Jeez, how could you have missed that? Julian's the Immoderator, after all.
> So while the Nazis invaded numerous small
> innocent countries and performed genocide
> on the Jews, it took you four years to work
> out who the bad guys were?
We knew who the bad guys were. The question was whether we should do anything about it. Are you claiming that we had a moral or legal obligation to intervene? If so, please distinguish from any of three dozen other brutal dictatorships around the world.
> And the Japanese had to blow the shit out of
> Pearl Harbour before you realised something
> other than scratching your arse might be
> appropriate?
Again, lots of people thought "it is not our war" up until then. If you are against our war in Iraq (as I assume), how do you distinguish that from your proposed pre-emptive action against Japan before Pearl Harbor?
> Just how stupid are Americans? Some superpower,
> eh?
Brilliant exposition.
> As I said before, the USA doesn't have a
> "history" in the same sense that real
> countries and real cultures do.
If that distinguishes us from the French, I say Hallelujah!"
> Here's a quick summary of the USA's history
> for you. The vast bulk of your initial
> population was comprised of unwanted idiot
> mongrels from various proper nations and
> cultures. It hasn't improved with time.
So, by your use of the word "mongrel", I assume you are against inter-racial marriage.
I've started to think that courage has a genetic component. Everyone in Europe who had any emigrated, which explains why Europe is a ball-less wonder today.
Seriously, though, what is your point here? We are a nation of immigrants. The facts that there was nothing of substance here 400 years ago and that there is a superpower here now indicates something extraordinary to me.
> You started off by anihilating the indigenous
> population of your own land,
Historically, this is no different than countless other wars (which does nothing to lessen any moral guilt -- my only point is that this does not distinguish us from most of Europe).
> and have progressed from there all the way
> to electing George W Bush as your First Citizen.
That's progress, all right! He's an excellent president.
> In between, you managed to burn the whole of
> Vietnam to the ground and still lose the war!
> Some superpower, eh?
That was somewhat problematic, both in the decision to fight that hard and in the loss. All I can say is that we have learned from it.
> Now, if you'd like to discuss the subject
> properly, let's go off list.
Nah. It's more fun to sling mud. "Never mud wrestle a pig: you both get dirty, but the pig likes it."
> Before we do connect off list though, it might
> be worthwhile asking yourself the question,
> "Why does the rest of the world hate us?"
> rather than trying to argue that it has no
> right to hate you.
Same reason it hated Britain in the 1800's -- raw envy.
> This sort of question is a tactic employed by
> intelligent people in proper countries with
> proper cultures. By the way, you have my
> permission to pass this little tip on to
> Dubya. If he would bother asking, "What
> would make people hate us so much that they
> would hijack an aeroplane and fly it into
> one of our buildings?" rather than screaming,
> "Round up a posse and let's give the bastards a
> necktie party!" he would achieve an awful lot more
> for "homeland security" than he is presently
> managing.
Brilliant argument: by calling us "improper", you can seemingly ignore the fact that hatred and killing are fundamentally wrong. Why are you making excuses for terrorists?
Usama and his boys hate us because of exactly what we believe we stand for: free minds, free elections, and free markets. Just take UBL's proposed treatment of women as a case in point: he believes it is morally wrong for women to show any significant portion of their bodies in public. We believe that's not up to the government, within limits. For that and similar reasons, he thinks we should die, because we are wrong, wrong, wrong. We're not imposing our laws on him, but he seeks to impose his on us. So again, why are you sticking up for terrorists? They are wrong to hate us and I really can't see you agreeing within them in substantive terms.
> I'm also tempted to recommend reading Michael
> Moore's book, "Dude Where's My Country?" but
> since over 99% of Americans have not read a
> non-fiction novel since leaving full-time
> education (sic), I guess that one's doomed to
> failure.
It is doomed to failure because Michael Moore is an idiot. <obligatoryinsult> Like you, you big, fat, stinkin', frijole-enhanced, garlic-fortified, six-egg-omelet, sulphurous stench of a fart.* </obligatoryinsult>
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