Sirius99
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Posts posted by Sirius99
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Depends on your definition of problematic.
I think that kind of problem would be refreshing as well as beneficial.
Depends on your definition of beneficial. I guess if you think continuing to piss off the international community is beneficial, then I would agree.
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I'm understanding perfectly, I'm just not agreeing with it. I'm saying he has made one mistake of political correctness that wouldn't be a mistake anywhere else, so he's made no non-political correctness mistakes. And everything he has done in this campaign and on the national stage suggests he's not going to make a lot of gaffes. But we're getting nowhere on this one, and will just have to agree to disagree.
The McCain thing is a completely different ballgame. It's emblematic and a microcosm of the entire problem with the war, not understanding the cultures of people we're directly involved with and forcing our culture on. He made the same mistake three days in a row. That's not a gaffe, that's not knowing or listening, and he was in the friggin middle east when he did it. That's a much, much bigger problem than "typical white person."
Well, you say you understand, but your responses don't support that. Also, you didn't answer how you expect Obama to be sensitive to other cultures when he clearly didn't understand his own based on his comment. If you think that's an isolated incident, that's your prerogative, but you don't seem to be applying the same standard to McCain. I know you haven't served in the military, so let me tell you unequivocally that McCain gets daily briefings, so his issue is most certainly not one of understanding. That begs the question, why would he make that mistake? It is likely it was simply a brain fart (multiple times apparently), but given he is already battling age issues, any misstep like this will only further the questions surrounding his age and capabilities.
However, using JM's comment as "emblematic of the problem with the war" is extreme hyperbole. It is very true that the complete misunderstanding of Iraq's culture by the US administration, the US military, and the Iraqi Provisional Authority is why the post-war reconstruction efforts have had so many serious issues and resulted in the levels of insurgency experienced to date. Many of those problems have been addressed and corrected to at least a significant degree. One of the unintended consequences of multiple tours of duty in Iraq by the US military is that now troops have a much better understanding of the environment and people of Iraq. That, in addition to a large dose of cultural awareness training, has significantly changed the actions on the ground and by advisors and administrators. What is most definitely true today is that we are not "forcing our culture" on anyone in Iraq.
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My point was directly related to your point, that Asians don't appreciate the brashness of Americans. But that wasn't Barack's problem. Again, if he made the problem he made, being honest and genuine, in front of the heaads os state, I don't think they would find it offensive. It's not like you ever see him getting loud or angry or bullish. He's always extremely controlled, and he was here, too, he just said something that AMERICANS get all uptight about, but no one else seems to. You're just calling his gaffe a gaffe as if they are all the same, and they are not. He's extremely controlled and calm. I'm not saying that he is never going to make a mistake, just that the kind he made, and he hasnt made many, are a problem here and not there. McCain's gaffe is a problem anywhere. He was just wrong and not understanding the world.
You are not understanding me. I'm saying if he doesn't have a filter that works for his own culture, how are we supposed to feel confident about his ability to function outside of his culture with heads of state? Honesty is not a silver bullet for cultural ignorance. As for McCain, you can't really believe he doesn't know the difference. He's been involved in NS for decades. As I said, the concern with him is that he might be losing it, which in the end, doesn't really matter internationally. For the most part, I don't believe other countries care about the reason why the gaffe occurred.
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No. Obama's problem was not censoring himself. Being honest. He wasn't brash or even tactless. We're just not used to people saying what is actually happening when it comes to race. McCain was just flat wrong. He said the same thing 3-4 times. Big difference.
I didn't say BO was brash or tactless, I said that is a very common view of American communication style, which was in direct response to your comment about the rest of the world's view. However, I agree with your assessment of what his problem was, and that is exactly my point. Having a President who cannot "censor himself" could be quite problematic. As far as the BO vs. JM comparison, I see no significant difference in effect. You can quibble about the particulars, but the outcome would be the same - a chief executive sticking his proverbial foot in his mouth on the international stage.
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The rest of the world doesn't have nearly as much problem with honesty and truth and political correctness as we do. Multi-cultural Heads of State would very likely have stood up and cheered that comment.
That is not true. The Asian culture is most definitely not a confrontational, direct-communication type of culture. As a matter of fact, Americans are routinely derided for brashness and tactlessness on the world stage. There are certainly some cultures similar in communication style to our own, but it isn't the norm. Besides, I was not referring to that particular comment in a different setting. A similarly oafish comment made in a diplomatic environment could have quite negative and far-reaching effects internationally.
McCain's recent slip is similar, although the concern with him is not whether he really knows the difference, but whether his age is affecting his lucidity. I wish I were joking.
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I do blame liberals more than the right for this particular kind of crap these days, although not much more. Everyone is at fault. The problem lies where you can't even just say what is true. What he said was exactly right. That once in awhile, when you are white and see someone on the street who is not white, prejudices creep in. It's exactly how a typical white person thinks. Not every white person. Not every time. But once in awhile when you let your guard down. I know I have personally felt that way a few times and I feel like I am WAY down on the totem pole when it comes to prejudice people. He was absolutely right. But in this stupid PC world, you can't even be honest and correct a good portion of the time.
And still, it's easy for me to say that was an incredibly bad choice of words.
The issue here is that someone who would be meeting and talking with multi-cultural heads of state should not be saying such stupid things. This one is just media fodder, but as President it could be a lot worse.
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Funny, because what he said has nothing to do with the stats you quoted. Since he "very clearly" was talking about warrants and terrorism, that is "very clearly" the second question that VABills and I quoted.
From the article:
Regarding the current domestic spying controversy, the public divides evenly over the question of the government monitoring telephone and email communications of Americans suspected of having terrorist ties without first obtaining permission from the courts.Which is EXACTLY what PastaJoe just said...
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No need to get all defensive and insulting, its a friendly conversation.
Well I meant to be insulting, but defensive? Where?
Yes, you are right, that is what the thread is about.We started off well here
However, the point that CTM was responding to (and that PastaJoe was making) was that American's don't care if we wiretap terrorists, we care if we wiretap Americans. This is also what I was replying to.No, neither of them mentioned terrorists. You inferred all of that. Joe was differentiating between US and non-US cell phone surveillance.
Again, read this quote. He specifically states that "the problem is when Americans have their phones tapped within the U.S. without a warrant." Sounds to me like he's stated very clearly he isn't talking about tapping terrorists, but rather tapping American's within the US.That's because you are inferring what you want. Or you can't read, one of the two, because he certainly didn't type any of that. It's only "very clear" to you, Miss Cleo, and Timothy McVeigh.
I have no idea what you mean by this, but if you really believe what you posted, you must also agree that:
1. Americans are never terrorists
2. Americans do not in any way support terrorists or terrorism
3. Non-American terrorists within the US do not use American communications systems
All three of which are simply ludicrous.
The applicable question for both PJs and CTMs posts in your linked research was the one VABills and I quoted, not the one you quoted. Obviously Pew thought there was enough of a differentiation to as AMERICANS both questions.
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Yep, and from my interstanding, he specifically states that he's talking about American's in his post.
Duh. Why would Congress or research statistics from Americans be vaild otherwise?
He also is seperating the terrorist issues from the American issues, which I am doing, but you don't seem to be.Did you read his post???????????????? Show me the word "terrorist". It ain't there brainiac. This thread is all about terrorism, as was/is the in-question phone "tapping" without warrants. The applicable question in your linked research was the one asking about phone tapping of suspected terrorists without warrants. This shouldn't be that difficult to grasp.
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Ummm, 48-47 with a 5% don't know is a statistical tie in research. So I don't know what point you are making unless you are saying Americans don't know what they want either
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Its not about any one of these qualities. Its about the mix of them. Talent on its own can get you so far. Intelligence, same way. Same thing with a willingness to learn, and so on and so forth. When you start putting all of these characteristics together, the picture looks very appealing.
Glad to see someone gets it.
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The criticisms directed at Rumsfeld from retired Generals should give the American people a very good feeling about the job the Secretary of Defense is doing.
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Take a look at this video clip and see what the buzz is here in Watertown NY. I really feel sorry for the dog this time. I would like to personally kick the sh-- out of these little bastards that did this to that poor cat. What is this world coming to?
Video is very graphic, even more if you're a cat lover. Scroll down just a bit and there is a video to see and some audio clips of the mayor talking on the radio about this crime.
I blame George Bush. Or Haliburton. Or maybe it was Dick Chieny dressed up as a pit bull. Somehow, it's got to be the administrations fault, je pense.
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Melissa could reek havoc, if she wanted to, on both Joe and the old whores with a quick note to HR. But, perhaps, like me, she realizes there is nothing more vile in the corporate world as HR people. Except for the administration of benefits, these festering pustules tend to be as useful as breasts on a bull.
The only people worse than the friendly (lying, backstabbing) folks in HR are the cretins who run to HR without first trying to address the problems with co-workers themselves.
I'm not taking a shot at you, you Mad Cap, you. Her situation is clearly wack. And of course (here comes the disclaimer) I realize I'm stereotyping and not ALL HR people are suck-up drones without any particular worthwhile skill-set. So, if you're in HR, I wasn't talking about you...necessarily.
Reek??? Hehehehe.
Obama: "Typical White Person"
in Politics, Polls, and Pundits
Posted
No, democracy isn't culture. If we were forcibly installing our exact government including repubs and dems, you may have a point, but we are not. They are the ones developing the details. The slowness of that progress has been a main democratic criticism of the effort, especially since the troop surge. And while there certainly are leaders that the US would prefer, we aren't hand-picking them. If we were, this process would have been complete 4 years ago. Regrading the payment, I don't know if you were being tongue-in-cheek, but you are correct. The stories I've heard from friends coming back from Iraqi tours are amazing. Virtually everything revolves around what we would consider bribery. They don't.
Sadly, yes.
I hadn't realized there was a beginning or and end to silly season. Did you mean uber-silly season per chance? I'd really like to vote for Obama if he's the Dem, but don't know if I can get past his stance on the troop withdrawl. He does seem to be softening it somewhat recently.
Cheers,
Berg