Winners and Losers

When there are winners there are always losers, so I have noted most of my life. 

However, let's take our country for example. Wars of our own making which we alone have started, we have not done so well in. Vietnam, for example, is a such a case. We lost. That war lasted unofficially from about 1954 when we inherited the situation from the French till 1975 when the last American left. I won't assault you with the numbers except for two: Democrats and Republicans. It started in a Republican administration, then a Democratic administration, another Democrat, a Republican and then one more Republican. Winners and Losers. Clearly we know who the winners are.

The 21st Century has Gulf War II which is in another part of the world and is another case in point. It included Afghanistan, Iraq and other Mideast countries by proxy, and  rages on in Syria and points west and is now almost 16 years old with no finale in sight. Don't ask me to explain why but it probably was precipitated by Gulf War I, which was fielded in a Republican administration but carried on through a Democratic one. Again I come up with two numbers, Democrats and Republicans. Gulf War II commenced in a full two term Republican Administration, then a full two term Democratic administration and now continues under a Republican Administration. So far not much has been won by anyone.We have plenty of losers.

Now Korea which is on everyone's lips again is an unusual case and in the proximity of Vietnam. The U.S. reacted to a North Korean invasion of South Korea which we were occupying at the time. And when the U.S. beat back the attack across the 38th parallel, we couldn't leave well enough alone and decided to push on into North Korea causing China to participate against us. The Korean War, though hostilities stopped early on but with no peace treaty, has lasted through 12 Presidential administrations and once again the important number is two: Democrats and Republicans. Not one has figured it out how to make peace. Will there be any winners and losers in the future in this spooky endeavor?  Nope just losers irradiating.

So out of my 3 examples no way I can say 2 out of 3 ain't bad. All I can say is that it's all bad and we're all losers. And with one exception there is a winner but at a horrific cost. But those two numbers Democrats and Republicans keep on rolling along and like Bart Simpson they all say "I didn't do it" while pointing fingers at each other and both act like they're winners. And like I said at the outset, when there are winners, there are losers even when the winners are imaginary.