Fun fact about US military spending

[juansavage1]

As for military spending, the difference is mostly soldier pay. Also, be careful with some statistics. Leftist sites like to include retirement, VA, and other related expenses.

[Glen]

Because those aren't military expenses. Damn leftists.

[juansavage1]

It would be fair if you include teacher retirement and medical as education expenses.

[Glen]

Yes,it would.

[Glen]

I fail to see how the VA shouldn't be classified as a military expense.

[mtangelsfan]

Is the VA really something that is causing the issue?  Is there people who don't believe our military should be taken care of?  

 

It doesn't help to point out something if you have no thoughts on how to fix it.  

[Glen]

You must be new here.

[juansavage1]

I'm pointing out some tricks of the trade for people who don't have experience talking to progressive people. I've argued with friends about military versus education spending and they do things like only including federal spending, excluding private spending on education, or including retirement expenses for one and not the other.

 

General tips include: First, fight through the insults and charges of racism, sexism, or not caring. Second, argue apples and apples. Third, decide whether you're arguing the principle or that they don't want this group to win.

 

Once you know the game, it's easy.  

Edited May 25, 2015 by Juan Savage

[juansavage1]

Another general trick is to make sure you're both arguing for the best way to a common goal. For example, Vietnam. Most leftists were very happy to abandon Vietnam to the communists because they hated conservatives and the US more than they hated communists, if they didn't outright support communists. So, what's to argue?

 

It's like Iraq. Do you think most liberals give a rat's behind that ISIS is running wild, beheading Christians and raping women? No, they see it as a repudiation of Bush, their real enemy.

[juansavage1]

In what way? Do you think most leftists regret losing Vietnam to the communists? You know that the South's faith could have been averted by supporting the South.

[Glen]

Can confirm. I'm liberal and I hate conservatives and America more than anything else.

[arch stanton]

Condescension and name calling. 2 more boxes ticked on the checklist.

[juansavage1]

Some people thought fighting communism was worth it. Ask South Koreans if they thought the Americans shouldn't have involved themselves in their civil war.

 

But, we can settle this pretty quickly. Who did your lefty college friends and professors think was worse, Pinochet or Castro?

Edited May 26, 2015 by Juan Savage

[RallyMo]

It's like Iraq. Do you think most liberals give a rat's behind that ISIS is running wild, beheading Christians and raping women? No, they see it as a repudiation of Bush, their real enemy.

You have a perverse way of characterizing those that you can't agree with.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

You have a perverse way of characterizing those that you can't agree with.

 

I have given up trying to have a discussion with this guy. He is too far gone to even reason with. 

[arch stanton]

Some people thought fighting communism was worth it. Ask South Koreans if they thought the Americans shouldn't have involved themselves in their civil war.

 

But, we can settle this pretty quickly. Who did your lefty college friends and professors think was worse, Pinochet or Castro?

My guess is that the breakdown of who thought Vietnam was worth fighting can be broken down into those who could get a draft exemption and those who could not.

[juansavage1]

Well, most are probably proud of their son's sacrifice. It really just depends on whether you think the cause is just or not. I think we provided a huge service to the world by preventing communist take overs in Europe and other places and I regret we couldn't do the same in other places either because it was inpractical or the people in power didn't feel the same.

You don't, which is fine, as long as we're honest with other.

[juansavage1]

How does this relate to the topic? Because if you think the US is a force for good as well as important to our interests, you want a strong military. If you're like a Chomsky guy and see the US as bad guys, then you want a weaker US.

[arch stanton]

Maybe some people think we can be a force for good without killing everything in our path.

[HaloMagic]

I like this Juan Savage guy. He has moxie.

[InsideThePark]

It's like Iraq. Do you think most liberals give a rat's behind that ISIS is running wild, beheading Christians and raping women? No, they see it as a repudiation of Bush, their real enemy.

Holy nutjob.

[juansavage1]

Right. I'm a nutjob. Can you name a person on the left who regrets leaving Iraq so that ISIS can take over large parts of the country to behead people? You realize that we could have left a small force there to prevent this, but Obama refused.

[arch stanton]

Right. I'm a nutjob. Can you name a person on the left who regrets leaving Iraq so that ISIS can take over large parts of the country to behead people? You realize that we could have left a small force there to prevent this, but Obama refused.

Or we could have insisted that they write a constitution that protected all the citizens instead of letting Bush' handpicked boy create a divide so great that ISIS is a better option. We could have left it alone in the first place. We could do many things that don't involve troops.

[Glen]

I like this Juan Savage guy. He has moxie.

And an extra chromosome, apparently.

[Glen]

Or we could have insisted that they write a constitution that protected all the citizens instead of letting Bush' handpicked boy create a divide so great that ISIS is a better option. We could have left it alone in the first place. We could do many things that don't involve troops.

Not even an option, apparently. Iraq was like WWII x 10.