"See, Middle East- we're self sufficient, we can live on our own, we can bounce back from our breakup with Israel, and Saudi Arabia and...
*sob* *sob* Barack came into office and now we haven't got any oil rich friends! *sob* *sob* https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-ca...a-34168737
Disclaimer- Most of my posts are me thinking aloud. And most of what I think is rubbish.
Winner of a FIFA Prediction Fair Play Award (a phrase becoming increasingly ironic) "... Because he (me) has a sound tactical mind in general..." jandal7, at 9:30 am GMT on 12th May 2016
It's so funny to see the people standing with Kim Davies because she doesn't want to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples because it's against her religion.
I would loooooove(!) to see how the same people would react if, say..., a muslim at the DMV tried to deny driver licences to women. Also, the unbeliveable hypocracy, the woman has apparently been married four times!
I've forgotten the passage in the Bible where it says "Homosexuality is a sin, but multiple divorces are just dandy".
Perhaps not the best comparison, but you catch my drift.
There's a fine line between "psychotherapist" and "psycho the rapist"
cactus-jack wrote:
It's so funny to see the people standing with Kim Davies because she doesn't want to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples because it's against her religion.
I would loooooove(!) to see how the same people would react if, say..., a muslim at the DMV tried to deny driver licences to women. Also, the unbeliveable hypocracy, the woman has apparently been married four times!
I've forgotten the passage in the Bible where it says "Homosexuality is a sin, but multiple divorces are just dandy".
Perhaps not the best comparison, but you catch my drift.
I also find it hilarious that the people standing with her love the constitution but when the Supreme Court rules same sex marriage to be constitutional they find issue with it. Some people are just baffling!
Its the adultery that really kicks her in the arse, its a freakin commandment with her God
Edited by Strydz on 18-09-2015 17:50
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Okay I have to ask because I am just extremely curious. What do you non-americans all hear/think about the election in the USA this year?
If you even care about it, do you support a certain candidate?
Fellow Americans, what about you guys. What are your opinions?
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jseadog1 wrote:
Okay I have to ask because I am just extremely curious. What do you non-americans all hear/think about the election in the USA this year?
If you even care about it, do you support a certain candidate?
Fellow Americans, what about you guys. What are your opinions?
I think you guys are getting the election you deserve, it's an absolute joke which is exactly what the country has been cascading towards for some time now. From the outside looking in I can see it is purely a popularity contest which is why populist candidates like Trump(Drumph) have traction, HRC isn't as bad as she's been made out to be but the people just aren't listening to her and being a popularity not policy contest she's just unliked. Drumph isn't the straight talking tough guy people seem to think he is, he changes his views on almost any subject depending on the audience he is speaking to, Cruz is the evangelical fool he's always been, Rubio is a cardboard cut-out and Sanders is interesting with his heart in the right place and it's good for the country he been in the campaign but he's no president.
It is a real sad state of affairs watching this play out
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Learned from past years that it doesn't really matter on a global scale who the American president is. If it was Clinton, a Bush or Obama it all turned into more wars and cheaper reputation of the American people.
The two party system is a disgrace for freedom and democracy loving people, but as a German I can assure you that it is possible to have even less diversity with more (big) parties.
It seems that there are five or six establishment candidates left (we'll see if Romney rejoins the show) and a weirdo (Trump got ridiculed a lot in German mainstream media). The way the establishment appears to be scared to death about a possible Trump presidency makes me sympathize, though I disagree with him on many issues.
Due to my job I meet Americans on a regular basis and need to acknowledge that the vast majority are great freedom loving people. You have a great constitution, maybe the best in the whole world. Read and revive it, the less tyrannical the US is the better off the rest of the world will be.
jseadog1 wrote:
Okay I have to ask because I am just extremely curious. What do you non-americans all hear/think about the election in the USA this year?
If you even care about it, do you support a certain candidate?
Fellow Americans, what about you guys. What are your opinions?
I think you have three terrible candidates as leading candidates now, but Trump is the biggest dickhead of these. If he should become president of USA, it would finally be the time for popular American "God bless us all".
Fascist idiot, crazy socialist and...simply Hillary, lying under oath and saying empty phrases.But se is still by far the best candidate for sake of reason. Sorry, but US presidential elections are biggest circus and show of pathetic idiocy you can see.
Margh Norway wrote:
Learned from past years that it doesn't really matter on a global scale who the American president is. If it was Clinton, a Bush or Obama it all turned into more wars and cheaper reputation of the American people.
Obama asctually pulled a lot of US troops out of foreign states, unlike 60IQ Bush, who was all in on war against terror and put large part of the world in total chaos, destroying "stability" of region.
But at point where it was, it was probably not the most wise move from Obama to pull majority of troops out of Iraq, when situation was so far there. But i know it is difficult and USA was under lot of pressure, both inside and outside. But if you want to play role of world policeman, you have to be responsible for deep troubles you have caused.
The situation in Middle East now and mass migration of people from there are largely caused by these actions of USA in the region,aswell as Russia and their support of different subject there. Continuation of cold war and support of various terrorist groups from those two big international players is certainly not a ghood thing and always backfires.
Edited by Avin Wargunnson on 04-03-2016 07:59
There are two kind of people which I know:
The people who make jokes about Trump and the people who fear that he will become a president.
I think the fact that Bush was the best candidate for the republicans describes all.
Democrats aren't better, just less racist.
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Fascist idiot, crazy socialist and...simply Hillary, lying under oath and saying empty phrases.But se is still by far the best candidate for sake of reason. Sorry, but US presidential elections are biggest circus and show of pathetic idiocy you can see.
Funny thing is, as far as I'm aware, Sanders' "socialist" agenda would be considered fairly moderate in many, if not most, European countries. Health care, tuition-free education etc. are often standard government services that even the most conservative parties wouldn't touch.
Which leaves his tax plans, and I'm not familiar with the details. But even the thought of increasing taxes for rich candidates seems to be a red rag for Republicans (tax plans of their front runners), so they tell the people he wants to give everyone free cars, and suddenly he's the incarnation of Karl Marx himself. His appearance and him calling himself a socialist (which I guess many people, not just in the US, equal with communism) don't help either I guess.
I follow the election process mostly via the YouTube channels of the likes of John Oliver, Steven Colbert etc so I certainly have some bias, but I agree with Strydz that especially on the Republican side, it's just a circus.
I don't think that Trump would ruin the country though, we see with Obama that the president's power is limited, and even with Republican majorities in Congress and Senat, Trump himself doesn't seem to have too much support in his own party to do that much damage (though I might underestimate the political opportunism of the Republicans).
But it certainly would send a dangerous signal to elect someone as president who doesn't even want to explicitly distance himself from Benito Mussolini and the KKK.
Socialist is a socialist...who wants to punish succesful people for being succesful. It does not matter how they call them in USA, he is still a redistributor of wealth, Robin Hood of modern era.
Due to my job I meet Americans on a regular basis and need to acknowledge that the vast majority are great freedom loving people. You have a great constitution, maybe the best in the whole world. Read and revive it, the less tyrannical the US is the better off the rest of the world will be.
The way Americans are rusted onto the Constitution is part of the problem for that country, they refuse to amend it these days or even hold a constitutional convention to review it which has lead to the horrible situations with guns and money equaling speech
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The way Americans are rusted onto the Constitution is part of the problem
Agreed. How the supposedly most developed country in the World is still governed by a document written over 100 years ago is laughable. The whole American political system is a joke. It's just a case of who has the most money to buy the White House. Trump has got no policies other then building a wall on the Mexican border. He's made no argument as to why he should be president, he's simply bullied and slandered his opponents in live TV debates and yet he's winning the Republican vote by a landslide.
There was a quote I saw the other day about the rest of the world seeing the US election process as an IQ test for the country and so far they were failing miserably. Kind of sums it all up
jseadog1 wrote:
Okay I have to ask because I am just extremely curious. What do you non-americans all hear/think about the election in the USA this year?
If you even care about it, do you support a certain candidate?
Fellow Americans, what about you guys. What are your opinions?
I don't think it's a particularly great field. If I had to pick one candidate from each party I'd go with Sanders and Kasich, but I honestly think there's no way in hell that happens. Trump probably isn't as insane as he acts, but lacks any experience of government so can't be taken seriously. Cruz is basically Trump with political experience, but with the caveat that I think he genuinely believes everything he says. And for Rubio and Clinton I have the same issue in that they tend to flip-flop on issues too much - it's as if they don't have a unique platform and just want to play the game. That leaves Sanders and Kasich, and I agree with nearly everything Sanders says, while although I would never vote Republican - if I could vote - Kasich seems like a pragmatic moderate, who seems to have done a pretty good job in Ohio.
What I expect to happen however, is that we end up with a Trump vs Clinton election. Which I expect would end in an overwhelming victory for Clinton, and damage the Republicans for many years to come.
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Socialist is a socialist...who wants to punish succesful people for being succesful. It does not matter how they call them in USA, he is still a redistributor of wealth, Robin Hood of modern era.
No one becomes successful on their own. No one. Even if you start out with no money or relations whatsoever, you always build your fortune on the work of other people. Directly, on that of your employees, or indirectly, using the public education system, infrastructure or even the bureaucracy. All paid for by society. All paid for by taxes.
But I guess you don't argue against taxes in general, but rather in favor of equal taxes for everyone?
The Problem is: The capitalist system is designed in a way that benefits the wealthy. Once you've reached a certain point, it becomes increasingly easy to make more money. That's one point that justifies higher taxes on higher income in my opinion.
Also, this mechanism makes redistribution of wealth essential to keeping the system and society as a whole intact. Currently, the gap between the rich and the poor grows. Not only is it easier to increase your wealth, it's also harder to get rich in the first place. I don't want to overthrow the system with some sort of revolution, not at all, but I think it becomes more and more obvious that it won't be stable much longer if it keeps going like this.
And don't forget: Not everyone has the potential to be successful. Be it because of intellect, social background or simply having to care for a sick family member at a crucial time in their life. "Redistribution of wealth" could also simply be called solidarity.
And sure, a minority manages to escape their circumstances on their own, but most successful people have had a better position to start from than the rest. Higher taxes for them takes that into account as well.
Looking at your comment again, I see that smiley that might indicate sarcasm. So I'm not sure if this post might not be redundant. In that case, just ignore it Edited by cunego59 on 04-03-2016 11:14
jseadog1 wrote:
Okay I have to ask because I am just extremely curious. What do you non-americans all hear/think about the election in the USA this year?
If you even care about it, do you support a certain candidate?
Fellow Americans, what about you guys. What are your opinions?
I'll make it short because I'm a Republican and Republicans are pretty much the scum of the earth in these circles.
Hillary to me is just too shady, Trump is a lunatic, Cruz is actually scary and Rubio is a robot. While I respect Bernie Sanders as an honest guy I don't agree with his policy. Clearly unrestricted capitalism doesn't work well, and there needs to be some common sense compromises, but I always ideologically favor equality over opportunity of equality of outcome. While equality of opportunity has been shaken for sure, that doesn't make me want to switch.
So this year, though I can't yet vote, I'm supporting John Kasich. I don't agree with every position he has, but he has proven that even when he does not agree he is willing to sit down, talk about it and reach an agreement. He can come out with the better half of a deal while still pleasing the majority of people. Every other Republican and Democrat seems to think their agenda will just come to life magically. Kasich is the only one I feel is moderate enough and can work with people enough to actually get stuff done, and mostly stuff that I would support.
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Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Obama asctually pulled a lot of US troops out of foreign states, unlike 60IQ Bush, who was all in on war against terror and put large part of the world in total chaos, destroying "stability" of region.
The common presentation of Obama in German mainstream media is a story about a peace loving guy. The facts are telling a much different story of broken promises and an ongoing slip into tyranny...
- Obama extended Bush's drone program killing in his first two years twenty times more people in Pakistan than Bush in his whole eight year presidency. In addition to it he expanded drone warfare to Somalia and Yemen.
As a former law student he should have heard about habeas corpus... even if he doesn't have decency to reject targeted killings without a trial.
- Obama promised one of his first actions would be to close down the unlawful imprisoning of terror suspects in Guantanamo. He once noted it is difficult to achieve because there is no majority agreement about in in congress...
…, but he had no problem to start the bombardment in Lybia without even asking congress
- he criticized Bush for filing charges against whistleblowers and reminded to treat them as the heroes as they are... just to become the most vigorous persecutor
Can't say if Obama is worse than Bush, but the rule of law hasn't returned during his presidency.
Strydz wrote:The way Americans are rusted onto the Constitution is part of the problem for that country, they refuse to amend it these days or even hold a constitutional convention to review it which has lead to the horrible situations with guns and money equaling speech
Yeah, it's a widespread notion to believe parts of the American Constitution are outdated, but it sounds far-fetched to me that it's responsible for gun issues.
The second amendment of the bill of rights I guess you're refering to was written to keep the ordinary people able to resist against a tyrannical government. Often it is the first step of tyrants to infringe the rights to bear arms. Hitler did it, Stalin did it and Mao and Franco, too.
Some US state laws have already undermined this right and interestingly the equation less guns = less gun crimes/murders doesn't work out.
To me it actually makes sense, cause when you ban guns the only people left armed are working for the government or are criminals.
Don't you hate it when you've written a good post and then the tab closes and you lose it all?
So my very quick summary:
Bush was an idiot but not as bad as he's painted by most.
Obama isn't perfect, no politician is ever perfect.
American politics is a joke.
Gun's in the USA is a whole other topic of discussion
Clearly unrestricted capitalism doesn't work well, and there needs to be some common sense compromises, but I always ideologically favor equality over opportunity of equality of outcome. While equality of opportunity has been shaken for sure, that doesn't make me want to switch.
As someone who would probably position himself in about the same ideological space as Sanders on most issues - though I disagree strongly with him on surveillance and tuition-free education - I would honestly say that I believe the same thing, as do many on the left. Equality of opportunity is always better than equality of outcome in my opinion, but the issue is when true equality of opportunity isn't given chance to exist due to underlying structural factors. If things are too unequal in outcomes, then you can't have true equality of opportunity. So therefore, inequalities need to be controlled to ensure no one is left too far behind, and also to ensure a truly meritocratic society.
In summary, basically read Rawls' "A Theory of Justice". Or better still, just a summary of it. That's my argument here
