Comments Posted By funny man
Displaying 481 To 490 Of 492 Comments
OBAMA WOWS THE GERMANS. BUT WILL IT PLAY IN STREATOR, IL?
To the Dale Gribble Crowd:
Comment Posted By funny man On 27.07.2008 @ 13:10
all is lost because not only is Obama a secret Jihadist but McCain is a freemason with secret ties to the fundamentalist LDS branch.
We should all convert to Buddhism!
THE CONSERVATIVE'S SHAMEFUL DEFENSE OF GRAMM
I sometimes get worried about future health care costs too. For personal reasons that don't need to be explained. Am I going to loose my house, my savings etc. Am I a bad conservative for having these thoughts? Am I a whiner too? Or is it that some posters are just too in love with their rugged individualist, truck driving, Garth Brooks listening, pseudo macho image?
Comment Posted By funny man On 17.07.2008 @ 23:55
You are right on Rick!
Excellent treatise. On the bright side, where would the fun be if we'd all agree. IMHO,there is absolutely nothing wrong with patriotism, be it for a 'hot woman' or 'seasoned wife'. It is where it gets out of hand, as in the jingoism of a Coulter and other so-called conservatives. The nationalism that belittles others and overextends our reach. I love the America that was generous to my country at the end of WWII. Like my dad never forgot how American GIs gave him and other kids candy. Perhaps a small gesture but it really shaped how a lot of people experienced the United States and (also with the help of the Marshall Plan) Germany was never the same again. WWII was also (in my view) where liberals and conservatives worked together for a common cause as most enlisted (Bob Dole, Bush senior and the Kennedys etc).
Comment Posted By funny man On 29.06.2008 @ 00:34
For me conservatism just means a different role of the federal government than what liberals would prefer. However, that is just different opinions on how a country should be run not whether people love their country. Just one word to some of the posters who seem to believe liberals are just the hippie, tree hugging, self hating San Francisco crowd (or whatever). Germany (for American standards) is very liberal but also in certain aspects of their economy very successful. That doesn't mean I agree with them but I also respect their opinion (as long as they respect mine). And YES, both sides have their lunatic, self-rightous fringes-gotta have something to laugh about. Again here, nice piece of work.
The election in my opinion will be very close and yes, it is a contact sport. Both will seek every advantage they can use. Politics aside, you have to credit Obama for building a very effective team. They are young, smart and internet-savvy and McCain's team has to get moving soon. Liberals rarely get elected if they don't appear to be tough, best example would have been Bobby Kennedy (had he lived). In fact, I think the Obama team took a lot from Bobby's playbook. So in that sense he is showing exactly that: I'm going after McCain and I'll kick his behind. Obama is anything but a tree-hugging, aloof Dukakis look-alike! Even if you don't like him, you have to respect him if you want to have a chance in November. Conservatives on the other hand have to appear "compassionate" or "caring". Again, a lot of this is BS but gets you votes. Really, why should I get exited about election moves. That's part of the game, no surprises there.
Comment Posted By funny man On 22.06.2008 @ 19:17
IT'S OBAMA IN A LANDSLIDE - OVERSEAS
I come up with a different conclusion on Iraq but that is ok because I don't claim to know it all and I'm sure you gave this some thought. I agree we can't just leave now, however, I'd like to know what our goal is in Iraq. Tribal and clan allegiances are usually strong in places that never had a government you could rely on e.g. Iraq. So this is the survival mode they know and looking at present day Iraq it is hard to imagine that people will all of a sudden say "Geez, let's try a modern democratic state from now on". Given that, I'm not sure what 'winning' is. A stable, half-way benign state would be enough for me (or states)
Anyway, be that as it may. Afghanistan, on the other hand was justified because the government there (indirectly) attacked us.Now how to deal with preemtive strikes and the likes is a difficult question. Sure, I also wouldn't want to wait for the first blow but as a minimum, intelligence data must be carefully analyzed. That wasn't done here. I mean Ahmed Chalaby was (and is) a con-man (Petra bank in Jordan, remember). However, I do think that the US has learned it's lesson after this disaster and now has much more competent people running the show. More of the realist and less of the neocon type which IMHO is much better.
Comment Posted By funny man On 16.06.2008 @ 19:32
Manning,
Comment Posted By funny man On 16.06.2008 @ 00:51
thanks for the nice reply and kind words. Munich is a nice city but me as a Northerner have other designs (smile)..Don't let me get started on Bayern Munich. Yes I do miss these long all out discussions, here everything is a bit too PC for my taste. You are right about the other languages but not before enduring years of torture at the hands of sadistic teachers of Latin. At least you can at times sound smart as in "Per aspera ad astra" (through toil to the stars).
However, what I miss most in a lot of conservative blogs is intellectual rigor. Sometimes its ok to have fun but my conservatism is neither based on pathological hatred of democrats nor on some crazy conspiracy theory of the madrassa schooling of Obama etc. Honestly, as some posters have also pointed out there is a big difference between paleoconservatives (as in The American Conservative) and neocon imperialists. You can probably guess that I'm against the Iraq war so I don't see Obama's candidacy as only negative. Iraq as a state will never be viable and was really only artificially created by colonial design (by Britain). I just don't see why America should waste valuable resources to prevent what is going to happen anyway (the partition of the country). To believe that a tribal, arab society can be converted into a democracy is really only a pipedream. I just don't understand why so many conservatives fall for this nonsense. Anyway, enough of my ramblings. See you in other posts Manning, Tschuess
This is just a quick follow up and clarification. Manning I hope you didn't include me in the 'clueless Americans' category. The 13 years you spend in Europe hopefully were times well spend. In my case, I am actually German but came to the US because I liked certain things better in the States. Part of my family left Potsdam in 51 to West Germany. So I know 'socialism' firsthand and West Germany or now the unified Germany is not socialist. Since you have lived there I don't have to explain that to you. Sure certain things are different e.g. no Nazi propaganda allowed and perhaps some people would see that as infringement of free speech. However, Germany has their history and as a democratic country they can put in whatever rules they seem fit. You can't judge a country only through the American lens and that is all what I wanted to point out.
Comment Posted By funny man On 15.06.2008 @ 00:41
Maybe I hit out on the wrong target and then I apologize (so what I'm adding is not addressed to you). However, it just makes me mad when the Dale Gribble lunatics of the far out fringes make baseless statements regarding in this case Europe. What I didn't like there was all the bureaucracy, red tape and inflexibility (and that's why I consider myself a conservative and moved here). However, I do admire Germany for rebuilding the country after WWII and sure, people want security after two world wars and were not open to what Americans call conservatism (although looking through this forum-there doesn't seem that much consensus here either) but to call the system in Europe ... (well it's getting late and I'm starting to repeat myself). Manning as you then know, Germans love to complain and argue and with a bottle of wine that can go all night long. Ever since the American Revolution there have been people in Europe that looked down on 'uncultured' America and people here looked down on 'decadent' Europe. Big Deal, I'd still say that Europeans are much closer to the Us culturally and politically than other places in the world.
America certainly shouldn't base their decision on who is more popular in the world. That said, i always amazes me what some people call communism or socialism (manning you need a history lesson here). Do you want to tell me that Germany is socialist?
Comment Posted By funny man On 13.06.2008 @ 18:34
I certainly believe people all around the world still look for American leadership just not in the 'old Europe' in your face style. We conservatives have to realize that, like it or not, Europe still is our closest ally. In that sense it is important to mend fences and improve our relations.
Syn: your comments show that you are not capable of a thoughtful discourse. For example, in Detroit most middle class moved out of the city and the upwardly mobile leave as well. It is therefore difficult to change the dynamics in a place like that.
Comment Posted By funny man On 21.03.2008 @ 17:13
Sure, it is true that incompetent morons have their own little fiefdom with the help of the democratic party. That liberals didn't demand excellency in the school curriculum etc. However, to just say racism ended by decree in the sixties is stupid and suggests you are not a real conservative who knows the present is always linked to history.
Sure Rickielee, thoughtful debate is always welcome
I have to say something from my personal perspective. I, for the most part, found blacks to be more honest when talking about racism than whites. That was regardless of the political spectrum that people belong to. We always rightfully point out the hypocrisies of the left. However, this is also alive an well among people calling themselves conservatives. The beginning of this country was tainted by slavery and later Jim Crow and the KKK. So clearly there is a difference between the pastor and the KKK. He also served the US in the marines and similarly the black population always was loyal to this country.
Comment Posted By funny man On 20.03.2008 @ 17:05
Now since I used to live in Detroit proper and being white I won't deny there is plenty of hostility still going around and unfortunately pastor Wright's comments are not untypical. As an American, and this has nothing to do with being a conservative, I certainly hope that we can overcome this racial stalemate and in this I agree with Barack Obama.
As I pointed out in the beginning of my post I would like to hear an honest assessment of one's own racism and contradictions than always the easy way out.
