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Everything Else => Off Topic => Topic started by: Jericoke on January 07, 2021, 01:19:09 PM

Title: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: Jericoke on January 07, 2021, 01:19:09 PM
So, how are you doing?  I'm not asking if you agree or disagree with any particular side here.  I just want to know, are you doing okay?  Do you need to talk?  Do you need to just forget and move on?  Is F1 the furthest thing from your mind, or do you want to get the season started so you can have something to enjoy?

Jan 6,2021... I can't imagine how horrifying it would be to see your own country experience something like that.

October 30th, 1995 Quebec held a referendum to leave Canada.  It was a legal process, conducted over a long time, reflecting decades of boiling tensions, and I remember being stick to my stomach that Canada was being laid bare for the whole world to see.  But that was nothing compared to what I was watching on TV yesterday.

Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: cosworth151 on January 07, 2021, 05:08:33 PM
Many of you know that I go to Washington D.C. most every Veterans Day. I help with a bus trip for veterans put on by the Ohio Sons of AMVETS. One day of that trip is always a "free day" when we all can wonder about the city on our own.

My first stop is always the Capital Building. There is always a long line for the tour so I just roam around the grounds. No matter how many times I've been there, I never loose the sense of awe that I have for the experience. An average citizen can walk right up to center of our government and roam around the grounds. We Americans take great pride in calling the Capital and the White House "the people's houses."

The National AMVETS and its subordinate organizations (Sons of AMVETS, AMVETS Auxiliary and such) also take one week twice a year to where many of us go to D.C. Each member of Congress (both the House & the Senate) gets a visit from a few of us to discuss issues involving veterans, active duty military and their families. I feel very proud that we can do that, too.

It broke my heart to see so many places that I recognized, that I revere, being overrun by vandals and thugs.

I sincerely hope that yesterday serves as a wake up call no democracy can long exist when a sizable group of its citizens believe that "anyone who disagrees with us is our enemy and hates our country."

Here are a couple of pictures that I took on the bus trip.
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: John S on January 07, 2021, 09:21:08 PM
Cos, don't lose heart because you have seen some protestors take over the Capitol building, it was mostly peaceful after all.

I'm amused by the unholy outpouring of crap from all major news sources about an attack on democratic values, by the occupation of the Capitol Building, when they so cheerfully endorsed the overthrow of the elected President of Ukraine not many years back, in a far more violent way than seen in Washington at present.

Odd thing is dictionaries can't even decide on exactly what Democracy/Democracie is, what chance do the rest of us have.  :confused:

The only thing I can take from the multitude of definitions is that people are free to assemble as well as choose.

I'm sure there are far more definitions than I've listed below and no doubt you will have your own favourite - that's part of the problem from my standpoint. IMHO Democracy is multi faceted, hard to really pin down - so why do so many of us believe in it?   

Democracy:- government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. Cornerstones include freedom of assembly and speech.

Democracy:- the form of government in which political control is exercised by all the people, either directly or through their elected representatives."[ 5] "The word democracy itself means rule by the people.

Democracy:- the belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves.

Democracy:- the common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.

Democracy:- government by the people.
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: lkjohnson1950 on January 08, 2021, 01:45:00 AM
I don't know John. How would you feel if a mob of anti Brexit protesters broke into Parliament, breaking windows, trashing offices, stealing, possibly beating a Met officer to death?
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: Dare on January 08, 2021, 04:56:46 AM
What I was watching was anything but peaceful. It's  been
egged on by claims of a rigged election even before the election was held. What's happened is it's divided the country as most thought not
possible. Lots of luck to our new administration....their gonna need it
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: John S on January 08, 2021, 03:23:04 PM
I don't know John. How would you feel if a mob of anti Brexit protesters broke into Parliament, breaking windows, trashing offices, stealing, possibly beating a Met officer to death?

I guess most of us would think that's just the sort of stunt a section of society might undertake with the kind of full on provocative agenda from most of the city centric media here at the time. There was certainly no shortage of protests on either side and quite a few ended in deplorable scenes on the streets with attacks on Police, buildings and cars.

When I referred to your present protest in Washington as mostly peaceful I was comparing it to a possible bloodbath that it could easily have been in a country with such easy access to firearms. I think it's a sign that things have not really reached rock bottom since heavily armed militias were not the invaders at the government buildings.   

Perhaps we are just more used to protests in Britain, especially in London, on all sorts of topics, occasions & in varying places that the gathering at the Capital building doesn't seem that out of the ordinary. However it clearly is a step beyond for you in the US.

Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: cosworth151 on January 08, 2021, 03:27:05 PM
Sadly, the police officer Lonny spoke of did succumb to his injuries last night.

The physical damage done to the Capital was tremendous. One of the looters even tried to steal the plaque that marked the corner stone laid by George Washington. Fortunately he was stopped.

In the center of Washington D.C. is a long, rectangular park called The National Mall. The Capital is at the east end of it. At the west end, facing the Capital, is the Lincoln Memorial. It has a large statue of President Lincoln looking down the Mall towards the Washington Monument and the Capital. I can't help but wonder what The Great Emancipator would think about and invading hoard carrying the Confederate Treason flag occupied the building that he fought so hard to defend.

A few more of my pictures. The bottom on is the view from the Lincoln Memorial looking down the Mall towards the Capital.
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: lkjohnson1950 on January 08, 2021, 05:16:26 PM
Thanks John. It was painful because no hostile force of any kind has taken the Capital since you lot in the UK did it in 1812. I think most of us thought the Capital was kind of sacred; honored even if politics weren't going your way.
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: Jericoke on January 09, 2021, 09:00:49 PM
Thanks John. It was painful because no hostile force of any kind has taken the Capital since you lot in the UK did it in 1812. I think most of us thought the Capital was kind of sacred; honored even if politics weren't going your way.

British army... deployed from Canada :)

I've been looking at the 6th of January somewhat like the Gunpowder plot:  a bunch of idiots thinking they'd change the world, but ultimately just becoming an embarrassment.
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: lkjohnson1950 on January 09, 2021, 11:14:42 PM
Many of the organizers are saying Watch This Space, indicating they are planning more for the 19 or 20 of January. I hope not. :fool:
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: Dare on January 09, 2021, 11:42:18 PM
Many of the organizers are saying Watch This Space, indicating they are planning more for the 19 or 20 of January. I hope not. :fool:



Trump tweeted before he was banned or had someone
tweet to those who asked I won't be at the inauguration .
Whether that's a code who knows. I hope not but their
dealing with a highly unstable individual who's  capable
of anything. Sorry but this isn't simple protesting.
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: Jericoke on January 10, 2021, 02:55:49 AM
Many of the organizers are saying Watch This Space, indicating they are planning more for the 19 or 20 of January. I hope not. :fool:



Trump tweeted before he was banned or had someone
tweet to those who asked I won't be at the inauguration .
Whether that's a code who knows. I hope not but their
dealing with a highly unstable individual who's  capable
of anything. Sorry but this isn't simple protesting.

I agree it's not simple protesting, but it's not an organized movement either.  While they have a 'goal', they have no real plan to achieve it. 

Hopefully no one who actually knows how to run a mob to get results can step into the power vacuum being created.
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: lkjohnson1950 on January 10, 2021, 04:32:09 AM
There is sketchy evidence emerging that it may be far better organized than originally thought. People like General Flynn may be behind it.
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: Dare on January 10, 2021, 05:11:29 AM
I can't believe the people that are falling for the lies
and total crap he puts out. It wasn't a rigged election and he
knows it. Four years we've been warned how dangerous he is
even by his niece. What's really bad is when a deranged nut has
the nuclear codes.
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: John S on January 10, 2021, 01:17:47 PM
I can't believe the people that are falling for the lies
and total crap he puts out. It wasn't a rigged election and he
knows it. Four years we've been warned how dangerous he is
even by his niece. What's really bad is when a deranged nut has
the nuclear codes.

Whilst I understand where you're coming from Dare it can be foolish to call an opposing faction stupid and feeble minded.

It's the sort of rhetoric aimed at Brexit supporters in Britain a while back. Evidence seems to suggest this only strengthens the resolve of those it's aimed at, and worse than that encourages moderate voices to disengage.

My understanding of the Nuclear issue is that there are safeguards in place and use is not soley on simple Presidential command.
I'm sure we - the rest of the world that is - would all be very, very scared of the US if we thought otherwise. 
     
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: cosworth151 on January 10, 2021, 03:27:22 PM
Quote
While they have a 'goal', they have no real plan to achieve it. 

An excellent description of the American government for the last four years.

Even after all that happened earlier this week, the far right is still claiming that the election was "stolen." They are even claiming that the Georgia run off elections were somehow rigged. As of yet, they haven't offered a single bit of proof for any of it.

Have any of you ever seen the film Citizen Kane? Newspaper owner Charles Foster Kane runs for governor. This happens in the newspaper office the morning after the election. Director Orson Wells meant it to show how far gone Kane was. Audiences laughed to think such a thing could happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iMy0969BTw
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: Dare on January 10, 2021, 06:17:24 PM
Funny I read today according to one of his aides
that one thing about the riots that upset trump was
the rioters looked low class and donnie doesn't like
low class things.

Funny too was my cousin told me to go screw myself
not in those words and not to call him ever again.
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: lkjohnson1950 on January 10, 2021, 08:11:00 PM
I simply do not understand what attracts people to Trump and creates such loyalty.
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: Dare on January 10, 2021, 09:27:42 PM
I simply do not understand what attracts people to Trump and creates such loyalty.


Why did people follow Jim Jones, Mussolini, or Hitler
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: Jericoke on January 10, 2021, 09:28:05 PM
I simply do not understand what attracts people to Trump and creates such loyalty.

Humans are social creatures, and will naturally seek out a community to belong to.  Say what you will about Donald Trump, but he saw a large community of people and told them exactly what they wanted to hear.  I have no idea if it was by accident or on purpose (let's not forget it was mostly Steve Bannon's 'community' originally), but even Trump could see what was working.

Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: John S on January 10, 2021, 10:09:12 PM
I simply do not understand what attracts people to Trump and creates such loyalty.

I find it just as hard to understand how people can be so fervent about religion.
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: Dare on January 10, 2021, 11:20:30 PM
I simply do not understand what attracts people to Trump and creates such loyalty.

I find it just as hard to understand how people can be so fervent about religion.

I think with religion people don't want to accept that
when they die they don't want to accept it's the final podium.
It's nicer to think your gonna join your old friends and family.
And in some cases all their ex wives
Title: Re: To our American friends: how are you doing?
Post by: John S on January 11, 2021, 12:53:48 PM
I simply do not understand what attracts people to Trump and creates such loyalty.

I find it just as hard to understand how people can be so fervent about religion.

I think with religion people don't want to accept that
when they die they don't want to accept it's the final podium.
It's nicer to think your gonna join your old friends and family.
And in some cases all their ex wives

Dare, I have no problem with religion per se, I'm as certain as you that hoping for eternal life brings comfort to nearly everyone at some stage in our lives.

I'm referring to people who choose or are coerced to follow credos that lead to harm, intolerence and separatism. Unfortunately major world religions are just as prominant in this group as smaller crazy theory sects.

 
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