Video: How to get shot in Alabama.

[California Tanker]

http://www.filecabi.net/video/topgear-rednecks.html

This is amusing. Site contains not-work-safe-links. Takes about ten minutes.

NTM

[Dingfod]

Being deliberately offensive. Real fun.

[D. Scarlatti]

Only in America would advertising an actual presidential candidate be considered offensive.

[Dingfod]

I kind of doubt we have exclusive claim to that honor.

[Watser?]

Not may other places that claim to be the cradle of democracy come to mind...

[Kevlar]

I've got two words for you non-Americans who want to read too much into this... soccer hooligans. Wear the wrong jersey in parts of Europe, and see if you don't get you arse whooped. Sure, we have our share of idiots in this country, but no more or less than anyone else.

[D. Scarlatti]

I'm not denying they were being deliberately provocative, but I also assume there are some Democrats in Alabama, and that Hillary Clinton has, or will have, campaign offices there. I hope the volunteers can advocate for their political candidate without fearing for their lives and limbs. If they can't, then that's not good.

"MANLOVE RULES OK" and "NASCAR SUCKS" ... well, that's a different story.

[Watser?]

I've got two words for you non-Americans who want to read too much into this... soccer hooligans. Wear the wrong jersey in parts of Europe, and see if you don't get you arse whooped. Sure, we have our share of idiots in this country, but no more or less than anyone else.

I know that

But you do understand that Americans acting like they invented democracy and freedom do tend to annoy...

[Kevlar]

I'm not denying they were being deliberately provocative, but I also assume there are some Democrats in Alabama, and that Hillary Clinton has, or will have, campaign offices there. I hope the volunteers can advocate for their political candidate without fearing for their lives and limbs. If they can't, then that's not good.

"MANLOVE RULES OK" and "NASCAR SUCKS" ... well, that's a different story.

My father's family lives in Alabama and his parents are old school Democrats... since the Great Depression. Actually, my parents are the first in both sides of their families to go Republican. I'm not sure if my grandparents would vote for Hillary, but they've always bashed the Republicans. As far as I know, they've never experienced any violence or ill will for being Democrats.

[Kevlar]

But you do understand that Americans acting like they invented democracy and freedom do tend to annoy...

Let's be a little more accurate. There are some Americans who think like that, and there are at least an equal number who don't. Don't bash us all because a lot of us agree with you, and we need all the support we can get in dealing with the red half of this country.

[TomJoe]

According to WIKI, the Democratic party holds a strong majority in both houses of the Alabama state legislature, and the Lt. Governor is a Democrat as well. For some reason, since the 60's they've voted for Republican presidents (with 3 exceptions), but they maintain a Democratic stranglehold on state politics. Seems the state is somewhat schizophrenic.

[D. Scarlatti]

I didn't mean "Only in America" as a putdown of America, by the way. I like it here (although I'm in Wisconsin, not Alabama). As a matter of fact I'm periodically asked by Americans, "Why would you move here from Canada?" and "Aren't you going back? Why not?" and "You actually prefer living here to Canada??" not because they want me to go back where I came from (I hope), but because they think Canada has a better standard of living.

Anyway, I'm sure the "HILLARY FOR PRESIDENT" car would have elicited little or no response had it been unaccompanied by the "MANLOVE RULES OK" and the "COUNTRY MUSIC SUCKS" cars (I hope).

[TomJoe]

I know that

But you do understand that Americans acting like they invented democracy and freedom do tend to annoy...As do people who bitch about America in broad brush style ...

Get a new fucking hobby.

[Kevlar]

According to WIKI, the Democratic party holds a strong majority in both houses of the Alabama state legislature, and the Lt. Governor is a Democrat as well. For some reason, since the 60's they've voted for Republican presidents (with 3 exceptions), but they maintain a Democratic stranglehold on state politics. Seems the state is somewhat schizophrenic.

This is also true in North Carolina and Tennessee. Republican support in the South didn't really take off until they started aligning their selves with the religious types. Even still, that support has mostly been on a Federal level.

[D. Scarlatti]

Even still, that support has mostly been on a Federal level.

That's 'cause they really understand what "states' rights" means down there.

:wink:

[Kevlar]

That's 'cause they really understand what "states' rights" means down there.

:wink:

:giggle:

You know scar, that was a great quip. What's even funnier is that it came from a Canadian.

[D. Scarlatti]

Heh. I considered adding this photo to it:

http://www.american-buddha.com/mississippiburningimageredm.jpg

But that would have been a bit much.

Seriously, I think this is a great country, and we get a lot of U.S. history and culture up in Canada, although I must say that most Canadians take a pretty dim view of the States in general, for various reasons. Unfairly, I think.

[TomJoe]

Having spent six years in Buffalo, NY ... visits to Canada, Toronto mostly, were common. The only place I ever got shit for being American was, probably not surprisingly, in Montreal.

[Watser?]

I know that

But you do understand that Americans acting like they invented democracy and freedom do tend to annoy...As do people who bitch about America in broad brush style ...

Get a new fucking hobby.

Okay, the results are in, there have been a lot of signs pointing to this conclusion but I have tried to gather more evidence.

But no, you really ARE a dick :fuckyou:

:plonk:

[D. Scarlatti]

The only place I ever got shit for being American was, probably not surprisingly, in Montreal.

Hell, you get shit for being Canadian in Montreal!

[TomJoe]

But no, you really ARE a dick :fuckyou:

Heh, even I could have told you that. Now, like I said ... go get a new fucking hobby.

[Kevlar]

My god! That guy has a lot of Red Man in his mouth!

[D. Scarlatti]

My god! That guy has a lot of Red Man in his mouth!

MANLOVE RULES OK!

[The Lone Ranger]

Historically, Democrats have dominated Southern politics since the Civil War and up until the 60s and 70s. My understanding is that it's largely a relic of the Civil War. Southerners tend to have long memories about some things (heck, you still meet lots of "Unreconstructed Confederates" in the South to this day who have bumper stickers and t-shirts showing a Confederate battle flag and the words "Forget, Hell!").

After the Civil War, there was tremendous anger against the Republican party in the South, both because many people viewed the war as "The Party of Lincoln" imposing its views on the South and because of the high-handed and frankly vengeful manner with which many Northern politicians treated the defeated South.


So, given how Southerners tended to blame the Republican Party for their woes (both real and imagined), it wasn't until the 1960s that Republicans began to make real inroads in the South. There were, as I understand it, two big reasons. First, there was the Civil Rights Movement. Many white Southerners deeply resented government attempts to enforce racial equality laws, and since the Democrats were seen as being more in favor of Civil Rights laws than were the Republicans, on the whole, this began a swing toward Republicans in the deeply conservative South.

The second (and closely-related) factor was Nixon's "Southern Strategy" of deliberately playing on white resentment over the Civil Rights movement and the perception that the Federal Government (which Southerners have tended to be deeply distrustful of, certainly since the Civil War) was attempting to impose its will on them again.

Since Nixon, Southerners have tended to support Republicans at the national level, even as much of the South is still a Democratic stronghold at the local level.


The irony, of course, is that while Democrats dominated Southern politics for well over a century, and still do at a local level in much of the South, your average Southern democrat is much more of a traditional "Conservative" than is the average Republican from pretty-much anywhere else in the country. (That's one reason why "Dixiecrats" tended to side much more often with Republicans on some issues than their "fellow Democrats.")


My grandfather was a State Representative in Maine. He was a life-long Republican, but I remember him often expressing amazement at how Democrats in the South tended to be far more Conservative than he was, or any other Republicans from North of the Mason-Dixon Line.


Cheers,

Michael

[The Lone Ranger]

Incidentally, my grandfather lived long-enough to see his beloved Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, taken over by anti-intellectual, anti-immigrant, fiscally irresponsible, racist God-botherers like Nixon, Reagan, and Bush I -- and was utterly appalled. He thought Reagan's fiscal irresponsibility and naked anti-intellectualism was deeply shameful.

I'm almost glad he didn't live to see Bush II. He'd have been heartbroken and outraged at what the GOP has turned into.

Cheers,

Michael

[Watser?]

But you do understand that Americans acting like they invented democracy and freedom do tend to annoy...

Let's be a little more accurate. There are some Americans who think like that, and there are at least an equal number who don't. Don't bash us all because a lot of us agree with you, and we need all the support we can get in dealing with the red half of this country.

I don't bash you all. I am just saying the ones that act like that tend to annoy

And they would still annoy me if I was American myself, there are a lot of annoying assholes over here as well.

[Kevlar]

Yeah, there are a lot of factors contributing to the political polarization of the South, and white supremacy had a lot to do with where the votes swung. The Democrats were being blamed for desegregation and many people switched parties, including Strom Thurman and Jesse Helms. So essentially, a lot of the prominent Dixiecrats switched to the Republican party and I'm sure a good portion of their constituents did too.

[Kevlar]

I don't bash you all. I am just saying the ones that act like that tend to annoy

And they would still annoy me if I was American myself, there are a lot of annoying assholes over here as well.

I understand you're not bashing me personally Watser. Believe me, the current world situation also causes me a lot of grief and embarrassment. But, these Americans whom we disagree with, are my family, neighbors, friends, and coworkers. I've already had two face-to-face "disagreements" today and can count on more to come.

In spite of all the stupidity Americans have unleashed on the world, I am getting extremely tired of the anti-American sentiment I see all over the Internet. I feel these persons are falling into the "us vs them" mentality that the neocons are fostering. We are not one person, and we do not all have the same values. If anyone is going to change this country's policies towards humankind, it's going to be Americans here on the home front.

[Clutch Munny]

In spite of all the stupidity Americans have unleashed on the world, I am getting extremely tired of the anti-American sentiment I see all over the Internet.
I suspect that the world is more tired of the stupidity that's been unleashed than you are of hearing about it.

Which isn't to say that the difference between the USA as a nation and Americans as individual people isn't very important to bear in mind. But complaining about harms is not on a par with having committed them. It's hardly an injustice that as long as X has to live with the consequences of my jackassery, I have to live with X's complaining about it.

In any case, I have no doubt that there are large portions of the planet's surface in which painting a political slogan on your car would get you shitkicked or shot dead. (Try "Free Chechnya" in Moscow, say.) We expect better of Western democracies, though.

[Watser?]

Believe me if it was just stupidity the US government was unleashing on the world I wouldn't care.
The US is a very powerful country, we have to live with the bad choices the US voters make, all of us all over the world do. So I guess we do feel entitled to bitch about them. I know you are not personally responsible (assuming you did not vote for this bunch), but I will not apologize for bitching about the stupidity of the average American voter. If you are gonna vote in elections, you have a responsibility to be educated IMO.

[Kevlar]

Watser, I've been gone for a while, but I don't remember you being so petty.

Average American voter? Both of Bush's victories were by a very narrow margin, in case you don't remember. I'm just a poor uneducated American, but maybe you could use your superior European intellect to explain to me what an average voter is when the vote is evenly split.

Entitled to bitch? Unless you are somehow personally being screwed over by Americans, you really should find a new hobby. As a matter of fact, I'll get screwed over by Americans more in this one week than you will in your entire life (it's income tax time).

[Watser?]

Bush only had one victory, so I am not gonna use the first 4 years against you.
The second time every single one of you should have realised what a disaster the whole thing was. I still can't believe the chimp got elected that time. And what I really can't believe is that there are no demonstrations, no strikes, hardly any people telling congress to get off their butts and do something about this unmitigated disaster and not even many people trying to prevent these idiots in charge from starting the next war. What I see is most people buying the whole Iran-is-responsible-for-attacks-in-Iraq bullshit hook, line and sinker as if nothing happened. Whatever happened to fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me?
And I know people here are buying most of the same crap too (and if it is less so it is only because the press here is not in the hands of ultra-cons or neocons like it is in the US), Europeans are not by nature smarter than Americans, but we don't have the power to fuck up the world like the US does.
So yes, I get pissed off at that: little boys playing with fire.
And what really pisses me off is people who not only don't know crap about the world they rule, but people who do not even WANT to know.
So call me anything you want, but please at least educate yourself on what is going on and then educate others...

[Artemis Entreri]

Go to the right area in any state or nation in the world and purposely try to insult the natives and that is bound to happen.
Personally I would have just laughed.
From the looks of that gas station they went out of their way to find some hicks. Seems like the locals were more upset at some outsiders making fun of 'em than what was actually written on the cars. Unfortunately they didn't seem to realize or care that their reaction only fed right into the stereotypes the show was trying to exploit.
This is of course assuming that the whole incident was not staged.

[Clutch Munny]

Unless you are somehow personally being screwed over by Americans, you really should find a new hobby.

It's hard to see any reason to accept this principle.

Try: "Unless you're personally being screwed over by Southern prejudice, Yankee white boy, you really should find a new hobby to replace your bitching about the way we treat our niggers".

No, it doesn't seem to work there. Any reason to think it works in the case of, say, international concern over the comprehensive fucking up of the Persian Gulf?

[Watser?]

What I am trying to say is: if we fuck up our elections and elect the idiot, which we frequently do, WE are screwed, the rest of the world can still sleep soundly.

If the US screws up and elects the idiot, the whole world is screwed.

And as I said, if I was American I would be just as pissed off at the whole thing.

[California Tanker]

This is of course assuming that the whole incident was not staged.

Most people are leaning in the direction of 'staged', or at least 'very creatively edited.'

NTM

[Dingfod]

Personally, I never tire of anti-American sentiment.

[Clutch Munny]

This is of course assuming that the whole incident was not staged.

Most people are leaning in the direction of 'staged', or at least 'very creatively edited.'

NTM

Certainly possible. For example, much of the effect of the clip has to do with how quickly it seemed that a truckload of assholes could be whistled up to come beat on some foreigners. But how long did that really take? And why did it happen?

(Imagine: Woman says: "You shitheads. I should phone my son to get some of his friends over here." JC: "Hey, go ahead. I dare you. We're in no hurry." The fueling up stops while they wait for the fireworks...)

[Watser?]

Well, as long as I'm on a roll, how's this for anti-American sentiment: When the soviets withdrew from Central Europe, U.S. constitutional experts rushed in. They got a polite hearing, and were sent home. Jiri Pehe, adviser to former president Vaclav Havel, recalls the Czechs' firm decision to adopt a European-style parliamentary system with strict limits on campaigning. "For Europeans, money talks too much in American democracy. It's very prone to certain kinds of corruption, or at least influence from powerful lobbies," he says. "Europeans would not want to follow that route." They also sought to limit the dominance of television, unlike in American campaigns where, Pehe says, "TV debates and photogenic looks govern election victories."

So it is elsewhere. After American planes and bombs freed the country, Kosovo opted for a European constitution. Drafting a post-apartheid constitution, South Africa rejected American-style federalism in favor of a German model, which leaders deemed appropriate for the social-welfare state they hoped to construct. Now fledgling African democracies look to South Africa as their inspiration, says John Stremlau, a former U.S. State Department official who currently heads the international relations department at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg: "We can't rely on the Americans." The new democracies are looking for a constitution written in modern times and reflecting their progressive concerns about racial and social equality, he explains. "To borrow Lincoln's phrase, South Africa is now Africa's 'last great hope'."

Much in American law and society troubles the world these days. Nearly all countries reject the United States' right to bear arms as a quirky and dangerous anachronism. They abhor the death penalty and demand broader privacy protections. Above all, once most foreign systems reach a reasonable level of affluence, they follow the Europeans in treating the provision of adequate social welfare is a basic right. All this, says Bruce Ackerman at Yale University Law School, contributes to the growing sense that American law, once the world standard, has become "provincial." The United States' refusal to apply the Geneva Conventions to certain terrorist suspects, to ratify global human-rights treaties such as the innocuous Convention on the Rights of the Child or to endorse the International Criminal Court (coupled with the abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo) only reinforces the conviction that America's Constitution and legal system are out of step with the rest of the world.
Daily Kos (http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/2/15/163329/995)

[The Lone Ranger]

I've often suspected we'd be a lot better off if we scrapped our money-dominated, "winner takes all" system -- in which the interests of corporations and wealthy individuals far outweigh the interests of the average person -- and replaced it with a parliamentary system of some sort, in which it is understood that the primary function of government is to ensure the health and safety of its citizens, rather than to further enrich those in positions of power and influence.

That isn't likely to happen though, alas.

Cheers,

Michael

[wildernesse]

The second time every single one of you should have realised what a disaster the whole thing was. I still can't believe the chimp got elected that time. And what I really can't believe is that there are no demonstrations, no strikes, hardly any people telling congress to get off their butts and do something about this unmitigated disaster and not even many people trying to prevent these idiots in charge from starting the next war. What I see is most people buying the whole Iran-is-responsible-for-attacks-in-Iraq bullshit hook, line and sinker as if nothing happened. Whatever happened to fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me?


There are (and have been) demonstrations and protests, but they are not widely reported even when they are of a decently large scale. And as for telling our reps that we want them to change. . .both of my Senators are Republicans and now (because of redistricting) so is my representative--they don't care how many times I write them or email them, they are not going to vote my way on ANYTHING, whether it is about the war or about increasing support for bike lanes. And Republicans are not going to stop being elected around here, as long as Democrats are the gay-friendly, abortion-supporting, gun control, treehugging, minimum-wage-raising, tax party. Those issues are still more important than the war in Iraq to the Republicans that I know.

[Psykottik]

Guys.....I live in Mississippi. While it's not Alabama, I can safely say it is worse. That video IS typical. If you could just spend a few weeks here, you would laugh every five minutes at the stupid shit you would see. You would definitely gain appreciation for what you have back home.