Miscellaneous comments and hypotheses
Quote for today:
Should a traveler give an account of men who were entirely divested of avarice, ambition, and revenge; who knew no pleasure but friendship, generosity, and public spirit, we should immediately detect the falsehood and prove him a liar with the same certitude as if he had stuffed his narration with centaurs and dragons.David Hume
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Someone Tell Der Spiegel: Germans Can’t Vote in U.S. Elections
Posted on July 31st, 2012 2 commentsWell, actually that’s only technically true. Any potential Obama voter who can afford the fare and tell a red state from a blue state becomes an honorary U.S. citizen as soon as they set foot on these shores. They can vote as often as they like, as long as they don’t do it all in the same precinct. Still, I had to chuckle when I glanced at the website of Der Spiegel this morning. They are so in the tank for Obama they make MSNBC look like the soul of objective journalism. Here are the stories I found in a quick glance through:
Headline: Candidate Embarrassing Byline: Stiff as a board, clueless, artificial. Republican Presidential candidate exposed many of his weaknesses on his European tour.
Headline: Romney Enrages Palestinians (have they ever not been enraged?) Byline: Romney campaigns on his foreign tour – and arouses the Palestinians against him in the process.
Headline: Romney’s Blundering Tour through Europe Byline: The U.S. candidate for President booked a week of blunders and slip-ups in Europe. Things just aren’t going right for the Republican.
Headline: Stepping in it On Tour Byline: The Palestinians accuse him of racism, the British are cross, and Polands Solidarnosc doesn’t like him.
Headline: Romney Advisor Curses Reporters in Warsaw Byline: There’s no end to the criticism directed at Romney’s foreign tour – now one of his advisors lost his cool.
And mind you, that’s just what I saw in a quick glance on a single day. Actually, it’s a huge improvement. Back in the last years of the Clinton and first years of the Bush Administrations, Der Spiegel’s website was so full of vile, quasi-racist anti-American rants that it was often difficult to wade through it all and find any news about Germany. They only gave it up when a few people across the pond started to notice, and the editors realized they were putting all those prestigious international prizes for “objective journalism” in jeopardy. They still occasionally throw out some red meat to the Amerika haters, but only enough to keep them on life support.
2 responses to “Someone Tell Der Spiegel: Germans Can’t Vote in U.S. Elections”
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No one becomes a honorary US citizen upon landing. Your immigration system is convoluted and idiotic. Would love to come over – highly educated, good job, wealth of experience – but can’t, because Republicans are blocking any reasonable immigration reform, and under the current immigration system the only people who can get in the US come over on floating doors. And you wonder why America is losing its edge.
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Helian October 15th, 2012 at 07:24
I look around and I see a population in the city I live in that must have close to 10% illegal immigrants, many with good jobs. You’re right. In that sense, our immigration system is convoluted and idiotic. On the other hand, I see numerous legal immigrants everywhere I go in the country, many of them from third world countries, who somehow seem to have managed to deal with the intricacies of the system. If you’re as educated and skilled as you say you are, I’m surprised the system was such a problem for you. In any case, the Department of Homeland Security is zuständig for the convoluted and idiotic details you speak of, and it is run by a Democrat. I would be interested in hearing what, precisely, the evil Republicans have done to contribute to the convolution and idiocy. I would also be interested in hearing why, in view of the fact that they controlled both houses of Congress and the Presidency, the Democrats couldn’t manage to do a thing about it between 2009 and 2011.
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John October 15th, 2012 at 04:47