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Banned
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Originally Posted by mixedmedia
When you start thinking about all the people whose livelihoods are either partly or completely dependent on there being two acutely diverse political ideologies in the US it does make you wonder...
Glad to hear you saying these things, too, 'cause sometimes I wonder if I'm going nuts with these sorts of thoughts. It was so much easier when I played along.
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Is it your opinion that there are "two acutely diverse political ideologies"? If that is the case....in the senate....with it's reputation for being the more deliberative legislative body, and not as politically motivated as the house, with it's two year election cycle, is.....how would you explain the 95 to 2, <a href="http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=101881">2005 vote</a> that resulted in the approval of the appointment of a man like John Negroponte as the US "Intelligence Czar"?
The agenda of most elected officials is remarkablly similar, it is a corporatist deiven agenda, and that is why I believe that the "friction" is more evident in the trenches....in places like this, than it is on the house or senate floor.
The 2005 bankruptcy "reform" bill got passed because some democrats (Joe Biden MBNA-DE, is a prime example)....put their corporate allegiances ahead of what was best for their larger constituency. The passage of the "torture bill", a few weeks ago, drew many democratic party affiliated representatives' "yes" votes.
The opposition comes from too few senators and congressmen, and from folks like me.....unless something changes on Nov. 7. Would the American people vote for a fleet of huge, expensive nuclear powered aircraft carriers....and approve the construction and deployment of even more of them, if they knew that their existence was more about defensive contractors making money, than it is about a strong, national defense? These dinosaurs suck up more out of action maintenance time and taxpayer money, than the total time that they can actually be deployed. This guarantees that more than 12 are neccessary to even deply 6 of them at any given time:
Quote:
http://www.historycentral.com/NAVY/CVN69Eisenhower.html
CVN-69 USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
Construction of the third nuclear-powered and second Nimitz-class
aircraft carrier, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) was authorized by Congress in fiscal year 1970.
The carrier, named after the nation's 34th president, was christened at 11:11 a.m., Oct. 11, 1975, by Mrs. Mamie Doud-Eisenhower, the ship's sponsor and widow of the late president. IKE was commissioned on Oct. 18, 1977, under the command of Capt. William E. Ramsey, USN, and assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. After <b>14 months of fleet training</b>, IKE set sail for her first Mediterranean deployment.
Since that time, <b>IKE has completed eight Mediterranean
deployments.</b> In 1980, IKE's second extended deployment tallied 254 days at sea with only a five-day stopover in Singapore.
After its fourth deployment IKE sailed into Newport News and
Drydock in October 1985 for a complex overhaul. The <b>18-month yard period</b> included the addition of the Close-in Weapons System, NATO Seasparrow Missile System, Navy Tactical Data System,
Anti-Submarine Warfare module, communications upgrades and
rehabilitation of 1,831 berths in 25 compartments. <b>IKE re-entered the fleet in April 1987.</b>
In 1990, IKE completed its sixth Mediterranean Sea deployment.
The deployment became a commemorative event in the worldwide
'Dwight D. Eisenhower Centennial,' celebrating the 100th anniversary of the late president's birth. During D-Day anniversary ceremonies off the coast of Normandy, IKE's son, John Eisenhower,and D-Day
veterans embarked in the ship while Carrier Air Wing Seven conducted a memorial flyover of the American cemetery at Ohmaha Beach.
In response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, IKE became the first
carrier to conduct sustained operations in the Red Sea. IKE was the second nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to transit the Suez canal. IKE served as a ready striking force in the event Iraq invaded Saudi Arabia, and participated in maritime interception operations in support of a
United National embargo against Iraq.
After completion of <b>an extensive shipyard period and work ups,
IKE deployed Sept. 26, 1991</b> to the Arabian Gulf to continue
multi-national operations with coalition forces in support of Operation
Desert Storm. <b>IKE returned to Norfolk April 2, 1992. On Jan. 6,
1993, IKE entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for overhaul and
conversion,and returned to the fleet November 12, 1993.</b>
In September 1994, IKE and the U.S. Army 10th Mountain
Division again made history with the concept of "adaptive force
packaging." The division's soldiers and equipment were loaded on
board, and the IKE Army and Navy team headed for Port-au-Prince to spearhead Operation Uphold Democracy, the U.S. - led effort to restore he democratically elected government of Haiti.
One month later, in October 1994, IKE departed for a six-month
deployment which included flying missions in support of Operations Southern Watch and Deny Flight. This deployment marked the firstT ime that women had deployed as crewmembers of a U.S. Navy combatant. The IKE, Carrier Wing Three, and COMCRUDESGRU Eight team included more than 400 women.
<b>IKE returned to Newport News Shipbuilding on July 17, 1995,
for an 18-month complex overhaul which was completed on Jan. 27, 1997. </b>The ship departed on its 10th deployment on June 10,1998 and returned in December. <b>In February 1999, IKE returned to the Norfolk Navy Shipyard for a six-month refitting</b> and returned to the fleet in June. Upon completion in June 1999, she returned to full duty in the fleet.
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Quote:
http://www02.clf.navy.mil/eisenhower/history.html
In February 2000, IKE departed Norfolk, for its "Millennium Cruise" to the Mediterranean Sea and Arabian Gulf. After six months at sea and a variety of port calls including Haifa, Bahrain and Lisbon, IKE returned to Norfolk in August 2000. This deployment marked a milestone in the ship's history with the air wing’s first combat ordinance delivery while operating in support of Operation Southern Watch in Iraq.
<b> On May 24, 2001, IKE entered the Northrop Grumman Newport News (NGNN) shipyard for her mid-life Refueling Complex Overhaul where nearly every space and system on board was upgraded and overhauled.
After almost four years at NGNN, IKE returned to her homeport at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, on January 25, 2005.</b> The ship completed Sea Trials on March 25, 2005 and after several months of operations, <b> IKE finished a four-month Post Shakedown Availability and Selected Restricted Availability in October 2005. Carrier Strike Group Eight moved aboard in November 2005, and Carrier Air Wing Seven returned to train with the ship in February 2006.</b>
IKE departed Norfolk, Va., on October 3, 2006, for her first deployment since 2000.
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<b>The consensus in congress for an inefficient and outmoded weapons system comes from the benfits that a large fleet of carriers brings to:</b>
Quote:
http://www.nn.northropgrumman.com/ne..._ike_move.html
USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER MOVES OUT OF DRY DOCK, ONE MONTH AHEAD OF SCHEDULE AT NORTHROP GRUMMAN NEWPORT NEWS
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.— December 16, 2002 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) announced today that the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) has moved out of dry dock one month ahead of schedule and is halfway through its three year refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH).....
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In the late 90's, defense contractors like Northrop, actually has to consolidate and merge. Who benefits most from the five years of downtime and "half life" overhaul of the USS Eisenhower, you and me....or Northrop and the politicians that it courts for appropriations votes in congress?
I don't think that there is nearly enough deviciveness in the US today. I, for one, am not nearly as angry and active in protest as I should be, and I do try to be informed. We live in a merged, right wing, corporatist driven politcal system that long ago supplanted a bipartisan republic. We don't yet even recognize that...much less accept it and work to reverse it. |