Quote:
Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant
I am just mad that fiscal conservatism is in danger of dying out in America. That outspoken guy in Europe, Nigel Farage, is every bit a conservative. He demands deregulation, rights, less government control, democracy. But at no stage did I feel Nigel was retarded, or was trying to speak to retards.
I should be on the opposite political spectrum from Nigel, but I still respect him because he makes his case well.
Life is difficult in Europe right now. People are suffering. But I don't feel Europeans are dumb. I feel they would vote for the right choice if given the chance to do so. At the very least they would vote for their own interests.
And then I turn to America. And all the talk was about "what's important is the presentation, not substance".
It is frankly disgusting that it took until THIS MONTH for PBS NewsHour to dedicate a feature on fact checking. What, you never needed to do this before? You are too late.
|
Ouch! Take it easy on us. We aren't perfect... sure... but I'd like to think we've enjoyed stability far better than Europe in many ways. It's only been over a decade since Europe had it's last genocide.... Barring the Scandinavian countries (especially Norway) I think we are at least in equal footing or better compared to the most of Europe in terms of various socio and economic problems that tend to shape general population. People over here may have their differences in political views which is exploited by giant media companies like Fox and MSNBC, but in the end the fundamental values don't differ much. While the entire Europe is under tremendous pressure of going bankrupt, we talk about it fervently also so we don't go into that route. And the optimism shared by majority is that we won't. Sure, these debates are a farce, but if you read between the lines, both candidates are saying the same things. They are merely tweaking their talking points to appeal to their bases, democrats and republicans. At the end of the day, people in the far right and people in the far left are still in the minorities.
The point is that the impression you are getting about us in that manner is because we are our biggest critic. We are going to be alright.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Casey
No, I totally agree. I was just disagreeing with monir's assertion that he's awkward with the general public, and Romney's supposed lack of social grace is something his detractors have very frequently lambasted him for. I just think it's unfair; bash people for their actual faults, not just made up ones. :/ I'm reminded of the petty assholes from the 1980s who called Ronald Reagan Prune Face (A 1st grade insult if I've ever heard one, and a stupid one to boot. Wtf, a guy in his 70s that has wrinkles?!?! What kind of wizardry is this?!?!?!?!?!) Romney might not be a joke a minute, slap-someone-on-the-back-and-ask-how-their-mom-and-dad's-doing guy, but I think he's personable.
Ith - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...cMF5Ps#t=2309s  |
I think a lot of subsequent posts have already addressed it, but we aren't talking about his social skill in private. He grew up in a very sheltered environment and that's gong to remain one of his bigger disadvantages because it makes it harder for him to relate to the majority of Americans. That's a very fair point! His hilarious comment "binders full of women" once again highlights that how hard he needs to work to NOT to be himself. It was one of the reason why he wasn't taken seriously by the GOP last time around.