No. of Recommendations: 6
ME:
Occam's razor - we want to support democracy, see NATO as our allies, and don't want to let either down.Dope
Nah. That's one of the things you tell yourself. It's okay, we're all the heroes of our own stories.------------------------------------
ME: I think you're out of touch Dope, the polls below show Dems are 72% for maintaining NATO obligations, Republicans 56% overall, MAGA Repubs 47%.
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SNIP Democratic respondents were more likely than others to say that the U.S. should maintain its obligation to support other NATO countries in times of conflict. About 72 percent of Democrats agreed, while 53 percent of independent respondents and 56 percent of Republicans said the same.
Among Republicans, self-identified “MAGA” Republicans — or those closely aligned with former President Trump, who uses the “Make America Great Again” motto for his campaign — were less likely to support the U.S. sticking with its NATO allies. Forty-seven percent of MAGA Republicans said the commitment should be upheld, while 62 percent of self-identified “non-MAGA” Republicans said the same, the survey found.SNIP
https://thehill.com/policy/international/4485715-m...------------------------------------
ME: And as for Democracy, y'all have been saying we're not a Democracy, but a Republic for so long it appears to have stuck:
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SNIP Perhaps even more troubling,
this willingness to deprioritize democracy corresponded closely to partisan interests. For instance, in September 2020,
81% of Republicans said it would be important for the loser of that year’s election to acknowledge the winner. In November — the month when the election was called for Biden, and Trump refused to concede defeat — that figure was 31%.“The results show that
support for foundational principles of liberal democracy are discouragingly soft and inconsistent,” the study’s authors conclude, adding:
“There is a significant segment of the population that may be willing to embrace or accept the cause of authoritarian figures if and when it is in their partisan and political interests.”Plenty of other polling evidence points toward the same conclusion. A CNN poll from October found that
67% of likely Republican primary voters in South Carolina said Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, if true, are not relevant to his fitness for the presidency. SNIP
https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2024/02/21/are-...----------------------------------
ME
Dope, when I said Reagan acknowledged it, I meant it.SNIP "Mr. Reagan said today, ''When we first took office we inherited a Navy that had shrunk from nearly 1,000 ships to less than 500, and planes that couldn't fly for want of spare parts.'' Carter Proposal Cited
''
My predecessor had called attention to this and had proposed a five-year expansion of the defense budget,'' Mr. Reagan continued. Recently, Mr. Reagan telephoned The New York Times and told a reporter that he felt ''very bad'' about Mr. Carter's criticisms, and
he praised the former President's record on military preparedness." SNIP
So that puts the lie to this:
Dope:
Let's say there was no Ukraine conflict. Suppose we said in that case, "A lot of US ammunition manufacturing dates from literally World War II. That along with the nation's (glaring lack of) shipbuilding resources is something that needs serious investing". There would be *zero* support from the people current wringing their hands.All of your points have been refuted with support.
