KSG_Standard Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Maybe it's about time that America stops acting like a bully. We've spent years building a reputation for being the "boss" because we had the biggest guns. Maybe it's about time we act like a member of the family and not some overbearing tyrant.The way America has been reminds me of some of the school yard bullies when I was in grade school in the mid 50's. 3 or 4 of them would lock arms and march through the playground with a goose step type march chanting' date=' "Hey, hey, get out of my way. I belong to the USA" and would tromp over some small group on the playground, usually girls, and rarely was their behavior disciplined. The US has been acting like these bullies for far too long and maybe Obama realizes that and shows it by not acting as if the world has to kiss our feet. Those folks who interperet this respect as "bowing down" represent the worst of American arrogance, a trait that has only created more enemies for us and has weakened our influence in the world.[/quote'] Perhaps, but much/most of the rest of the world is governed by tyrants and unelected leaders who don't always make decisions based on the needs of, or what's best for the people they rule. For good or bad, we are the last remaining superpower, we are the largest donor of foreign aid in the world, we are the largest donor of humanitarian aid in the world, and we have spent "blood and treasure" to provide peace, freedom and stability in the world. We have made mistakes over the years, some terrible, but we have done a lot of good too. Does it make more sense to act as a strong leader or as a member of the family? If we are a part of the family then we are on the same level as Kim Jong Il, Hugo Chavez, the Saudi Royalty, Mugabe and others. If we act like a strong, determined leader we can act in a way that benefits our interests...Our politicians are elected to act in our benefit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Maybe it's about time that America stops acting like a bully. We've spent years building a reputation for being the "boss" because we had the biggest guns. Maybe it's about time we act like a member of the family and not some overbearing tyrant.The way America has been reminds me of some of the school yard bullies when I was in grade school in the mid 50's. 3 or 4 of them would lock arms and march through the playground with a goose step type march chanting' date=' "Hey, hey, get out of my way. I belong to the USA" and would tromp over some small group on the playground, usually girls, and rarely was their behavior disciplined. The US has been acting like these bullies for far too long and maybe Obama realizes that and shows it by not acting as if the world has to kiss our feet. Those folks who interperet this respect as "bowing down" represent the worst of American arrogance, a trait that has only created more enemies for us and has weakened our influence in the world.[/quote'] This is an interesting post. I love America very much. My best friend and Classical Guitar partner is from the US, and I have travelled there many a time, and found the people I have met polite and accommodating. Yes, you sense a but I do think that the way you have portrayed America above is quite accurate, in that many countries I have visited have regarded the US in that way. I agree that it is time to wipe the slate clean and move forward. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axuality Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 KSG Where did you get those talking points? Fox.com? Who gives a **** whether he bowed or not? It does not affect me and i am pretty sure it does not affect you. I like Cheneys reply when asked on what he thought about the majority of Americans opposing their administrations decisions "So?" i think Obama should take Cheney as a role model and tell all you sour grapes to "Go **** yourself." I think you revealed your hand when you made the unfortunate remark about Fox News. Most (not all) of the commentators on Fox News are the fairest of all the cable media, and the radio media. The newspapers just lean left, period. Hannity, Rush and John Gibson are not fair. They're just partisan. O'Reilly and the rest are extremely fair. If you DID have the great judgement you give yourself credit for, you'd know this. But instead, I'm thinking that you either watch Fox with pre-conceived notions or else you DON'T watch Fox and you get your opinion about Fox from the far left (or from your friends who get THEIR info from the far left). The far left and those who listen to them are deathly afraid of Fox because Fox reveals who they are and what they're up to. And for the far left, this is terrible. I'm an independent. I've never been a Repub and never will be, I'm thinking, and I was a liberal almost all my life until I discovered what slime-sluts that most of the liberal politicians and vocalizers are. I don't think Obama should have bowed or acquiesced to Chavez, but I may be wrong. It may turn out great. I wish Obama was better at appointing people to important positions though. Other than that, stay just as you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I am not an Obama supporter did not even vote for anyone in this Election But you love him none the less.... i seem to remember hearing Obama saying he will meet with Americas Enemies' date=' So what is so surprising about Obama shaking hands with Chavez?[/quote']Those meetings are historically conducted by lower level staffers who can devote all their attention to it 24/7 and get a clarity of the entire situation. When a breakthrough looks promising' date=' [i']then[/i] the President gets involved for the sake of ceremony. To meet publicly with troublemakers only empowers them. Their people believe their leader is forcing the Big, Mean USA to bend to their will. Obama got Punk'd by Chavez in front of the whole wide world, it's a victory for Socialist propaganda worldwide. If you cannot understand this, you really should avoid posting on the subject... Nobody complained when the Taliban was sitting in the white house with Ronald Reagan i also seem to recall Ronald Reagan calling the Taliban "Freedom Fighters" Taliban? IN the White House? In the 80's? You need to gather your bullsh!t from more accurate websites... Mujahideen maybe? They were fighting the Soviet Union in the height of the Cold War. The enemy of our enemy is our friend' date=' okay? Watch a recent movie called [b']Charlie Wilson's War[/b] to get an idea of the big picture. What about Donald Rumsfield shaking hands and laughing with Saddam? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. They were fighting Iran' date=' where we had 50 captives held for 444 days. Coincidentally, they were released on January 20, 1981 - the day Reagan took office. Do you wonder why? Thats why i stay away from political ideologies and parties because they are filled with ****** people that have a broom so far up their *** it is ridiculous. Then you post here with such vast wisdom and unique perspective.... Are you actually watching - and listening - to Hannity & Glenn Beck? My guess is no. Your posts wouldn't be quite as vacant.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Perhaps' date=' but much/most of the rest of the world is governed by tyrants and unelected leaders who don't always make decisions based on the needs of, or what's best for the people they rule. For good or bad, we are the last remaining superpower, we are the largest donor of foreign aid in the world, we are the largest donor of humanitarian aid in the world, and we have spent "blood and treasure" to provide peace, freedom and stability in the world. We have made mistakes over the years, some terrible, but we have done a lot of good too. Does it make more sense to act as a strong leader or as a member of the family? If we are a part of the family then we are on the same level as Kim Jong Il, Hugo Chavez, the Saudi Royalty, Mugabe and others. If we act like a strong, determined leader we can act in a way that benefits our interests...Our politicians are elected to act in our benefit...[/quote'] The way we have been treating the rest of the world - strong leader, as you put it - has put us in a position that at best is regarded by the rest of the world as hypocritical and we are not trusted as the one to bring freedom and democracy. We're viewed as oppressors and not much better than the tyrants you mention. We may have convinced only ourselves that we are the savior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axuality Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Some people are afraid to admit that they are good people. They are afraid to admit that some ways of thinking are better than others. They live their lives (as do we all) with the constant assumption that some ways of thinking are better than others, but then they try to deny it intellectually. I think these people don't really believe that there is any force in the universe that is looking out for them, so I can understand why they are paranoid about being too sure about anything. Although oddly, they're sure about this- "You can't be sure about anything". Hm. Then I guess that would include that statement. So to play it safe, they act like moral relativists. All of this often ultimates in attempting to point out that their country is not great after all. Well, I tell ya folks, your country IS great. It's not only the best (and yes Virginia, there IS such a thing as best), country in the world, but the things that are wrong with it are not nearly as major as you'd have me believe. So I don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axuality Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 The way we have been treating the rest of the world - strong leader' date=' as you put it - has put us in a position that at best is regarded by the rest of the world as hypocritical and we are not trusted as the one to bring freedom and democracy. We're viewed as oppressors and not much better than the tyrants you mention. We may have convinced only ourselves that we are the savior.[/quote'] And you're convinced that we're NOT the savior. Hm. Sounds like a Mexican standoff. Even though the evidence points AWAY from supporting YOUR opinion. You know, there is a small handful of countries who DO trust America to be the one to bring freedom and democracy. And what countries are those? They're the REST of the best countries in the world. Hey, what a coincidence. The good guys stick together, the bad guys don't like us, and you find that amazing and evidence for nutty theories? Hm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Millions of people the world over hate this nation. The shame is how many reside here and benefit from it as citizens. Born to it as a birthright and pissing it away with every chance.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axuality Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Someone said: So, to follow KSB's logic, Nixon should never have met with China's leaders; Reagan should never have met with Soviet leaders. ----No, that's not true. China and the Soviet Union have enough relevance to acquiesce to. Chavez doesn't. It still may turn out for the best that Obama did his thing (and I hope and think it will) but I can certainly see why people objected to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I think this is a prime example of the Media Sensationalizing the story for ratings. It seemed to be a rather uneventful summit, the Right would like you to think it was a Foriegn Policy Disaster, while the Left (that's me), would have you believe it was a breaktrough in World Peace. The way I see it (and granted, it's just on the information given me by the ratings biased media) Obama should have been a little more displeased with the Anti American points of view. But I don't think falling ever so short of the perfect mark in one Summit is going to budge his approval rating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I did not say that I was one of those citizens of another country that was distrustful of America but the reality is that we are not trusted, especially by people in countries who would seemingly benefit from democracy. It doesn't do the world much good if we only associate with those on our side or those who are the other "best countries" as stated. It's the countries with leaders we disagree with that are the ones we should talk to. Venezuala and Iran, two countries with whom we have "disagreements" are two large and important countries and for the US to summarily dismiss them as irrelavent is a mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Venezuala and Iran' date=' two countries with whom we have "disagreements" are two large and important countries and for the US to summarily dismiss them as irrelavent is a mistake.[/quote']That's true, but posing for a photo-op with leaders prone to lunatic rants and insults is a mistake. Chavez has called Obama many unflattering names. Ignoramus, I believe, was just a few weeks ago. Ahmadinijad pledges to wipe Israel off the face of the earth and calls us the Great Satan. Says the world will come to accept a "nuclear" Iran. Yeah, shake hands and smile for the camera..... These men have historically been (and should be) monitored closely but never publicly acknowledged by the US gov't. Obama did nobody a favor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 I bet that photo-op increased our standing in the eyes of much of the world. That is not a bad thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Yeah, I can see that.... Demonstrate clearly that the Leader Of The Free World does not have the political savvy to avoid being played as a fool and propaganda tool. The rest of the world just loves it when they can look at the USA and remark how stupid we are. Lowering our standing in the eyes of the world and exposing weaknesses to the simplest frat boy camera pranks? That should give the Muslim and Socialists of the world a well-deserved laugh at our expense! I, for one, do not need my President going around the world apologizing for ME. He made a fool of himself everywhere he went, the trip was a Foreign Policy Failure on par with Jimmy Carter. The rest of the world would love to kick sand in our face, now they watch dumbfounded as we do it to ourselves.... Count me out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homz Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Let em kick all the sand they want. Teddy said it best, "walk softly, but carry a big stick". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 Let em kick all the sand they want.Teddy said it best' date=' "walk softly, but carry a big stick".[/quote'] Where's Teddy Roosevelt when we need him? (Not Franklin D.) Meanwhile, Obama is as arrogant as possible to his own citizenry and selling us out across the pond. All he's carrying is a big mouth and MY checkbook. I'm not impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 [Count me out. Buh-bye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 [Count me out. /quote] Buh-bye. ???????????????????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homz Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 meds? I didn't quite catch that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Is Dead In My Basement Posted April 24, 2009 Author Share Posted April 24, 2009 I think you revealed your hand when you made the unfortunate remark about Fox News. Most (not all) of the commentators on Fox News are the fairest of all the cable media' date=' and the radio media. The newspapers just lean left, period. Hannity, Rush and John Gibson are not fair. They're just partisan. O'Reilly and the rest are extremely fair. If you DID have the great judgement you give yourself credit for, you'd know this. But instead, I'm thinking that you either watch Fox with pre-conceived notions or else you DON'T watch Fox and you get your opinion about Fox from the far left (or from your friends who get THEIR info from the far left). The far left and those who listen to them are deathly afraid of Fox because Fox reveals who they are and what they're up to. And for the far left, this is terrible. I'm an independent. I've never been a Repub and never will be, I'm thinking, and I was a liberal almost all my life until I discovered what slime-sluts that most of the liberal politicians and vocalizers are. I don't think Obama should have bowed or acquiesced to Chavez, but I may be wrong. It may turn out great. I wish Obama was better at appointing people to important positions though. Other than that, stay just as you are. [/quote'] O'reilly is far from fair trust me i watch his show. For example on the O'Reilly show the other day O'reilly showed an Eminem video in which he made fun of Sarah Palin and other celebrities the rapper only made one comment about Sarah Palin in the whole video but he made a dozen other comments on Jessica Simpson, Tony Romo, Britney Spears etc but no mention about any of them on the O'Reilly factor all he worried about was Sarah Palin and started complaining about woman rights, Iss that fair and balance? I do not think so. On the O'Reilly factor Bill speaks against kids speaking their mind on You tube for example that Girl who was making fun of Republicans and Religion but Bill never has the nerves to criticize the parents of kids speaking at Churches or kids speaking for the republican party, Is that fair and balance? I do not think so. Bill *****es and moans about stores not saying "Merry Christmas" and tells people to take action about it but when Atheists want to have a little poster at the capital he starts crying like a little girl. Like i said before i am not a Liberal or a Conservative i do not abide by any Political ideology because it is all nonsense. I dislike both Liberals and Conservatives but i speak out against Conservatives more because they seem to be the ones trying to **** with me the most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Is Dead In My Basement Posted April 24, 2009 Author Share Posted April 24, 2009 Where's Teddy Roosevelt when we need him? (Not Franklin D.) Meanwhile' date=' Obama is as arrogant as possible to his own citizenry and selling us out across the pond. All he's carrying is a big mouth and MY checkbook. I'm not impressed. [/quote'] NeoCon you are wealthy what are you complaining about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Is Dead In My Basement Posted April 24, 2009 Author Share Posted April 24, 2009 I never protested against Bush at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 O'Reilly is a populist. In his mind he's looking out for our well being. Doesn't matter if it's a Democrat or a Republican. If, in his opinion they're wrong and not doing what's best for America, he brings it to the viewers attention. That's why he's "looking out for you". Sorry, didn't mean to bloviate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bol316 Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 O'reilly is far from fair trust me i watch his show. For example on the O'Reilly show the other day O'reilly showed an Eminem video in which he made fun of Sarah Palin and other celebrities the rapper only made one comment about Sarah Palin in the whole video but he made a dozen other comments on Jessica Simpson' date=' Tony Romo, Britney Spears etc but no mention about any of them on the O'Reilly factor all he worried about was Sarah Palin and started complaining about woman rights, Iss that fair and balance? I do not think so. On the O'Reilly factor Bill speaks against kids speaking their mind on You tube for example that Girl who was making fun of Republicans and Religion but Bill never has the nerves to criticize the parents of kids speaking at Churches or kids speaking for the republican party, Is that fair and balance? I do not think so. Bill *****es and moans about stores not saying "Merry Christmas" and tells people to take action about it but when Atheists want to have a little poster at the capital he starts crying like a little girl. Like i said before i am not a Liberal or a Conservative i do not abide by any Political ideology because it is all nonsense. I dislike both Liberals and Conservatives but i speak out against Conservatives more because they seem to be the ones trying to **** with me the most.[/quote'] Ya that O'Reilly being fair comment was laughable at best. Next thing he will say is that Glenn Beck isn't partisan. Like I said before about TV media, MSNBC is on the left, Fox is on the right and the rest are as close to the middle as one could ask for. Heres the thing. I say bias is GOOD. You should express how YOU think. Where YOU are coming from. Just dont lie and say you arent biased (like Fox does). Love the part about churches too. Can you imagine if they dared to put something from the Koran or Torah on money or in a government building somewhere? These people would be crapping a brick. But dont you dare touch their Ten Commandment statues. Seems like every day too I get some clown trying to push religious (always Christian, love pushing their beliefs on people) literature on me. Can you imagine if someone knocked on those bozos door with Muslim literature? Oh they would have a cow and probably pull out a weapon. But its "oh, no thank you" or "sure!" then "God bless!" to the Christians. About the thread topic. If you think shaking someones hand or bowing to them (which is just following a custom) makes a country weaker, you are seriously whacked and/or have a major ego problem. Were you protesting Bush for looking "gay" in the eyes of the world for holding hands with a sheik? If we are ever to have normal relations with these countries someone has to break the vicious cycle. Of course these whackos that say its so horrible for our image are the same ones who think bumper stickers, flag pins, fireworks and "God Bless America" t-shirts are the epitome of patriotism. I have news for you clowns. A patriot is a guy who jumps on a grenade to save 10 of his buddies out on the field of combat. A patriot is a person who builds the kids a jungle gym at the park to play with. etc etc etc. So spare me, please. Copy and paste in 5...4...3...2....1..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcgyy Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 I totally agree with you,I also can't understand. __________________________________ Star Trek Deep Space Nine 1-7 Star Trek Enterprise 1-4 Star Trek Voyager 1-7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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