[aclug-L] Re: Richard Reid

[Jonathan Hall <flimzy@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> Will the USA as we know it come to an end?  Perhaps.  But, comparing us 
> to the Roman Empire is very insulting.  Maybe, you should go back an 

It is insulting--that's the whole point.  Sometimes the truth hurts. 
It's better to realize it as truth and change, than to ignore the truth
and remain ignorant, though.



> read your history books.  Last time I checked our Presidents don't come 
> to power by killing the previous President.

That's true... our empire is more "civilized."  Rather than killing the
previous president, we just disenfranchise a small group of people in
Florida... a group that happens to represent the majority opinion in the
nation.

We're playing the same game... just with modified rules.

> I don't think people of other Nations hate our freedom.  In fact, I 
> think lots of times we are hated just becuase of our success.

You're right--they don't hate our freedom.  They hate our opression.


> There's no doubt that if a group or a country is successful for a long 
> period of time other people get jealous and over time people want them 
> to loose so they can have a chance to be on top.

Some may be jealous of our country.  Jealous of Hollywood, our music
industry, etc.  But that's not why people hate the U.S.  They hate us
because of our arrogant, dominant attitude.


> >The vast majority of anti-Americanism I have encountered in my life 
> >abroad came from decent, level-headed sincere people. Most of these 
> >people understood that a certain amount of "pushiness" on our part 
> >simply comes with the superpower territory. The world by and large has 
> >been very tolerant of us. 
> >
> 
> Tolerant of Us!!!  Yes, I agree we are the enemy.... NOT.  You make it 
> sound like we are not just an Empire (as you put it); but, and Evil 
> Empire and we must be destroyed.  The more I read what you have written 
> the more I think it was written by Susan Sarandon.

The U.S. *is* an evil empire, and has been throughout history.  It's not
100% evil.  And not everyone in the U.S. is 100% evil.  But if you look
at history, the U.S. is probably directly responsible for more evil than
any other nation currently in existence.  Look at the tens of millions
of Native Americans we slaughtered.  Look at the hundreds of thousands
if not millions we killed in Japan with the dropping of two bombs.  Even
if a case can be made for the dropping of the first, it's very difficult
to make a good humanitarian case for the second.

If evil can be measured in numbers of "innocent lives lost", then the
U.S., with those two events alone, wins against Nazi Germany and the
Holocaust by about 3-4 times.


> Well, this is where you have shown your true colors.  Like the rest of 
> the Left-Wing Liberal Democrats your hatred for Bush is clouding your 
> judgement.  Get over it, Al lost.
> 
> Frankly, I am insulted by all this policatical rediric you spout.  You 
> would rather sit back, do nothing and put all our lives in jeopardy.
> 
> I am really becoming amazed to see how many liberals there are in this 
> club.  Am I the only conservative in this group?

This group is about Linux, not politics.  There's no reason to draw
political lines here.  But since we're on the topic... if statistics
mean anything, we're more likely to have a larger number of "Liberals"
than "Conservatives".

Not that such statistics makes either side right.  Using such labels is
probably foolish, anyway.  It's hard to find anyone who is liberal on
all issues, or conservative on all issues.  And when you do find someone
who is completely on either side of the spectrum, they usually don't
make much sense.

My personal opinion here is that we should be free to discuss these
matters, but trying to draw lines between ourselves is foolish and
should stop immediately.



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