Why All Veterans should be "Vets for Sanders"

Yes, I know he is a hippy folks, but at least he is a hippy with genuine integrity. How many politicians can we say that about?

"This bird should not have to work 40 hours a week and still be short of worms"

 It may seem like a hard sell talking military veterans into voting for Bernie Sanders. He seems far too short-sighted, but so what? Does a U.S. President have absolute power? With that in mind, for the life of me I cannot see why some of the most needy people in the United States (veterans) would vote for career bureaucrats that have never and will never give a single shit about them. 

 Sure Sanders has never actually served in the military, but I have never used a tampon before and I can still see the appeal.

"Put the kettle on luv, Ive had a shit day at work."

 Indeed, vetsforbernie.org is not seeing half as much traffic as it should be, as the vast majority of those that have served in the United States military seem to gravitate towards the Republican party. 

 As a veteran I can definitely see some appeal to Trump, despite the crass comments and the fact that it looks like he cuts his own hair in the garden shed with a broken bottle.

 For starters, he says exactly what he thinks, or perhaps what he thinks people want to hear, it's impossible to tell which. But either way, it is refreshing to hear a politician talk straight for a change. Unfortunately though, as a billionaire with a vast fortune that he was essentially born into, his appeal should be very limited. As everyone knows, 99% of soldiers do not come from privileged background and many struggle to find good jobs when they leave the service.

 Getting grenades throw at you when you are trying to take a shit is not a life choice that people who are born into wealth tend to gravitate towards making. I can understand that, I probably wouldn't have joined the Royal Marine Commandos, earned a Green Beret, and straddled the battlefield like a mighty colossus for a decade if my dad had enough money to pay me through university either. No judgement from me here.

"It was fun and all pop, but I really wish I had spent the last two years shitting in a cave instead" 

But Trump can never understand what it really means to be poor and working class, its something that has to be lived, and veterans do indeed live it. The same goes for Clinton, Cruz, and all the rest.

Recent data suggests that veterans in the United States are 

• Less likely to have a college degree
• Twice as likely to be homeless
• Make up 33% of the homeless community at any given time
• More likely to suffer from substance abuse problems
• More reliant on food and clothing banks
• At higher risk of suicide

And much more besides.

  Who do veterans think is  going to work the hardest to ensure that they get the  help as assistance they need when they leave the armed forces? A somewhat obnoxious billionaire with a numerous business interests, or a dyed-in-the-wool socialist type who has fought for better treatment for the poor and needy for his entire political career?

"When I was in the White House, we had to eat a member of our 60 man Secret Service team just to survive"

Sure he seems to view the world through a rose tinted lens. His views on immigration and the rehousing of asylum seekers from a troubled area when we have no sensible way of vetting them genuinely worries me, but America is a nation of checks and balances. He will not have the freedom to enact the most damaging aspects of his plans, because that is not how this country works. He is not the supreme leader, and the U.S. Constitution ensures he never will be. 

A Man with a Plan

But I can ignore all of that, because he at least has a vision, and will attempt to do the right thing for the neediest people in our society, of which, veterans are undoubtedly a very high proportion of. 

And even withough all of that, I can back Sanders for the simple fact that I think he has shown better judgment than Hillary Clinton in 3 very important ways.

Sanders seems to show genuinely good judgement with regard to his choices about war and foreign conflict. He is definitely smarter than some of the intelligence officers that I worked with, but then again, so is my nephew, and he is 6 years old and has lengthy conversations with his Easter eggs.

Bernie Sanders voted for the war in Afghanistan, and so would I.

Bernie Sanders voted against the war in Iraq, and so would I.

 Hillary Clinton, well, we all know that she voted for the war in Iraq, Bernie Sanders mentions it 6 days a week. I'm not judging her particularly badly for that, it was a stupid war, and a pointless one, but it could possibly be an honest mistake on her part rather than a cynical decision made to please some shadowy business interests. But as George W. Bush himself said... 

Let's have it said right here gents, on the record. Operation Iraqi Freedom was an absolute clusterfuck. It was as well thought out as the impluse purchases made in ports around the world when drunk sailors show up after months at sea.

 I did 2 tours in Iraq, it was a messy business. In places like they, they simply do not practice democracy like we do. They understand force, and they tread warily around the biggest dog in the kennel. We all know who that was.

"I don't smoke many cigars, but I like to smoke a fat one whenever Tariq Aziz"

Saddam Hussein was a bad-mother-fucker. He killed lots of people, but we had a dialogue with Saddam Hussein. He had a functioning country and a functioning government and we could actually work with him. Saddam was basically told he was good to go by the U.S. Government before the invasion of Kuwait that preceded Desert Storm. His now infamous meeting with U.S. ambassador April Glaspie is common knowledge, but let's not get into that here.

Saddam Hussein's Iraq was basically functioning as intended, deaths sat at a few thousand a year, and funny thing, because burying people up to their necks and throwing bricks at them until they are dead works as an active deterrent, secular killings (the Sunni/Shia debacle has cost over a million lives) were at a minimum. A strong and brutal leader kept a country with deep rooted societal divisions functioning as intended.

Post Saddam Hussein Iraq looks almost as bad as Sunderland.

Sunderland following a $90 million gentrification package

And Hillary Clinton wants to get rid of Bashar al-Assad. 

Doing the exact same thing and expecting different results is the very definition of stupidity. 

Assad is another bad-mother-fucker. He kills lots of people, but we had a dialogue with Bashar al-Assad. He had a functioning country and a functioning government and we could actually work with him. Bashar al-Assad kept secular killings at a minimum with force, and fear. But Bashar al-Assad was and is a secularist. His wife lived and educated in London, he protected the Christian minority of Syria with threats of force, and occasional, brutal actions of force too.

"Hafez! Hafez! Stand next to the clown and smile or I shall grind his bones to powder and leave him for the jackals!" 

 The work of the likes of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar is what saw him fighting a dirty civil war. A dirty civil war that started because all of those countries tacitly endorse Jihad. This is common knowledge. The propagation of Islam is the motivating factor. Erdogan has been encouraging the spread of Islamism in once secular Turkey for many years. The Saudis and many of their allies view getting rid of Ultra-Othodox ISIS as a problem that comes a distant second to ridding the world of Israel and spreading their faith. 

President Obama essentially wanted to carry on with the same ridiculous plan that George W Bush enacted, to replace a brutal dictator that kept a country stable, with a bunch of religious fanatics, one of which, ate a mans heart on camera. 

"Leave it to soften for twenty minutes in a puddle, garnish it with pubes..... fucking lovely"

The U.S. Government, the French Government, and the British Government, wanted to repeat the same mistakes we made in Iraq. 

It is criminally stupid, and makes me think the conspiracy theorists have a point. Rather than arming the rebels, we should have been covertly backing Assad. This would allow us to carry on the charade with our "allies" in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, but still have a stable functioning country, and thus not have to worry even more about ISIS, as a strong Assad regime would make short work of the rebels, ISIS, and any other assholes that wanted to carve their own Caliphate out.

I'm glad these pricks are on our side

 So, whether Democrat or Republican, I can give any veteran 5 good reasons why Bernie Sanders is the best option. 

• Voted for the war that had a point, and against the one that didn't
• Spoke out against forcing an Assad regime change and opposed bombing Syria
• Is certain to increase spending for numerous Veterans programs
• Wishes to provide free college tuition, another boon for those with limited GI Bill funding.
• Nationalized health care would immeasurably benefit the many veterans that carry both physical and mental scars 
• I wouldn't believe Hillary Clinton's radio

Ok, that was six.  

It's Unfair to Label the Academy Racist, and Here's why...

"Take the kids Angie, I'm off to burn a cross in Morgan Freeman's back yard"

 Its been impossible to switch on the news and not see something about the Oscars controversy lately.

 The whole hubbub started after Spike Lee and some woman who used to act before she became Will Smith's wife essentially accused the people who vote for the candidates of being racist. The allegation stems from a lack of diversity in both the list of nominees and the Academy in general. 

 A cursory glance at the list of actors and directors up for the all important best picture and best actor statuettes does show a punishing lack of diversity. Around 94% of the Academy are old white men, so to be fair, the lack of color critique could also refer to women or people with special needs.

 Although, Leonardo DiCaprio did such a good job of playing someone with special needs in What's Eating Gilbert Grape? that everyone presumed he actually was mentally challenged until they saw him in Titanic, so that has to count for something.

Actually, I thought he was retarded after Titanic as well, but then I actually saw Titanic.

An Unfair Label

I have to say though, nobody chooses their race, or indeed their age. I'm sure there are plenty of pleasant, socially just old white men alongside the nasty old racists, so it all seems a little unfair. Liberal people complain about labels all the time, and surely "racist" is a label?

"You wont be smiling when we get to the workhouse you little twats"

 The members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have a right to feel aggrieved for a very good reason. The members of said academy are consistently bashed by the right-wing for being packed with screaming liberals.

 To an extent it is very true, although there are a few notable exceptions. But yes, nary a year goes by without some morally righteous but usually very ill-informed star embarking upon a crusade. Often regarding the problems facing the developing world, or sometimes just something as trivial as the Falklands Islands. Either way, I'm sure everyone is aware that the actors and writers and directors and artists that populate Hollywood are regularly called the "liberal elite" by the right wing media, and I am sure that few people would say that the label is entirely unfair.

 Indeed, the average Hollywood actor is more likely to adopt a child from the developing world than they are to grind one to mulch and feed it to their pit-bull before a dog-fight. Or break a young woman's jaw for having the temerity to disagree with him. Or snort cocaine of a child prostitutes tits. 

 Obviously that brand of abhorrent behavior is the forte of the professional athletes that we idolize and consistently praise.

"If God didn't want dogs to fight to the death, he would have made them chickens"

Instant Racism

 Frankly I think it is completely unfair to suddenly claim that the members of the academy are racist. If I had spent my entire life championing the cause of people of color and ethnic minorities of every stripe, I would be a little upset to be branded a bigot the moment I happened to annoy one actors wife, even if she does happen to be black. The people she is accusing of being prejudiced are the same group that constantly bash the police for the appalling treatment of minorities in the United States. 

 Obviously I am not going to sit here and deny that racism is endemic in the police force after they shot a 12 year old kid dead in Cleveland, Ohio. Especially after one of the officers insisted the boy should be charged under the "being black on a lawn" act of 1837.

"LOOK OUT SHES GOT POP TARTS!" /blamblam

 But it is a hell of stretch to claim that the same people who have twice nominated Will Smith for an Oscar, and twice given said Oscar to other black people (Denzel Washington for Training Day, and Forest Whittaker for Last King of Scotland) are suddenly racist because no nomination was forthcoming this year.

 In fact, I would go so far as saying it is illogical, completely without merit, and looks suspiciously like sour grapes. I have no idea how many hundreds of millions of dollars Will Smith has made out of his stellar career, but I suspect it would be a fair amount less if actual racists were running the show.

 Benito Mussolini would definitely not have been a fan of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

I am though, Uncle Phil throwing Jazz through the front door gets me every time.

No you fat oaf, that Carlton is the good dancer, Geoffrey is the butler!