229 years ago, today

[canadiancutie]

Who are we suppressing? The Iraqis? Let's see, what would be better, freedom or Saddam Hussein? There is still time to put Saddam on the ballot. But you better hurry, the trial will start in a few months.

now the Iraquis get the Walmart and McDonalds franchises they so badly needed.

 

[WriterDom]

now the Iraquis get the Walmart and McDonalds franchises they so badly needed.

Yep, that's a lot worse than rape rooms and mass graves.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

I dunno, folks. I honestly don't know anymore.

On the one hand:
I love this country - not necessarily its government of the moment, but the country, which is the people who make it up. I enlisted in the Navy in 1967, voluntarily. If I remember correctly, my number in the draft lottery was over 300 - in other words, there was no chance I was going to get drafted. I enlisted because I felt it was my duty - and my privilege - to serve. Of course, I did come from a military family; my father was an Army "lifer" (more than 20 years service, for those not familiar with the term). The duty - and privilege - of being a member of our Armed Services was something absorbed with our daily bread - even when that bread was navy beans twice a day the last five or six days of the month because an E-6's pay didn't stretch very far with a family of five. (And by the way, I hated navy beans then, and I hate them - and most beans - still.)

On the other hand:
I'm not particularly fond of our current president, though I think I would have been much less fond of either of his opponents (2000 and 2004). I don't think he's as good presidential material as his father was, nor nearly as good as his brother Jeb (Governor of Florida) would have been/may be. But he was, SCOTUS said, the choice of the people. I don't know. The vote was screwed up, and they might have gotten it right, or might have gotten it wrong. It impressed me, though, that no troops had to be called out to make the Court's decision stand. They made their decision, and the parties - and the people - accepted it. Not many other countries could say that that would have occurred in a similar situation in one of their elections.

I'm not particularly happy with some recent Supreme Court decisions, particularly the one on eminent domain. I'm not particularly happy with some laws Congress has passed in the past 3 1/2 years. I'm not particularly happy with some of the laws and regulations and ordinances I've seen states and their constituent localities enact in the past eight to ten years. I think that cities and counties, state legislatures, the Congress, and the Supreme Court have made the decisions they've made, however, because (1) they feel that those decisions are what the people of the country want, and/or (2) because not enough of the people have stood up and said, "No. This is not what our Constitution says or stands for. This is not what we want. This is not right."

I definitely am not happy with the media of the past fifteen years or so, and their increasing focus on the spectacular, the bloody, the lowest common denominator. When I was much younger - the 50s and early 60s - journalists felt a duty to truth and, as hokey as it may sound, to justice. Today, it seems the only "duty" most of them feel is to ratings... and the way to get ratings is to pander to the salacious, the bloodthirsty, the frightened.

I am most definitely not happy with the majority of our citizens, who seem to think that everything's all right as long as the police are there sometime after they're called; as long as the firemen are there soon after they're called; and as long as they can immerse themselves in television sitcoms and "dramas" after dinner, and buy a new car every three years or so and a larger house every five to eight years, and their children get out of school with some kind of diploma - rather than with an education.

=+=+=+=+=

I love this country - but I fear that that what I have seen happening over the past decade or two spells the beginning of its end... not with a bang, but with the whimper of the shades of our founding fathers as they see our liberties eroded with no complaint from the citizenry; as they see us get entangled with the problems of other countries and other peoples who don't even want us to "help" them; as they see us sink into a morass of decay and self-destruction of the gifts - to us - for which they fought and died and sacrificed their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

 

[onceburned]

Happy Birthday USA.

I am glad I live here, I am glad when others move here - it enriches our country. And I have a thing for foreignors.

Our nation has its share of problems - I wish we weren't so obstinate about admitting it.

But all in all, its a good country and I hope everyone (at least) considers visiting us. It makes us better, as a people and as a nation.

 

[caela]

Happy Birthday to the USA!

I think we all have issues with our country and things we think it does well and things we think it needs to fix but despite all our faults as a nation I am still glad to call it home.

 

[jasonlf]

Capitalism is not that great when it annihates and discriminates against all but a select few who hold all the wealth and power....and unfortunately, like many Americans, you think the US is the only capitalist oasis?....hmm, begin getting out and finding out how other countries live before deciding that please. I am not living in a slum in Europe I can assure you and my neighbourhood, like most of The Netherlands is a mix of just about every culture and race on earth.....lots of immigrants living alongside Dutch.

Freedom I don't think is real in the US, but is tokenistic and a good illusion for those who do not look below the surface and believe what they are told....why, because tha=ey are the politicians and so wise and honest they would not mislead you, right? Complacency is part of the reason Hitler got so far before anyone got off their backside....history shows repeatedly people find it easier to bury their head in the sand until directly affected unfortunately. Bottom line is the world did not vote George Bush in or ask him to take them over and impose his values and beliefs on them....if democracy is so important to him and the US, why support the oppression of the right for others to live how they want and feel is of value for them? Could it be it is more related to the dollar sign in the brains of the greedy than the desire to free people and give them a choice in their destiny?

1) Capitalism puts the power in the hands of a person. To quote Sean Hannidy: "I've never met one hardworking person in my life who didn't succeed. If someone was willing to go out, and work hard, they succeeded." I believe that is 100% true. Is there a disparity between the rich and the poor? Yep. Will there always be, under any form of government? IMO, yes.

2) Sorry chica, I've done my research, most European nations are more socialist than capitalist. It's just a fact, not saying it's bad, just far from my preference. (OT: the EU cares the hell outta me)

3) Anyone who things freedom in the US is fake should go to a French school wearing a piece of Christian jewelry, and get kicked out. (Yep, it's a law).

4) The world should bugger off. We voted for Bush, he got elected, deal with it. You don't hear us bitching about other world leaders, do you?

 

[onceburned]

The world should bugger off. We voted for Bush, he got elected, deal with it. You don't hear us bitching about other world leaders, do you?

Americans would have a very hard time naming other world leaders, aside from Tony Blair and possibly Putin. (even that would be a stretch)

Other world leaders do not affect the lives of Americans to the same degree that Bush affects the lives of citizens in other countries. Its their right to criticize Bush - why are you afraid of their voices?

And you can be sure that Bush is a highly unpopular president here in the U.S. If his opponent in 2004 had more personality than a wet towel, Bush would have lost.

 

[graceanne]

Happy birthday, USA.

I'm proud to be an American. Period. Yes, it has it's problems, but so does every other country.

Beyond that, my brother is in the Army, and my cousin in the Navy. They both signed up after 9/11 knowing they might go to Iraq, AND I'M PROUD OF THEM! My brother lost his best friend last April in Iraq, and my cousin spent a lot of time in the gulf.

Yes, Bush sucks, but if you can name any other politician who doesn't, I'll show you a politician who won't ever make it past Mayor. The only way to get ahead in the political world is to be a liar and a manipulator. Don't like it? Stop voting for people like that! Bush should never have made if far enough up the totem pole to even be alowed to run for president, and neither should any president we've had for a very long time.

 

[canadiancutie]

Yep, that's a lot worse than rape rooms and mass graves.

yeah because Americans never rape or kill people. The way they bury the murdered makes them so much worse. Guess what! Your government sucks too. You act like they've never killed their own citizens

 

[jasonlf]

Americans would have a very hard time naming other world leaders, aside from Tony Blair and possibly Putin. (even that would be a stretch)

Jacques Sherrac (sp?) of France.

Vivente Fox of Mexico

Fidel Castro of Cuba

... and the list continues.


I'm SICK of this stereotype that people who voted for Bush are ignorant and stupid. No, we aren't. Maybe we CHOOSE to have someone in office who is a little more passionate and sincere, than some near-socialist guy who seems cold as ice? I *trust* GW Bush. I don't think he'd put himself above the good of the nation. I wasn't sure of that with Kerry.

Honestly, I woulda voted Badnarik (libertarian), b/c I agree with his platform, but he's a litttle too unstable to be president.

 

[canadiancutie]

I'm SICK of this stereotype that people who voted for Bush are ignorant and stupid. No, we aren't. Maybe we CHOOSE to have someone in office who is a little more passionate and sincere, than some near-socialist guy who seems cold as ice? I *trust* GW Bush. I don't think he'd put himself above the good of the nation. I wasn't sure of that with Kerry.

and this is why your country will implode. And the world will rejoice and there will be cookies for all.

 

[Aeroil]

1) Capitalism puts the power in the hands of a person. To quote Sean Hannidy: "I've never met one hardworking person in my life who didn't succeed. If someone was willing to go out, and work hard, they succeeded." I believe that is 100% true. Is there a disparity between the rich and the poor? Yep. Will there always be, under any form of government? IMO, yes.

2) Sorry chica, I've done my research, most European nations are more socialist than capitalist. It's just a fact, not saying it's bad, just far from my preference. (OT: the EU cares the hell outta me)

3) Anyone who things freedom in the US is fake should go to a French school wearing a piece of Christian jewelry, and get kicked out. (Yep, it's a law).

4) The world should bugger off. We voted for Bush, he got elected, deal with it. You don't hear us bitching about other world leaders, do you?

Capitalism puts power in the hands of a 'few' people, the people who are viscious and ruthless enough to take it from everyone else by whatever means is legal, and calling it an exercise of their freedom, their most sacred possession.

 

[Aeroil]

and this is why your country will implode. And the world will rejoice and there will be cookies for all.

*starts baking for the glorious day*

 

[Xelebes]

The opinion writerdom said there was one that America seems unified on, "If we're so bad, why do we have so many immigrants?". And, of course, like a good many other things, America is unique in holding such an opinion.

Except Alberta.

 

[Aeroil]

Except Alberta.

haha, true true
*gives Xelebes 10 points*

 

[Xelebes]

Oh man! I get to actually do something a Pointapalooza now!

 

[chris9]

3) Anyone who things freedom in the US is fake should go to a French school wearing a piece of Christian jewelry, and get kicked out. (Yep, it's a law).

The French law of secularization in schools is greatly influenced by the French history of the French Revolution and later on. It's the consequence of separating state and religion made necessary by too much power to the clergy during the absolutism. Yes, this law is quite extreme. It was made to integrate muslemic (word?) girls by making them leave their [cloth covering the hair, don't know the word, sorry]. And because all religions have to be treated the same, they had to forbid all religious symbols. It's a different kind of freedom, a worldly kind, they try to achieve.

1) Capitalism puts the power in the hands of a person. To quote Sean Hannidy: "I've never met one hardworking person in my life who didn't succeed. If someone was willing to go out, and work hard, they succeeded." I believe that is 100% true. Is there a disparity between the rich and the poor? Yep. Will there always be, under any form of government? IMO, yes.

2) Sorry chica, I've done my research, most European nations are more socialist than capitalist. It's just a fact, not saying it's bad, just far from my preference. (OT: the EU cares the hell outta me)

...

4) The world should bugger off. We voted for Bush, he got elected, deal with it. You don't hear us bitching about other world leaders, do you?

Yes, European nations in general are more social than the US. That's who we are, how we grew in history. Most European nations still were monarchies when industrialisation started. The workers dealt with this situation differently than in the US with its democracy and Civil Rights. So Europe became more social.
I'm not saying that a little more liberty/capitalism would be bad for Germany, but there is no way really to make it as liberal as the US, because that is not who WE are. The EU is pretty liberal, and absolutely not accepted by the peoples.
What annoys me about the US foreign policy (and I can only speak the last maybe 5 years, before I was too young to care and/or understand) is a tendency to tell other nations what's right. All nations have problems, but there is no patent solution to solve them. One can try to help them along, maybe rich and powerful and free nations have the responsibility to help them, but THEY have to want it, have to come up with their own way to solve their problems, or at least make their countrey better.
And because the US foreign policy affects my countrey and its politics greatly I need to stay informed about what's going on on the other side of the pond. With this information I can make up an opinion whether or not I think it's good politics or bad. So if the US leaves the world alone, it WILL bugger off. As long as YOUR election greatly influences other countries, you will have to live with the complaints of the rest of the world on your politics. That's the prize of importance.

 

[WriterDom]

yeah because Americans never rape or kill people. The way they bury the murdered makes them so much worse. Guess what! Your government sucks too. You act like they've never killed their own citizens

Our government changes every two years. Nothing much changes in a dictatorship. Maybe you should do your internship in North Korea. Then you'd see how irrelevant America's past is to this discussion.

 

[WriterDom]

Capitalism puts power in the hands of a 'few' people, the people who are viscious and ruthless enough to take it from everyone else by whatever means is legal, and calling it an exercise of their freedom, their most sacred possession.

Capitalism is competition based. And if you are in the U.S., try dealing with any industry or agency that has no competition. Which is true of most things government run.

I think one reason why America is the greatest economic and military power is American football. Fuck that soccer bullshit. It's a girl's sport. And look who is the world power in women's soccer. USA! USA! The day men's soccer takes over here will be the beginning of the decline.

And I don't want to hear crap about soccer being the most popular sport in the world. Of course it is. All you need is a ball to play the game. And a few of your illiterate buddies.

 

[chris9]

And look who is the world power in women's soccer. USA! USA!

As far as my information on sports goes, the GERMAN women won the last world championship in soccer and made it second at the Olympic games. We just won the European championship, too.

 

[chris9]

Our government changes every two years. Nothing much changes in a dictatorship. Maybe you should do your internship in North Korea. Then you'd see how irrelevant America's past is to this discussion.

Saying that things are worse somewhere else doesn't excuse you from trying to deal with bad parts in your history and improve yourself.
Of course there are dictatorships in the world, countries where Civil Rights are held cheap as dirt. But if the people doesn't take care of these rights where they exist, cherish them and protect them, they can just be taken away again (we learned that -painfully- in the German history).

 

[WriterDom]

As far as my information on sports goes, the GERMAN women won the last world championship in soccer and made it second at the Olympic games. We just won the European championship, too.

Maybe, who knows. It's only news here when Brandi Chastain takes her shirt off after a win.

 

[WriterDom]

Saying that things are worse somewhere else doesn't excuse you from trying to deal with bad parts in your history and improve yourself.
Of course there are dictatorships in the world, countries where Civil Rights are held cheap as dirt. But if the people doesn't take care of these rights where they exist, cherish them and protect them, they can just be taken away again (we learned that -painfully- in the German history).

History is a required subject here. I suggested she do her internship in North Korea to give her a different perspective since she is Canadian and wanting to do it in the Evil USA.

 

[onceburned]

I'm SICK of this stereotype that people who voted for Bush are ignorant and stupid. No, we aren't.

I don't think Bush voters are ignorant or stupid. I am amazed that people voted for him, but there is much in American politics that amazes me.

I *trust* GW Bush. I don't think he'd put himself above the good of the nation.

Wow! But he lied his ass off in order to start a war to show how resolute and tough his government was. Remember the Bush Doctrine? We don't hear about that anymore - the war in Iraq, which was supposed to demonstrate it, has discredited it instead.

How anyone can trust someone who has caused the death of thousands of people just to massage his ego is beyond me.

 

[Wednesday'sRose]

Americans would have a very hard time naming other world leaders, aside from Tony Blair and possibly Putin. (even that would be a stretch)

Other world leaders do not affect the lives of Americans to the same degree that Bush affects the lives of citizens in other countries. Its their right to criticize Bush - why are you afraid of their voices?

I was in a Russian Literature class at one point and our professor was an immigrant from that same country. Even though the class was made up of people who chose to be in a Russian Lit class, she tried to made sure that everyone understood background details for our Cold War era study. She was very nice in that she didn't take the knowledge for granted. I couldn't blame the poor woman for getting exasperated with the class though as she would ask simple things like "Who is the president of Russia" and 2 people were actually able to answer.
Possibly one of the most embarrassing moments for me as an American in the class came, though, as she made the mistake of asking another question. We were going over a study guide on the Cold War politics of the USSR (with the names of leaders on it) and she asked one of the girls who Lenin was. The girl looked very lost for a few minutes and the professor repeated the question. The girl finally looks up and the only thing that apparently could come to her mind was, "You mean John Lennon?" The professor looked kind of shocked (understandable as it was 3 months into a Cold War Russian Lit course), but she finally managed to say that that wasn't what she meant. The only answer that the girl could give then was that she didn't know. I just felt terribly embarrassed for the state of American college students and there knowledge about the world.