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Foreigners are fascinated with our politics. Why?
- Thread starter Ivanovich
- Start date
Quote from Gabfly1:
Obama is more of a centrist than he was first believed to be.
Well, here it would seem, lies a difference in belief from your perspective as a Canadian and many Americans. Perhaps to a Canadian, he IS centrist. I don't know. And this is by no means a knock on you, the fact that you are Canadian or Canada itself. I swear.
I just think this is the difference in your perspective. Americans (not all, but a considerable, growing amount) do not see Obama as aligned with their beliefs and objectives.
No, I am not comparing Obama to politicians or politics here in Canada. I am comparing Obama as he presently conducts himself to the perceptions of Obama before he took office. Relatively speaking, he is more of a centrist than he was believed to be by many Americans beforehand. He was thought to be more left-leaning by many Americans than his actual conduct would suggest. That was my point.Quote from Ivanovich:
Well, here it would seem, lies a difference in belief from your perspective as a Canadian and many Americans. Perhaps to a Canadian, he IS centrist. I don't know. And this is by no means a knock on you, the fact that you are Canadian or Canada itself. I swear.
I just think this is the difference in your perspective. Americans (not all, but a considerable, growing amount) do not see Obama as aligned with their beliefs and objectives.
Quote from Gabfly1:
No, I am not comparing Obama to politicians here in Canada. I am comparing Obama as he is to the perceptions of Obama before he took office. Relatively speaking, he is more of a centrist than he was believed to be by Americans beforehand. He was thought to be more left-leaning by many Americans than his actual conduct would suggest. That was my point.
I think I understood your point. I didn't mean that you were comparing him to Canadian politicians. But your personal view may be a good deal more left than that of the average American (which is a result of you living in Canada and the political/cultural aspect of life there, perhaps). As such, Obama may appear more centrist to you, when in fact, to us, he is not. I can tell you from my own perspective, he is too far left and not centrist enough. And Bush was too far right (and not fiscally conservative, which was my biggest beef with him).
Quote from Gabfly1:
You know full well that he wanted to get more done and in a more meaningful way. But look at all of the crazy opposition ready to label him a traitor, terrorist and so on, doing everything it its power to stop anything and everything he tries to do. Who is more to blame? There is the ideal world and then there is the real world. Pragmatists live in the real world. The US has a lot of exceptionally bright people. However it has far more than its share of crazies. The US is being held back by these crazies who are, for all intents and purposes, marionette dolls being manipulated by self-serving special interests. And then there is the rampant paranoid schizophrenia seeking expression...
Was Obama so naive to think that Republicans would unite with Democrats and support his "change"? Surely Obama knew there would be staunch opposition to his proposed change. You can't blame Republicans for Obama not delivering on his promises. Obama made the promises, not the Republicans.
Quote from Ivanovich:
Well, here it would seem, lies a difference in belief from your perspective as a Canadian and many Americans. Perhaps to a Canadian, he IS centrist. I don't know. And this is by no means a knock on you, the fact that you are Canadian or Canada itself. I swear.
I just think this is the difference in your perspective. Americans (not all, but a considerable, growing amount) do not see Obama as aligned with their beliefs and objectives.
Correct, the word conservative in many other western developed countries is different from what it means in the USA. For example, the Conservative party in the UK would be more like the Democratic party. put Sarah palin on a european talkshow, and they would think she is a neo-nazi raving lunatic.
Quote from MohdSalleh:
Correct, the word conservative in many other western developed countries is different from what it means in the USA. For example, the Conservative party in the UK would be more like the Democratic party. put Sarah palin on a european talkshow, and they would think she is a neo-nazi raving lunatic.
Sort of what I was getting to, but more than just semantics. I think there's a generally different viewpoint that most Americans possess that most non-Americans don't quite grasp, or grasp and think is wrong/crazy, whatever.
Quote from Gabfly1:
And they would be largely correct.
Again, not necessarily from the viewpoint of the average American. but certainly from the European viewpoint, perhaps the Canadian viewpoint (if you and some others here are a valid sample of the populist thought in Canada). Again, not that it's wrong or right. just different.