[BartSimpson]

DanSC DanSC:

Lemmy Lemmy:

You're a smart guy, Dan. You're gonna vote for Obama, right?

Unlikely. I'd like to vote for Obama, but I can't vote for a guy who keeps a personal kill list. That doesn't mean I'll vote for Romney.

Besides, I live in California. It doesn't matter how I vote.

I'll second that. I won't be voting for Romney for that reason. I've no idea who will get my vote but it won't be Mittens.

[pineywoodslim]

raydan raydan:

2Cdo 2Cdo:

Thanos Thanos:

If I hear that "we're the only free country on Earth" crap coming from Americans much more I'm going to puke.

If the US was as "free" as they think they are they would be a utopia!

Considering what they owe, they are FAR from free. What must hurt the most though, is that the largest single holder of U.S. government debt is China.

The largest holder of US debt is the US government itself via interagency lending. The second largest holder of US debt are private US citizens via treasury bills and notes and private pension funds.

Far down the list is China at number 3, and while China is the largest non-US holder of US debt, the percentage of US debt held by China is approximately 7% of the total. It wouldn't surprise me at all if citizens of California own more US debt than the Chinese government. In many ways, the trumpeting of China as financing the US is not much more than the same old "yellow peril" scares from the past.

No one much seems to mind that the UK is the second largest foreign owner of US debt.

[ShepherdsDog]

$1:

No one much seems to mind that the UK is the second largest foreign owner of US debt.

s'alright. There's that small matter of an outstanding debt left over from the French Indian War

[BeaverFever]

DanSC DanSC:

I think you're an alright guy Mr. President. I love living here, and there are people from all over the world who want to live here too, but to say that everyone wants to live here is absurd and reeks of desperation.

What a load of baloney. Every American public figure from the county dog catcher to the President has made almost the exact same statement since as long as Ive been alive. Its part of the Great American Mythology that the USA is by far better than the rest of the world by every possible measure and that the whole world knows it.

[2Cdo]

BeaverFever BeaverFever:

DanSC DanSC:

I think you're an alright guy Mr. President. I love living here, and there are people from all over the world who want to live here too, but to say that everyone wants to live here is absurd and reeks of desperation.

What a load of baloney. Every American public figure from the county dog catcher to the President has made almost the exact same statement since as long as Ive been alive. Its part of the Great American Mythology that the USA is by far better than the rest of the world by every possible measure and that the whole world knows it.

I've said it before, the US is not near as free as they think they are.

[pineywoodslim]

BeaverFever BeaverFever:

DanSC DanSC:

I think you're an alright guy Mr. President. I love living here, and there are people from all over the world who want to live here too, but to say that everyone wants to live here is absurd and reeks of desperation.

What a load of baloney. Every American public figure from the county dog catcher to the President has made almost the exact same statement since as long as Ive been alive. Its part of the Great American Mythology that the USA is by far better than the rest of the world by every possible measure and that the whole world knows it.

Either baloney or salami, take your pick.

The baloney may have had a ring of truth to it--at least for white males--say in about 1795, but the sloganeering is long past its sell by date.

But it is a useful form of propaganda for the political classes.

[Jonny_C]

"... the fact is there is not another country on earth that would not gladly trade places with the United States of America.”

That's old thinking and old rhetoric, fuelled by heavy immigration (at one time) from the countries of "Old Europe". Saying such a thing nowadays, based on immigration from dysfunctional countries ranging from second-tier (like Mexico) to third world, just doesn't cut it any more.

And I don't think it ever applied to Canada. Actually the reverse was once true, with the flood of Loyalists from the Thirteen Colonies who settled in Canada.

[Toastmaker]

Let's see now. . . on the one hand many here deride the stupidity of Obama's statements yet seem to think it would be a grand idea to let this closet socialist and amature leader have the reins of our executive branch for another four years!

It's not going to happen because we can recognize horrendous mistakes after we make them. Let me invent a word here: "stupidification". The ouster of Obama will be by a somewhat slim margin because of the gradual "stupidification" of the American electorate that refuse to see the manipulation of truth by our main-stream media and a gross ignorance of how our federal government is supposed to work.

[EyeBrock]

I think anybody who has travelled past the Magic Kingdom, the Mayan Riviera and Cuba can suss out that the US is a decent place to live.

Sure, anybody can focus on the crappy bits. I've travelled to maybe 15 states and I've always found Yanks to be nice people and I could easily live there.

Yanks on the forum have to remember that some Canadians define how 'Canadian' they are by how disparaging they can be to the US. It goes back a long way in the Canadian psyche. Blame Kentucky.

[Jonny_C]

Toastmaker Toastmaker:

The ouster of Obama will be by a somewhat slim margin because of the gradual "stupidification" of the American electorate that refuse to see the manipulation of truth by our main-stream media and a gross ignorance of how our federal government is supposed to work.

I think a lot of the blame has to be placed on American lawmakers themselves for allowing the system to be so corrupted from what it once was. (Corrupted in the sense of degraded.)

[herbie]

BeaverFever BeaverFever:

DanSC DanSC:

I think you're an alright guy Mr. President. I love living here, and there are people from all over the world who want to live here too, but to say that everyone wants to live here is absurd and reeks of desperation.

What a load of baloney. Every American public figure from the county dog catcher to the President has made almost the exact same statement since as long as Ive been alive. Its part of the Great American Mythology that the USA is by far better than the rest of the world by every possible measure and that the whole world knows it.

It's neither baloney nor a stupid statement for Obama to say. Most Americans actually believe that everyone everywhere else secretly wishes they were an American. Of course, they're forgetting about a big chunk of the world - it's not an Englishman, an Aussie, a Canuck, a German or a Frenchman they're picturing in their mind as the person wishing that was true.
I've actually been asked: Why don't you want to be an American? You're almostone already. Why not just be an American?

[BeaverFever]

herbie herbie:

BeaverFever BeaverFever:

DanSC DanSC:

I think you're an alright guy Mr. President. I love living here, and there are people from all over the world who want to live here too, but to say that everyone wants to live here is absurd and reeks of desperation.

What a load of baloney. Every American public figure from the county dog catcher to the President has made almost the exact same statement since as long as Ive been alive. Its part of the Great American Mythology that the USA is by far better than the rest of the world by every possible measure and that the whole world knows it.

It's neither baloney nor a stupid statement for Obama to say. Most Americans actually believe that everyone everywhere else secretly wishes they were an American. Of course, they're forgetting about a big chunk of the world - it's not an Englishman, an Aussie, a Canuck, a German or a Frenchman they're picturing in their mind as the person wishing that was true.
I've actually been asked: Why don't you want to be an American? You're almostone already. Why not just be an American?

No, DanSCs post was the baloney I was referring to...the idea the Obamas comment is somehow unusual. Every American politician in my lifetime, and probably long before then, has made this statement. Its standard fare and you would probably be called a communist if you didn't say it.

[jj2424]

Yes everyone hates the US...hand them a Green Card and the hate suddenly disappears.

[Toastmaker]

Jonny_C Jonny_C:

Toastmaker Toastmaker:

The ouster of Obama will be by a somewhat slim margin because of the gradual "stupidification" of the American electorate that refuse to see the manipulation of truth by our main-stream media and a gross ignorance of how our federal government is supposed to work.

I think a lot of the blame has to be placed on American lawmakers themselves for allowing the system to be so corrupted from what it once was. (Corrupted in the sense of degraded.)

Yes, this is an absolute truth but Americans, in general, know little about how our federal government is and is not supposed to work.

Also, I believe much of the manifested emotion that people label as "hatred" for America is more accurately described as resentment, for all of the many, many reasons that people feel resentment.

[Gunnair]

Toastmaker Toastmaker:

Jonny_C Jonny_C:

Toastmaker Toastmaker:

The ouster of Obama will be by a somewhat slim margin because of the gradual "stupidification" of the American electorate that refuse to see the manipulation of truth by our main-stream media and a gross ignorance of how our federal government is supposed to work.

I think a lot of the blame has to be placed on American lawmakers themselves for allowing the system to be so corrupted from what it once was. (Corrupted in the sense of degraded.)

Yes, this is an absolute truth but Americans, in general, know little about how our federal government is and is not supposed to work.

Also, I believe much of the manifested emotion that people label as "hatred" for America is more accurately described as resentment, for all of the many, many reasons that people feel resentment.