"You people are totally fucking insane!"

[Keith Bee]

This was said to me by a Canadian friend in a phone conversation today. She was, as you might guess, referring to us, but she actually meant it as a compliment! Canada's in the midst of an election campaign, and I was in the process of congratulating her on the brevity (usually five, maybe six weeks) of Canadian election campaigns, and praising their system for being better than ours. (Oops: There goes my membership in the American Exceptionalism Society.)

But she completely rejected my approval: "Pfft! Canadian politics is about as exciting as watching paint dry," she said. "I vastly prefer watching American politics, because you people are totally fucking insane!"

I guess it goes to prove that human beings are never satisfied.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. The grass is ALWAYS greener...

[TheKentuckian]

2. Well, she said "watch" not "live under".

I'd have to hear more of her perspective but it sounded like an entertainment value issue rather than a governance one to me.

[Blue Owl]

3. That's a dangerous thing to say

on 4/20!

:hippie: :evilgrin: :hippie:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. That may be true!

MY mind did not go there, lol!

:rofl:

[Keith Bee]

9. I guess my 48-year-old ass in officially unhip

I had to look up 4/20. :blush: In my defense, however, I have OCD. I can't smoke pot, or hash, or do coke: Ask anyone with the disorder, and they will tell you that doing shit when you have OCD turns you into a Republican: Paranoid, fearful, possibly violent.

[Nevernose]

11. The term was invented c.1972

Just for the record. You're still forgiven for not knowing it, though: until the last decade or so, it was largely a Deadhead-Rainbow Family slang word. Like everything else, it was cool when no one else knew what ity meant. And the little stoner kids these days think it refers to a date and not a time.

[Keith Bee]

14. I know Deadhead.....

...but not the Rainbow Family. (Yes, I know what you're picturing: "You darn kids! Get off my lawn!")

:banghead:

[Cascadian]

4. The truth hurts but....

I admire the Canadian electoral system because the voters get more choices in political parties plus the system isn't as rife with corruption as ours! I wished we could revert to a proportional representative parliamentary system here.



John

(The Cascadian is back!)

[riverbendviewgal]

6. I am in agreement.

American politics is a reality show. It is the only one I do watch...I hate Jersey Shore, the housewives, Survivor, The Apprentice. and all the others like The Great Race. I find them so boring.

The only one if you consider it a reality show I do watch,, SOMETIMES, is Dancing with the Stars. The only time I voted ever for someone in that show was when Bristol Palin was on and I voted for someone other than her.

I like quick elections like ours. I like minority governments. I love the NDP and Jack Layton. My local MP is NDP and he is super. I was a big Liberal when Trudeau and Chretian were the leaders but they are gone now. I am waiting for Trudeau's son to run for Prime Minister and then I will probably vote for him. Steven Harper is an evil Straussian. He is for the corporations and the elite.. He is a bush boy..
Most people I know in my area hate him.

It will be interesting if he gets a majority I hope not. May 2nd we will find out..

[unblock]

7. and that's the secret to much of the success of the crazies.

people love watching a train wreck.

MANY people actually view politics as a form of entertainment. who do they want to hear on their tv for the next 4 years, what dramas and potential scandals does that person bring, etc.

MANY people vote on such things as which voice they find more appealing to listen to. i can't tell you how many times i've heard someone tell me they won't vote for x because they find their voice too grating or too boring or whatever.

to people who view policy and action as all-important, this is mind-boggling, but it is the way many people vote. they figure that it doesn't matter, either they're all the same when it comes to policy or they just don't see it as having an impact on their lives beyond the entertainment aspect.


and MANY people are enthralled by train wrecks (witness the myriad lowest-common-denominator tv shows -- maury, hoarders, etc.) and they want to be similarly entertained by politics.

[Keith Bee]

8. Politics as entertainment.....

...is an unfortunately-natural outgrowth of the 24/7 cable news cycle. I'm just wondering when we'll be setting up Thunderdomes in place of primaries.

[Egnever]

12. Politics IS entertainment

Long before reality TV there was politics.

[unblock]

13. if it is entertainment, it has considerably more profound consequences than game shows.

and i refuse to use the commercial term "reality tv" for any of those game shows. what an orwellian term.

putting people in completely artificial context and have the compete for money is not "reality tv", it's a game show.
an extended, game show in an elaborate or exotic location, perhaps, but still, just a game show.

[Keith Bee]

15. You got it!

"reality tv" is an oxymoron, with emphasis on the moron.

[kenny blankenship]

10. Hey Canada!

Your neighbor Sam is running around his backyard dressed only in a bathrobe, combat boots and tinfoil helmet. He waves a meat cleaver over his head in angry circles while he yells obscenity laced speeches over the fence about witchcraft, abortions, and the AFSCME Caliphate takeover plot. You're just going to ring for the police and then you remember: your neighbor is the sheriff in these parts.

Still convinced this is an entertaining spectacle?

[akbacchus_BC]

17. Do yu mean Iggy?

[kenny blankenship]

24. I'm talking about this guy

It's an old photo. Bourbon and sitting in front of the TV 24x7 have taken a grim toll.

The crazy old coot is "totally fucking insane", but he's also right next door and armed to the teeth. You ought to be more alarmed than amused.

[akbacchus_BC]

16. Excuse you, our politics is very much interesting. Some of us just

do not like Harper and we do not want Ignatieff either, he supported the invasion of Iraq!

[Keith Bee]

18. Hey, I love your system!

If you read my original post, I think that's pretty clear. :-)

[akbacchus_BC]

19. I love our system too but Harper wants to change it and we are

against it. No where in history our Premier (Gordo) stepped down then the leader of the opposition stepped down too and lo and behold, the fucking Prime Minister had to step down too. Our Politics is overwhelming for us.

Iggy sucks, he backed the invasion of Iraq! We are worst off than you guys! Obama and his promises, now where are those promises!

[Keith Bee]

20. You can go to the doctor without looking at your bank account first, right?

You win.

[akbacchus_BC]

21. Yes, we are covered but not for out of town medicals. Please do not

get me wrong, I love our medical system, takes time to see a specialist but on our dying bed, a specialist is there to tell you that you are terminal. No system is perfect!

[Keith Bee]

23. Gay marriage, restrictions on banks and brokers, tight gun control.......

...take a compliment already! :-)

[Ex Lurker]

22. "After having lived in the United States, watching Canadian politics is like watching

Italians play hockey."-Dave Foley.

[Raine]

25. Well I would prefer less "excitment" and

better governing. :-(

[Donnachaidh]

26. our politics are the *American Idol* for the world

Or rather, it's the *World's Dumbest Democracy*....