Hello Bloggers! Just to show I'm an equal opportunity offender, I thought I would share my comment today posted on The Times of London reacting to an article about the Libyan terrorist released from Scottish prison on compassionate grounds. It seems cancer is a get out of jail free card in Scotland.It may come as a surprise to those who consider me a liberal push-over, but I disagree with the release. I've known injustice (where people get away with it) and I don't like it. That guy deserved to either die in prison or in a nearby hospital as an inmate.
He did not deserve to go free. He certainly should not have enjoyed a hero's welcome. The whole thing made me sad on behalf of the victims' families. They deserved more justice. From The Times article about the Lockerbie bombing:
My comment:
"I put up with all the horrible criticism of the American justice system yesterday. It was offensive, but I'm used to it as a reader of the British press. Granted, our system suffered a lot lately under Bush, but it's not as bad as you guys make out.
I'm a big fan of the UK, but the way you guys like to act as though you "never get involved in American affairs" yet we "always intrude on yours" is complete nonsense. I can name at least ten big cases over here recently where your press inserted itself, and nobody complained.
I'm tired of the cries of innocence every time a UK national is in a US court or up for extradition, and rarely do I see it the other way around. Too many people in the UK always think their own people are innocent, or that somehow the American system won't deliver real justice.
I didn't even have a strong feeling about the Libyan case until now, but it's clear the UK system has messed up this time. I don't even care if the guy's trial wasn't perfect - justice is rarely perfectly just. It doesn't matter where you live. We have to live with that fact.
The bottom line is the UK/Scotland delivered a propaganda coup to a country that killed 200+ innocent people and horrified those poor families screaming for justice. The whole episode is disgusting. You guys need to stop acting like everybody's so damn innocent, especially when a jury found them guilty."
If you're curious about their reactions, feel free to visit the comment section. It seems they lumped me into the category of being a "typical American" who wants to bully other countries - among other choice phrasing. Oh well, I gave it a shot.
For those reading from overseas, my reaction has nothing to do with being an American. It's about justice. I simply disagree with the release.
Friday's Political News - Michael
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18 comments:
Liberalism at it's best, if it had been left up to the right the man would have been swinging from a rope and this day would have never come.
If it were left to the right we'd all be swinging from a rope. Sorry GR, but it seems true at times. :)
You didn't do much research on this subject Michael, you sound pretty main stream media. Seems like you read the headlines and made a judgment and then got angry.
A few points worth considering:
1) Comment sections in British newspapers tend to attract an excess of the kind of person who clings to the most extreme and simplistic version of his position (from whatever part of the political spectrum). I have no idea why this is.
2) There's a lot of stupid, knee-jerk anti-Americanism in western Europe. I've experienced this personally (in Germany) and heard plenty of horror stories about other countries there. It's a form of bigotry and works pretty much the same as other forms of bigotry. (I have a strict rule in choosing vacation destinations: nowhere in Europe west of where the Iron Curtain used to be.)
3) Humans have a natural impulse to close ranks against criticism of something of their own from an outsider. There are a lot of things I don't like about Obama, for example, but it gets my back up a bit when I hear foreigners criticizing him. It's the same way in other countries.
So try not to take it personally. I think the negative response you got was due far more to those factors than to the substance of the issue.
Go ahead and "piss off" to your hearts content. A. you are expressing what many of us are feeling - "are you (the Scots" F...ing crazy? B. Did you see the welcome the dude got when he deplaned in Lybia? - just gotta love the Arab street. C. The French catch a break for a change.
Have a great weekend.
Thanks Holte, but I agree more with Infidel and Jon on this one. I hope you guys have a great weekend. :)
As a person with "a foot in both camps" dual citizen US/UK I can see both sides of this argument, and feel uncomfortable about it.
It's unfortunate that these petty squabbles keep breaking out between two countries who are supposed to be the best of frieds.
First, right-wing US dum-dums annoy the British by rubbishing their NHS (health care system), then the Brits get flak for something Scottish authorities decided to do (and something which is within their right to do). I'm not surprised they are feeling tetchy nowadays.
I'm feeling tetchy for a whole host of different reasons here in the US.
The guy will be dead in a few weeks' time, completing his punishment. I think that is the crux.
I think fights between friends are fine. It's a sign we're close, and it shows people are comfortable enough to express themselves honestly. I never knew a family that didn't fight. :)
"Granted, our system suffered a lot lately under Bush,"
How did it suffer? because Bush was willing to go after the very people that would kill you in a heart beat and lock them up.
I'm sure that you did not piss the British off only Michael Savage can do that and you are a far cry from being a Michael Savage.
As usual GR, you're one nut short of a full basket. Extensive Bush lawbreaking is now on record (we now have TONS of evidence) and right-wing nuts like yourself still deny it. I guess nothing will ever help convince you people of their dirty deeds. My side will have to live with that I guess. The fact that my side is also full of PUSSIES who "don't want to look back" doesn't help the situation.
Oh yes, and don't bother trying to debate this subject. I won't trust your sources - they're always shit. :)
As usual GR, you're one nut short of a full basket.
Two nuts short of a scrotum, you mean.
Boh I keep hearing that same song and dance we have tons of evidence, you have jack-shit, you are just another progressive moron who thinks they know everything. You are right is side is all pussy.
Too funny GR - and wrong as usual. :)
I have been watching the news lately and haven't heard a thing about some yank in Calif. pissing the British off other than Michael Savage....and they banned his ass from entering the country.
When is the arrest warrant going to be issued to put Bush in jail now that you have all of this evidence, I'll be waiting, and you better not be bull-shitting me.
How come you guys are not screaming like a bunch of stuck pigs now that Obama is on vacation, I remember when Bush took one that was all we could hear about as to how he was on vacation and not working.....Do we have a double standard? I believe so.
Where is all of the whacko war protesters like code pink and that idiot Cindy Sheehan, hopefully they crawled back under the rock the crawled out from.
Forgot to say Boh, Bush out smarted you progressive morons during the 2000 election should be no problem for him to do it again with the so called evidence that you have.
You're right GR, Bush did outsmart the Democrats. He stoll the 2004 election and has been screwing the country and world ever since. If that's something you feel proud of, I say go for it. The rest of us consider it a national burden, or shame.
Personally, I'll take our wimps over your crooks and liars any day.
History will judge your party harshly. The vast majority see it as an embarrassment to the country and the world. Sadly, your pride is born of both ignorance and deceit. You will never understand what I'm talking about, since it's not in your nature. The good news is that the rest of us do.
Boh to you anytime a Republican wins a election they stole it. Now that you have shot off your trap that Bush stole the 2004 election offer up the proof or shut your mouth.
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