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Today the results from yesterday's election: the Democratic Party will have a majority in the next U.S. House of Representatives, and will likely have a majority in the U.S. Senate. Only the Supreme Court and the President's post remain in control of Republicans.
My anti-war friends who are Democrats are ecstatic. Because they see themselves as peaceful and hate George Bush, they think the Democratic Party must be the party of peace. Maybe they are right, maybe the Democrats have changed, but I doubt it.
The Democratic Party is the only party in the world that has ever actually used atomic weapons in a war, and they used the bombs on civilians. The Democratic Party has consistently been the party of war since its founding by General Jackson in the 1820's. The Republicans do have a few wars they can claim, notably the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the two Iraq Wars. But that pales compared to the Democrats, who can claim the Mexican-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the War against Vietnam. Of course that leaves out a whole bunch of little wars and assisted coups and the like.
George McGovern said he was for peace in Vietnam, but he might have been lying just like Richard Nixon. In any case the powers-that-were in the Democratic Party in 1972 crippled his bid to become President, because they were cold warriors, no ifs ands or buts.
A strategic withdrawal from Iraq could be managed by the Democrats if they believe it would get them in full power again. Then again, dropping an atomic bomb on Iran would appeal to most of the leading Democrats, if it would get them in power again.
"Hey, hey, hey, LBJ, how many boys did you kill today?" There was a time not that long ago when just about everyone for peace was an anarchist, communist, yippie or beatnik.
Maybe the good old days are coming back. The Democrats in power are already having money poured on them by corporate America. The Pentagon will whisper in their ears, "We never liked that Rumsfeld fella."
Sweet dreams, Democrats for peace.
Check out A Brief History of the Democratic Party