Coulter at it again. My apologies to our Canadian friends.

[Tuckerfan]

@matt_mcl

Yeah, apparently the main charge that can be levelled against the US is that a great many Americans are willing to be bamboozled into voting for a government that runs counter to their ideals and interests.

While the circumstances specific to the American case may be interesting, I don’t think there are many countries that can claim superiority in that exact regard.

Well, Iraq could, up until the US and Britain invaded. You remember that election where Saddam won 100% of the popular vote. . . .

That being said, I think that America should apologize for Ann Coulter when Canada apologies for Celine Deion (or however that annoying bitch spells her name). Some might think that’s a bit harsh, but I personally find both of the twats equally annoying.

Oh, and most Americans don’t think much about Canada at all, and really, when you look at the nations we have thought a lot about, like Iraq, Panama, El Salvador, Grenada, Vietnam, etc., etc. you’ll see that it’s a good thing.

[Polycarp]

@Tuckerfan

Well, Iraq could, up until the US and Britain invaded. You remember that election where Saddam won 100% of the popular vote. . . .

That being said, I think that America should apologize for Ann Coulter when Canada apologies for Celine Deion (or however that annoying bitch spells her name). Some might think that’s a bit harsh, but I personally find both of the twats equally annoying.

Oh, and most Americans don’t think much about Canada at all, and really, when you look at the nations we have thought a lot about, like Iraq, Panama, El Salvador, Grenada, Vietnam, etc., etc. you’ll see that it’s a good thing.

You may find Celine Dion a useless git (or gittess, if “git” is exclusively masculine), but I strongly doubt that she has ever authored a book of which the principal theme was to prove you, Tuckerfan, guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors against the United States of America. I let the rhetoric of O’Reilly, Limbaugh, and the other pseudo-conservative rabble-rousers, roll off my back, with an occasional grump about something that strikes me as egregiously offensive. But The Bitch is different – she is quite willing to put her efforts into destroying the sense of Americanism that used to unite liberal and conservative in a common bond of loyalty to this country, albeit with the reservation that one may criticize the incumbents to one’s heart’s content, for the purpose of her own personal fame and agitprop in favor of her personal (and ludicrous) ideas. (E.g., Tail Gunner Joe is an American hero! :wally )

You have the right to dislike whomever you choose, be it Celine Dion, Fifty Cent, or Luciano Pavarotti, for whatever reason you choose. But do me the honor of not placing any of them in the category of The Bitch – her foul rhetoric should earn her a special level in Hell, IMO.

[Zakalwe]

Poly called someone a “bitch”. :eek:

The end times have come.

[drm]

Leave Celine Dion out of this if you please!

[Tuckerfan]

@Polycarp

You may find Celine Dion a useless git (or gittess, if “git” is exclusively masculine), but I strongly doubt that she has ever authored a book of which the principal theme was to prove you, Tuckerfan, guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors against the United States of America. I let the rhetoric of O’Reilly, Limbaugh, and the other pseudo-conservative rabble-rousers, roll off my back, with an occasional grump about something that strikes me as egregiously offensive. But The Bitch is different – she is quite willing to put her efforts into destroying the sense of Americanism that used to unite liberal and conservative in a common bond of loyalty to this country, albeit with the reservation that one may criticize the incumbents to one’s heart’s content, for the purpose of her own personal fame and agitprop in favor of her personal (and ludicrous) ideas. (E.g., Tail Gunner Joe is an American hero! :wally )

You have the right to dislike whomever you choose, be it Celine Dion, Fifty Cent, or Luciano Pavarotti, for whatever reason you choose. But do me the honor of not placing any of them in the category of The Bitch – her foul rhetoric should earn her a special level in Hell, IMO.

Now, Poly, I only bring Celine Dion up to forestall anyone from Canada at getting too cocky about what a great country they have. Certainly, Canada could teach the US a lot, if the half-witted idiots in power (on both sides of the aisle) would only listen, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a perfect country, and while the likes of Celine Dion aren’t nearly as bad as the world’s longest surviving case of rabies in a human, they certainly qualify, IMHO, as an oil slick on the pool of life.

I do apologize if I’ve offended you and will refrain from ever bringing up Celine Dion (or referencing her) in a thread about Ann “I’ve Got Rabies” Coulter again.

[Cat_Whisperer]

@RickJay

Since someone’s already apologized for Coulter on behalf of the USA, I’d like to apologize on behalf of Canada for bigoted idiots like featherlou, whose impression of the United States is apparently entirely derived from watching “The O.C.” and repeats of “Mississippi Burning” on First Choice.

But fo course, in the minds of simpletons like featherlou, I guess there’s no poverty, hate, racial inequality or greed in Canada.
<snip>
I guess we see that every country has its bigoted assholes. The stupidity required to come up with the astounding claim that, in a nation of three hundred MILLION people, the majority just happen to be driven by hate and greed - despite the fact that the country, relative to most other countries, seems to get along fairly well and hasn’t imploded - is truly staggering. How can anyone be this dumb?

I assure everyone that decent Canadians are doing our best to educate people like featherlou and muffin, but some people are just born bad, and there’s only so much you can do.

Well, I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree then.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly are decent Canadians doing to educate people like me?

[Raygun99]

@Tuckerfan

That being said, I think that America should apologize for Ann Coulter when Canada apologies for Celine Deion (or however that annoying bitch spells her name). Some might think that’s a bit harsh, but I personally find both of the twats equally annoying.

There are 30 million of us. There are 300 million of you. Which country bought more of her records? If anything, you should be apologizing to us. I mean, if we had this magic “Make the Canadian stuff we want popular” wand, would the NHL be in such trouble? I think not.

[FinnAgain]

Muffin:

-Unilateralism is not evidence of hate, there’s a difference between taking prudent action and being selfish. And, I will note, this cite has nothing to do with systemic problems with the United States as a nation, but problems with certian members of its current government. You should not conflate the two.

-Yes, the CIA has done some nasty, nasty stuff. And the OSA before them. But even when they did things that were motivated by pure hate and selfishness, the American people as a whole had no involvement.

(So if you want to make the case that American foreign policy has often been selfish and destructive, then I think you’d have a case. But the nation as a whole?

Anyways, onwards…

-Iraq wasn’t driven by selfishness or hate. Maybe fear and gullibility coupled with…what Bush’s true goals were.

And as the vocal notes of dissent on this board and other places might remind you, the nation as a whole most certainly does not, and did not, support Bush’s regime or agenda.

@muffin

Not willing to be bound by its own treaties or by WTO rulings:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/eicb/softwood/what-en.asp

Pretty shitty ,eh?
Now tell me that part where I, or any significant protion of the nation, had a damn thing to do with that?

-Someone has to pay for universal health care. Some in America support it. Some do not. I don’t think it’s purely a matter of ‘selfishness’ either. Some folks probably just don’t want to see government involved and would be happy to give to their local church.

-Kyoto, Mercury in the enviornment: stupid, stupid, stupid, shortsighted and stupid. And probably selfish too.
Unfortunately, I was never asked what the country should do, some folks in government just went n’ did it.
Don’t assume that the actions of a few in government are representative the nation as a whole.

-Ah. With the murder rate, you may be onto something. However, America might as well be a nation of pistol packing bar brawlers as hateful selfish folk if all we’re looking at is murder. What we can say for sure is that for some reason or another, American society has violence in it.

-Prisons: Yep, we’ve not figured this whole ‘rehabilitation’ thing out. And we prosecute (and persecute) people for victimless crimes. We also all don’t agree that the best way to limit crime is to fight poverty. See, the nation, as a nation, doesn’t see things one-way-only.

@muffin

Systemic and endemic racism as reflected in the grossly disproportionate incarceration of blacks at a rate six times higher than whites:
http://www.calyx.net/~schaffer/other/sp/abb.html

Careful with them systemic and endemic ajectives.
And, without knowing all the data, isn’t it just possible that group X is actually commiting more crimes than group Y? (I’m not making any case for anything just now, just saying your conclusions are not supported by the data you’ve given)

@muffin

Disenfranchisement of many convicts and in particular disproportional disenfranchisement of blacks:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0818/p02s01-usju.html

Disenfranchising convicts isn’t selfish or hateful. It’s essentially punishment for commiting crimes against society. Also note that not all states have permanent bans, because there is not one ruling view and ideology this nation.

-Death penalty is not selfish or hateful. I’d say that fear and ignorance were primarily at work, coupled with a desire for vengance.

@muffin

State constitution sanctioned segregation (Alabama):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16443-2004Nov27.html

Ok, how many states is Alabama?
Is one state an entire nation?

-‘Creationism’ in the schools: Stupid, superstitious, hobbling, ridiculous, etc, etc, etc… not endorsed by all, not selfish or hateful, not indicitave of your claims.

@muffin

Refusal to ratify UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/text/econvention.htm

Again, as a nation this wasn’t an issue . You can’t make any generalizations towards America’s view of women with such sparse data.

-While I disagree with religion, the basis of a religious objection is faith, not selfishness and hate. I will also note, not all people in this nation agree with that particular faith.

-Likewise for gay marriage. Not everybody in the nation feels the same way.

@muffin

Promotion of integration of church and state by diversion of federally financed social services into faith based organizations:
Americans United for Separation of Church and State | Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Yes, a disturbing trend that many Americans object to. ~yawn~ Again, not indicitave of national bias.

See, Americans feel all sorts of different ways, and sometimes our government gets away with some pretty outrageous shit. But we don’t get together and plot to… oh, wait… sorry, the local Patriarch just stopped by to ask me how I’m voting on all the planned Oppression Packages tm.Gotta run!

[Larry_Mudd]

@Raygun99

There are 30 million of us. There are 300 million of you. Which country bought more of her records? If anything, you should be apologizing to us.

And buy more Holly Cole records! Sheesh!

I blame you guys for Rush, too. (Both of them!)

[duffer]

Well, Bare Naked Ladies are pretty frigging awesome. Give is more of that and we may, some day, in the very distant future, rethink our complete and total domination after the 3 minute invasion.

Maybe. But My Heart Will Go On (the reason she’s such a big name here now [thanks teeny bopping little shits]) may forever be cause for our version of a fatwa.

[Muffin]

Sorry, I had been going on the assumption that the US administration had been re-elected. Guess I was wrong.

[elucidator]

Oh, yeah, that overwhelming crushing avalanche of a landslide mandate. Half the country hates his guts, and the other half haven’t caught on yet. Lot to be proud of, there.

[duffer]

@elucidator

Oh, yeah, that overwhelming crushing avalanche of a landslide mandate. Half the country hates his guts, and the other half haven’t caught on yet. Lot to be proud of, there.

Show me where Clinton got even 50% of the vote in either of his elections. Bush was the first to gain a majority since GHW Bush. :rolleyes:

[Muffin]

And that’s the key. Once you subtract those who opposed, those who had not caught on, and those who didn’t vote, what were you left with? That’s how some very nasty types, such as Coulter, are able to exert influence well beyond their numbers, and how some very unsavoury types such as Bush and Cheny are able to hold power.

[duffer]

@Muffin

And that’s the key. Once you subtract those who opposed, those who had not caught on, and those who didn’t vote, what were you left with? That’s how some very nasty types, such as Coulter, are able to exert influence well beyond their numbers, and how some very unsavoury types such as Bush and Cheny are able to hold power.

Well, I’ve read some of High Crimes as well as Treason, though haven’t finished either one yet. What impressed me in her books, as opposed to any serious attempt from the left, is her absolutely astounding reference cites. Seems she may know what she’s talking about.

Whereas many on this board simply don’t agree with her politics. Or are scared maybe she knows more about what she’s talking about than Moore or Franken. Whatever the case is, it just looks like scared rhetoric from the left. Just my opinion and all, much like yours that Coulter is evil.

[Liberal]

@Maeglin

Perhaps you can forgive me for thinking that aid to Israel, Egypt, Russia, Pakistan, and Jordan aren’t exactly signs of our manifold generosity.

Even if you were to include the private contributions that I cited, I don’t think it constitutes “manifold generosity”. Muffin said — without qualification of any kind — that the US is “a country driven by selfishness and hate”. My response to him was not to assert that the US is maximally generous; my response was merely to prove his assertion false. Immediately thereafter, Featherlou opined that Muffin’s false assertion applied to “most likely a majority of the people of the United States”. It was the very essence of stupid, and I called her on it.

[duffer]

He’s only one American. But seeing as he’s probably the 4[sup]th[/sup] most hated one because of his greed, (behind Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld) maybe some would like to check out this foundation.

When you finish perusing the site, please come back and explain what parts of the charity are hurting those outside the US. (Based on whom it is, I’m sure there will be many to decry the foundation. Sometimes a guy just can’t win.)

[gobear]

@Gobear

I certainly believe that at least 51% of the American voters support the routine torture of Iraqi civilians, unlimited American military adventurism with increasing numbers of dead and injured US soldiers, higher levels of pollution in air and water, the evasion of taxes by the rich, sharp restrictions to freedom of speech, and massive deficits that will cripple their children’s economic future.

@Zakalwe

Actually, according to the “survey” that I saw, no they don’t. They simply don’t make the connection between these things and George Bush. I’m not defending that, just noting it.

It doesn’t matter whether they made the connection or not–a vote for Bush is a vote for torture, plutocracy, and the continued downward spiral of the US economy.

[gobear]

IOW, I agree with some of our Canadian friends that there is something very wrong with our country.

[elucidator]

And this just in…

Maple leaf masquerade

There are those who insist that smart American travelers should stow their Yankee identity and simply pretend they’re Canadians to ensure safe passage overseas.
New Mexico-based T-Shirt King, in fact, is offering a “Going Canadian” kit for $25 that includes a T-shirt emblazoned with the Canadian flag and the phrase “O Canada,” a matching maple leaf patch for luggage, a window sticker, lapel pin and a little guide called “How to Speak Canadian, Eh?”

Of course, we’re talking Washington Times here, but still…