To: Rarebird who wrote (57648 ) 8/28/2000 7:17:47 AM From: Lee Lichterman III Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 116895 *OT* As an active duty Military person, I think you and the Democrats are mistaken. We are weaker now than we ever have been. Not only in terms of fighting equipment but moral more importantly. Clinton's attempts to turn our once fantastic medical into a HMO type system has eliminated coverage for my family and turned my own health into a joke. I blew a knee 3 years ago. They have been scaling out doctors for the last 6 years until there aren't enough to see people with the flu much less anything serious. Then to try and keep costs down, I was sent to med techs that aren't fully trained to prescribe aspirin much less diagnose a joint injury. They kept telling me I had a sprain for 2 years until I wrote congressmen to intervene. Finally I was sent to a civilian doctor and given an MRI. I had no ACL tendon and disastrous Meniscus damage that was agrivated by two years of neglect. Now after two surgeries, I am able to walk but still can not run, do my job or run to protect myself in a battle zone. You can add me to the not ready to fight a war along with about 20 others from the base I am stationed at. We have a severe shortage of spare parts, old aircraft and don't even have reliable trucks to get from Supply to the airplanes. Needless to say, most military will be voting Rebublican not just to get a lying adulterer out of office but to get ourselves some decent tools, medical and equipment we can fight a war with. Clinton used us more than any other president in history and most often for all the wrong reasons. We were sent to monitor Middle East, Central America, Bosnia and Yugoslavia, as well as various African Nations and usually only to get the heat off him when he got caught with his pants down or some new investigation about campaign financing got too hot. That is no way to run a military. Especially when any of the stuff he did would be enough to court martial one of us. I know Gore didn't do it, but he was his number 2 man and did nothing to distance himself. Good Luck, Lee ( A cripple thanks to Clinton policy )