1. #161
    This thread is exactly what it was meant to be,... entertainment for the OP.
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  2. #162
    joeap's Avatar Senior Member
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    Originally posted by Rjel:

    "That country". I don't know where you live and it doesn't really matter. The U.S. has been down before and came back. So too will it this time. It might not happen in the near future, but it will. Maybe, just maybe now is the time for America to relinquish the role as world leader. Let China do it for a while and see how that turns out for Europe and Asia. Will China be a friend or dominating and dangerous foe? Will it hand out billions in foreign aid year after year? I doubt it.

    For me, I'd rather my tax dollars go to schools, roads and other infrastructure. So laugh if you want to at the U.S. I don't think we are down for the final count just yet.
    I am not laughing my friend, I like the US, have friends and family (obviously) there and from there. I too understand giving up the world policeman role and spending on your own. What worries me is the very extreme polarisation I sense-honestly the stereo noise from extremists on either side is very loud.

    I am an ex-pat Canadian living in Europe (Geneva to be exact) and my sister has lived for years in New York. I honestly see a lot of god things about the US from my perspective as well as negatives.

    I have lots to say about Canada too.
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  3. #163
    leitmotiv's Avatar Senior Member
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    The currency wars which have been raging this week are going to bring down the house of cards created by the current executive. Because the fall will entail a great deal of suffering, this is not a cause for cheer. The salutary lesson is that two bad administrations in a row have done massive damage to the U.S.

    What happened on election day 2010 was this: the huge drubbing the Democratic Party took repudiated the fantasy held only by their leadership and those foolish enough to believe them that the 2008 election represented a tectonic shift in American history---that policies of the far left were approved by the majority of the electorate. James Carvell declared 40 years of Democratic Party hegemony. In truth the election was a very shallow popularity contest between an unknown and untested Senator who adroitly created the silly notion that electing a black man would in itself save the country from itself, and a boring rather nutty Republican Senator who, nevertheless, was not defeated in a landslide (the fantasy of convenience concocted by the jubilant Dems to convince themselves they had broad approval for their policies). That so many bought this Obama fantasy affirmed the existence of a strain of incoherent emotionalism in the body politic which, to them, and mystifyingly to all others, passed for reason and ideas. In 2006 and 2008 the Democrats achieved a huge super-majority in Congress based on public contempt for Bush, the unpopular Iraq war, and corruption among Republican House and Senate members. This super-majority was just blown to smithereens a few days ago because the electorate realized the Dems were, if anything, even more corrupt than the execrable Reps, and that their policies were wildly out of sync with the majority.

    As we sink lower and lower into a convincing mimic of the nightmarish 1960s, which was America's second civil war, which tore families apart and ratcheted up the normal American taste for fanaticism to the ugly level we enjoy today, I will not be surprised to see radicals embrace violence once again as a means to vent their fury at the majority in this country which does not share their fantasies.
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  4. #164
    Motiv8's Avatar Banned
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    I have no doubt we can and will come together as a nation again, but we will need a strong leader and this dude currently in office simply doesn't have it.

    "If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, 'We're gonna punish our enemies..."

    ~Barack Obama, referring to a great number of Americans who no longer buy into his plans
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  5. #165
    DrHerb's Avatar Senior Member
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    Motive8, who do you suggest be at the helm?
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  6. #166
    GoToAway's Avatar Senior Member
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    Originally posted by DrHerb:
    Motive8, who do you suggest be at the helm?


    I don't know, though. He might be a bit too liberal for Hayat--I mean "Motiv8"'s taste.
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  7. #167
    Bearcat99's Avatar Senior Member
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    It amazes me that someone who seems to be so intelligent can have so many nooks and crannies in their thinking.

    The currency wars which have been raging this week are going to bring down the house of cards created by the current executive. Because the fall will entail a great deal of suffering, this is not a cause for cheer. The salutary lesson is that two bad administrations in a row have done massive damage to the U.S.


    We were on the verge of an economic disaster before the previous administration was even finished... and between the Bush tax cuts and the two wars, which in themselves were not as problematic as it might first appear, but it was more the fact that [I]private corporations like Haliburton and so many of it's subsidiaries were given a blank check in the form of no bid contracts for everything from laundry services to "security", living in luxury hotels while the soldiers were doing what soldiers do. Many of these contracts were open ended.. so the more they spent the more they got.. People can go on about Acorn all they want.. but Acorn has nothing on Haliburton.. or any of the other corporate pimps who have been slapping the U.S. taxpayers on the behind for years screaming "Who's you daddy!!!" while they, to this day continue to pile drive us in the rear with both sides of the aisle giving the wink and the nod sneaking off to the bank blaming each other. Had this administration not done what it did we would probably be worse off than we are now.. This administration is two years in, and you and most others who share your views have been tearing it apart since before it even began.. Whatever failures this administration takes into history with it must be shared by the rest of the elected body that stonewalled, blocked, sabotaged, picked apart and stymied every single act every step of the way. Your (not you personally since you are like me.. you really don't have any power either other than your vote.. and the election of 2000 and 2004 in Florida, Ohio and Detroit to name a few places already proved that the U.S. vote.. like the dollar ain't what it used to be.. ) already stated goal of making President Obama a one term president will obviously take precedent over anything that is good for the country.. "We're going to 'take back' our country.." as if it has been invaded by a foreign army or something. The old "We will be willing to work with the whitehouse... if the whitehouse does everything we say.. " routine.


    What happened on election day 2010 was this: the huge drubbing the Democratic Party took repudiated the fantasy held only by their leadership and those foolish enough to believe them that the 2008 election represented a tectonic shift in American history---that policies of the far left were approved by the majority of the electorate. James Carvell declared 40 years of Democratic Party hegemony. In truth the election was a very shallow popularity contest between an unknown and untested Senator who adroitly created the silly notion that electing a black man would in itself save the country from itself, and a boring rather nutty Republican Senator who, nevertheless, was not defeated in a landslide (the fantasy of convenience concocted by the jubilant Dems to convince themselves they had broad approval for their policies). That so many bought this Obama fantasy affirmed the existence of a strain of incoherent emotionalism in the body politic which, to them, and mystifyingly to all others, passed for reason and ideas.
    Wrong again... I would be willing to bet that if John McCain had picked anyone.. Huckabee or even Romney - anyone else other than Sarah Palin, which was such an obvious play to the disgruntled Hilary dems and had nothing to do with her "qualifications" - as his veep, chances are pretty good that he'd be in the Whitehouse now.. While many others in this country probably would have voted for Joe The Plumber before they cast a vote for President Obama under any circumstances.. (He's a Muslim you know, he has no experience, he just gives good speeches, he has no ideas, his middle name is Hussein for goodness sakes... Obama is too much like Osama, he's black .. I mean .. they can play basketball and all but I wouldn't want one running my country..." ) Contrary to what you and most who think like you believe many of the folks who did cast a vote for him did not do so out of some foolish dream notion like you and again.. so many others who share your views keep on insisting. Was it optimism? Absolutely.. it always is.. or do you really think that all that flag waving and red white and blue family values rhetoric that the GoP spouts every election (while they continue to put forth policies that make it harder and harder for poor and middle class families .. cause the wealthy are doing A-OK.. to survive..) is actually something that they believe, because the evidence points to the contrary.

    In 2006 and 2008 the Democrats achieved a huge super-majority in Congress based on public contempt for Bush, the unpopular Iraq war, and corruption among Republican House and Senate members. This super-majority was just blown to smithereens a few days ago because the electorate realized the Dems were, if anything, even more corrupt than the execrable Reps, and that their policies were wildly out of sync with the majority.
    Do you think it might have also been the massive amounts of money and propaganda thrown up by <sub>INSERT $PECIAL INTEREST GROUP HERE especially now that it's OK.. cause the supreme court said so.. </sub> or the incessant 24/7 anti President Obama, anti democrat anti everything but rhetoric spouted on Fox. Why is it that every time the GOP has a victory the claim that "The People have spoken".. I guarantee you that had Hillary or Edwards won the election of 08 there would e no tea party.. Then again.. there would probably be something else.. The GoP did the same thing that they did in 92 when they got drubbed the last time the pendulum swung with New and his contract on.. uhhh with America..

    As we sink lower and lower into a convincing mimic of the nightmarish 1960s, which was America's second civil war, which tore families apart and ratcheted up the normal American taste for fanaticism to the ugly level we enjoy today, I will not be surprised to see radicals embrace violence once again as a means to vent their fury at the majority in this country which does not share their fantasies.
    Just what radicals are you talking about... ?

    You mean these guys? Because they are the only ones that I have seen doing any acts of violence relatively recently.. Streetgangs and drug dealers are criminal organizations for the most part.. so I don't see them fitting in that mold.
    However knowing you, you are probably referring to these guys who are in reality a bunch of idiots who are not worthy of the name and who actually have nothing on any of these guys.

    People foment an atmosphere of fear and mistrust 24 hours a day 7 days a week and then act surprised when people respond to it. Un real...
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  8. #168
    Originally posted by Bearcat99:
    It amazes me that someone who seems to be so intelligent can have so many nooks and crannies in their thinking.

    <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The currency wars which have been raging this week are going to bring down the house of cards created by the current executive. Because the fall will entail a great deal of suffering, this is not a cause for cheer. The salutary lesson is that two bad administrations in a row have done massive damage to the U.S.


    We were on the verge of an economic disaster before the previous administration was even finished... and between the Bush tax cuts and the two wars, which in themselves were not as problematic as it might first appear, but it was more the fact that [I]private corporations like Haliburton and so many of it's subsidiaries were given a blank check in the form of no bid contracts for everything from laundry services to "security", living in luxury hotels while the soldiers were doing what soldiers do. Many of these contracts were open ended.. so the more they spent the more they got.. People can go on about Acorn all they want.. but Acorn has nothing on Haliburton.. or any of the other corporate pimps who have been slapping the U.S. taxpayers on the behind for years screaming "Who's you daddy!!!" while they, to this day continue to pile drive us in the rear with both sides of the aisle giving the wink and the nod sneaking off to the bank blaming each other. Had this administration not done what it did we would probably be worse off than we are now.. This administration is two years in, and you and most others who share your views have been tearing it apart since before it even began.. Whatever failures this administration takes into history with it must be shared by the rest of the elected body that stonewalled, blocked, sabotaged, picked apart and stymied every single act every step of the way. Your (not you personally since you are like me.. you really don't have any power either other than your vote.. and the election of 2000 and 2004 in Florida, Ohio and Detroit to name a few places already proved that the U.S. vote.. like the dollar ain't what it used to be.. ) already stated goal of making President Obama a one term president will obviously take precedent over anything that is good for the country.. "We're going to 'take back' our country.." as if it has been invaded by a foreign army or something. The old "We will be willing to work with the whitehouse... if the whitehouse does everything we say.. " routine.


    What happened on election day 2010 was this: the huge drubbing the Democratic Party took repudiated the fantasy held only by their leadership and those foolish enough to believe them that the 2008 election represented a tectonic shift in American history---that policies of the far left were approved by the majority of the electorate. James Carvell declared 40 years of Democratic Party hegemony. In truth the election was a very shallow popularity contest between an unknown and untested Senator who adroitly created the silly notion that electing a black man would in itself save the country from itself, and a boring rather nutty Republican Senator who, nevertheless, was not defeated in a landslide (the fantasy of convenience concocted by the jubilant Dems to convince themselves they had broad approval for their policies). That so many bought this Obama fantasy affirmed the existence of a strain of incoherent emotionalism in the body politic which, to them, and mystifyingly to all others, passed for reason and ideas.
    Wrong again... I would be willing to bet that if John McCain had picked anyone.. Huckabee or even Romney - [i]anyone else other than Sarah Palin, which was such an obvious play to the disgruntled Hilary dems and had nothing to do with her "qualifications" - as his veep, chances are pretty good that he's be in the Whitehouse now.. While many others in this country probably would have voted for Joe The Plumber before they cast a vote for President Obama under any circumstances.. (He's a Muslim you know, he has no experience, he just gives good speeches, he has no ideas, his middle name is Hussein for goodness sakes... Obama is too much like Osama, he's black .. I mean .. they can play basketball and all but I wouldn't want one running my country..." ) Contrary to what you and most who think like you believe many of the folks who did cast a vote for him did not do so out of some foolish dream notion like you and again.. so many others who share your views keep on insisting. Was it optimism? Absolutely.. it always is.. or do you really think that all that flag waving and red white and blue family values rhetoric that the GoP spouts every election (while they continue to put forth policies that make it harder and harder for poor and middle class families .. cause the wealthy are doing A-OK.. to survive..) is actually something that they believe, because the evidence points to the contrary.

    In 2006 and 2008 the Democrats achieved a huge super-majority in Congress based on public contempt for Bush, the unpopular Iraq war, and corruption among Republican House and Senate members. This super-majority was just blown to smithereens a few days ago because the electorate realized the Dems were, if anything, even more corrupt than the execrable Reps, and that their policies were wildly out of sync with the majority.
    Do you think it might have also been the massive amounts of money and propaganda thrown up by <sub>INSERT $PECIAL INTEREST GROUP HERE especially now that it's OK.. cause the supreme court said so.. </sub> or the incessant 24/7 anti President Obama, anti democrat anti everything but rhetoric spouted on Fox. Why is it that every time the GOP has a victory the claim that "The People have spoken".. I guarantee you that had Hillary or Edwards won the election of 08 there would e no tea party.. Then again.. there would probably be something else.. The GoP did the same thing that they did in 92 when they got drubbed the last time the pendulum swung with New and his contract on.. uhhh with America..

    As we sink lower and lower into a convincing mimic of the nightmarish 1960s, which was America's second civil war, which tore families apart and ratcheted up the normal American taste for fanaticism to the ugly level we enjoy today, I will not be surprised to see radicals embrace violence once again as a means to vent their fury at the majority in this country which does not share their fantasies.
    Just what radicals are you talking about... ?

    You mean these guys? Because they are the only ones that I have seen doing any acts of violence relatively recently.. Streetgangs and drug dealers are criminal organizations for the most part.. so I don't see them fitting in that mold.
    However knowing you, you are probably referring to these guys who are in reality a bunch of idiots who are not worthy of the name and who actually have nothing on any of these guys.

    People foment an atmosphere of fear and mistrust 24 hours a day 7 days a week and then act surprised when people respond to it. Un real... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

    Dude, how long do your keyboards last?

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  9. #169
    Bearcat99's Avatar Senior Member
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    Originally posted by bun-bun195333:
    Dude, how long do your keyboards last?

    That's nothing.. there are some guys here who write novellas..
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