Well, no, we aren’t. We have bases there, by the consent of the people, and we pay for the privilege. And if these governments decided to end the arrangement, then those would be the breaks.
Out of curiosity, what happened when the Hungarians and the Czechs decided they wanted to modify your glorious form of government?
Can you hazard a guess as to why we are there in the first place?
(my bolding) I didn’t know that. Huh, interesting. Learn something everyday. Ignorance fought again, even in this, the most unlikely of all threads for it.
No, this is where you’d expect to see it. We’re bringing out the heavy ordinance against Commissar’s ignorance - some friendly fire is to be expected. 
FYI to shade the depth of hypocrisy occurring here, I will contribute that Commissar lives here. But only “because I have not yet discovered the proper way out.”:dubious::rolleyes:
So he’s a Polish-Bellorussian-Russian-American.
Hey, no prob; I love me a bit of historical trivia. In fact, the House of Wessex names tended to have meanings (for example, Ælfred means “elf-counsel”).
Definitely, this thread would be improved by a Old English hijack.
Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed.
The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force.
Well, he’s just seeing the depths of American oppression and depravity firsthand. Just last week, for example, I’m sure he walked into a Starbucks or a Barnes and Noble and a clerk insisted that he take a seat in … A Comfy Chair.
(Seriously, Commissar, you’ve gotta get a sense of humor, man. If you’re as keen on your Soviet heritage as you say, well, a well-honed sense of dark humor is a part of that, and one legitimately to be proud of.)
Since Commisar has some sort of stilted old-style Communist tone to his posts, we could really do with an Olde English style comeback to his wanna-be-commie rant:
*I pitte youre style of governemente, for in the olden tymes the righte of governing did derive from Kinges and Princes, as God intended, rather than youre dictatoreshippe of the proletariatte. *
You know, I never found that bit of bluster persuasive. I mean, where in the movies or the Extended Universe do we ever see the Force used for something equally impressive? I mean, look - there’s a planet. And now there isn’t.
Small wonder that the Imperial Navy officers had a hard time taking Vader seriously.
We have a military alliance with all three - and I will point out that given half a chance most of the countries that used to be in the Warsaw Pact scrambled to join NATO.
They mind-fuck an entire generation of people (human or otherwise) into believing the Empire was a good thing. I bet the force was used there, somewhere.
Actually, on the serious side, I agree with your post.
Yeah, we drink a lot. Nobody’s perfect. Globally speaking, your life expectancy is unimpressive.
Apparently, you don’t drive a lot in the Empire. Personally, I’ll take a Russian road any day; maybe you people can stop murdering others for a day and fix your damn potholes instead.
That’s a meaningless comment. We have nukes; you have nukes. That’s pretty much the end of the discussion right there.
Good for you. You have a vast latrine of stupidity spewing out mindless garbage. You must be very proud. Once you get bored, there’s a couple intelligent Russian movies I can recommend to you.
You have an agricultural system that depends in its entirety on the labor of a subgroup that you’re actively trying to kick out of your country. That will end well, I’m sure. When you need some potatoes, call us.
Too vague to answer.
You didn’t? Huh. I guess that was somebody else’s Civil War, then.
Er… we have existed for much longer, obviously. Per capita, no one comes close to you bloodthirsty savages.
You’re thinking Stalin. Times have changed, my friend. Putin and Lukashenko are looking pretty lively to me.
What is your criteria for determining that? Because, frankly, Canada, Australia, and all of Western Europe look a lot more appealing. At least they provide medical care.
It’s alright, but I’ll switch it for freedom of food, medical care, and shelter any day of the week. You need to get your priorities straight.
We are human; we have made mistakes. What makes us different is that we try to improve. You, on the other hand, prefer to wallow in your own filth and backwardness.
What can I say, vodka is awesome. You people really ought to drink more. Maybe it will keep you from slaughtering other people for a change.
You were doing relatively well until the ad hominem crap. You should set higher standards for yourself; you may be an American, but you don’t necessarily have to act like one.
You forgot to mention all the people shot by East Germany guards for wanting nothing more than to live in West Germany and trying to get there. What were they thinking when they risked their life to escape?
You know, even hard-core fanatics make exceedingly good points on occasion. Vodka is awesome - personally, I prefer scotch, but still.
Commissar, you might find it interesting to read the District of Columbia’s Human Rights Act. It’s pretty progressive by American standards, but far from unusual - a number of states and cities have similar laws, and Federal antidiscrimination law is also fairly broad (though the DCHRA is more so).
Anyway, the first paragraph of the DCHRA gives you a pretty good idea of what its about:
You can read the whole thing here: http://ohr.dc.gov/ohr/cwp/view,a,3,q,491858,ohrNav,|30953|.asp
This seems rather at odds with your idea of a nation that refuses to move forward on human rights and anti-discrimination- in fact, we seem to take these issues awfully seriously.
Let’s see - what happened to that nice lady who was reporting on the Russian Army’s abuses in Chechnya? Bullet to the back of the head, if memory serves. And the former FSB official who publicly accused the Russian government of responsibility? Well, I rather suspect he envied Ms. Politkovskaya - polonium poisoning is a bad end.
Probably something like, “Please don’t shoot me,” I suspect.
You really ought to try some of our Georgian cognacs, then. Heavenly stuff, that.
Sure, you’ll take a step forward, three steps back. The D.C. charter is nice, sure. But while you’re doing that, you’re simultaneously passing DOMAs and other gay-bashing legislation, so I wouldn’t exactly call you progressive.
EDIT: And keep in mind that it was not until 2003 that your supreme court ruled that gay sex can’t be criminalized (Lawrence v. Texas). 2003!!! Sure, you’re making progress, but you’re approximately two centuries behind the rest of us…
Why is it that, whenever a Russian dies anywhere, the FSB/KGB are blamed? Do you also automatically blame the FBI when someone gets murdered in your city?
No - but if prominent critics of the American government suddenly started disappearing from DC or NYC and showing up very, very dead, I’d be concerned. And if people who prominently objected to those deaths died exceedingly horrible and exotic deaths, I’d be more concerned still. Add in the routine harassment of human-rights-workers in Russia, and it all starts to look awfully suspicious.
As for your “one step forward/three steps back,” thing, that’s a fair point. I’d mention it at my golf club tomorrow, but I can’t join one - I’m Jewish, you see, and they’ve met their quota. Just as well - I couldn’t afford the fees, anyway, since I couldn’t go to a good college or law school - quotas again. Though they’re hardest on my Jewish friend dating a black girl - it’s hard enough getting by without a college degree without running afoul of anti-miscegenation laws as well. To say nothing of the hassles of having to plan all his dates around Jim Crow laws …
Credit where credit is due, though - I’ll certainly give the Georgian cognacs a try if I see them. Thanks for the tip! Any particular recommendations? (Other than that I accept the inevitable and glorious triumph of the socialist worker’s paradise, I mean).
ETA: Though I do think the Georgians would object to a non-Georgian Soviet Union enthusiast referring to cognacs produced in that country as “our” cognacs.
I earmbeorhtnesse éow græf ánweald, … 