Nobody in the US is cultured enough to be angry at a president that sent his son or daughter off to eventually be killed. We’re so heartless, stupid, and lacking culture. Did I leave anything out? Oh: fascist, racist, imperialistic, capitalist, brainwashed, and generally not cultured.
Nice persecution complex you got there, Beagle.
The irony of this is off the charts. Blair’s collusion with Bush is the reason that his political standing has gone in the shitter. Is Shrub actually deluded enough to think that his endorsement of the Poodle is a good thing in England?
I said differences - like in there’s probably less deference to the political leader here because that person (the PM) is not the Head of State i.e. a difference- assuming that is why Americans are more deferential (respect for the Office itself, etc)?
Hence, it’s more likely Bush will get an earful.
I agree with you Diogenes, it’s difficult to see what Blair gets out of this. It’s like a recurrence of thrush. All I can say is it’s been two years in the planning and things have moved on somewhat. It’s kind of amusing, in a way.
Desmostylus, Beagle’s retort was pointed, not wounded. There is a similar stateside story of a mother’s rejection of military honors for her dead son, killed in the Chinook. With regard to cultural differences between the US and the UK, Reeder hijacked a ride down the left-hand fork in the road.
Just food for thought: how many Advance Men are required to lay down enough rhetorical napalm to grant The President a fistful of topsoil?
I read it as neither pointed nor wounded. Rather I thought it involved some jerking in the knee area - a response to an imagined slight against the entire U.S. populace.
I can dig it, Desmostylus, thanks for the reply.
Please regard my last post as one “in avoidance of Cite Wars.”
Good Lord. And I am an atheist.
GW has met with the families of fallen servicemen.
I am not suprised that a tard like Reeder would think otherwise. He is (was) the dull knife in the drawer, so to speak. Unfortunately, Desmostylus and Squink seem to be acolytes of Reeder, with their inane refusal to admit simply proven (and simply gotten) facts.
I thought we had this vomit from Reeder before. Not quite, but similiar. Remember when he claimed that GW never visited wounded servicemen, then played Reeder when confronted with proof to the contrary?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than his suicide, Reeder.
If you found that he HAD met with the families, you’d find something sinister in THAT too.
You starting to make me miss december.
I sincerely hope that Bush does get to meet some of the bereaved British parents. If what I’ve seen on TV and read in the papers is true, there are some very angry parents out there who are not afraid to express their opinions.
My comment related to a single supposed meeting on a particular day. If you read it differently, too bad.
Aackk, I am wounded ! No, wait. Brutus’ gets his parthian shafts from the good people at Nerf.
The cultural differences between the US and UK must be about as small as any two nations divided by an ocean without a bridge. Angry or horribly distraught people are one result of the casualties in war, whatevery your “culture.” Maybe the Spartans had all that worked out really well. Unless, of course, you were a helot (sp?).
I guess spinning casualties seems odd. They are always bad, on both sides. It would be nice if al Qaeda would just quit trying to destabilize Iraq and Saudi Arabia. That might save some lives. C’mon Usama, be a lover not a fighter.
One big cultural difference I’ve observed on the SDMB is that many Merkins seem to have a “respect for the office” of the Prez regardless of who is in power. This same respect is not always extended to the Prime Minister in the UK (see Diana Gould) let alone to a foreign president.
nooooooo the solution/goal is to diminish annoyances and ignorance, not swap/trade up/down them.
In case anyone is interested in the actual facts, the New York Times’ Elizabeth Bumiller reported on November 5 (in an article that was mostly critical of Bush on exactly this general subject) that Bush “Mr. Bush does send a personal letter to the family of every soldier killed in action and has met privately with relatives at military bases.”
The abstract of the article is here. You can spend the three bucks to get the whole thing if you choose.
My question is this – does there come a point in Reeder’s constant lies that debunking him and them ceases becoming an exercise in eradicating ignorance and becomes a distraction to that goal?
December was banned for doing exactly what Reeder is doing, but less and less often.
Hey jjimm, in my personal experience, the best way to avoid a sandstorm of semantic attacks is to treat the Office with the requisite respect regardless of the boob who is currently in power. Takes the steam out of a niggling partisan assault.
President Clinton is a con-man who was an excellent statesman, yet sullied the Oval Office with his lies.
President Bush is an ignorant man who has systematically burned almost every foreign relations bridge, whilst thoroughly polluting the word “American” with his administration’s lies.
Well sure, but if you’re going to debunk him, it’s important to provide actual facts, rather than just call him an asshole. Both you and Airman Doors have now provided a factual basis for debunking, and ignorance has been reduced.
I do have a certain “respect for the office.” That would extend to not being overtly hostile to GWB if I got a chance to meet him. I might slip him our SDMB “five option” strategy, or whatever, to get us out of this mess. It sounds to me like someone is listening somewhere already.
I would protest – hold a wisecracking sign – should the need arise. You want to “fight the power”? Late.
I’ve always viewed those that volunteer for military service as capable of judging what they are doing. Most of the actual soldiers I’ve seen in Iraq have had good things to say about the deployment (length, danger excluded). They seem to think it is meaningful and worthwhile.
I tend to believe them and think we should “finish the job,” “stay the course,” “wait for the fat lady to sing.” “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” “In war, there is no substitute for victory.” “E plurbus unum.”
Private meetings with the families is more appropriate perhaps because it gives them a chance to vent without 400 cameras in their face. They can do a play-by-play later for the media if they wish.