That was after he wasn't there when indeed he was, so even though he wasn't there, he voted NO. 
Posted on 03/24/2004 7:09:26 PM PST by Sabertooth
That was after he wasn't there when indeed he was, so even though he wasn't there, he voted NO.
That's the whole problem. Unfortunately, I don't know how many rank and file Dems are aware of this, or even care. But their whole party has essentially been radicalized right under their noses, particularly in the last 10 years or so (even though Clinton was considered a "moderate").
...AGAIN!
These anti Americans hijacked the Democratic Party and have forced good Democrats like Zell Miller to leave or worse.
Good point to emphasize. One note I'd add to the discussion is that the far left's takeover of the Democratic Party during the 1960s-1970s represented the culmination of a long-term campaign, which I'd suggest may be summarized for reference as follows:
IMO this process began among northern and western Democrats during the Wilson administration (via Louis Brandeis, etc.), made headway during the 1920s through the Progressive movement (via e.g. Senator Thomas Walsh), flourished under FDR, and came to a head during the 1944-1948 period when the far-left wing of the Democratic Party united behind Eleanor Roosevelt and Henry Wallace against moderate and conservative Democrats. The left's advance on the Democratic Party was set back somewhat by the onset of the Cold War, but in response the more subtle of Wallace's supporters (as opposed to those who remained openly Communist/Socialist under the aegis of such groups as the Progressive Citizens of America [PCA]) worked through purportedly "anti-Communist" groups like the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), which became one of the main links between New Deal leftists and the left's infiltration of the Democratic Party during the 1960s-1970s, IMO. Some interesting details on the role the ADA played in the struggle between the various factions of the Democratic Party are mentioned in this book:
Steven M. Gillon, Politics and Vision: The Ada and American Liberalism, 1947-1985
Particularly interesting is Gillon's Chapters 8-9 which discuss the factions that arose within the Democratic Party in response to the Vietnam War. As I interpret these chapters (from a more conservative perspective than the author, who seems to take at face value the ADA's claims to be "anti-Communist") Democrats who supported the Cold War found themselves opposed on the one hand by a faction which supported the antiwar movement, led by Hans Morgenthau and including George McGovern; and on the other hand by a so-called "moderate" faction which supported Cold War containment but limited troop commitment, and was led by among others Joseph Rauh (a key guy in CPUSA's infiltration of the Democratic Party, IMO) and Kenneth Galbraith. Rauh, after unsuccessfully seeking to mediate between the various factions and LBJ, joined Galbraith and Allard Lowenstein in seeking alternatives to LBJ for the 1968 Democratic Presidential nomination. They first approached Robert Kennedy and George McGovern. Kennedy initially referred them to Eugene McCarthy, but later decided to enter the race himself after McCarthy drew little enthusiasm from more moderate ADA members. Hubert Humphrey hoped to win the nomination by playing Kennedy and McCarthy against each other, but Kennedy's assassination and elimination from the campaign gave McCarthy and the ADA more influence at the nominating convention, with the result that Rauh was able to force a platform concession from Humphrey promising to end bombings in Vietnam. From this point on the left-leaning faction in the ADA became an increasingly strong influence in the Democratic Party via McGovern, Mondale, etc. Also noteworthy is Michael Harrington's ADA faction which spun off into the Democratic Socialists of America:
Democratic Socialists of America
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the largest socialist organization in the United States, and the principal U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International, which includes the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the New Democratic Party of Canada.
The DSA was formed in 1983 when a splinter group of the old Socialist Party (Michael Harrington's Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee) merged with the New American Movement a coalition of writers and intellectuals with roots in both the "Old" and the "New" left.
Among its notable members, are feminist Gloria Steinem, actor Ed Asner, scholar and activist Cornel West, and libertarian socialist Noam Chomsky.
Many Democratic Socialists are also members of the Democratic Party. Until recent years, the main aim of DSA was to promote social democratic ideas within the Democratic mainstream. However, since the Democratic Party has been dominated by advocates of neoliberal trade policies such as Bill Clinton and Al Gore, many DSA members are trying to move the organization away from this goal. Three DSA members are currently in the United States Congress: Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Danny Davis (D-IL), and Major Owens (D-NY). Ron Dellums (D-CA), who retired from the Congress in 1997, and the current president of the AFL-CIO, John Sweeney are also DSA members.
Pain in the a$$ detail: A USMC Gunnery Sergeant is an E-7; the USMC E-6 rank is identical to the Army's, "Staff Sergeant."
Coupled with his repeating all of the myths about how Vietnam veterans were bitter, disenfranchised losers, I have to conclude this guy's a phony.
The guy who spoke to you may not have actually BEEN a vet...
Use the Google cache.
Thanks for your reply. I think your assumption is on the right track in that there was a major turning point during that period as the antiwar element in the Democratic Party gained influence during the 1968 and 1972 campaigns. I guess what I'm talking about could be viewed as what led up to that and set the stage for it. One way to look at it would be to say that prior to the 1968-1972 period there was a Communist/Socialist element in the Democratic Party, but it was initially focused on promoting domestic socialism through esp. antitrust and New Deal legislation, and although it did also promote pro-Russian foreign policy positions (like the pro-Stalin policies of FDR's State Department) it did not become characterized by a focus on antiwar foreign policy until the 1968 and 1972 campaigns. What we see today in such Democrats as Ted Kennedy, the Clintons, and Kerry could be described as the ascendance of the McGovern antiwar element in the Democratic Party, I think.
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