Comments on: College Republicans Coming Out For Blackwell

By: Aaron Gardner

Aaron Gardner — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:44:12 +0000

Nobody is pushing anyone away here…Jeff made a comment intended to be humorous nothing more.

All these hurt feelings being tossed about are just silly.

What really pisses me off though are the vague accusations of racism within you post, when you insinuate that we here at RS, either as FP contributors or just reg members, believe that minorities “are not smart either” you do more harm than good.

The bottom line is that 18-22 year old college students in general don’t have a solid grasp of the real world, the workforce, geopolitical goals, or just about anything else. How you then conflate this to infer that our opinion is the same with minorities is beyond idiotic.

Please don’t do that again.

By: Scope

Scope — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:35:31 +0000

If I am not mistaken, every one of those vying for the RNC Chair position are trying to attract the young/college age group, yet here we dismiss them as being kids and not having enough life experiences to know that the Republican party is the best party to represent all Americans. We seem to have been doing the same thing with minorities- is it because they are not smart enough either? It seems some Republicans push away those very same we are trying to attract.

By: Scope

Scope — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:35:31 +0000

By: AHALgal

AHALgal — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:30:23 +0000

I was 29 years old, owned a small technology company, and the was most conservative member of my political science graduating class.

I campaigned against the entire Model UN debate team. In my opinion, their very presence at my university was a disgrace.

By: itrytobenice

itrytobenice — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:26:52 +0000

I want to know if there is any reason I shouldn’t.

Actually, I’d be pleased with Steele, Blackwell or Saul.

Now, I’ll admit, I’m a little leery of Saul because MI sucks so bad, but I know I can’t blame that on him just because I don’t know why there is no candle power up there.

By: PopulistConservative

PopulistConservative — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:18:34 +0000

is in the sense that both are young, and just because one is young does not mean one is incapble of knowing something about the world. Those who join the military may be much more likely to know about the world than those who do not, but my point is simply that youth in and of itself. does not make one absolutely ignorant about the world.

By: PopulistConservative

PopulistConservative — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:12:35 +0000

You’re right that enlisted people are a completely different kind of people than college kids ( accepting of course college kids who have served in the military.)
College kids do generally range from completely politcally apathetic ( the overwhelming majority, I believe,) and the liberals,( I felt like Ron Paul must have felt like in the GOP debates, when I debated politics in my Comparitive Politics class.)l however, just because they are young doesn’t mean that there is no knowledge of the world, it makes it more likely, I’m just arguing that being young doesn’t make incapable of getting some things right, as I think our young soldiers illustrate.
Also, I imagine you will find more than 85% of CR’s lean conservative.

By: Aaron Gardner

Aaron Gardner — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:06:48 +0000

I just think some knowledge of it is good before one chooses to fight.
Most, like say 80-90%, do have that knowledge, most likely because a family member was in the military, or they come from conservative families to begin with.

Again you conflate the two groups throughout your posts, you really need to quit that.

By: PopulistConservative

PopulistConservative — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:00:31 +0000

college kids are extremely ignorant when it comes to politics, and probably also when it comes to practical living in the world skills, I’ll admit I don’t understand the issues nearly as well I’d like too, though I’d say I’m probably more knowledgable than a great deal of the general populace on politics – though certainly not as wise as my seniors. My point is simply that just because one is young does not automaticly mean that he or she has no understanding, and the fact that we have soldiers fighting for this country that know what they’re fighting for illustrates this point. That doesn’t mean that all young people are informed, it just means that being young doesn’t mean you must definitely be uninformed.
And yes I believe the military is an excellent unrivaled way to learn about the real world. I just think some knowledge of it is good before one chooses to fight.

By: Vegas_Rick

Vegas_Rick — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:54:07 +0000

I jumped in mid thread based on some comments you had previously made on another thread. You have not besmirched the intellect of our troops. But, once again, Aaron is correct down thread. Just because young enlistees are educated and aware of world affairs and the difference between liberalism and conservatism, doesn’t mean college students can be lumped in with them.

It’s not an accident that most polls show that 85% of the enlisted members lean conservative, they are realists.

Can the same be said of college students?

By: PopulistConservative

PopulistConservative — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:49:47 +0000

not that such is the case with the military of the United States of America.

By: bs

bs — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:49:07 +0000

Posting the same link 3 times in the thread’s a bit of overkill, dude.

By: Aaron Gardner

Aaron Gardner — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:46:27 +0000

That is the issue Populist…one is knowledgeable and one isn’t, when you conflate the two based on similar age ranges when enlisted, or in the case of college accepted, you unintentionally infer that both are uninformed of how the world works rather than just admitting that college age kids are ignorant as a whole…though exceptions do indeed exist.

Next time don’t lump the two groups together and you can avoid the whole silly mess.

By: Vegas_Rick

Vegas_Rick — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:45:49 +0000

Or do you not read what you write?

“You’re right that you don’t need to know much to fight, but I’m not talking about what you need to know, I’m talking about what you should know. I recenty heard a book about a NAZI German soldier who faught on the Russian front. He was a decent guy, but had no idea what he was fighting for.”

What’s the insinuation here?

By: PopulistConservative

PopulistConservative — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:40:37 +0000

You won’t find a stronger supporter of the millitary than me, among civilians. I never said those in the military don’t know why they are fighting, or that they don’t know world affairs. As a matter of fact I was making just the opposite claim. It was not me who said those of millitary and college age don’t know anything about the world.

By: Vegas_Rick

Vegas_Rick — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:32:40 +0000

And, yeah, 22 years, Combat Engineer, 1SG Ret

By: Vegas_Rick

Vegas_Rick — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:31:39 +0000

I don’t think anything irritates me more than a life-long civilian bloviating about the military, military people or anything else military. YOU HAVE NO FREAKING CLUE! Aaron is correct, down thread. Our military is the most educated in history (contrary to claims of limp weenies like John Kerry), and they know exactly why they are fighting. They, as a group, are probably more aware of world affairs than 99% of the American electorate.

By: Aaron Gardner

Aaron Gardner — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:25:35 +0000

My belief is that those who join the military do so , in part, in order to receive an understanding of the world by being thrust into it. You, for some reason, are saying that because they are old enough to fight they have an understanding of the world, or at least they should.

Regardless of all of this the point is that age does not constitute understanding or lack of, but those who join the military as opposed to those who go to college, have a greater chance of having an understand of the world.

Comprende?

By: PopulistConservative

PopulistConservative — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:16:30 +0000

I just the think the fact that they’re old enough to know what they’re fighting for, means they can have an understanding of the world. But maybe we have two different definitions of “understanding the world”.

By: Aaron Gardner

Aaron Gardner — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:08:56 +0000

Before going on any mission, even just a training mission, all the participants are breifed on where they are going and why they are going there. This not only involves specific mission objective but the broad vision of what is being accomplished.

Further more while in Basic training recruits have quite a bit of classroom time where they are given a bit of military history and general American history. Any young man who comes out of basic ignorant as to what he is supposed to be fighting for is willfully ignorant.

Additionally we have an all volunteer military, which means that those who volunteered had a general understanding of what they were getting in to.