Vietnam, was a proxy war fought between two opposing ideologies. The Soviet Union had the good sense not to become directly involved, the Americans and their allies unfortunately not so, believing a military victory was possible against a rag tag force of Vietnamese nationalists, regulars and citizens soldiers. On paper the worlds most powerful army should have easily defeated the poorly equipped Vietnamese forces. To claim defeat was simply the work of the left back home is untrue. The Americans were limited, firstly by world opinion, and then by themselves not wishing to escalate the war into a direct confrontation with the Soviet Union. At first public opinion in America, as it was in Australia, was swayed by propaganda that the war was justified and being waged in defence of freedom and democracy, like all previous and subsequent American wars of aggression, our involvement was supported by the majority of the general public. What turned public opinion against the war, more so than agitation from the domestic left was TV coverage of failures on our part, and a rising death toll with no end in sight, plus the use of unpopular conscription to force unwilling young boys to participate in an ever increasingly failing war.

o sung wu,

Spot on with Vietnam. It is a ridiculous that a country like America did not prevail, but it didn't because of the white-anting you refer to; and incompetent, panty waist presidents. The results would have been much different had Donald Trump been around at the time. Vietnam marked the weakening of the US. It hasn't recovered, thanks to the lefty presidents since.

Joe, Why have you posted a report of corona-19 virus in USA state by State if the President is responsible. Would it not make the Governors of States the responsible person of the State shown. Do we make Scott Morrison responsible for what has happened in Victoria?

Until we make people aware they have a problem to deal with within themselves, and not the other. The World will never be at peace. Forgiveness to some is a sign of weakness, but it is the only answer to a hating world.

Dear O Sung Wu,

I can understand how you feel.

We had several family members who served in Vietnam.
One refuses to talk about his experience even today.
The other had a total mental breakdown.

Also the way the Vietnam veterans were treated when
they came back - was dreadful. It took a long time
for them to get the recognition that they justly
deserved.

You take care
And stay safe
And remember - you're very highly regarded on this forum.
We care about you.

mhaze,

President Trump declared a national emergency on March
13th.

He declared that his authority as president during a
national emergency "is total", his right hand man Mike
Pence supported him in strong terms.

"Well make no mistake about it," the former Indiana
Governor and current vice-president said, "in the long-
history of this country, the authority of the President
of the US during national emergencies is plenary (absolute)".

Trump said, "When somebody's President of the US, the
authority is total". "And that's the way it's got to be.
It's total. It's total. And the governors know that".

Now what do you say to someone like - who thinks
they have an understanding of so many things - I'll
leave up to you.

Foxy, who has spent four years disbelieving every word from Trump, suddenly decides he's a constitutional expert!!

Yes Trump said that. But he said it as a politician trying to get others to come along with his chosen path.

And what, Foxy, did the state governors say? Basically they all said that these issues were their's to make, and they ignored Trump. That's why the US had 50+ different responses to the crisis.

Some were good (eg South Dakota) some were disastrous (eg New York). But they were decisions made by the states, not Trump and not Congress.

Now if you were curious as to which states made the right calls and which the wrong, all you have to do is look at the bracketed letter after the governor's name...(R) generally means the decisions were good; (D) generally means lives were lost.