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Jihadin wrote:If you choose that time to go backpacking in Mongolia.....seriously? Mongolia? It doesn't apply to you because you choose to go. The deployed units does not have the freedom to choose to go.

You chose to join the military. We all choose to make commitments, and that can make exercising our rights difficult. I mean, you could just go AWOL and hitch a ride to your home state if you really want to vote.

You chose to join the military. We all choose to make commitments, and that can make exercising our rights difficult. I mean, you could just go AWOL and hitch a ride to your home state if you really want to vote.

We did have a soldier from another FoB go AWOL. Walking back to the US with a bag of chips and a bottle of water wearing his PT uniform.

Jihadin wrote:
We did have a soldier from another FoB go AWOL. Walking back to the US with a bag of chips and a bottle of water wearing his PT uniform.

The military is a job. Nobody drafted them, they choose that life. They get advance notice of elections, it's not like they are a surprise. They can request their absentee ballots just like everybody else, and they can send them in just like everybody else.

They can have the same deadline as everybody else.

If they can extend the deadline for them until Monday, then everybody else should have until Monday as well.

"The Military, fighting for democracy everywhere but in the USA."

Bad timing on Obama camp though with the election in Nov. This should have been pointed out like eight months ago by the DoJ.

d-usa wrote:
If they can extend the deadline for them until Monday, then everybody else should have until Monday as well.

I think that's the easiest solution.

But I still fail to understand how "if the military has until Monday, everybody should have until Monday" makes the Obama campaign a freedom/democracy/election hating monster?

d-usa wrote:But I still fail to understand how "if the military has until Monday, everybody should have until Monday" makes the Obama campaign a freedom/democracy/election hating monster?

Well, to be fair, that's really not what has happened. A suit was filed against the Ohio law, this might cause the law to be changed to increase the length of the period in which other Ohio citizens can vote, or it might decrease the same period for the military and those abroad (still not clear on how that works).

But, either way, the surrounding noise is just irrational hyperbole. Note that this hasn't been in the news at all, just on Dakka due to Phanatik (a well chosen name).

d-usa wrote:
"The Military, fighting for democracy everywhere but in the USA."

Beats the CIA: "Fighting for Totalitarian states with your tax dollars in wars that you will only hear about if we screwed up."

d-usa wrote:
"The Military, fighting for democracy everywhere but in the USA."

Do as we say not as we do or we will blow your gak up.

Good times.

dogma wrote:I agree, and I say that as someone who probably would need to find another job if politics were less partisan.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Jihadin wrote:This is going to back fire on Obama. Even hough they want everyone to have the same right in Ohio the military card been played.

Meh, whether the Obama campaign did or didn't do anything that even slightly disadvantaged a single person the army, there would still be dozens of stories floating around about mean he is to service personel. Complaining about how awful Democrats are to servicemen is an American military tradition.

I said it once and I'll say it again, Gore tried to negate overseas ballets from the military in his bid and ended up alienating a fair chunk of people, particularly in the military.
It'll be interesting to see if history repeats as far as opinions go.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2012/08/04/no_the_obama_campaign_isn_t_trying_to_take_the_vote_away_from_soldiers.html

Thread title is incorrect.

Relapse wrote:I said it once and I'll say it again, Gore tried to negate overseas ballets from the military in his bid and ended up alienating a fair chunk of people, particularly in the military.
It'll be interesting to see if history repeats as far as opinions go.

Say 47 million times if you want, it remains a basic mischaracterisation of what actually happened, and it's more than a little disappointing that you decided to basically say 'nope, I'm just gonna keep on believing whatever I want, even when it's not really very true'.

sebster wrote:

Relapse wrote:I said it once and I'll say it again, Gore tried to negate overseas ballets from the military in his bid and ended up alienating a fair chunk of people, particularly in the military.
It'll be interesting to see if history repeats as far as opinions go.

Say 47 million times if you want, it remains a basic mischaracterisation of what actually happened, and it's more than a little disappointing that you decided to basically say 'nope, I'm just gonna keep on believing whatever I want, even when it's not really very true'.

I had family in the military back when that happened. There were a lot of statements that went out between bases and units about Gore, and his campaign pissed off a lot of people at that point. There weren't more than a couple of people serving that I knew who would talk about Gore that didn't start out with a colorful adjective or two about him after this trick was pulled.

The military does like to defend its privileges, especially by pretending they deserve them. Soldiers are like welfare recipients in that way.

Relapse is right. If this plays out. How many here remember that. Or does everyone remember the "Chads" only

dogma wrote:

BaronIveagh wrote:
And I agree that Military votes need more time then regular ones. Why? Because a tin can a klick under the ice might not make it back in time to mail everything.

So? I'm not afforded special privileges if I go backpacking in Mongolia. And that submarine probably isn't going to surface in order to send off absentee ballots.

The President of the United States didn't order you to go there on pain of imprisonment.

The level of stupid on this thread is appalling, but expected.

Frazzled wrote:
The President of the United States didn't order you to go there on pain of imprisonment.

I'm still not clear on what's going on here. Is it only military, military families, and civilians living abroad that get extensions? Or do all military and military families get extensions, in addition to civilians living abroad?

If the latter, its nonsense, and potentially patronizing. If the former then its just stupid. You join the military or travel, you understand that you may not be able to vote, and if you really want to then you take the necessary steps to ensure that you can.

Frazzled wrote:

dogma wrote:

BaronIveagh wrote:
And I agree that Military votes need more time then regular ones. Why? Because a tin can a klick under the ice might not make it back in time to mail everything.

So? I'm not afforded special privileges if I go backpacking in Mongolia. And that submarine probably isn't going to surface in order to send off absentee ballots.

The President of the United States didn't order you to go there on pain of imprisonment.

The President of the United States didn't order anybody to join the military on pain of imprisonment.

Frazzled wrote:The level of stupid on this thread is appalling, but expected.

Like saying that Obama is trying to take away the military vote when nothing like that is actually happening?

The President (regardless of Party) has to be politically saavy by the very nature of the job and how one obtains it, and I'm supposed to believe that the commander-in-chief is going to purposefully, and publicly, disenfranchise service members in an election year right around the corner from said election? You'd have to wear your pants on your head to buy that narrative. Some political strategist just earned is fee, it would seem.

Relapse wrote:Gore tried to negate overseas ballets from the military

I know it's silly, but I had to chuckle.

dogma wrote:

Frazzled wrote:
The President of the United States didn't order you to go there on pain of imprisonment.

I'm still not clear on what's going on here. Is it only military, military families, and civilians living abroad that get extensions? Or do all military and military families get extensions, in addition to civilians living abroad?

If the latter, its nonsense, and potentially patronizing. If the former then its just stupid. You join the military or travel, you understand that you may not be able to vote, and if you really want to then you take the necessary steps to ensure that you can.

You don't give up the right to vote when you join the military. Comparing it to a vacation is obtuse and you know it. This whole thread is filled with ridiculosity from every direction. But you comparing a backpacking vacation to public service especially in a war is insulting.

AustonT wrote:You don't give up the right to vote when you join the military.

You also don't give it up when you go on vacation or take a job overseas. The military is entirely optional and one knows going in there will be some sacrifices made. No one has denied service members the right to vote, just that they aren't necessarily entitled to special privileges when it comes to voting. Of course many conflate joining the service being a laudable choice with joining the service being an divinely ordained one, and if people don't treat them as paragons of virtue, above and beyond mere citizens, then they aren't being treated with their due respect, because merely joining makes a person more pure, and without blemish. We have a military fetish, as it were. If one were so worried about voting in every election one shouldn't choose a job that requires mandatory overseas travel, of which the military isn't the only one.

Wait wait, requiring a driver's license is EVVVILLLL!!!! because it will disenfranchise...someone/somewhere/maybe, but not given extra time for soldiers in the field is just fine hunkey dory?

Meh hypocrisy on all sides including my own.

Frazzled wrote:Wait wait, requiring a driver's license is EVVVILLLL!!!! because it will disenfranchise...someone/somewhere/maybe, but not given extra time for soldiers in the field is just fine hunkey dory?

Meh hypocrisy on all sides including my own.

Wait Wait, requiring a piece of ID that can be hard to obtain for a variety of legitimate reasons even though there has been no case of in person voter fraud in my state is fine hunkey dory but requiring that everybody has the exact same amount of time to vote is EVVVILLLL?

Fixed that for you

Frazzled wrote:Wait wait, requiring a driver's license is EVVVILLLL!!!! because it will disenfranchise...someone/somewhere/maybe, but not given extra time for soldiers in the field is just fine hunkey dory?

Meh hypocrisy on all sides including my own.

Yeah, pretty much this.

I think deep down people know it, too. They (we) just want to believe that there isn't a contradiction.

dogma wrote:You join the military or travel, you understand that you may not be able to vote, and if you really want to then you take the necessary steps to ensure that you can.

Just because it's the reverse of what they tell you at the recruiters office doesn't mean anything. The US Military has always had the right to cast their votes regardless of deployment, as long as they were eligible. Previous wars have allowed them a long as an additional 2 months to send in their ballots. Longer for the Navy.

Jihadin wrote:Relapse is right. If this plays out. How many here remember that. Or does everyone remember the "Chads" only

I still remember the news going over this as well, and Gore did not come off looking good over the whole situation.

BaronIveagh wrote: The US Military has always had the right to cast their votes regardless of deployment, as long as they were eligible. Previous wars have allowed them a long as an additional 2 months to send in their ballots. Longer for the Navy.

And under water for three months.