[Peace-discuss] The past is prologue

[E. Wayne Johnson]

Certainly the Republican => recession, Democrat => war pattern was the 
one taught in university courses on macroeconomics
when I was a biology student in the 70's.  My grandfather who was a very 
conservative Republican of the Taft variety, always insisted
that the Democrat party was the War Party.

It seems that the American people have grown to eschew clear thinking 
and actually prefer a
the sweet mediocrity of an ear-soothing lie to the unfamiliar 
absurdities of truth.

In one of his books, Gerald M. Weinberg discusses the deceptive practice 
in advertising and sales
of emphasizing the weak points of a product as being in fact one of its 
strong points.  Weinberg uses as example
the popular real estate selling scheme of giving subdivisions names like 
Elmwood Crest and Cherry Hills,
where there are no Elms, no Cherries, no Crests, and no Hills, but 
people seems to revel in the
subterfuge, and are turned off by the truth and wouldnt be so likely to 
buy a home in Cornfield Flats.

Similarly, John S. McCain's handlers seem to be playing the same game of 
deceitful
rhetoric with the gullible American  public, making the warmongering neocon
out to be a proponent for  peace.  Those who become nauseated  while
watching the convention at home can supply their own emesis basin,
whether semicircular or porcelain throne, while the hapless attendees in 
the Xcel center
will just have to comply with security rules barring
bringing anything into the hall that might be hurled at the
speakers in projectile fashion.

*_Thursday, Sept. 4_
Peace*
/"Our next president will have a mandate to build an enduring global 
peace on the foundations of freedom, security, opportunity, prosperity, 
and hope."
--Sen. John McCain/
John McCain understands the challenges that America faces in the world 
and the sacrifice necessary to defend our freedom in a way that few 
others can fathom. Thursday's events will reflect his vision of an 
America in pursuit of peace and seen as a beacon of goodwill and hope 
throughout the world. The evening will close with John McCain accepting 
the Republican Party's nomination for the Presidency of the United States.
Speakers will include:
Gov. Tim Pawlenty (Minn.),Gov. Charlie Crist (Fla.),U.S. Sen. Sam 
Brownback (Kan.),U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.),John McCain


Morton K. Brussel wrote:
> This is truly whistling in the dark. The Republicans, McCain at the 
> helm, now hold our hopes for peace.
>
> Nixon, as Carl ought to know, carried on the Vietnam war for several 
> more years after '68, and Bush I initiated the first Gulf War. Antiwar 
> heroes they? With Bush? As for Eisenhower, the Korean war ended in his 
> administration, after threatening nuclear war.
>
> This ratiocination, an attempt to sabotage clear thinking,  can only 
> be called perverse.
>
> --mkb
>
>
> On Aug 24, 2008, at 10:39 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>
>> The 20th-century bromide was, "With the Democrats, you get war; with 
>> the Republicans, recession."  Among the 15 presidential elections 
>> since WWII, the Democrats could win the presidency when they ran 
>> against a Republican recession: 1960, 1976, 1992; the Republicans 
>> could win the presidency when they ran against a Democratic war: 
>> 1952, 1968, 2000.  Obviously that leaves nine elections when the 
>> patterns didn't obtain.  But this year they may clash.
>>
>> Since most Americans today see themselves to be in the midst of a 
>> recession, and the Republicans control the presidency, 2008 should be 
>> like the first set. But the Democrats have made the current Mideast 
>> war their own: given control of Congress in 2006 to end it, they 
>> refused to do so.  Obama tried to garner the anti-war vote, but it 
>> became clear that, far from being opposed to war in the Mideast, he 
>> was actually calling for more.  McCain can be like Eisenhower in 
>> 1952, Nixon in 1968, and Bush in 2000: while insisting on his 
>> patriotism, he can condemn the Democrats' handling of the war.   So 
>> the 2008 election might be like the second set.
>>
>> Which pattern will prevail?  In 1992, the Democrats said. "It's the 
>> economy, stupid."  But this time it might be the war. --CGE
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>
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