How does the World view America these days?

[MisterE]

 

 

i find ted cruz hard to look at. he was born with a smug face.

I like that Bobby Moynihan plays him as a big fat idiot.

 

 

 

You mean, as he actually is?

 

yeh hes just a big fat idiot who graduated cum laude from princeton, then magna cum laude from harvard law, and was called 'off the charts brilliant' by his liberal professor alan dershowitz. of course none of that is going to stop the likes of snl from portraying him as a brainless moron, because theyre afraid of him, as you are, and that's all you can do. bring out the sleazy tactics. the low info voters who get their political ideas from comedians such as snl and the daily show will lap it up and buy it, not knowing anything about the actual guy. its a tactic that works so i guess why change?

 

excuse me, i just think its scummy as fuck. you dont have to like the guy, but to portray him as a total moron is kind of a blatantly dishonest joke. this is one of the main problems i have with left wingers. childish dishonesty is not beneath them. you don't like a guy, debate the policies he supports. dont send your army of comedians to slander him/her for all the morons out there who have no idea who the vice president is, who the head of senate or the house are, or how government even works, but still get out and vote because mtv or comedy central told them to. its totally ridiculous that our leaders are picked the same way high school class presidents are. its a popularity contest 100%. and this is why. im not even saying you cant call someone a moron, but it just seems way off base here.

[eugene]

"liberal professor alan dershowitz"

lol

[MisterE]

heh, yeah it just so happens the guy is a pretty big liberal

 

there's a lot of other things i could've said about the guy but that seemed the most relevant

Edited April 9, 2015 by MisterE

[Alcofribas]

lol @ desrhowitz

Edited April 9, 2015 by Alcofribas

[MisterE]

yeh i must not be the only one who thinks that way about him since the 3rd paragraph at his wiki starts out by saying his politcs are liberal. pretty much like most people posting in this thread. care to explain whats so funny about it? is it just another one of misterE's brainless unintelligent statements that has no logic or relevance or place in the topic, as usual? i mean i am a big moron myself after all, right?

[eugene]

he's very supportive of this sleazy mainstream israeli right, which is not liberal at all in a common sense of the word. i don't really know what he does in u.s.

[Alcofribas]

yeh i must not be the only one who thinks that way about him since the 3rd paragraph at his wiki starts out by saying his politcs are liberal. pretty much like most people posting in this thread. care to explain whats so funny about it? is it just another one of misterE's brainless unintelligent statements that has no logic or relevance or place in the topic, as usual? i mean i am a big moron myself after all, right?

 

i think characterizing him as a "liberal professor" is a misnomer and seemed disingenuous considering the context, i.e. making it seem like even a "liberal professor" at commie harvard recognizes cruz's brilliance. dersh is not a friend to liberals; he's a torture advocate, his books and politics on israel are obscenely right wing, he's an advocate for torture and collective punishment, etc.

[luke viia]

FWIW, I dislike Cruz because of his general stance on environmental topics, like approving of the Keystone pipeline, trying to prohibit the EPA from regulating carbon emissions, expanding offshore drilling (have we all forgotten the gulf spill already?), etc. And he wants to set unlimited amounts of campaign contributions, which is KNOWN TO BE A HUGE FUCKING ISSUE. Oh, but us silly liberals, having no reason for believing anything, just romping along making shit up, Cruz style.

[MisterE]

didnt it used to be the case that american democrat politicians were the ones who created alliances with israel, more so than the republicans, up until recently? seems like i've seen that said before. either way i don't particularly feel like specific foreign policy issues define a person's typical political stances as much as other things do. i feel like the words 'liberal' or 'conservative' at their more base meanings have to do more with social/domestic issues. it's true that the two groups usually have similar general ideas about foreign policy within their groups, but i dont personally feel like hillary supporting israel in statements she's made precludes her being a 'liberal', nor does anything dershowitz has said. look the guy up, its pretty much a general consensus that he's a liberal. you can even find examples of him referring to himself as a liberal.

[MisterE]

 

yeh i must not be the only one who thinks that way about him since the 3rd paragraph at his wiki starts out by saying his politcs are liberal. pretty much like most people posting in this thread. care to explain whats so funny about it? is it just another one of misterE's brainless unintelligent statements that has no logic or relevance or place in the topic, as usual? i mean i am a big moron myself after all, right?

 

i think characterizing him as a "liberal professor" is a misnomer and seemed disingenuous considering the context, i.e. making it seem like even a "liberal professor" at commie harvard recognizes cruz's brilliance. dersh is not a friend to liberals; he's a torture advocate, his books and politics on israel are obscenely right wing, he's an advocate for torture and collective punishment, etc.

 

its not at all disingenuous to call him a liberal. he calls himself one and he seems to be considered one by most people. so he disagrees with them on a few issues. i think its more disingenuous of you to say im being disingenuous like i'm trying to portray this guy as something he's not, and all this is getting to be a bit beside the point at this point. not everything is about israel. for you to say he's not a friend to liberals is also disingenuous. like you can talk for all of them? who appointed you arbiter of what opinions can be held by people in 'the club'? im sure he has PLENTY of liberal friends. you really wanna put your money on the table that all liberals (or even most) are as obsessed with israel/palestine as much as you are? you think most american liberals even rank that near the top of their list of things they care about? really? i specifically remember just after 9/11, being in college, and hearing kids who i knew thought democrats were just tops, saying things like we should 'turn that place into a sand bowl'. turns out, not every liberal is just like you. i'm trying to find a poll of american liberals ranking israel/palestine at the top of their important list of issues but i'm just not... finding it..

 

oh hey but looky here- a poll that says 38% percent of 'liberal democrats' approved of torture after 9/11:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/new-poll-finds-majority-of-americans-believe-torture-justified-after-911-attacks/2014/12/16/f6ee1208-847c-11e4-9534-f79a23c40e6c_story.html

 

i won't be surprised when you hit me with your fully custom, 100% alco approved and crafted definition of 'liberal' so you can still be 'right' about dershowitz not being a liberal, and my being dishonest by portraying him as one. lets see it. i haven't lol'd in a while. maybe you guys could go back to the lab and work out some borg chips to install in your ppl to make sure they tighten up, have a little less disagreement/ideological diversity in your ranks. because the only diversity thats good is the kind that only goes skin deep, amirite?

[chenGOD]

 

 

 

i find ted cruz hard to look at. he was born with a smug face.

I like that Bobby Moynihan plays him as a big fat idiot.

 

 

 

You mean, as he actually is?

 

yeh hes just a big fat idiot who graduated cum laude from princeton, then magna cum laude from harvard law, and was called 'off the charts brilliant' by his liberal professor alan dershowitz. of course none of that is going to stop the likes of snl from portraying him as a brainless moron, because theyre afraid of him, as you are, and that's all you can do. bring out the sleazy tactics. the low info voters who get their political ideas from comedians such as snl and the daily show will lap it up and buy it, not knowing anything about the actual guy. its a tactic that works so i guess why change?

 

excuse me, i just think its scummy as fuck. you dont have to like the guy, but to portray him as a total moron is kind of a blatantly dishonest joke. this is one of the main problems i have with left wingers. childish dishonesty is not beneath them. you don't like a guy, debate the policies he supports. dont send your army of comedians to slander him/her for all the morons out there who have no idea who the vice president is, who the head of senate or the house are, or how government even works, but still get out and vote because mtv or comedy central told them to. its totally ridiculous that our leaders are picked the same way high school class presidents are. its a popularity contest 100%. and this is why. im not even saying you cant call someone a moron, but it just seems way off base here.

 

 

LOL, I'm not afraid of Ted Cruz. For someone as brilliant as him, he has a terrible sense of how economies actually work:

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/whitewashing-the-crazy-fed-edition/?_r=0

He wants to impose a flat tax, he believes it is possible to "secure" America's borders, his foreign policy is to defend Israel at all costs.

He's also a big ol' believer in the great sky ghost, as he has loudly proclaimed on many occasions. His father also believes he is an anointed king.

And his policies will bring religion back into the government, as he wants to protect the "sacrament of marriage, and defend the sanctity of human life".

He believes there is a global conspiracy to deprive Americans of their land (he also calls George Soros a proponent of socialism, lol).

 

As to low ball tactics, that's neither a preserve of the left or right, so to accuse one group of doing it while ignoring the other side smacks of some serious hypocrisy. And if the above doesn't make you question his sanity, then there's no point in continuing the discussion.

[Alcofribas]

 

 

yeh i must not be the only one who thinks that way about him since the 3rd paragraph at his wiki starts out by saying his politcs are liberal. pretty much like most people posting in this thread. care to explain whats so funny about it? is it just another one of misterE's brainless unintelligent statements that has no logic or relevance or place in the topic, as usual? i mean i am a big moron myself after all, right?

 

i think characterizing him as a "liberal professor" is a misnomer and seemed disingenuous considering the context, i.e. making it seem like even a "liberal professor" at commie harvard recognizes cruz's brilliance. dersh is not a friend to liberals; he's a torture advocate, his books and politics on israel are obscenely right wing, he's an advocate for torture and collective punishment, etc.

 

its not at all disingenuous to call him a liberal. he calls himself one and he seems to be considered one by most people. so he disagrees with them on a few issues. i think its more disingenuous of you to say im being disingenuous like i'm trying to portray this guy as something he's not, and all this is getting to be a bit beside the point at this point. not everything is about israel. for you to say he's not a friend to liberals is also disingenuous. like you can talk for all of them? who appointed you arbiter of what opinions can be held by people in 'the club'? im sure he has PLENTY of liberal friends. you really wanna put your money on the table that all liberals (or even most) are as obsessed with israel/palestine as much as you are? you think most american liberals even rank that near the top of their list of things they care about? really? i specifically remember just after 9/11, being in college, and hearing kids who i knew thought democrats were just tops, saying things like we should 'turn that place into a sand bowl'. turns out, not every liberal is just like you. i'm trying to find a poll of american liberals ranking israel/palestine at the top of their important list of issues but i'm just not... finding it..

 

oh hey but looky here- a poll that says 38% percent of 'liberal democrats' approved of torture after 9/11:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/new-poll-finds-majority-of-americans-believe-torture-justified-after-911-attacks/2014/12/16/f6ee1208-847c-11e4-9534-f79a23c40e6c_story.html

 

i won't be surprised when you hit me with your fully custom, 100% alco approved and crafted definition of 'liberal' so you can still be 'right' about dershowitz not being a liberal, and my being dishonest by portraying him as one. lets see it. i haven't lol'd in a while. maybe you guys could go back to the lab and work out some borg chips to install in your ppl to make sure they tighten up, have a little less disagreement/ideological diversity in your ranks. because the only diversity thats good is the kind that only goes skin deep, amirite?

 

 

this is a pointless tangent. dershowitz holds many views that are explicitly right-wing and one such example is on the israel/palestine conflict about which he has written several books and countless articles, held many debates and has repeatedly utilized his influence to support right-wing politics in the region. this has nothing to do with my interest in the topic, it is one of his very favorite issues. it may be the case that he simultaneously holds "liberal" views on a variety of topics but my lol was directed simply at the quaint use of "liberal professor alan dershowitz." it's no stretch of the imagination to consider that many liberals would find his views on a variety of topics quite repulsive. just take a look at some of his comments in the wake of the recent epstein scandal which surely do not coincide with liberal values on gender issues; or his personal involvement in finkelstein's publishing and academic career which do not sit well with basic liberal views on free speech and academic freedom. among my various leftist friends (we're not liberals mind you, i'm rather offended to be so labelled hehe) he is considered to be a disgusting bigot actually.

 

anyway, i encourage you to abandon your particular obsession with the liberal/republican binary as it is an exceedingly superficial political perspective. perhaps just take some of your advice to me and try to refrain from speaking for all liberals. you seem to have a strange double standard on the issue anyway which never really bodes well. if it's not ok to mock ted cruz than it's not ok for you to mock liberals and yet there you are making silly comments about "skin deep" liberal values or whatever. i'm not exactly sure what got your undies in a wad in the first place. who gives a shit if snl makes fun of cruz?

 

anyway, ted cruz might have impressive academic credentials but many of his core political ideas are incredibly trite and simplistic. which is to say, ted cruz is a fucking idiot ; )

 

edit: what Chen said.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Alcofribas

[MisterE]

doesnt obama claim to believe in sky ghost? hasn't everyone who's ever became president or ran in the general election? is it like a wink wink nudge nudge where liberals all just assume that 'their guy' really doesn't and only says they do so they can get elected? or are there just different standards?

[chenGOD]

doesnt obama claim to believe in sky ghost? hasn't everyone who's ever became president or ran in the general election? is it like a wink wink nudge nudge where liberals all just assume that 'their guy' really doesn't and only says they do so they can get elected? or are there just different standards?

We're not discussing obama here. If you'd like to start a thread about that, please do so. We are discussing why Ted Cruz can be portrayed as an idiot without it really being considered slander.

[Adieu]

It's very obvious when someone is fundamentally religious, when someone is just part of a religion, or when someone is claiming to be part of one in order to round out their appeal. It's possible some people downplay their religiousness to nab the secular vote, but anyone willing to downplay their ties to religion is generally able to understand that their religion doesn't apply to everyone. Whereas you have people who want to do things like "bring god back to america", and that makes it quite obvious they shouldn't be our leader.

[Alcofribas]

doesnt obama claim to believe in sky ghost? hasn't everyone who's ever became president or ran in the general election? is it like a wink wink nudge nudge where liberals all just assume that 'their guy' really doesn't and only says they do so they can get elected? or are there just different standards?

 

mr.e i will say this -- you're definitely not off base calling out liberals for their hypocrisy or the laziness with which they consume their political positions from biased media and so on. that's all perfectly legit in my mind. i think the problem with your particular approach though is that you fail completely in acknowledging the exact parallels that exist amongst conservatives and the right. and i often feel that your predilection for liberal bashing prevents you from generating a richer and more nuanced political perspective.

 

that's about all i have to say on this topic and i'm gonna go off and watch john stewart while marrying an LGBTQ and shouting YES WE CAN. so peace out

[MisterE]

 

 

anyway, i encourage you to abandon your particular obsession with the liberal/republican binary

 

thanks for the advice. the guy actually labels/describes himself as a liberal, or even a strong liberal, as do many of his peers, and for me to acknowledge that means i have an obsession with a binary. meanwhile most of the political opinions you yourself hold, seem to me to be the same ones shared by people who call themselves liberal, but again, *im* the only one involved in some kind of binary that has anything to do with that word/label. weird how this works. seems to me like you just don't want to admit that the guy who you denied was one, actually is one. or that you were wrong for calling me dishonest for saying he is. so now its all about how im crazy for thinking about 'binaries'. what a nice buzzword/tool to get you out of situations. like you've never said something about 'conservatives' or right wingers? as if your contempt for ted cruz has nothing to do with him being associated with right wing tea party conservatives. don't try to bully me around with your hypocritical pseudo intellectual BS.

 

and my 'silly comment' about liberals only having tolerance to diversity when it's skin deep was totally evidenced by your own posts. you think you can define who gets to be a liberal depending on whether or not they agree with you on whatever particular issue. its 100% typical.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/gop-silicon-valley-20150408

the type of people who started using the term 'diversity' in the modern social/political context, are the same people who are least likely to actually approve of it when it comes to ideas. when they talk about diversity, they literally do only mean skin color, ethnicity, sexual preference, gender, etc. all the superficial things. anyone who disagrees with them is out. but again i mean i guess this is all in my imagination that this kind of thing goes on, and its just me and my crazy binary obsession.

[Adieu]

Radical Liberals are basically conservatives under a different name so it's not hard to understand that a radical liberal is generally not considered liberal at all.

[MisterE]

 

doesnt obama claim to believe in sky ghost? hasn't everyone who's ever became president or ran in the general election? is it like a wink wink nudge nudge where liberals all just assume that 'their guy' really doesn't and only says they do so they can get elected? or are there just different standards?

We're not discussing obama here. If you'd like to start a thread about that, please do so. We are discussing why Ted Cruz can be portrayed as an idiot without it really being considered slander.

 

i believe i can point out that according to your logic, anyone who believes in 'sky ghost' also must therefore be an idiot. and i did. it's really all i cared to say in response to everything you posted. i guess you don't want to go on record whether you hold everyone to that same standard equally or whatever and that's to be expected and im ok with that.

[MisterE]

 

i think the problem with your particular approach though is that you fail completely in acknowledging the exact parallels that exist amongst conservatives and the right. and i often feel that your predilection for liberal bashing prevents you from generating a richer and more nuanced political perspective.

 

 

buddy, do you really think i NEED to do that around here? i'm like one guy. there are more than enough people here calling out conservative issues. are you aware of this? are we even at the same forum?

 

the moment i start seeing you calling out liberals, i'll consider you nuanced and well rounded, ok? how about that? like seriously how are you going to give me that advice?

 

furthermore, literally as i was typing this, there was a post by someone else here slamming 'right wingers' in another thread. you know what i didn't see and dont expect to see and know i won't ever see below any posts of that type tho, alco? you there, giving them the same advice you just gave me. which makes it worthless and 100% hypocritical.

Edited April 9, 2015 by MisterE

[Alcofribas]

 

 

 

anyway, i encourage you to abandon your particular obsession with the liberal/republican binary

 

thanks for the advice. the guy actually labels/describes himself as a liberal, or even a strong liberal, as do many of his peers, and for me to acknowledge that means i have an obsession with a binary. meanwhile most of the political opinions you yourself hold, seem to me to be the same ones shared by people who call themselves liberal, but again, *im* the only one involved in some kind of binary that has anything to do with that word/label. weird how this works. seems to me like you just don't want to admit that the guy who you denied was one, actually is one. or that you were wrong for calling me dishonest for saying he is. so now its all about how im crazy for thinking about 'binaries'. what a nice buzzword/tool to get you out of situations. like you've never said something about 'conservatives' or right wingers? as if your contempt for ted cruz has nothing to do with him being associated with right wing tea party conservatives. don't try to bully me around with your hypocritical pseudo intellectual BS.

 

and my 'silly comment' about liberals only having tolerance to diversity when it's skin deep was totally evidenced by your own posts. you think you can define who gets to be a liberal depending on whether or not they agree with you on whatever particular issue. its 100% typical.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/gop-silicon-valley-20150408

the type of people who started using the term 'diversity' in the modern social/political context, are the same people who are least likely to actually approve of it when it comes to ideas. when they talk about diversity, they literally do only mean skin color, ethnicity, sexual preference, gender, etc. all the superficial things. anyone who disagrees with them is out. but again i mean i guess this is all in my imagination that this kind of thing goes on, and its just me and my crazy binary obsession.

 

 

 

i'm sorry that i tried to bully you around with my hypocritical pseudo intellectual bs.

[chenGOD]

 

 

doesnt obama claim to believe in sky ghost? hasn't everyone who's ever became president or ran in the general election? is it like a wink wink nudge nudge where liberals all just assume that 'their guy' really doesn't and only says they do so they can get elected? or are there just different standards?

We're not discussing obama here. If you'd like to start a thread about that, please do so. We are discussing why Ted Cruz can be portrayed as an idiot without it really being considered slander.

 

i believe i can point out that according to your logic, anyone who believes in 'sky ghost' also must therefore be an idiot. and i did. it's really all i cared to say in response to everything you posted. i guess you don't want to go on record whether you hold everyone to that same standard equally or whatever and that's to be expected and im ok with that.

 

 

That's not the only reason Cruz is an idiot. Belief in the sky ghost is only one sign, but I certainly would take Obama to task on it if he bleated about his Christianity as much as Cruz does.

Now how about you offer up some reasons why he's not an idiot beyond the fact that he went to Harvard and Princeton.

[MisterE]

@alco well, when you talk down to me in your subtle ways, telling me i need to be more nuanced, or well rounded (or other things which i feel could easily in your post history be shown to not apply to you any more than they do myself), like youre sitting over there in a smoking jacket in front of a fireplace, like you're some connoisseur sipping fine vintage politics and im some guy who drinks the pabst blue ribbon of having ideas, its more insulting than if you actually just came out and *called* me a caveman. you encourage me? excuse me whilst i throw up, and don't submit to your superior intellect.

 

we disagree on things. you and a healthy majority of people here think right wingers are often hypocrites and dumbasses, and don't hesitate to express that. every day, multiple times. it doesn't seem to bother you for some reason (maybe you only think in binary terms?) i think liberals are often hypocrites and dumbasses, and sometimes i express that. big deal. i dont mind that we disagree. i dont mind so much seeing anyone say they don't like ted cruz for this or that reason. i just feel like its pretty dishonest to portray him as a complete moron, and i expressed that. but then you gotta jump in and act like i'm somehow more of an asshole than anyone else here for expressing the same exact types of ideas but just from another angle, and in exactly the same exact types of language/ways that other people here do on the reg, and whom will never get the same bullshit condescending advice from you, ever.

[Alcofribas]

@alco well, when you talk down to me in your subtle ways, telling me i need to be more nuanced, or well rounded (or other things which i feel could easily in your post history be shown to not apply to you any more than they do myself), like youre sitting over there in a smoking jacket in front of a fireplace, like you're some connoisseur sipping fine vintage politics and im some guy who drinks the pabst blue ribbon of having ideas, its more insulting than if you actually just came out and *called* me a caveman. you encourage me? excuse me whilst i throw up, and don't submit to your superior intellect.

 

we disagree on things. you and a healthy majority of people here think right wingers are often hypocrites and dumbasses, and don't hesitate to express that. every day, multiple times. it doesn't seem to bother you for some reason (maybe you only think in binary terms?) i think liberals are often hypocrites and dumbasses, and sometimes i express that. big deal. i dont mind that we disagree. i dont mind so much seeing anyone say they don't like ted cruz for this or that reason. i just feel like its pretty dishonest to portray him as a complete moron, and i expressed that. but then you gotta jump in and act like i'm somehow more of an asshole than anyone else here for expressing the same exact types of ideas but just from another angle, and in exactly the same exact types of language/ways that other people here do on the reg, and whom will never get the same bullshit condescending advice from you, ever.

well, i do sincerely apologize if i was condescending. i certainly meant for some of my words to be barbed but more in the general spirit of debate and not as a personal affront so if that's how it came off please accept my apologies.

 

fwiw i think right wingers are hypocrites and dumbasses indeed, as are liberals. i have no affinity for either party and i think the general level of american politics in this age is quite vulgar, pathetic and embarrassing. but i think this not only of some one like ted cruz (cool story college grades aside) but also of the clintons. and in my view i think your particular emphasis on liberal hypocrisies often leads you to supporting, even if just tacitly, their right-wing counterparts. imo, you're just not radical enough mate.

 

but yeah, if i made you feel like i was looking down on you i apologize. it's difficult to strike the proper tone in political threads for many reasons and perhaps i come off too harsh bc i am used to not fitting in to either side of a liberal/conservative type debate. you may be encouraged to know that my least favorite coworker is a liberal, obama-loving vegetarian. i'm sure you and i could have a field day over her absolute bull shit.

[MisterE]

fair enough, and i obviously say things with barbs in them too. but like i said the moment i see you jump in to call out people for focusing on right wingers, i'll start considering the advice you gave me about my binary obsessions.