A Suggestion about "A Unique Person"...

[Skeptic]

Are you, too, annoyed at the fact that AUP manages to turn EVERYTHING--including a discussion about the increased rainfall in the Mississippi river--into some sort of weird "criticism" of the United States and its alleged behavior?

The solution is simple: give him a green card!

Why?

Well, it is true that, contrary to popular American belief, many people in the world do not with to become Americans, and are not American patriots, but partriots of their own countries--yes, despite the fact that they are poorer places that lack cable TV.

But such people do not go on the internet to criticize and belittle anything and everything the US does. They might have SPECIFIC criticisms, but that's something else.

When someone rants against the US like AUP does--criticising everything and anything about it with cynical innuendo--it is usually something else: jealousy.

AUP is jealous of the fact that the US is powerful and rich, as his posts obviously show--and above all, about the fact that this powerful and rich country DARED not to ask HIM what to do, for some strange reason.

As long as AUP is jealous of Americans, he will keep annoying us. If, however, he was to become one (or at least a permanent resident) his jealousy will of course subside, having got what he wanted, and he'll stop annoying us...

 

[Flo]

Are you, too, annoyed at the fact that AUP manages to turn EVERYTHING--including a discussion about the increased rainfall in the Mississippi river--into some sort of weird "criticism" of the United States and its alleged behavior?

The solution is simple: give him a green card!

Why?

Well, it is true that, contrary to popular American belief, many people in the world do not with to become Americans, and are not American patriots, but partriots of their own countries--yes, despite the fact that they are poorer places that lack cable TV.

But such people do not go on the internet to criticize and belittle anything and everything the US does. They might have SPECIFIC criticisms, but that's something else.

When someone rants against the US like AUP does--criticising everything and anything about it with cynical innuendo--it is usually something else: jealousy.

AUP is jealous of the fact that the US is powerful and rich, as his posts obviously show--and above all, about the fact that this powerful and rich country DARED not to ask HIM what to do, for some strange reason.

As long as AUP is jealous of Americans, he will keep annoying us. If, however, he was to become one (or at least a permanent resident) his jealousy will of course subside, having got what he wanted, and he'll stop annoying us...

Why the oratory precautions ? It is a well know fact that the only reason anyone dares criticise the US is because of jealousy ... those who abstain do so only due to a lack of access to the internet

 

[Cleopatra]

Unique... I am still available if you wish.

Wouldn't be fun to have an Israeli lawyer?

Skeptic, allow me please to notice that in comparison with what Unique says about Israel his posts about USA are hymns...!

 

[aerocontrols]

Are you, too, annoyed at the fact that AUP manages to turn EVERYTHING--including a discussion about the increased rainfall in the Mississippi river--into some sort of weird "criticism" of the United States and its alleged behavior?

Yeah, he's annoying sometimes.

I don't start threads about it, though...

and instead of 'jealousy' (a desire to keep from others something which you possess) you mean 'envy' (a desire to possess something that others have).

 

[Sundog]

Are you, too, annoyed at the fact that AUP manages to turn EVERYTHING--including a discussion about the increased rainfall in the Mississippi river--into some sort of weird "criticism" of the United States and its alleged behavior?

[de-lurk]

No, I am annoyed at neo-Americans like yourself who don't recognize that dissenting voices are essential, and who won't be satisfied until you've run EVERYONE off who disagrees with you.

We need MORE people like AUP, not fewer. Whether he's always right, or even logical, is immaterial. Americans desperately need a slap up side the head right now and he helps provide that.

Keep it up, AUP; I don't talk any more but I assure you I'm glad you're here.

And by the way, Diogenes, your hat is still too tight.

[lurk]

 

[blackpriester]

Re: Re: A Suggestion about "A Unique Person"...

[de-lurk]

No, I am annoyed at phony neo-Americans like yourself who don't recognize that dissenting voices are essential, and who won't be satisfied until you've run EVERYONE off who disagrees with you.

Keep it up, AUP; I don't talk any more but I assure you I'm glad you're here.

And by the way, Diogenes, your hat is still too tight.

[lurk]

Hi Sundog, good to have you back.
And good to have dissenting opinions like AUP's here on board - athough I agree with Skeptic in the assessment that AUP's criticisms are generally excessively sweeping...

 

[Sundog]

Re: Re: Re: A Suggestion about "A Unique Person"...

Hi Sundog, good to have you back.
And good to have dissenting opinions like AUP's here on board - athough I agree with Skeptic in the assessment that AUP's criticisms are generally excessively sweeping...

I never left. I'm just not talking much any more, as this is no longer a place for that.

Love ya people, til next time...

 

[a_unique_person]

Are you, too, annoyed at the fact that AUP manages to turn EVERYTHING--including a discussion about the increased rainfall in the Mississippi river--into some sort of weird "criticism" of the United States and its alleged behavior?

The solution is simple: give him a green card!

Why?

Well, it is true that, contrary to popular American belief, many people in the world do not with to become Americans, and are not American patriots, but partriots of their own countries--yes, despite the fact that they are poorer places that lack cable TV.

But such people do not go on the internet to criticize and belittle anything and everything the US does. They might have SPECIFIC criticisms, but that's something else.

When someone rants against the US like AUP does--criticising everything and anything about it with cynical innuendo--it is usually something else: jealousy.

AUP is jealous of the fact that the US is powerful and rich, as his posts obviously show--and above all, about the fact that this powerful and rich country DARED not to ask HIM what to do, for some strange reason.

As long as AUP is jealous of Americans, he will keep annoying us. If, however, he was to become one (or at least a permanent resident) his jealousy will of course subside, having got what he wanted, and he'll stop annoying us...

For a start, you will have to stop with the gross generalisations, I am hardly critical of everything the US does. I am also not jealous. I am, however, along with many others in the world, subject to the whims of US policy.

If you will also look further, I have been critical of Australia, but then, such topics do not seem to interest many Americans. Also notable was a thread I started on the Roadmap to Peace, which died a very quiet death. Despite my cynicism, it is the only chance for peace in the near future.

Why would I be jealous of the US? The standard of living there, for the ordinary person, is not better. It is quieter here, with less crime, less killing, and more egalitarianism. We are more tolerant of a wider range of political views. I can buy any of the latest electronic gadgets, and we are metric. If someone wants to put a bottle shop (liquor store) up on the corner, I can object, along with my neighbours, and get it banned.

The current conservative government is trying to destroy many of things that make this country great, but do not fit in with the US inspired 'free enterprise' model of living. I hope that at the next election, it will get booted out.

Maybe you could regale us with tales of your time as a bulldozer driver in the IDF?

 

[a_unique_person]

Re: Re: Re: Re: A Suggestion about "A Unique Person"...

I never left. I'm just not talking much any more, as this is no longer a place for that.

Love ya people, til next time...

Sundog, you are not the first to say that. I am glad that people do read what I write, and also glad that they criticise it. (I find out a lot that way). Feel free to put your hard hat on and join the fray every so often. At first I was disconcerted by the abuse that can be levelled around here, but with time, I saw that it was often just a bad tactic of debating.

 

[Skeptic]

Re: Re: A Suggestion about "A Unique Person"...

You miss the point. The point is not that criticism of the US isn't welcome. The point is that AUP ISN'T any sort of serious critic.

He is, rather, a conspiracy theorist: EVERYTHING the US does is "really" bad, evil, stupid, etc.--and AUP is, of course, always quite willing to give us the benefit of the "real reasons" this is so. Never mind that he never even heard of this latest "evil and stupid US action" until five minutes ago, and that he would criticize the opposite action just as fiercly, for just the same reasons. He knows the TRUTH(tm), and that's that.

There are numerous examples of this in his writing. According to AUP, the US keeping its bases in Saudi Arabia is "imperialism", but pulling them out is obviously just a "cover" for expansion elsewhere. The US not interfering in the middle east is a license for israel to kill innocent palestinians, but the US inferering is obviously biased in favor of israel and therefore just as bad. Invading Iraq was of course evil... but so is pulling out of Iraq (or Afghanistan), as it would "leave the country in chaos". Oh, and the Mississippi river flooding "proved" to the disgusting Americans that they are not gods; want to bet AUP would have said the exact same thing if there was a drought?

And so on and so forth. Clearly, no matter WHAT the US does--staying in Saudi Arabia or pulling out, pushing a diplomatic effort or not pushing it, having a drought or a flood--it is ALL "proof" of how evil or stupid it is.

This isn't criticism. It's the ranting of a man who is obviously very jealous of the US of A, and determined to find fault in it no matter what.

 

[Dancing David]

Can't say that I agree with everything AUP says, but hey it is good to read a dissenting voice in the moo cow herd.

Does AUP resort to conspiracy theory, well considering our beloved counrties history of messing things behind the scenes, I for one am not sute that there isn't some conspiracy.(Remember how Pinochet got into power?)

Peace

 

[RandFanJr.]

Re: Re: A Suggestion about "A Unique Person"...

We need MORE people like AUP, not fewer. Whether he's always right, or even logical, is immaterial.

I have to take exeption to part of your statement. Without regard to AUP, logic is paramount. I don't care about ideology but being obtuse or illogical serves no purpose.

Americans desperately need a slap up side the head right now and he helps provide that.

America is learning who are and who are not its allies and friends. We get attacked and respond and people want to slap us upside our head. We take out a tin horn dictator whose hobby in life is killing and torturing and people want to slap us up side the head.

Maybe others need to be slapped up side the head.

 

[thaiboxerken]

Lots of food, lots of wealth, lots of sportscars, malls and broadband internet access. The USA would be a perfect place, if not for the christians. Hey, if you don't like the USA, don't move here.

Oh, and I don't like Bush's international policy either.





Ken: Wants to be a millionaire and is making it happen.

 

[Malachi151]

When someone rants against the US like AUP does--criticising everything and anything about it with cynical innuendo--it is usually something else: jealousy.

AUP is jealous of the fact that the US is powerful and rich, as his posts obviously show--and above all, about the fact that this powerful and rich country DARED not to ask HIM what to do, for some strange reason.

As long as AUP is jealous of Americans, he will keep annoying us. If, however, he was to become one (or at least a permanent resident) his jealousy will of course subside, having got what he wanted, and he'll stop annoying us...

"You know, one of my concerns was the farther we got away from September the 11th, the more likely it would be that some in our country might not think the enemy still existed. But they do. And they're nothing but a bunch of cold-blooded killers. That's all they are. People in our country wonder why, why would somebody hate America. It's because we love freedom, that's why. We love the idea that free people can worship and almighty God any way they so choose in America. We value the freedom for people to speak their mind in this country. We value a free press. We value freedom. And the more we value freedom, the more they hate us. That's why. That's why the enemy still exists." - George Bush

"I went to Congress, and I said, in order to help me and future Presidents -- and notice I say future Presidents, because I don't think this war and this hatred is going to go away any time soon" - George Bush

"Because we're the greatest nation, full of the greatest people on the face of the Earth." - George Bush

And who said that the President isn't influential?

"To dismiss terrorism as the result of [a_unique_person] hating us because we’re rich and free is one of the greatest foreign-policy frauds ever perpetrated on the American people." - Representative Ron Paul

 

[kittynh]

well it's a big country

Just like Australia, the US is a big country. I just don't like sweeping attacks that include every single person and state. Some states have the same cultural and even legal differences that different nations in the EU have. Gays can marry in liberal Vermont. Conservative NH no seatbelts and no income or sales tax.

Also, I defy anyplace to be as rural as certain parts of Montana and even where I live. I suppose the outback, but would you want that part of a nation portrayed as being the same as Perth?

There's Alaska, Hawaii, TExas, Lousiana...

There's good and there's very bad. Americans seem to find the place to live where they fit in. I couldn't do Texas, though I'd like their weather...

 

[reprise]

I wonder if the high level of overt patriotism in the US sometimes leads those living there to perceive as criticism comments and questions which are - quite frankly - nothing more than observations or attempts to understand the differences between our cultures.

I do know that in the past when I've asked questions related to life in the US, the response has often been a quite defensive one of "well our system is better", when my questions weren't related to which way of running government was "better" or "worse", but how government policy directly impacted on the lives of those living under each system.

My perception is that people in the US are much more staunchly supportive of a specific political party than here, and much more likely to have a very definite opinion on the Israel/Palestine question, but that perception might well be a wrong one given that it is those who care most passionately about an issue who are most likely to start threads about it - those who really don't give a rat's (which may well be the majority) are unlikely to enter the discussion in the first place.

 

[Sundog]

Re: Re: Re: A Suggestion about "A Unique Person"...

Maybe others need to be slapped up side the head.

Is that a threat, little boy?

People like you are why I am now firmly in lurk mode. Back to it.

 

[a_unique_person]

Re: well it's a big country

Just like Australia, the US is a big country. I just don't like sweeping attacks that include every single person and state. Some states have the same cultural and even legal differences that different nations in the EU have. Gays can marry in liberal Vermont. Conservative NH no seatbelts and no income or sales tax.

Also, I defy anyplace to be as rural as certain parts of Montana and even where I live. I suppose the outback, but would you want that part of a nation portrayed as being the same as Perth?

There's Alaska, Hawaii, TExas, Lousiana...

There's good and there's very bad. Americans seem to find the place to live where they fit in. I couldn't do Texas, though I'd like their weather...

I try to consciously avoid attacking Americans directly, with sweeping generalisations, as I do not think it is a sign of good, critical thought.

Skeptic has searched the archives, and not really found much at all, execpt for one or two pieces I may have been typing out after a few snifters on a Friday night.

I do try to differentiate between attacks on American policy and American people. I have met Americans, and people from many other countries and cultures, and there is good and bad everywhere.

What distinguishes America is it's unique position of power, and how that affects the American society, and how America interacts with the rest of the world.

A book I have been reading, "Blowback", states it quite simply, many Americans are not aware of what is being done in their name.

I really enjoy this board, (you may have inferred that by now), and what do you know, the majority of participants are Americans. There are many intelligent, thought provoking people here. As well as the infuriating, hilarious and the intriguing. That is all good and well.

However, let me just say, if I am criticising American foreign policy, and there are plenty of Americans who do exactly that, that does not mean I am criticsising Americans, per se.

 

[peptoabysmal]

Actually, I kind of like the banter with AUP. He and I disagree on several points, and I can be assured that whatever I say he will find some view that is 180° from mine. This forces me to think, which I like.

 

[renata]

Re: Re: Re: Re: A Suggestion about "A Unique Person"...

Is that a threat, little boy?

People like you are why I am now firmly in lurk mode. Back to it.

Sundog ( wish you would post, BTW- it is good to hear opposing point of you eloquently and intelligently expressed)

Randfan has been posting under his son's account recently, so I think it is Randfan, not his boy.

As to AUP- - his style reminds me of the people who say something inflammatory and then say- Of course I do not mean XYZ, but you draw your own conclusions. Kind of like- blacks commit so many crimes and are so poor! Of course I do not mean they are inferior violent and stupid, but you draw your own conclusions.