I'm a European Democratic socialist and have always had a big interest in American politics. A few years ago I went online mostly because the media in my country was really not reporting as much as I wanted to know about American politics anymore. They even took Cnn of the cable and NBC Europe was split with another channel so Meet the Press was also History. Online I stumbled upon Yahoo answers politics section and I'm active there now for almost two years. I met a lot of American liberals there but even more "conservatives", the Rush Limbaugh worshipping kind and my respect for American liberals only grew. I learned about POAC on yahoo answers and have been reading the site ever since for a good news selection and graphics that are to the point. I generally agree with most of the ideas and opinions expressed thoughI thought the support for Obama was a little over the top seeing he's not a real progressive in my humble opinion. I guess inn fairness I'm probably more left than what's usual here but I believe in pragmatism over ideology and can surely respect the push for, progress of American Liberals in an often absurdly hostile political climate

I wasn't really intending to register but I had a question about the merchandise and thought this board might be the best place to ask (my other post). Seeing I've been enjoying this site for over a year now and am impressed I felt like saying hi and keep up the good work. Thanks for reading

Welcome to the forum Euro.
I look forward to your perspective and your input.

Thanks Sky, apreciate it

Hey Euro. Welcome aboard!
Hope you feel insentivised to share some of your thoughts now that you've taken the plunge and joined!

BTW, Karen is a Brit.
Say howdy neighbor!

Surely you mean "howdy neighbour"!

Or even "Hello neighbour".

Wonderful! I love to hear political opinion outside the US. I was listening to Thom Hartmann last week who was hosting his radio show from Denmark! Wow, I would like to visit that planet some day! They have health care, free education (students are paid to go to college), and you don't even have to worry about getting blown away while you walk to the corner grocery store to buy a $5 gallon of milk!

My favorite political writer is George Orwell. I have an extensive post about him here George Orwell: His Political Views and Inspiration. Also, a book review I wrote Yevgeny Zamyatin's Dystopian Novel "We:", An Analysis of Life in a Rational Totalitarian Society, comparing Zamyatin with Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty Four. Orwell got the idea to write his novel after reading Zamyatin's "We" but Orwell had a very different view of Totalitarianism.

Anyway, welcome aboard!

Bonjour from France, Eurosocialist.
Nice to know the planet gets smaller everyday.
Bless the internet !!

Obama is a favorite here in France because frankly, the alternatives are terrifying, and there is a real doubt as to what the neocon crazies will do to hang on to the power.

Thanks Karen. I might

Cool

Thanks Antifascist, I live in Belgium and am Dutch. Here they actually have a constitutional right to free education not that the reality always lives up to the ideal, far from it but in the US it seems they even reject the ideal in favor of free market fundamentalism and the cynisism attached to that view.

Also thanks for the info on Orwell, I read 1984 and Animal Farm and some political things, Very interesting figure, I'll be sure to check that post out

Merci Rousseau,

I couldn't agree more. Bless the Internet where ordinairy people can talk without the filters of the corperate mass media. I get your point about Obama, compared to McSame he's my favorite too and the American political reality is that it's either Obama or McCain. But that doesn't mean I have to idealize Obama. On many issues his leftist rethoric is not backed up by concrete plans. I'm not happy when he sucks up to Aipac
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jun2008/obam-j11.shtml

or when he comes back on his word about spying on American citizens
"In embracing the war on terror and the claim that there must be a trade-off between security and democratic rights, Obama is echoing the reactionary arguments of the Bush White House. No section of the Democratic Party is prepared to tell the American people the truth: that the greatest threat to democratic rights comes not from a handful of Al Qaeda terrorists, but from the American state machine itself.

Osama bin Laden cannot overthrow the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and establish a police state in the United States. Only an American president or an American general can do that, at the head of a military-intelligence apparatus that already absorbs more than $700 billion a year, more than the combined armies of every other country in the world."
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jun2008/obam-j23.shtml


If I was an American citizen living in a swing state I'd vote Obama to keep four more Bush years out. I'm a pragmatist first but the Democratic party will never be my party of choice and my opinion about it is not much higher than about the Republican party. That's not a contradiction with what I said about liking American liberals and respecting their difficult struggle for progress. I simply recognize the Democratic party doesn't represent those values. It's the party that put Lieberman on the VP spot in 2000, the party that is complicit in Bush's war crimes and that time and again betrayed the American left
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/dec2007/cong-d21.shtml
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jun2008/impe-j12.shtml
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/dec2007/cia-d10.shtml
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jun2008/iran-j30.shtml

Oops, sorry Eurosocialist, I misread the post above and it was talking about Karen who is in Britain. How interesting, just after Hartmann did his radio show in Denmark.

Well, Americans have been bombarded for the last 40 years with free market fundamentalism by Riechwing Think Thanks and spending over 2 billions dollars on sociological propaganda praising the Nirvana of the free market. They voted for it in the 80s even after three rolling depressions-- one worst then the one before. They voted again for Bush Senior and got another recession, and was undecided about it under Clinton but he turned out to be a crypto-Republican and passed some of the most damaging policies like NAFTA and the Communications Monopoly (giv'em the internet) Act. The American people forgot about the Savings and Loan disaster, and voted for market fundamentalism again under Bush (Boy King) Jr. (not counting those who voted against it).

Now they got free market fundamentalism in spades and getting in the BUM every time they drive up to the gas pump. They listened, believed, and voted for it against all evidence that it would be a disaster. I think this is a necessary step to get pass the insanity even though it will enrich its architects. We haven't been screwed half as hard as we are going to be.

I think Europe's a real good country.

No Mr. President! I said, "You're a peeing on our country."

Oh, Eurosocialist, by the way. I have an recent news article (see post #23) on the current state of medical health care in America. This just in today!

Welcome Euro!!! I was able to stay in your country back in the late 70's visited and Loved it. Found out I loved your French Fry stands a little too much.....Lol. Look forward to another European prospective about the causes that bind us together regardless of national boundaries!