US democracy at work

[gilleshk]

First of all.. that Yamamoto quote has never been substantiated and the are far more complicated reason why tiny Japan wouldn't want to stretch supply lines(you must have heard an officer or two talk about supply lines when you were serving lunch in the mess across the Pacific. They were already spread out across Asia.

You also might not have noticed but the world has changed in the last 70 years... The idea of a militia also implies that people receive some kind of training and have minimal discipline. That is the case in Switzerland where you don't see the kind of insanity that happens in the US.

By the way, some tin foil geniuses also said a similar thing about Germany not invading Switzerland... It's always good for a laugh...

Anyway, Admiral Yamamoto would today probably say something like "why bother invading? Let them keep killing themselves"

[audiot]

I watched that and marveled at how close to deadly some were especially when the automatic weapons were waving about spewing bullets.

seems like a lot of gun owners aren't that responsible, they seem to treat these things like toys.

are they toys?

[ouwen]

First of all.. that Yamamoto quote has never been substantiated and the are far more complicated reason why tiny Japan wouldn't want to stretch supply lines(you must have heard an officer or two talk about supply lines when you were serving lunch in the mess across the Pacific. They were already spread out across Asia.

First of all, Yamamoto gave a one liner reply, he didn't write an essay on military stategy.

You also might not have noticed but the world has changed in the last 70 years... The idea of a militia also implies that people receive some kind of training and have minimal discipline. That is the case in Switzerland where you don't see the kind of insanity that happens in the US.

I believe we were interpreting the wording of the US constitution, which was written over 200 year ago.

By the way, some tin foil geniuses also said a similar thing about Germany not invading Switzerland... It's always good for a laugh...

Why do you use US govt conspiracy theory terminology? Did you attend the CIA seminar?

Anyway, Admiral Yamamoto would today probably say something like "why bother invading? Let them keep killing themselves"

I agree with the Admiral. Let them keep killing themselves, making a living by stealing from each other, bankrupting their country with runaway govt spending, and destroying their currency with money printing. I spend most of my life in other countries.

[ouwen]

The US militias were converted into state guards, then into National Guards. They spend millions on advertising with young people saying how proud they are to help their neighbors in times of disaster such as hurricanes floods and earthquakes. Naive young people fresh from their public school brainwashing join up only to find themselves being deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or any of the other 5 or 6 countries they are bombing at the time. Or they go protect the stashes of unsold weapons in 700 military bases world wide.

The US no longer has any militias, because all it's fighting is abroad, as in offensive. Militias are for defense, not aggression. China has a defense only military policy. No PLA soldier deploys abroad except as a UN peacekeeper. Therefore China has militias. Is that simple enough for you?

[ouwen]

I watched that and marveled at how close to deadly some were especially when the automatic weapons were waving about spewing bullets.

seems like a lot of gun owners aren't that responsible, they seem to treat these things like toys.

are they toys?

No, they are dangerous weapons. Most are military weapons with the full automatic firing disabled, although you can buy with full auto if you know how, even in 50 cal. and beyond, right up to small cannons.

FPS Russian, a highly watched you tube gun show, had one of their personnel killed by a gun accident recently. In another video, the presenter was barely missed by very large shrapnel when he blew up a car with a small cannon.

Your video is a compilation of idiots with guns, and some responsible people who just choose a gun much bigger than they can handle. The US school system is ranked no 28 out of 30 industrialized nations. Maybe they should put down the "toys" and do their homework.

[gilleshk]

The US school system is ranked no 28 out of 30 industrialized nations. Maybe they should put down the "toys" and do their homework.

Perhaps you should heed your own advice and do your homework... The ranking you refer to is from PISA scores. If you read the report, you would find that the US is simply statistically average in many regards and that if you take into accounts ethnicity and socioeconomic factors, the data changes significantly. Unsurprisingly, caucasians and asians score significantly higher than blacks and hispanics. When you look at the differences where free school lunches are provided, you start to see a clearer picture. A large part of the problem doesn't directly lie with the US school system.

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2011/2011004.pdf

If you take universities, you find that more than half of the top 20 schools in the world are in the US...

[Football16]

The militias that won the American revolution were made up of citizen volunteers, and every Tom, Dick and Harry one of them brought their own personal guns to the party. Same for Washington's army.

Admiral Yamamoto was interviewed after his great victory at Pearl Harbor, where he annihilated the US Pacific fleet and left West Coast USA defenseless. He was asked why he did not invade the US.
Admiral Yamamoto replied that "there would be a gun behind every blade of grass". The individual American rifleman kept the continental USA safe from WWII occupation, and kept it's industry intact for the Allied war effort.

The logic in this post is why the US can't get over the days of muskets and tyrannical European gov'ts.

It seems to me that one of the most ungovernable democratic countries in the world these days where there is a void of leadership in the form of national gov't it has to be the USA. In the US no branch has power without the support of the others unlike a Parliamentary system where the Prime Minister and the Cabinet are the government and to govern they need the support of the members of their party to vote the party line or be ousted in a non-confidence vote. Washington has never been more deadlocked and nothing goes on but money is raised and these clowns get elected. The GOP make anyone who cooperates lose their nominations.

The USA is not solving its economic problems - why? Because they can't. No one will work for the greater good of all.

What Americans can do though is fall in line behind a dumb President and his war buddies who put two wars they can't now pay for on the credit card. That credit card line is courtesy of the White House Budget office.

The House and Senate are primarily full of people who are more similar to university professors where they do their own thing - get their own funding and do what is their interests only. Voters love that. No longer do they want someone who is not afraid to take a stand even if they feel it is wrong but then judge that person at the next election and look at the entire record - not their bias.

Grade 8 thinking on why Americans need guns is not ever to going to die easy as they cite the Constitution and Amendments they really know zip about all the while this same gov't is taking their freedoms and putting its own citizens under greater scrutiny and control - yet saying nothing.

And the Japanese didn't attack North America because they couldn't! Where would they have a staging ground and it seems all their troops were busy elsewhere. Australia would be a preferred choice to control first and is that not why they fought in Guam and jungles to gain air fields and staging grounds while the Allies fought to stop that?

[ouwen]

The logic in this post is why the US can't get over the days of muskets and tyrannical European gov'ts.

It seems to me that one of the most ungovernable democratic countries in the world these days where there is a void of leadership in the form of national gov't it has to be the USA. In the US no branch has power without the support of the others unlike a Parliamentary system where the Prime Minister and the Cabinet are the government and to govern they need the support of the members of their party to vote the party line or be ousted in a non-confidence vote. Washington has never been more deadlocked and nothing goes on but money is raised and these clowns get elected. The GOP make anyone who cooperates lose their nominations.

The USA is not solving its economic problems - why? Because they can't. No one will work for the greater good of all.

What Americans can do though is fall in line behind a dumb President and his war buddies who put two wars they can't now pay for on the credit card. That credit card line is courtesy of the White House Budget office.

The House and Senate are primarily full of people who are more similar to university professors where they do their own thing - get their own funding and do what is their interests only. Voters love that. No longer do they want someone who is not afraid to take a stand even if they feel it is wrong but then judge that person at the next election and look at the entire record - not their bias.

Grade 8 thinking on why Americans need guns is not ever to going to die easy as they cite the Constitution and Amendments they really know zip about all the while this same gov't is taking their freedoms and putting its own citizens under greater scrutiny and control - yet saying nothing.

And the Japanese didn't attack North America because they couldn't! Where would they have a staging ground and it seems all their troops were busy elsewhere. Australia would be a preferred choice to control first and is that not why they fought in Guam and jungles to gain air fields and staging grounds while the Allies fought to stop that?

Well spoken. No way to improve on what you say here.

And Yamamoto's one liner was indeed a pose for the media and history books. Not based on Pacific theater military strategy.

[Lootoo]

Not sure we really needed to revive this 2010 thread...

Anyway, the FPS Russia guy was not killed in a gun accident--last I heard his death was being treated by the police as a homicide.