Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[Rome]

i'm fighting tooth and nail...for you all to shut up

EL LOL.

[ice grillin you]

It's ridiculous to expect adults who've lived in America for 20+ years to learn a new language to accommodate immigrants.


when has or will this ever happen???

are you saying that there are english speaking americans (say me or you) that have to learn spanish to accomodate people from say mexico?

if im reading that right this is exactly what im talking about giving the other side an inch in this argument...because then you get the world is ending type hyperbole like this


Call a hotel in Brussels and make a reservation. They speak French, German, Dutch and English perfectly. All of continental Europe speaks more than one one language, but suggest that the United States should accommodate for its massive spanish speaking population and people start claiming that it isn't sensible. It's like standing up and screaming 'Americans are too stupid and lazy to accommodate for something that is already a reality.' Oh, wait...


i agree with what youre saying and it would be nice if americans became more cultured (particularly the red states)...but its not like europeans are some cultured super intelligent people that wanna learn seven languages from the time they are born...its that they have to do this as they can have four or five countries bordering their home land that all speak different languages...compared to north america that essentially has two or three

[rjs246]

i agree with what youre saying and it would be nice if americans became more cultured (particularly the red states)...but its not like europeans are some cultured super intelligent people that wanna learn seven languages from the time they are born...its that they have to do this as they can have four or five countries bordering their home land that all speak different languages...compared to north america that essentially has two or three

While I would love for America to become more worldly, becoming more 'cultured' doesn't mean anything. We are plenty cultured. It's just that our culture revolves around Brittany Spears and Lindsay Lohan. But none of that is the point of what I'm saying.

Other countries don't HAVE to learn multiple languages any more than America does. Other countries simply acknowledge that life is a lot easier when you can communicate with your neighbors, clients, customers and business partners. The global community isn't so large that massive economic powers can shut themselves off from each other. But by refusing to even accept the reality of a second language within our own borders we're making a larger statement to the world that we stand alone and refuse to give an inch on something that the rest of the modern world has accepted as a matter of course.

[ice grillin you]

Other countries don't HAVE to learn multiple languages any more than America does. Other countries simply acknowledge that life is a lot easier when you can communicate with your neighbors

they dont "have" to in terms of it being a law or anything but if new york spoke a different language than maryland and california spoke a different language than nevada and florida was different from them all then americans would be as bilingual as europeans

[rjs246]

Europeans would not take kindly to having their separate countries and cultures compared to the separate states of america. But that doesn't matter, my point is that California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas are all technically monolingual too and they're butting right up against a massive spanish speaking population. They're more neighbors with Mexico than Maryland is to New York.

Whatever, it doesn't matter. We basically agree, I just don't think there's any more of a need in europe than there is here. we're just more stubborn and ignorant about it.

[ice grillin you]

americans dont travel to mexico (outside of english speaking resorts) on near the same level that europeans cross their borders...europe is like a mini united states except that most of the states speak different languages...theres no comparison

but even if you count mexico thats one country....in europe you might have four or five languages bordering up against you

all im saying is if all of europe spoke english except spain spoke spanish they wouldnt be any different than us in terms of language

[Phanatic]

Europe really is a different animal. The population is much older and more established with a lot more history and that brings a lot more diversification. In my time in Strasbourg France for a consulting job years ago the local people had to speak French and German plus Alsace which is a combination of both languages that has morphed into it's own regional language because of all the times the region has changed between Fench and German control over a millennia. There are regions like this all throughout france where they speak local dialects as well as the other languages in the region.

They are able to function like this because everyone speaks the national language (French). They are tolerant of other languages though because they live in that world so everyone picks up languages like STDs. Here in the US we have a national language that everyone should learn to function, however we aren't very tolerant.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Back to Democratic race news:

• Polls show that Edwards dropping out would clearly favor Obama
• A judge ruled that Kucinich would have to be included in tonight's debate, but NBC is appealing.

[ice grillin you]

i dont think it could win but an obama edwards ticket would be the best thing this country has had since kennedy/lbj

[rjs246]

i dont think it could win but an obama edwards ticket would be the best thing this country has had since kennedy/lbj

I definitely think it could win. That ticket is the easiest thing on earth to vote for. All of the bleeding hearts can sport a woodrow over electing a black man. All of the moderate Democrats and Independents will be reasonably happy with it since Edwards is VERY moderate and Obama is pretending to be moderate. Anyone who wants change but is scared of black-man-white-woman-turn-the-country-on-its-ear change can be comfortable with it too. I think it's a winner and I hope that Edwards drops out soon so Obama can grab all of his votes.

[ice grillin you]

edwards is nowhere close to "very" moderate...while hes not quite as liberal as obama he is a very solid liberal...and thats the point...no ticket that liberal would ever win the presidency in this country today...it would be next to impossible for a black man to win...but an ultra liberal one...not gonna happen

[rjs246]

I think you've convinced yourself that there aren't any right-leaning independents that would switch sides for a presidential vote and I think that you are very wrong about that.

[ice grillin you]

well unless his stance on issues has been a lie for his entire political career then id say youre wrong...you do know he has a voting record going back ten years

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Edwards is probably more liberal and certainly more unpredictable than Obama.  While you'd think a white guy from the south would add balance to the ticket, IGY is right that it really wouldn't.

[rjs246]

I understand that they are both very liberal candidates. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. Whoever comes out of the Democratic side of things is going to be pretty goddamned liberal. Hillary and Edwards are almost identical in their stances and Obama's voting record is even more liberal. So what? One of them is going to come out as the Democratic candidate and people are going to vote for them. Obama Edwards is about as good as it gets from this crop.