# Debating with Americans. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 19, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989 "2010-05-19T12:10:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/121 "2010-05-23T19:54:06Z")
> [@adhay](#): > > Case in point. A recent Reuters article on a 2008 poll of US doctors in which 50+% expressed support for a single-payer health care system. > > Did that appear anywhere in _our_ media sludge? Yes. It did. I recall seeing it a number of times, and a quick google search predictably turns up any number of results on media websites. [QUOTE=adhay] But I think that if the fact that several thousand US doctors supported a single-payer HCS had been “allowed” by our media into the recent HC debate, Obama’s “victory” would have had a different flavor. [/QUOTE] I don’t give a crap what they support – so, no, I don’t see why anything should hinge on the presence or absence of such poll results. Possibly those doctors support it because they think it’ll make 'em richer (in which case I don’t give a crap). Possibly they support it because they lean left in general (in which case I don’t give a crap). And so on. And, of course, possibly they support it because their field is medicine rather than economics; there’s a _ **reason** _ why I’d no more ask my doctor for financial advice than I’d ask him to repair my car or draft my will. His opinion is no more or less relevant than anyone else’s when it comes to copyright law or jury trials or income taxation or whatever; why should it be especially relevant on this question? But, yes, the media dutifully reported the trivially true information, and it got greeted with every ounce of respect it deserved. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/122 "2010-05-23T21:52:57Z")
> [@adhay](#): > > I assume you were posting in response to mine just above yours. > > And I must agree, to a point. After all, the Brits did elect Thatcher. > > But even today, I find (only on the net) that Reuters and Al Jazeera, to name a couple, regularly publish articles on aspects of the world scene that the US media somehow “overlooks”. > > Case in point. A recent Reuters article on a 2008 poll of US doctors in which 50+% expressed support for a single-payer health care system. > > Did that appear anywhere in _our_ media sludge? [Business Week](http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2008/tc20080331_551691.htm) I also see a bunch of polls from such corporate entities like CNN, Time Magazine, and ABC which show a majority of Americans in favor of a single-payer system: [http://www.wpasinglepayer.org/PollResults.html](http://www.wpasinglepayer.org/PollResults.html) Case in point: A _recent_ Reuters article on a 2008 poll? No wonder your opinion is skewed about the US - it’s two years old! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/123 "2010-05-23T22:04:38Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > … Case in point: A _recent_ Reuters article on a 2008 poll? No wonder your opinion is skewed about the US - it’s two years old! 😉 I really should get cable. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/124 "2010-05-23T22:44:59Z")
> [@adhay](#): > > Case in point. A recent Reuters article on a 2008 poll of US doctors in which 50+% expressed support for a single-payer health care system. > > Did that appear anywhere in _our_ media sludge? I knew about the various polls of physicians throughout the course of the Congressional debates. I certainly did not learn about it from my periodic perusal of al Jazeera. I doubt that Fox hyped the information, but it was hardly a secret that the news media conspired to hide. ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/125 "2010-05-23T23:04:04Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I knew about the various polls of physicians throughout the course of the Congressional debates. I certainly did not learn about it from my periodic perusal of al Jazeera. I doubt that Fox hyped the information, but it was hardly a secret that the news media conspired to hide. Are you proposing yourself as my straight man? The line into Heaven doesn’t form at the rear. In your rush to Glory, PLEASE don’t step on my suede toes or in my deep blues. Be sorry as I am if you do. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/126 "2010-05-23T23:38:19Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > a country with the death penalty at that! > > When I watched OJ walk free I knew something serious was up with the system. At least, in this particular case, we can say the wheels of justice grind slowly indeed, but they still grind exceedingly small. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/127 "2010-05-24T01:10:34Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > Yes putting aside the fact that that Iran’s own media translated it to to say wiped out do you accept President Ahmadinejad’s subsequent clarifications that his speech was misinterpreted and that Iran would never instigate military action? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/128 "2010-05-24T01:19:16Z")
> [@adhay](#): > > Are you proposing yourself as my straight man? > > The line into Heaven doesn’t form at the rear. In your rush to Glory, PLEASE don’t step on my suede toes or in my deep blues. Be sorry as I am if you do. You strongly implied that the news media did something to prevent the American public from being aware that a poll was conducted in which a majority of physicians supported Single Payer health care. I noted that I was aware of more than one poll that provided the same information and that I got my knowledge from the American news media. Unless you have information proving that I actually received that knowledge from mind waves directly passed to my unconscious, your claim that the U.S. news media suppressed that information is false. Posting incoherent sarcasm fails to actually substantiate your erroneous claim. ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/129 "2010-05-24T01:52:13Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > … > Posting incoherent sarcasm fails to actually substantiate your erroneous claim. Right. Ahem. My point is that had I been elected as a populist President in favor of affordable HC for all and had at my disposal the media bully pulpit to direct debate on the subject, I would have included the input of the significant portion of the medical community in favor of SPHC. As it was, physicians for single payer health care were not included in any discussions covered by the media. Blame Obama, blame the media, what’s the difference? ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/130 "2010-05-24T07:26:14Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > putting aside the fact that that Iran’s own media translated it to to say wiped out do you accept President Ahmadinejad’s subsequent clarifications that his speech was misinterpreted and that Iran would never instigate military action? I have to say that I am pretty sure Ahmedinejad won’t instigate any war. Why would he? He will however defend his country form attack which is his right. USA on the other hand seem pretty hell bent on attacking other countries and going to war even without a UN backing. I’m much more afraid of the US foreign policy than Iran’s. ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/131 "2010-05-24T07:28:54Z")
So what are the American’s thoughts on the Saudi King’s secret deals with Al Qaeda? Has it reached Fox yet? Are you outraged and planning to hold a press conference shortly? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/132 "2010-05-24T08:04:14Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > True, but to support your argument you came up with an analogy that is unbelievable in a real-world setting. Confusing “wiping you from the pages of history” with “wiping you off the face of the map” is understandable as the tone and intent of each statement is roughly equal. > > Confusing “I eat chicken” with “I eat children” is not. Not neccessarily. “Wiping a regime from the pages of history” can be vastly different to “wiping a country from the face of the map” This is NOT a comment on the most likely interpretation, nor is it a comment on what was intended by the comment, or even a comment on whether it was reported accurately. Rather it is what I take as (a possible) meaning of the first statement. If I beleived a government were “bad”, indulging in immoral activities and just generally being nasty I may well call for that regime (i.e - that group of people) to be wiped from the pages of history. Just as I may also say that the Bush regime is shameful and deserves to be smitten from the pages of history doesn’t mean that I literally expect god to smite America. Rather I want to see the power brokers from that era suffer. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/133 "2010-05-24T08:16:26Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > I have to say that I am pretty sure Ahmedinejad won’t instigate any war. To remind you (since you wouldn’t want to have any trouble with truth, now would you?), in response to your counter factual claims about Iran not being a threat to anybody: [ > [@](#): > > Except Lebanon, which it has repeatedly tried to dominate through force of arms and where it recently nearly caused another civil war as Hezbollah was installing a separate spy-telecom network which would allow them to listen in on all Lebanese communications and for Iran to link up their proxy military forces in the region. > But other than that whole “trying to usurp control of Lebanon” they’re not a threat to anybody. > > Except for their support of both Hamas and Hezbollah, which are both racist, genocidal organizations who openly advocate the destruction of the state of Israel. So except for Lebanon and Israel, Iran isn’t a threat to anybody. > > Except for their attack where they directed Hezbolah to carry out an act of mass murder on Saudi soil when they killed US military forces at the Khobar Towers or their attack where they armed, trained, financed and directed Hezbollah to carry out an act of mass murder in Lebanon when they killed US non-combatant peacekeepers. So except for Lebanon, Israel, and the US, Iran isn’t a threat to anybody. > > Except for when Iran’s directed Hezbollah to commit acts of mass murder when they bombed the Israeli embassy and a Jewish center in Argentina. So other than Lebanon, Isreal, the US, Argentina and Jews, Iran isn’t a threat to anybody. > > Except for the Hezbollah cells that exist in Europe, Africa, South America, North America, and elsewhere. So other than Lebanon, Isreal, the US, Argentina, Jews, Europe, Africa, South america, North America and elsewhere, Iran isn’t a threat to anybody. ]([http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12471715&postcount=66](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12471715&postcount=66)) As for your anger at Fox news, obviously you can cite a link if you choose to. So the question becomes why you choose not to. Especially since your standards seem to be… shall we say, somewhat malleable. [ > [@](#): > > How Iran and al-Qaeda made a deal > […] > Investigations by Asia Times Online show that while the Iranians did indeed secure Attarzadeh’s release, it came at a price: a deal with al-Qaeda that resulted in the release of high-profile prisoners from Iranian custody. And in the negotiating process, Iran supplied weapons to a top Taliban commander allied with al-Qaeda. ]([http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South\_Asia/LD30Df01.html](http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LD30Df01.html)) In any case, your reference here seems to be about the recent Iraqi paper’s claims about a Saudi-AQ connection. Most of the sites recently running with the allegation (and all seem to be smallish, with David Icke’s site being on the first page of hits) quote [Press TV’s initial piece](http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=127334§ionid=351020205). Or, more accurately, regurgitate it word for word. Folks should of course note that Press TV is a state-run Iranian network. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/134 "2010-05-24T09:00:44Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > Just as I may also say that the Bush regime is shameful and deserves to be smitten from the pages of history doesn’t mean that I literally expect god to smite America. Rather I want to see the power brokers from that era suffer. But Achmadinajad didn’t note any specific Israeli administration (which, as noted, has changed twice since he spoke), like you noted the Bush administration. He didn’t say “the Sharon Regime” or “the Olmert Regime” or “the Netanyahu Regime”, he said “the Israeli Regime.” See the difference? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/135 "2010-05-24T12:49:21Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > But Achmadinajad didn’t note any specific Israeli administration (which, as noted, has changed twice since he spoke), like you noted the Bush administration. He didn’t say “the Sharon Regime” or “the Olmert Regime” or “the Netanyahu Regime”, he said “the Israeli Regime.” See the difference? Actually, believe it or not, yes I do. I also think that the likeliest interpretation is that he wants Israel gone. But in fairness (or should that be nit-picky linguistics) if the quote really is accurate, its not the only possible interpretation, and far from a “done deal” ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/136 "2010-05-24T12:58:00Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > But Achmadinajad didn’t note any specific Israeli administration (which, as noted, has changed twice since he spoke), like you noted the Bush administration. He didn’t say “the Sharon Regime” or “the Olmert Regime” or “the Netanyahu Regime”, he said “the Israeli Regime.” See the difference? 😃 wake up Alessan AHmedinejad was quoting the Ayatollah’s words. They are NOT his words. Get it now?:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/137 "2010-05-24T13:05:27Z")
Finn please don’t waste any more of your time quoting me as I am done with you. I can’t bear another minute debating with a robot. Hezbullah is part of the Lebanese government!! Byee ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/138 "2010-05-24T13:09:15Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > Finn please don’t waste any more of your time quoting me as I am done with you. > > I can’t bear another minute debating with a robot. You’ve been told before that you’re not allowed to insult other posters in this forum. You need to stop doing it. This is a formal warning. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/139 "2010-05-24T14:17:14Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > Hezbullah is part of the Lebanese government!! I assume this half-truth is in response to the fact that: > [@](#): > > Except Lebanon, which it has repeatedly tried to dominate through force of arms and where it recently nearly caused another civil war as Hezbollah was installing a separate spy-telecom network which would allow them to listen in on all Lebanese communications and for Iran to link up their proxy military forces in the region. And of course that half-truth avoids all the other actions that Iranian proxies have undertaken which threaten other nations. I notice that you pointedly fail to mention the Iranian-backed Hezbollah murder of Argentinian Jews for the crime of being Jewish. In any case, the actual facts about Hezbolah are that the initial phase in which Iran tried to dominate Lebanon via Hezbollah happened during the Lebanese civil war of the 1980’s when it found a group of militants dedicated to Khomenism and helped turn them into a military force. We have repeatedly found, for instance, that Iran trained, armed, and directed Hezbollah to the end of attacking specific targets, from the marine barracks in Lebanon to the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. Most recently, in 2008 Hezbollah nearly touched off a second civil war as they again attempted to subvert Lebanese sovereignty in order to benefit Iran. [ > [@](#): > > An official Lebanese government report reveals that Iran is setting up an illegal telecommunication network across Lebanon, capable of intercepting all telephone conversations in the country, the Saudi-owned daily al-Sharq al-Awsat reported Sunday. > > According to the report, Iran has set up this network to aid the Lebanon-based guerilla group Hezbollah. > > In an interview with al-Sharq al-Awsat, Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said that the “issue of communications has been under discussion for a long time, but we were waiting for them [Hezbollah] to respond to the security authorities who requested they stop all infringements.” > According to Hamadeh, the Lebanese cabinet is planning to discuss this Iranian network on Monday, and later bring the issue before the United Nations Security Council as well as the Arab League, al-Awsat reported. > > In the interview, Hamadeh added that Hezbollah was making efforts to link all the militias in Lebanon, Syria and Iran via a vast telecommunications network. > “Their goal is not security resistance. They want to connect between all the Iranian and Syrian militias and they want to eavesdrop on everyone,” Hamadeh said ]([Report: Hezbollah Can Intercept Calls in Lebanon Thanks to Iran - Haaretz Com](http://www.haaretz.com/news/report-hezbollah-can-intercept-calls-in-lebanon-thanks-to-iran-1.245220)) Faced with the fact that their telecom spy-network was illegal, Hezbollah began attacking Lebanese targets and put military pressure on the government. [ > [@](#): > > Hezbollah has been trying to oust the Siniora government for 18 months, since the militant Islamic group’s lawmakers walked out of the cabinet after demanding veto powers over decisions. > > This week’s unrest has been the most violent, as the political standoff spilled over into sectarian conflict. Some of the buildings scarred by bullets from this week’s fighting still bear marks from Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war. > The government dismissed reports by Lebanese news organizations favorable to Hezbollah or other opposition groups that Siniora’s government was about to collapse. > > ``There is no resignation, no one in this government is resigning,‘’ Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said today in a phone interview from Beirut. > > Not Civil War > > An adviser to Siniora, Mohammad Shateh, said in a phone interview from Beirut today that, while `it's a dangerous situation,'' it isn't `civil war right now.‘’ > […] > Hezbollah fighters took up positions in streets near the residences of Saad Hariri, a leader of the coalition that backs Siniora, and Walid Jumblatt, political leader of the Druze minority, a Hariri spokesman said today on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal. Both men were at home, he said in a phone interview. A rocket-propelled grenade hit a wall of Hariri’s compound without causing injuries, the spokesman said. > > Offices on Fire > > Gunmen attacked Hariri’s al-Mustaqbal newspaper, said Nadim Munla, general manager of Future TV, a station also owned by Hariri. Lebanese television and Arab satellite channels showed the newspaper offices on fire. Munla said Hezbollah had threatened to attack Future TV and that the station, which was off the air, was under army control. > > The violence broke out May 7 after the government threatened to dismantle a Hezbollah telecommunications network discovered at Beirut’s international airport and fired the head of airport security. ]([http://preview.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive\_en10&sid=a2h4VJtnmjG4](http://preview.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive_en10&sid=a2h4VJtnmjG4)) [ > [@](#): > > Ghazi al-Aridi, Lebanon’s information minister, said on Tuesday that the cabinet has decided to pursue all those considered to be involved in the communication network. > “Since it is illegal and constitutes a threat to the government’s sovereignty and its public properties, we will take legal action and prosecute anyone proven to be involved - either individuals, groups organisations or companies,” > […] > Hezbollah has admitted that it possesses its own communication network, but has refused to heed government calls to dismantle it. > > The organisation, which has an armed wing, says the network is necessary to protect its security in what it calls its resistance against Israel, Lebanon’s southern neighbour. > > “Hezbollah’s telecommunications network is tantamount to Hezbollah’s arms and those who are taking aim at the telecommunications network are targeting our arms. They are calling on us not to fight Israel,” Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general, said on Tuesday. ]([Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera](http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/05/200861423405548723.html)) In point of fact Hezbollah still operates as a state within a state and refuses to be bound by the Lebanese government, to accept the government’s national sovereignty over them or to accept the government’s right to set international policy for the nation. [ > [@](#): > > Following its election defeat which was officially announced by Lebanese authorities on Monday, Hezbollah insisted that it would not decommission its weapons. > > “The majority must commit not to question our role as a resistance party, the legitimacy of our weapons arsenal and the fact that Israel is an enemy state,” Hezbollah member of parliament, Mohamed Raad, told the French news agency AFP. […] > Hezbollah had veto power in Saniora’s Cabinet for the last year, which it won after provoking the worst street clashes since the 1975-1990 civil war. The pro-Western coalition had vowed not to give Hezbollah and its allies a blocking minority in the new government if they won. ]([Defeated Hezbollah Accepts Lebanon Election Results - Haaretz Com](http://www.haaretz.com/news/defeated-hezbollah-accepts-lebanon-election-results-1.277494)) Of course it seems that the OP isn’t willing to engage with the truth about the Iranian proxy force’s actions in and against Lebanon. Of course I understand that it’s his argument that can’t stand the disinfecting force of sunlight, and I’d never dream of replicating his error and claiming that there was some sort of innate “Arab problem with truth.” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989/140 "2010-05-24T14:44:47Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > 😃 > wake up Alessan > > AHmedinejad was quoting the Ayatollah’s words. They are NOT his words. > > Get it now?:rolleyes: You seem to think Achmadinajad is some sort of weasel, saying things he does not mean. It seems I have more respect for him than you do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/debating-with-americans/539989.md?page=8)