Text 14984, 136 rader
Skriven 2008-05-09 09:20:18 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
  Kommentar till text 14958 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
Ärende: Unrest in France
========================
Roy Witt wrote to Robert Bashe on Thursday May 08 2008 at 22:35:

RB>> Roy, what do you want me to do? I don't damn the States out of hand,

RW> Just out of ignorance.

Do you mean that if I were better informed, I _would_ damn the States out of
hand?

RB>> although the present situation frightens me.

RW> I wouldn't let it bother you, since it's only temporary. In January,
RW> things will look different, whether a Democrat or a Republican sits in
RW> the White House.

Regrettably, I don't believe that for one minute. I'd be happier if I could,
but the damage that's been done in the past 8 years is not going to undone
overnight, regardless of who leads the next administration.

RB>> I got into hot water defending the Iraq invasion in the German echos,
RB>> because I was honestly convinced that there _were_ WMDs if the
RB>> intelligence people said there were, and thought Iraq was a big place
RB>> to hide such things.

RW> And you were ashamed of doing that because you think the Germans,
RW> French and Russkies were right?

No, I see I was wrong because they _were_ right, as even the US administration
meanwhile admits.

RB>> It never even occurred to me that the information was being
RB>> manipulated. I trusted both the President and his advisors, and
RB>> firmly believed in the separation of powers in the Constitution.

RW> So did I...and I'm not sorry that it turned out the way it did. Iraq
RW> will be a better place to be in the future...all they need to do is
RW> take the ball and run with it.

Like in the last few years? That's another thing I'd like to believe, but
can't.

RB>> the President was a gung-ho fanatic,

RW> I think he did the right thing.

And I meanwhile think he did the one thing that would enable bin Laden, al
Quaida and the Taliban to regroup and strengthen.

RB>> and the constitutional separation of powers is a myth.

RW> Is it? I see the separation everyday. Congress is always fighting with
RW> the White House, and vice versa.

And who loses? Congress.

RW> The only people who seem to make any sense are the Supreme Court
RW> justices.

And they stay well away from the hot potatos.

RB>> Just look at Bush's blatent rejection of the idea that he cannot
RB>> order domestic wiretaps without judicual approval - and Congress'
RB>> kowtow to that view.

RW> The only people who have anything to worry about there are those who
RW> would conspire with the enemy. I'm for it.

This kind of BS is also prevalent among those here in Germany who are
uninformed and unable to realize that _everyone_ has something to hide. The
most regrettable part of it is that they generally only realize their error too
late, and then scream because they themselves are the targets of government
snooping.

RB>> To be frank, I'm frightened. I'm frightened at the developments in
RB>> the States and even more frightened that our own politicians embrace
RB>> every democracy-limiting, privacy-intrusive act of Mr. Bush so
RB>> enthusiastically. Democracy, quo vadis?

RW> You have democracy over there? Odd, I didn't think there was such a
RW> thing in countries who haven't got the 'people' running government.

And how long have you lived outside the States to venture such an opinion?

RB>> In times past, the States was a refuge in a troubled world. I regret
RB>> deeply that is no longer the case, and can only hope that a new
RB>> administration - probably several will be necessary - will manage to
RB>> rebuild the loss of democracy and confidence in the States.

RW> I'm still as free as I was on September 10, 2001...

That's what you think.

RW> What I see is an improvement in illegal immigration laws. If you want
RW> to come here and work, fine, but when the job is done, go home.

Too late, Roy. If the States had wanted that, it would have had to start a
couple of hundred years ago. And of course, it would not have developed as it
did for lack of population.

RB>> Roy, I was born in the States and grew up there. What happens there
RB>> concerns me greatly. I want to see a United States that is free,

RW> Look no further. It's free.

It _was_ free.

RB>> democratic and again respected in the world. The present situation
RB>> makes me desperately unhappy.

RW> The best you can hope for in your situation is to become a German
RW> citizen and don't look back. We'll take care of America without your
RW> presence.

As a matter of fact, I _am_ a German citizen, naturalized after some 35 years
here. At the time, I was sad that I had to give up my American citizenship to
become naturalized, but meanwhile that sadness has faded considerably.

I think once you get past the border, the intrusive, demeaning and downright
insulting "security" checks (do they really think foreign visitors are going to
bomb a taxi from the airport to the city??), the people in the States are just
as good-natured and pleasant as they always were. The problem is getting past
the border: that's no more fun nowadays than a night in prison, with the risk
that one false word will get you held without charge for interrogation and
possibly put on the next plane leaving the States at your expense.

But I don't expect you to understand that, as you've apparently never ben
outside the States (except maybe on a visitors' card to Mexico), and have thus
never had to grit your teeth at the border controls - if you had visited a
country behind the Iron Curtain, you might have some idea how foreigners now
view American immigration procedures. The only difference was that the Iron
Curtain countries never took your fingerprints.

Cheers, Bob

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