Do you feel that there is no difference between the phrases “America was never that great” and “America was never great”?
It seems as though you are seeing the first phrase, but somehow, thinking that it was the second.
The first phrase does not contradict the clarification, though the second, incorrect phrase does.
Is that your confusion, that you are not reading the “that” in the phrase, and therefore misunderstanding it?
I wasn’t at all surprised that it used the opposite word (“never” vs “always”) because the original statement was so politically tone-deaf.
There’s definitely a slight difference. I’ve tried to maintain the distinction, but it’s gotten tedious and it’s probably slipped out a time or two without the “that” in there.
No, however, I don’t agree that it’s not a contradiction. For example (analogy warning), If I were to say “my car was never that blue” and then reverse myself and say “my car has always been blue”, I think that’s a clear contradiction. Do you agree?
Well, that’s that, without Andrew Cuomo leading, guiding the way forward, we’re just boned. Can’t decide whether to shit or go bowling, without him. Damn!
I don’t agree. “Never that blue” implies that it’s blue, just not a particularly rich shade of blue. Would you ever use the phrase “never that blue” to describe your red car? (Are you a native English speaker?)
The question is basically unanswerable until a mutually agreed-upon definition of “greatness” is arrived at. I suggest that trump’s “Great America” would differ somewhat from Barack Obama’s “Great America” if for no other reason than that Barack Obama would be in the latter.
Obama would have a place in Trump’s idea of a great America. Somebody has to carry the luggage, after all.
It’s fascinating how this thread keeps getting closer to moon-hoaxing threads as it gets longer. All the objections are of the “Look, here’s a photo that shows a pixel that is golden instead of beige! That proves it was filmed in Nevada!” variety. No substance, no depth, no acknowledgement of refutations however they are stated. And never a look at the bigger picture or the context.
I’m asking your definition of ‘on the Left’? Is it supporting civil and human rights, or fiscal responsibility?"
Neither, but probably even less on the fiscal responsibility front than not supporting civil and human rights.
Then what is it, torture supporter?
Not at all.
I have a light blue car, you have a deep blue car.
I look at your car, and say, “My car was never that blue.”
You say, “You are saying that you car isn’t blue?”
I say, “My car has always been blue.”
You say, “But you said that you car was never that blue, which means you contradicted yourself.”
Does that exchange make any sense to you? At all?
For growing numbers of us, it’s just not an issue that we think about. It’s like arguments over whether or not Joe Flacco is “elite,” largely meaningless, while we’re thinking instead of the important issues of the day that will make the nation better.
We’ve got serious problems to address. Too many and too serious to engage in puffery like our level of “greatness.”
Why is it sooooo important for the USA to be THE BEST COUNTRY EVER IN HISTORY NOW AND 4-EVAHHHHHHHH!!! ?
I think it’s an untrue and extremely irritating viewpoint.
Yes, the US has done some wonderful, and also some terrible things, but come on, so has every other country on the planet. It’s called humanity.
Plus, yelling that AMERICA IS THE GREATEST from every rooftop makes us look bad. Like we think everyone else sucks. Like all other countries are either shithole countries, (to quote a well known person,) or countries that aren’t shitholes, but still are really really jealous of us, and want to be us.
It isn’t true and it never was true. And bashing people who point that out doesn’t make it true.
I very rarely comment in a thread I haven’t read all the way through, but this is one of those times, because I feel so confident that what we have here is:
HD and perhaps fellow-travelers saying ‘OMG THIS PROVES IT ALL LIBERALS HATE AMERICA ADMIT IT YOU LOSERS WE CAUGHT YOU’
…and others saying
‘Cuomo clearly was going for something like ‘America has always had issues to face, starting with displacing the inhabitants here when Columbus arrived,’ but he disastrously misspoke, giving right-wingers their best gift since, like, ever’
…and then a lot of bitter back-and-forth in which the same two positions are repeated ad nauseam.
About right?
Well, some of us just admit that for those who did not appear to be heterosexual males of primarily Northern European descent, he’s right.
Which post(s) of mine in this thread do you think most closely approximate this imagined quote?
All of them.
I’m afraid you might to have to show your work on this one, because it make no sense at all. At the very least, describe the contradiction you see between blue and that blue, since the latter is a subset of the former.
Maybe its a description of the car’s emotional state, being sad and blue. It can happen, I had a Volkswagen bus that was severely bi-polar.