11-07-2008, 12:32 AM
In reply to post #16 by Pete
"Who can vote is determined by the states. Who can be in congress is determined by the federal government."
Since this was about Alaska, does that state allow voting by convicted felons? If so, it's still strange:)
"However, if you want to intelligently discuss American politics and actions, it would be helpful if you at least had some knowledge of the American character."
I was just expressing my feelings about the matter. No attempt at intelligent discussions on this subject was intended. But since you bring it up, any real knowledge on Iraq society wasn't required to judge the people over there, wasn't it? Lack of knowledge seldom stops people from posting, and there is nothing wrong with it unless they refuse to accept that.
Besides, your 'American character' is not as strange to me as you might assume. Did you know that we (Dutch and Americans) started out in the same way, as rebellious colonies? It's no longer common knowledge here, but we too used to idealize civil violence, as long as it was directed against authorities that we didn't like (opportunism is a Dutch invention, I think). That's why the Netherlands was the first country in the world to recognize the USA, because we had been in the same situation only 200 years earlier. There is even reason to believe that your Declaration of Independance was based on a earlier, now mostly forgotten, Dutch paper (link). The biggest difference between us is that we have stopped being proud about it a long time ago.
"Who can vote is determined by the states. Who can be in congress is determined by the federal government."
Since this was about Alaska, does that state allow voting by convicted felons? If so, it's still strange:)
"However, if you want to intelligently discuss American politics and actions, it would be helpful if you at least had some knowledge of the American character."
I was just expressing my feelings about the matter. No attempt at intelligent discussions on this subject was intended. But since you bring it up, any real knowledge on Iraq society wasn't required to judge the people over there, wasn't it? Lack of knowledge seldom stops people from posting, and there is nothing wrong with it unless they refuse to accept that.
Besides, your 'American character' is not as strange to me as you might assume. Did you know that we (Dutch and Americans) started out in the same way, as rebellious colonies? It's no longer common knowledge here, but we too used to idealize civil violence, as long as it was directed against authorities that we didn't like (opportunism is a Dutch invention, I think). That's why the Netherlands was the first country in the world to recognize the USA, because we had been in the same situation only 200 years earlier. There is even reason to believe that your Declaration of Independance was based on a earlier, now mostly forgotten, Dutch paper (link). The biggest difference between us is that we have stopped being proud about it a long time ago.