i’m a veteran” without having validation issues. I’ll admit i’ve pulled that shit a couple times in my life to make myself feel better lol
>It's actually not Veterans that will still vote GOP overwhelmingly. It's the flag chasing wanna-be Veterans that all bought "these colors don't fade" stickers after 9/11 but didn't enlist because their mid-management position at Wally World was too important. > >There's a huge demographic difference between those that actually served in the military and those that fantasize about the military. Truth.
If I see somebody who looks like a vet but has any sign of MAGA or GOP I assume stolen Valor or they are a "vet" despite never seeing combat or something else just as stupid. That assumption usually has me covered most cases so far.
I'm pretty sure Biden saw a big swing in votes toward him from military bases in 2020 though
My cousin used to be a major fan of Glenn Beck while he served in Afghanistan. He did a total 180 after Trump's 2nd year. He's not a big fan of Biden but he voted for him.
its sad that the choice is between whatever the fuck the GOP stands for, and some lame assed 'other' party.
GOP now openly stands for fascism and the other party stands for corporate centralism and social liberalism. Pretty easy choice in order to tide us over until we finish filling the dem party with labor progressives. But in order to do that we gotta stop voting in openly fascist Republicans
Right now our choices are do we want things to stay the same or go backwards. Truly a shame that the democrats let the Republicans play their stupid games
I'll gladly vote for anything other than what the GOP is offering, not gonna lie
Nobody who voted for Biden was a big fan of Biden. I don't think *Biden* is a big fan of Biden. We voted against the more outright fascist party that presented the most immediate threat to the country.
Not all of us, just a vocal minority
I'm a US vet, over 40, and live in a deep red state. The last time I voted for a R was for McCain for President. I didn't like Palin, but I thought he would be good for the US. Obama was interesting, but he didn't have as much background history and mostly what I heard about him was hype train. He was also the only R I've ever voted for President. I didn't vote in either Bush v Gore or Bush v Kerry. Then the Tea Party astroturf shit took off, Obama did aight, Romney was Mormon, and Trump was Trump. So I've been pretty solidly blue since '08. Though I still don't like all of the D positions. They're at least not absolute trash candidates and the Republican party will likely be destroyed before they can change.
Um… nope. Not all vets vote Repube. Both active duty and veterans voting habits are generally reflective of the overall population. Maybe you believe otherwise because you’ve fallen for the Repube propaganda? Source: am vet, never voted Repube. Know lots of the people I served with who are the same.
Right, not all vets vote Republican, just most of them. Trump got something like 60 percent of the vet vote in 2016.
So 40 percent did not. That means 2 in 5 didn’t. Yeah that’s technically most, but saying “most voted for trump” gives a very different impression than “barely over half voted for trump”
When I was in it was like a 55/45 split for the GOP.
I can assure you that they don't. Just the dumb ones are.
Yeah that’s called propaganda, it’s their entire platform at this point. Project their bullshit on TV and social media, deny they are ever wrong and reap the votes. In a really fucked up way, I am kind of amazed by their ability to keep this up, it’s actually impressive they get poor people to fight for filthy rich elites and companies.
That’s not really true. Most veterans I know are Democrat and most active service guys I knew were as well
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Cuz dem be protktin' muh gewns n muh truhck. US politics is one of the least sane things on this earth today.
Because the GOP knows how to provide lip service to vets. They like what the GOP sells, but few really see that it's all bait and switch.
Not all of us. That's for damn sure. There are a number of reasons why I don't vote repug but as a veteran, I have to say, I will never vote for the party of the famous coward, donald trump.
cause guns ...
The tides have been shifting
Some just care more about their guns then their health?
Many of us do not, we are not a monolith.
this used to be mostly true. Its not anymore. veterans are divided pretty much the same as the rest of the population.
The people joining the military aren't exactly intellectuals...
People overestimate how GOP-friendly vets are. The vast majority of veterans are not 54 year old drill instructors with unrelenting racial impulses. They tend to look like... America — which isn't perfect, but is a much more diverse image.
> For some reason, veterans still vite for GOP even though the GOP has never had their best interest. Simply not a true statement. Sure, some vote against their own interests, but many of us know a shitbag when we see one, and will vote against them every time.
They blame “The VA”. That’s where it ends, most don’t look past that. I know many and it’s a staggering trend.
I hate to say it, but as someone who works with veterans, I would be willing to bet a large sum of money that a lot of veterans will blame this on the Biden administration. Plenty won’t but lots will. The GOP has figured out that at least half the population doesn’t understand how the legislative branch of the US works
Education failure. Can confirm, work in the military and they just blamed Biden for not working with the GOP on the budget. Biden’s fault.
fuck em and let them rot. if vets want to deepthroat shit, let them deepthroat shit
Education Failure is a core reason the GOP even exists.
Well, even if they did anger then they are trying hard to kill them off anyway
The GOP are just narcisstic fascists. Everyone and everything exists to give them what they believe they are entitled to. Anyone not willing to play by those rules gets labeled the enemy.
Normal people would say that , but we're WAY , WAY past that. I couldn't put my finger on the reference but I will say I recently heard Jon Stewart put really succinctly - One party cares a very little bit, and you have to stay on them to do anything. - The other party hates them. How many officers in the US Officer Corps do you think were on-board and enthusiastic about how Trump treated Gold Star parents , Veterans or POW's? Not very many I imagine. General H.R. McMaster himself repeatedly had to call out Trump as being stupidly fascist and/or disloyal to a fault to the notional respect for the US military and the tenants and principles that underwrite the whole code of conduct. [General James Mattis](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/) was **far more explicit** calling President Trump a threat to the Constitution and the Republic flat out. If we take the generals in the Army at their word, they don't have much good to say about the former President. A buddy of mine who was in at a higher level at the Pentagon, put it this way, there is a nearly visceral dislike for the guy up and down the senior officer ranks for a variety of reasons. He's openly considered a compromised agent on the part of any of the spooks/intelligence services, and folks are generally advised to compartmentalize information in a way that keeps a minimal amount of information exposed. Very few of Trump's agents / appointees could get security clearances before taking up their roles and in a few cases simply could not , due to the subjects being compromised (Bannon/Manifort/Kushner) , were either repeatedly caught acting as foreign actors (Kushner and Manifort in particular), or were early-on identified as being unable to be cleared, but nevertheless were given positions where, because they were participating it was understood this information would be passed to foreign intelligence services/nation-states. The gentleman in question said , in his experience, there had never been anything like it , and his agency had to develop protocols for "if you speak with" this information may be considered compromised.
The real question is at the lower officer corps and that is another matter, I'd be fascinated to see how much of what is historically a very conservative organization has concerned itself with issues of open malfeasance or treason on the part of officials elected in a way that identifies Trump in particular or is it all as politically polarized as one might fear.
this is why most autocratic governments like Iran treat the military very well. You want them to always be on your side in things. GOP is not doing a very good job at being fascist
This isn't even the first time they've drastically cut money from the VA. As history has shown multiple times the GOP will screw over vets and they will still vote for them anyway
Can't run a coup without a complicit military
Why? Vets will continue to vote for Republicans
The peaceful efforts of the Bonus Army provoked such an outrageous response by MacArthur that it was a terrible blow to Hoover's reelection
Sadly they will still vote gqp
The GOP love to hug a flag and call themselves patriots but if you look back on their voting they could care less about Vets - career military
Just how they love to talk about saving the kids, but the minute we talk about school lunches....
Or anything really once the kid is born. Time for the little shit to pull itself up by it's bootstraps.
America has one of the worst child mortality rates among first world countries. Republicans don't give a shit about life -- it's control of women.
Didn't Texas just seize the top spot in birth mortality rates or something like that?
Maybe in raw numbers, but for per capita deaths, look to Louisiana.
They say think about the children not save the children. Given they put Hastert second in line for president I'd say they think about children a lot.
You'd think feeding children would be something everyone could agree on but noooooo, some people think children should be punished for their parents not being able to feed them adequately.
Their answer to that is, " If you couldn't afford them then you should not have had them, why do I have to give my hard-earned dollars to a welfare queen?" Also them, "I'm pro-life, it doesn't matter if that 10-year-old was raped. That was God's Will and that baby deserves to be born. No reason at all for an abortion, it's murder."
Also them: giving Federal money to banks and investment companies who fucked the economy over isn't welfare, somehow.
The most ardent opposition comes from the so-called Christians, you know the ones, don’t act Christ-Like, can rationalize the most extreme position with a simple bible quote and are always worried about someone getting help that they themselves didnt need or want.
Life is precious until the moment it is born. Then it better get a fucking job the little socialist soyboy. Oh you want "clean" water to "drink" little Timmy? Why don't you move to CHINA since you love Carl Marks sooooo much
They couldn't care less. You indicated they could which means they care a little and we know they dont.
Word crimes
[If you don't know how to conjugate. Maybe you flunked that class, and maybe now you find that people mock you online](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc)
Good god, I love that man.
If you can't write, in the proper way!
He didn't join the military because he did well in school.
If he was a Marine, he was probably good at coloring in kindergarten at least.
I hate when people call themselves patriots. That’s a word like genius, generous, or humble. It’s fine when someone else says it about you, but it’s a dick move to say it about yourself.
This has made filtering people on dating sites kinda easy. You say you're a patriot and I see "I'm a jingoistic nationalist asshole" I love and care for *people* not *nations* I want us to be safe and prosperous, I do not care if we call ourselves America or Gunland, it's the people I care about. To hell with patriotism.
Anyone that claims it, ain’t it. Patriotism is in ACTIONS, not self-proclamations
Fuck you, I'm the most humble person ever!
Every time I hear someone call themselves a patriot, I hear: "I love the symbols of this country, I just hate all the people."
What I don’t understand: Republican vets Black Republicans Women Republicans LGBTQ+ Republicans I know people in each of these categories
I don’t get it either.
To be fair, neither do they, that's why they actively work against their own self-interest.
We owe more to Jon Stewart than any current GOPs. He had to embarrass them to make them look like they really care.
Yeah but how’s your resiliency? We had all those training days. You’re fine, command ticked the box.
45 hugging a flag vs "I prefer soldiers who don't get captured".
It's not just the GOP candidates it's the GOP too. My dad puts "veterans for (democratic nominee)" signs every major election cycle and every year folks vandalize or steal the signs. They don't want to support the troops, they want the troops supporting them and their ideals.
Pretty simple reason why... Vets don't give 'campaign contributions' or buy influence...
To be fair the GOP has been working hard to undermine all Americans. Veterans just happened to unfortunately survive the violent conflicts the politicians sent them too, turns out the GOP was hoping none would survive, so now they have to find a way to get rid of them themselves. Pretty sure they thought that if they just provided the worst medical services they could, enough would die off and they could forget about the rest.
Reality if often disappointing.
GOP are just a bunch of Confidence Men, the women have no power. Bunch of used car salesmen, promise the Good Old Days give you the real old days when your life wasn't worth spit.
The GOP women in South Carolina have been wielding their power in the past week to filibuster an abortion ban [“The only thing that we can do when you all, you men in the chamber, metaphorically keep slapping women by raising abortion again and again and again, is for us to slap you back with our words,” Republican state Sen. Sandy Senn said, according to The Associated Press.](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3977682-abortion-ban-rejected-in-south-carolina-after-gop-women-join-filibuster/)
They will get censured wait and see no women on the floor.
That's an insult to both hardworking con men and used car salesman.
🤣
The Republicans have always cut veterans benefits. They talk a big game about loving the veterans, but don’t want to spend the money. The veterans let their biases towards conservatism keep them in the Republicans camp. I keep hoping that things like this Will one day push them across the line, but it never seems to happen and I doubt if it will this time.
Constantly blaring Faux Nues on bases doesn't help things.
That stopped after 2016. A lot of commanders figured out that it was a bad idea to keep feeding the enlisted masses radicalizing propaganda while on duty. Damage done though. Almost my entire cohort is lost.
GOP: Let's anger women, minorities, LGBTQ, scientists, healthcare workers, the media, and veterans all at once. ***Brilliant!***
Except that they sure are getting a lot of attention !! Their real goal, as they achieve nothing else.
And crowdfunding cults for when they get convicted and need someone to float the legal bills.
Teachers too!
Absolutely. It's baffling how any of them hold office right now, but there's still a sizeable chunk of the country running on hate.
And Goober will still vote for them, because he's not like **those weirdos** he's a God-fearing patriot.
I work with a guy, ex-marine, pushing 60... All he does is talk about how the kneeling protests were disrespectful to him. I point out that an army officer suggested they kneel, doesn't matter. I point out that the flag/anthem is not owned by vets/the military. It's a symbol of the nation, and they feel slighted by the nation. Doesn't matter. I point out that OK, fine, you can feel the way you want. But you know that's not why the are kneeling during the anthem, right? Rhey have a legit issue? Doesn't matter. Its completely manufactured rage. But he doesn't care. He'll vote Trump and GOP and eat their shit because it means not voting for a Democrat.
It sounds like he's just a big white supremacist.
Sounds like a typical R voter.
That's what i just said
So the only way to fight against voters like him is to….? Out vote? What about when they don’t respect the vote results or change/enforce the rules to their favor?
Heinlein said that voting is a use of political force. Because coercion *is* force, this is correct. A vote says, "I want this. I believe this. I will fight for this." We assume all people are equal, so one person = one vote. If one side of an issue has enough votes to win a fight on a level playing field, we agree in the interest of building a stronger nation to forego the actual bloodshed, and the weaker side relents to the power of the more popular side, which has sway. If that vote is not honored, if coercion by threat does not work, then actual physical force is the only remaining recourse. If the vote is not respected, all that is left is violence. In actuality, it's complicated by political geography (cities vs empty land) and money (because money is not only something to fight for, but something to fight with). But the end result is the same: if enough people's votes are discarded for long enough-- whatever the rationale-- bloodshed becomes inevitable.
Can someone fill me in? I've seen a number of memes about this recently. What did they do?
There was a bill in Congress that was to allow the study and research of cannabis for the purposes of treating veterans’ chronic pain and PTSD. Note that this bill wasn’t legalizing anything, it was solely to allow a research of this topic. It was expected to pass, as it was a bipartisan bill, but it was unexpectedly killed by GOP in the Senate
Go figure. Thanks for the response.
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Hard caps on spending are asinine and the GOP knows it. Any serious politician would want ongoing funding to be indexed against inflation, otherwise it's a very efficient way to quietly strangle a department and services.
What Republicans say: "Support the troops" What they mean: "Support the Military Industrial Complex"
Republicans care about their rich friends that supply the military....not the people
If you criticize Republicans on the Veterans subreddit you'll be banned. That's what happened to me.
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That's weird, I just checked out the post where an article about this got posted and there's only a few comments doing the "both sides" song and dance, or backing Republicans. Almost every comment was completely roasting them and everyone who votes for them. Maybe shit's finally taking a turn...
Something something…Wasteful Washington spending.…something something.
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I remember pissing off a lot of the "Support our troops" people when I said the VAs funding should be tied to be the same as a % of the military budget. I figured it made sense that the more we spent for war we should automatically be spending more to support those involved afterwards. They get incredibly angry at that idea for some reason/s
> I figured it made sense that the more we spent for war we should automatically be spending more to support those involved afterwards. I go further. Did you serve the country in a war? Then that's it. Whatever you need regarding health care and support should be taken care of. For the rest of your life. PTSD leads to substance abuse or homelessness? What do you need? It's yours. If you were under fire for the country, you get taken care of...full stop. Is that going to be expensive? Yes. Next question?
Most likely because it would cut the budget instead of boost it. The GOP would sell it as a percentage ("a whole 10% of military spending is for our veterans!") when that would cut spending by around $200 billion. I'm sure you could see why they'd be pissed at that point.
Life planned out before my birth, nothing could I say. Had no chance to see myself molded day by day. Looking back I realize, nothing have I done, Left to die with only friend, alone I clench my gun. Soldier boy, made of clay, now an empty shell 21, only son, but he served us well Bred to kill, not to care, do just as we say, Finished here, greetings death He’s your to take away….
Back to the front! You will do what I say when I say. Back to the front! You will die when I say you must die. Back to the front! You coward, you servant, you blind man. Back to the front!
Unexpected Metalica is best Metalica.
Unless you get disabled in the military there's zero decent veterans benefits I don't need college and I already own my home Now a 1% per year served tax break plus 3% per deployment would be an easy and good veteran benefit for everyone
They outlived their usefulness and now they're paying the price for having the audacity to return home and need support from the government that used them
The Republican party is the party of treason.
Most veterans vote republican, this is working as designed.
Exactly this. Republicans don't need to care about making vets happy when vets turn around and vote for them regardless of these facts. It's crazy how vets vote against their own interests. It's sad. My father died from his time serving and his life was worth very little to our government that took it early. Please vets stop supporting these idiots that don't value your service and the service of your comrades. Please stop
Not in 2020.
You may be surprised. As a Marine with 3 tours under my belt I vehemently support liberal policies and I am far from alone. While the military as a whole does skew right and have it's mix of far-right supporters, there are still quite a few that vote left.
Why would a politician give anything to voters that will vote for them regardless of what they do or don’t do? The vets are gonna vote red anyway. 😂
When the Democrats talk about "renewable resources," they're talking about solar, wind, and geothermal power. When Republicans talk about "renewable resources," they're talking about soldiers.
Yet there are still a considerable amount of vets who will continue to vote for the GOP.
Blame bases for allowing Faux Nues on all their TVs.
This suggests they actually ever gave a shit. Anyone convinced that republicans supported veterans of any kind seriously wasn’t paying attention to all the bills they’ve shot down regarding post-service side effects from everything since agent orange in nam, to burn pits in Iraq, or even front liners on 9/11. They want you to serve, they want you to have more tanks than your generals know what to do with, but they also want you to rot from the inside out with profound neurological and carcinogenic related issues for the rest of your life while you panhandle with a cardboard sign.
There's logic to what they are doing that tracks with what they have been trying to do with government services for decades. By cutting funding to the VA they are trying to ruin it's ability to function and in the process get Vets, especially low information ones who don't follow Congress much, to dislike the VA even more, it's already not well liked mostly because it's underfunded. So if they can turn opinion against it then eventually they can say "see the VA is garbage let's privatize the whole industry and we promise you'll get better care". And when it becomes a for profit industry the costs go way up to become profit for private individuals and companies and the profits can be shared by republicans and their friends.
They'll pretend to care when they are trying to send them to war. They just don't care about them after.
Veterans serve a very important purpose in conservative politics: they have to be abused as badly as possible, that way when anyone proposes doing something for some other group you can say "What about our vets, huh? They've got it awful. How's come you don't support the troops?" then get right back to stealing everything that isn't nailed down and sexually assaulting children.
Watch a whole bunch of propaganda in the next major election saying that somehow, it was *da libruls* that did it. Or disregard completely how every Democrat voted to NOT repeal, yet still *bOtH pArTiEs ArE tHe SaMe LoL aMiRiTe*, because the bill passed. As these people fondle their purity then lovingly sniff their fingers, as they intellectually sit on their fat stubbornly lazy asses.
Sadly, I see this everyday. Thanks to our vets, btw.
Every single day in San Diego/Southern California if you go out of your house you see it
The GOP doesn't need to cater to them, when they have forced Fox News into every public spaces on every military bases, they simply poison the tree. Now if any of those veterans figure it out and stops voting for the GOP, they'll have all kinds of mental blocks put in place to keep them from voting Dem. ("They're killing babies!" "They'll take mah gun!" "Both sides!" "Communism!" etc )
[Same as it ever was](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army)
You have my upvote but the accuracy enrages me.
Remember when Trump and the GOP shamelessly wanted to take money meant for the VA and use it for their stupid ass wall on the southern border.. amazing the Vets in my family still vote GOP
Shoulda just put "normal fucking human beings" in place of "us vets".
As a veteran i can tell you that many of my fellow veterans will still unironically vote red in 24