What makes Presidency elections so alien?

I come from a wee Island known as the UK and when I watch clips on the news of Democrat and Republican conventions I am astounded and dismayed at the passion and faith displayed by those in attendance! To see people shout and scream as they hold up their banners as if they are in the presence of some kind of messiah is just incredible. I don’t mean any disrespect when I say this but it feels at times Americans are from a different planet. I say that because it is all so alien to my part of the world.

I know I can’t be alone in this?

Perhaps some people from the states can offer insight?

NewSystem said:

I'm hoping the clowns we got running for office here in NZ follow the Conventions completely. There would surely be a riot then, and we'd end up with the Government we dearly need...none.

'Murkin here and I think a lot of the hooraa stems from the underlying democratic principle... People who really, really believe in our political process get really worked up around conventions and such...

Some of it can be chalked up to jingo patriotism and some is real political passion...

The hardest part is trying to figure out who will ACTUALLY do a good job, although at this point a chimpanzee could do a better job than the Bush Administration...

my

NewSystem said:

XxAxX said:

NewSystem said:

I come from a wee Island known as the UK and when I watch clips on the news of Democrat and Republican conventions I am astounded and dismayed at the passion and faith displayed by those in attendance! To see people shout and scream as they hold up their banners as if they are in the presence of some kind of messiah is just incredible. I don’t mean any disrespect when I say this but it feels at times Americans are from a different planet. I say that because it is all so alien to my part of the world.

I know I can’t be alone in this?

Perhaps some people from the states can offer insight?

you know, i feel exactly the same way when i watch people shouting and screaming at sporting events. what's up with all that excitement over the olympics anyway?

IrresistibleB1tch said:

XxAxX said:

you know, i feel exactly the same way when i watch people shouting and screaming at sporting events. what's up with all that excitement over the olympics anyway?

yeah, sadly, they are similar.

to a large part, the conventions would not be nearly that crazy if they weren't televised. people would go, hear a speech or maybe two, vote and then go get drunk with their buddies.

I think it's good that they're passionate about politics since it's something very important. In Europe we tend to take it too lightly, and don't scrutinize those in power closely enough. The Swedish government and public sector for example, is like an inpenetrable Kafka-like organization that is rarely held to its promises and rarely put into question properly.

With that said, I totally agree that faith - and I mean religious faith here - has no place in politics. Faith should be a personal matter, and not be forced upon everybody as a subtly or explicitly integrated part of a national policy. Try telling that to the Republicans though, that often sound like a Western version of Al Qaeda, or even to the Democrats, that are also often name-dropping God and referring to faith in political contexts.

I also strongly resent the exaggerated and incredibly divisive patriotism in America and their belief that they should somehow "lead the world". The Republicans seem to believe that they should actually lead the world with brute force or threats of force, while the Democrats want to "lead by example", but the fact remains that they all want to lead the world, which doesn't sound good in the ears of those of us who have a collective recollection of the nazis and their deeds.

If one day the US gets a president that closes down all the military bases they have all over the world, I might start to see them as less of a threat to world peace, but as it stands now, there is no country on Earth that is more aggressive beyond its own borders. That is not an opinion, it's just a fact.

NewSystem said:

NewSystem said:

IrresistibleB1tch said:

XxAxX said:

you know, i feel exactly the same way when i watch people shouting and screaming at sporting events. what's up with all that excitement over the olympics anyway?

yeah, sadly, they are similar.

to a large part, the conventions would not be nearly that crazy if they weren't televised. people would go, hear a speech or maybe two, vote and then go get drunk with their buddies.

SUPRMAN said:

IrresistibleB1tch said:

yeah, sadly, they are similar.

to a large part, the conventions would not be nearly that crazy if they weren't televised. people would go, hear a speech or maybe two, vote and then go get drunk with their buddies.

They would be crazier without television. You could get away with saying a doing a lot more. That would be a helluva party! For The Democrats at least, they bring fewer hangups with them. Republicans would have to worry about their hypocrisy.

JellyBean said:

You are cool. Sometimes I feel as if we are from a different planet as well But I feel the same way when I watch the British do their televised meetings with the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister gets up and talks and then it is like a shouting match. They laugh at each other. They boo each other. I mean, I watch that and I am like; dang!! Why can't we do that with our president.

NewSystem said:

JellyBean said:

You are cool. Sometimes I feel as if we are from a different planet as well But I feel the same way when I watch the British do their televised meetings with the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister gets up and talks and then it is like a shouting match. They laugh at each other. They boo each other. I mean, I watch that and I am like; dang!! Why can't we do that with our president.

Good point!

The former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt stated: “We humans . . . have always only partially governed the world, and most of the time very badly. . . . We have never governed it in total peace.”

“Do not put YOUR trust in nobles, (politicians) Nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs.” –Psalm 146:3.

I’m sure that some who go into politics genuinely want to make a difference for the good but they fail to realise a basic fact.

“I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.” –Jeremiah 10:23

Present world conditions and throughout human history testifies to that very fact.

What is the solution?

http://www.watchtower.org...cle_01.htm