SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Obama bores crowd to death with pro-tax speech.

Posted: Apr 06 2010 11:27 am

Panda,

No, that's very true that living in a country doesn't give you an inside track on something like Parliament or Congress. But I still argue that living in a place gives you a perspective that others can't have. You say its not in the water (and literally its not of course), but it IS in everything you do. Being IN the place affected by these things, and surrounded by the people discussing and debating it because it has a direct effect on them, IS a lot different than what you can read on the internet. I mean (and this is a horrible example so forgive me, its just the only one I can think of) I can read about Disneyland online. I can talk to people who have been there. None of that equals the experience of being there and experiencing the atmosphere for myself.

Posted: Apr 06 2010 12:07 pm

A good example is this: we will NEVER know how the Cuban people as a whole feel about Fidel Castro.

We get fed horror stories about how evil he was when he was in charge from the people who hated the country enough to leave, but when someone like Danny Glover or the Pope went down there, they got treated a idyllic stay at Castro's mansion where everyone was smiling and grateful that Castro was their leader.

Is it as bad down there as the refugees want us to believe? Unlikely. Is it as rosy down there as Danny Glover seems to think it is? Even more unlikely. But we will never for sure, because we weren't there to see and experience it for ourselves.

Posted: Apr 06 2010 01:24 pm

Wow. That analogy was about a zillion times better (On a scale of 1-gazillion) than my Disneyland analogy. Thank you very much. Smile

Posted: Apr 06 2010 01:33 pm

How old was McCain during the election? Late 70's, right? He could conceivably die of old age within 8 years (assuming he won re-election). There was a good chance we'd have ended up with Palin in office even without any outside forces acting.

Joined: Oct 01 2009 Posts: 5316

Danny Glover went to Cuba? Isn't he too old for that shit?

Posted: Apr 06 2010 02:55 pm

Ice2SeeYou wrote:

How old was McCain during the election? Late 70's, right?

He was 72. If he had served two terms, he would have been 80 when he left office.

And given our standard of living, there's no excuse to die before age 80 for health-related reasons.

Joined: May 22 2009 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 353

Doddsino wrote:

Danny Glover went to Cuba? Isn't he too old for that shit?

No apparently he is a very active in his old age. He has also visited Venezuela and spent time with Hugo Chavez. He also believes that the earthquake in Haiti was the result of global warming. Class act.

Posted: Apr 06 2010 03:23 pm

Zip, right over the head.

Posted: Apr 06 2010 04:14 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Ice2SeeYou wrote:

How old was McCain during the election? Late 70's, right?

He was 72. If he had served two terms, he would have been 80 when he left office.

And given our standard of living, there's no excuse to die before age 80 for health-related reasons.

Most people that age don't have as stressful jobs as the President of the United States. A lot of people are pretty out of it by the age of 80. I wouldn't be comfortable with an 80-year-old running the country.

Posted: Apr 06 2010 04:21 pm

didnt mccain say he would only run for 1 term though. on account of his advanced age

Posted: Apr 06 2010 05:11 pm

I'm not siding with anyone in this discussion but both of your examples about Cuba and Disneyland are using the assumption that you have never been there and only heard news and accounts about it. Panda has lived in the states (recently), not a whole lot has changed and as it stands I still would call him an American. In leui of that get your ass back here and fill out your damn census.

Posted: Apr 06 2010 06:45 pm

fuck the census

Posted: Apr 06 2010 08:17 pm

Douche McCallister wrote:

I'm not siding with anyone in this discussion but both of your examples about Cuba and Disneyland are using the assumption that you have never been there and only heard news and accounts about it.

Esh, if it came across that way, that's not what I intended at all.

I too would completely and totally consider him an American. And no, five years ISN'T that long to be away. But the fact remains that reading about a political climate, and actually being in it, IS different. Hell, I don't even pretend to understand the politics and inner workings of the South anymore as an insider, and I'm FROM there.

Posted: Apr 06 2010 08:39 pm

Douche McCallister wrote:

I'm not siding with anyone in this discussion but both of your examples about Cuba and Disneyland are using the assumption that you have never been there and only heard news and accounts about it.

How about this then? I live in America. I've been to NYC more times than I can count. That doesn't mean that I can pretend to know what it was like to be in NYC on 9/11. I don't.

Posted: Apr 06 2010 08:45 pm

I think you guys are somehow overlooking how far the United States influence actually reaches. I mean think about the fact that Obama went overseas and delivered a speech to 10's of thousands of Supporters in a Foreign country (and he was just a candidate at that time). Now swap the situation. Can you imagine the turnout for a Nominee from overseas giving a speech here?

My point is foreign countries are much more interested in our previous/current situations then we are of theirs because our decisions here affect them. That's why most people think "foreigners are clueless, we don't pay attention to their politics, so why would they care about ours."

Joined: Sep 17 2007 Location: The Opium Trail Posts: 3475

username wrote:

fuck the census

The census only takes 5 minutes! Quit being a pussy!

Posted: Apr 07 2010 05:29 am

Douche McCallister wrote:

I'm not siding with anyone in this discussion but both of your examples about Cuba and Disneyland are using the assumption that you have never been there and only heard news and accounts about it. Panda has lived in the states (recently), not a whole lot has changed and as it stands I still would call him an American. In leui of that get your ass back here and fill out your damn census.

Thanks Douche and yeah, I was about the make the same point. Using your analogy Syd, I'm a Cuban who has lived in Cuba for 25 years. I then escaped to America and have been in the states now for 5 years, but I still exclusively only speak with my Cuban parents, brother, and friends about a myriad of topics, including politics. I think I'd still have a pretty good idea about the general climate in Cuba and how much Fidel was liked or disliked.

You're both assuming that the only American information I'm getting is from the internet; it's not. My father is a Republican and he and I often talk/debate politics. British TV is full of American TV shows and news networks (Fox News, C-Span, etc) and even British shows like Have I Got News For You covers American stuff sometimes. I have as much knowledge and insight here as most Americans who don't work intimately with the political sector.

Those people get their information from family and friends, TV, radio, and the internet. Well, so do I.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

I love how every thread here that has the name Obama in the title immediately becomes boring as fuck ass and nothing to do with the title. Laughing

Posted: Apr 07 2010 10:12 am

Douche McCallister wrote:

I think you guys are somehow overlooking how far the United States influence actually reaches. I mean think about the fact that Obama went overseas and delivered a speech to 10's of thousands of Supporters in a Foreign country (and he was just a candidate at that time). Now swap the situation. Can you imagine the turnout for a Nominee from overseas giving a speech here?

My point is foreign countries are much more interested in our previous/current situations then we are of theirs because our decisions here affect them. That's why most people think "foreigners are clueless, we don't pay attention to their politics, so why would they care about ours."

Just because they pay attention doesn't mean they get the whole story, or the correct story.

Posted: Apr 07 2010 05:31 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Just because they pay attention doesn't mean they get the whole story, or the correct story.

While that may be true to an extent, apart from actually paying taxes, Everyone across the globe has a fairly accurate description of the American climate and the like.

However if you ask me or another typical american about another countries political climate and we have absolutely no idea. The truth is America is just to damn important to all these other nations that it wouldn't surprise me if other nations know more about us then they do themselves. We spend money like its going out of style and we have the largest disposable income of all other nations so it's no wonder.

Just to prove a point how many people here can name the Leaders of Australia, Japan and Turkey without the aid of Wikipedia or google. Ask those countries who is the President of the United States? Hell they could probably tell us who our last 5 different presidents were.

Posted: Apr 07 2010 05:37 pm

Douche McCallister wrote:

Syd Lexia wrote:

Just because they pay attention doesn't mean they get the whole story, or the correct story.

While that may be true to an extent, apart from actually paying taxes, Everyone across the globe has a fairly accurate description of the American climate and the like.

If that were true, 9/11 wouldn't have happened and we'd be BFFs with North Korea.

Posted: Apr 07 2010 05:46 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Douche McCallister wrote:

Syd Lexia wrote:

Just because they pay attention doesn't mean they get the whole story, or the correct story.

While that may be true to an extent, apart from actually paying taxes, Everyone across the globe has a fairly accurate description of the American climate and the like.

If that were true, 9/11 wouldn't have happened and we'd be BFFs with North Korea.

No part of me agrees with that statement. I would say it's BECAUSE they know about us that these things happened. If they knew nothing about America the Twin Towers would still be standing. It's because this information is so well known to everyone that these places were targeted, and just because countries know about us doesn't mean they should be our friends. For all I care North Korea is trying to show it's not afraid of America. A fact they are certainly making.

Posted: Apr 07 2010 06:30 pm

Uh, wrong. You know why countries in the Middle East hate us? Because their religious and political leaders are one in the same, and are also their number one source of news. And these asshats tell their people that Americans want to rape and kill their children and then hold sexy dance parties on top of their children's corpses. AND THESE PEOPLE BELIEVE THEM.

Posted: Apr 07 2010 06:45 pm

Well you don't live there so you can't know what it's actually like Razz

Posted: Apr 07 2010 06:46 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Uh, wrong. You know why countries in the Middle East hate us? Because their religious and political leaders are one in the same, and are also their number one source of news. And these asshats tell their people that Americans want to rape and kill their children and then hold sexy dance parties on top of their children's corpses. AND THESE PEOPLE BELIEVE THEM.

we dont want to do that? whoa, i been reading the wrong newsletters