>>there’s still too many “Freepers” here who hate America and cheer for Russia and China
Opposition to foreign entanglements has been a feature of American politics since George Washington.
Prior to WW I the US was fairly isolationist and anti-British. After all, the Brits had supported the South during the Civil War.
The imperial wing of America became established first by the Spanish American War. Teddy Roosevelt was a great supporter of that war, and was partly responsible for the success of the sneak attack on the Spanish Fleet in Manila Bay.
WW I saw the ascendancy of the Anglophile faction over the isolationists via Wilson under the influence of Colonel House. Even though there was continued isolationist feeling prior to WW II, FDR’s march to war could not be resisted.
The pendulum began to swing backwards against the imperialist pretensions as a result of the Korean War, which was viewed as unwarranted and unnecessary by many. One of my earlier memories is the funeral of a neighborhood kid. Other families in the community also lost sons in Korea.
By 1968, the Vietnam War looked very much like the futility of Korea all over again. Most families knew about war, having dead and wounded in WW II or Korea and the bodies had started to come back from Vietnam.
Many kids in ‘68 also had relatives or family friends who were actual combat veterans of WW II or Korea.
There are lots of veterans who are gung ho patriots. But among those who have shot and been shot at, and who have lost bothers in arms, the attitude toward war is much more reserved.
Washington was an Isolationist Virginia farmer
As we started expanding in the Pacfic, guarding both oceans required the help of The Royal Navy, which is why we became “Anglophile”.
“But among those who have shot and been shot at, and who have lost bothers in arms, the attitude toward war is much more reserved.”
Gotta agree with that one. That’s a prime reason I believe the Uke war is a European war and we have zero business paying for it or depleting our military stockpiles for it. Our attention should be focused on the real enemy, the one that has their tentacles deeply embedded into the whole country, and that enemy is Red China.
The average war monger has never been shot at. The target range hero with the perfect gun and perfect score would run like a scared rabbit if that target shot back. The average Joe’s concept of war comes from movies and games. It’s so easy to support something you know nothing about.