The Politics of Arrogance

nrussell, I appreciate your last comment at 7:07. Its true. If we, as a people, dont wake up and start doing something about it- instead of being so passive and complacent- then America may not be around much longer. That may seem like a strong statement, but consider strong nations of the past. Many of them eroded from the inside out. Theres no reason for us to tear each other apart. But look in the mirror and say, Its up to me to make a difference. Enough passiveness, enough complaining. Lets educate ourselves on the facts and then do something about it. Otherwise, we may not have an America- A country where its residents have the freedom to complain and bicker, so loudly

One writer said he wouldn't want his president to be seen as a wimp. That says it all- preoccupation with appearances.
Humble means down- to- earth. In contact with reality, therefore willing to admit mistakes when reality becomes apparent.. Unafraid to change course in the face of compelling evidence- like we are broke.






operatingoperating on borrowed money

discussion must be over.

Continued""We need to stand strong and insist from all our elected officials to do their jobs, that being to " serve the nation, and not their's and others personal agendas, at the expense of the American people, as we slowly become so poor we can't even suppot ourselves anymore, which what seems to be the next play in the game. It is so obvious to everyone now that the future is already written and controlled by those, whoever they are, who don't have Ameicans best interest in their plan. So I say we just get off our bu** , become apathetic, less complacent, and get with the program, and communicate with our " elected " officials, and begin making them and supporting them in an agenda that serves America and the people in a positive way, with a future of prosperity, and it is time for those who have given up, to get with the program, or get out of the way and let the people who want the best for America and the people, do what is necessary to make America the number one priority , and again, then when we are stronger and less dependent on all other nations and rulers, for their commodities, then we can, as we have always done , help the rest of the world help themselves, again. American's must now take care of America, and all these major corporations who have become so wealthy must keep that wealth here in this nation, and not sell out the American people who helped build their corporation into the properous business it is today. Keep the good jobs here, and let free enterprise become more of a priority again, and rebuild the American commerce, and then the American people can have a roof, food, health,again. There are so many who have a great big nest egg, and are very comfortable, and , as in human nature, can't see how many are doing without, right on the same block they live on, and have forgotten how easy it is to become homeless and hungry, and what it is like, and have closed their eyes and hardened their hearts, and believe that the opportunities are still out there just like they were when they themselves took theirs. hello, not so. The ship is sinking and only the American people and their proactive behavior can keep it from sinking. It isn't too late, unless we all continue on the same path, and just spend so much time pointing our fingers and blaming others, government, instead of looking in the mirror and seeing what's in their own herat and mind. And as for all the hate we seem to almost enjoy now, this too must change, as hate breeds more hate, and we could learn a lesson from the nations of today who dwell on hate. Wake upm smell the coffee, and let's all take back America, contact our leaders, and begin the system of either supporting the ones who have America in their best interst and a top priority, or not support the ones who have only personal agendas for themselves or for the ones who are pulling their strings.

America should not feel threatened, we should feel lucky, blessed and humble. We, however, need to stop meddling in other countries affairs (unless asked) and start cleaning up the problems here; illegal immigrants, hunger, lack of health insurance for all citizens, increased violence, rising disrespect for other lives and misguided people trying to take away prayer from people who believe in it. The politicians need to review what it means to serve the public, it does not mean self-serving, it means doing what is best for constituents and the country. Hillary is not the answer, but I do not know who it.

To answer the question below ( "Why does America feel threatened?"): read State of Fear by Michael Crichton. His theory is that politicians are ALWAYS looking for a way to keep the people feeling insecure and fearful. So we come up with imaginary problems like "Man-Made Global Warming." By the way, you speak of the economy. Do you understand that the Mommy's party supports economic ramifications to their pretend problems (i.e.- global warming)? Do you think these ramifications are GOOD for the economy? They are not. The leading elite running the pro-environment movement are not pro-environment at all; they are ANTI-capitalist. Al Gore wins the peace prize for lying ("the relationship between Co2 and temperture is complicated, but we can see that they are closely tied together" -- how many people watching that propaganda piece know that the ice core data Gore is referring to shows that Co2 increases 800 years AFTER temperature increases on this planet? NOT the other way around, as the elite would have you believe. How many know that the earth is at its COLDEST point in the last 8,000 years? That we can go up 20 degrees from here and still be well within the range of natural temperatures?). How many know that life and civilization on this planet THRIVE in warmer times, and the planet's natural warming cycle is a GOOD thing? How many know that 95% of global warming is caused by water vapor, which is by far the most effective greenhouse gas, and which has NOTHING to do with man-made production? How many know that if we enact the Kyoto Protocol, the real science says we MIGHT lower the temperature on this planet by less than one-HALF of a degree over the next 50 years? How many know that most of the scientists chase the government grants and funding, and the money to be made right now is in global warming "research"? I'm going to guess you didn't know that. And you won't believe it anyway, because the Mommy party doesn't deal in facts. In their view: there are no facts, there is no truth, just data to be manipulated. And most Americans can't think for themselves anymore, so they believe whatever the politicians and the media tell them to. Try doing a little independent research, which means getting way outside your normal channels. By the way, the weakness of the dollar is a result of over a decade of easy money policies by the Federal Reserve, going back to Clinton/Greenspan. We had a stock market bubble first -- we then transferred that money into a real estate bubble... and now we have to pay the piper. You can't make the dollar so cheap to borrow and consequently so abundant without lowering its value. Its the simple economics of supply and demand. The supply of American dollars is very high after the last decade of abuse, the demand for them is low, and their value drops. You can blame Bush, Clinton, and the Federal Reserve for our weak economy. It doesn't have anything to do with the war.

Speaking of arrogance! Try and impress with a grammar lecture. Fear God and the appropriate humility will follow. We've been guided by "in God we trust" since the beginning of our country when our forefathers decided that they had had enough arrogance and the sooner we get back to that principle the better. George W. Bush recognizes that principle and the love and sacrifice of a father, not just the hard hand, will get us to where we need to be in the future. Please forgive this humble soul for any grammatical deficiencies.

The last person does not know humility...they start off with a pompus, I'm educated you're not line. Next, they are stuck on talking points fed to them by NPR and The BBC - or maybe some third 'other'. I feel like I've read that comment about 1,000,000 times. It rings so hollow. The comment barely attends to the article but but the writer starts to rant about their own niave beliefs...and you know what, some of them are valid points, but it's buried so far is self-rightious, talking point language that it irritated me enough to write this comment. I end there,

As for the article I thought it short and opinionated - probably enlightening to some but incomplete for others...I mean, it's a one page article from Newsweek - what does jtrucchio expect? The world?

I hope you made it through the comment...my grammer might be 'horrific' and I probably added too many...

First, who the heck is Ron Paul? It does not matter who he is he is not going to be elected President of the United States. The next President will be either a Democrat or a Republican, so all you bleeding libertarians cast your votes for Ron Paul and then watch a blue or red candidate get elected. Second, the United States is not the "World Policeman" and the sooner we lean that the better off we will be. While it may be in our national interest to take some action (unilateral or with help from others) there is only so much the US can do. Europe must use its collective power to force renagades to move into the mainstream of world society. We also need to give the Russians an opportunity to step up to the plate and be counted as a member of the world. The area that I find arragont about the US is that we try to impose our ideas of democracy on everyone. Just like we have different cultures here in the US, the world is different from one place to the next.

Why is it that America feels threatened right now? Is it because 6 years ago there was a terrorist attack? Is it because we went into a country unprepared and are now stuck in a war that we can't, or won't get out of? What are we afraid of? This so called fear that we are living in is nothing more than a political fabrication - a diversion - to take people's eyes off of the real issues that our nation is facing. How is our economy doing? Well, the Canadian dollar and soon to be the Australian dollar (speculation) are stronger in the market than the US dollar. You used the analogy of the mommy/father parties. I would think that what this country needs right now is the comfort and compassion of a mother - not the hard hand of the father. Obviously the hard hand of George W. Bush has done nothing progressive for this country. He has put us back decades and damaged our international reputation to a nearly irreparable state. Is this how we want to continue?
If we look at history it is always when an empire gets arrogant and cocky that it meets its demise. "No one can take us on! We are the only superpower in this world!" I got news for you - we need to change our tone and watch who we step on because before we know it we will be falling on our face and no one will be there to pick us up.

First off, the grammar in the opening paragraph of this article is horrific. I could barely read past it. Once I pushed through the grammatical nightmare I was shocked and appalled at what I was reading. Why is it that America feels threatened right now? Is it because 6 years ago there was a terrorist attack? Is it because we went into a country unprepared and are now stuck in a war that we can't, or won't get out of? What are we afraid of? This so called fear that we are living in is nothing more than a political fabrication - a diversion - to take people's eyes off of the real issues that our nation is facing. How is our economy doing? Well, the Canadian dollar and soon to be the Australian dollar (speculation) are stronger in the market than the US dollar. You used the analogy of the mommy/father parties. I would think that what this country needs right now is the comfort and compassion of a mother - not the hard hand of the father. Obviously the hard hand of George W. Bush has done nothing progressive for this country. He has put us back decades and damaged our international reputation to a nearly irreparable state. Is this how we want to continue?
If we look at history it is always when an empire gets arrogant and cocky that it meets its demise. "No one can take us on! We are the only superpower in this world!" I got news for you - we need to change our tone and watch who we step on because before we know it we will be falling on our face and no one will be there to pick us up.

Yes, politicians are arrogant especially people like Clinton, Obama, Giuliani, Romney, and Huckabee, but there is an exception to the rule. Ron Paul is a sincere and humble statesman. Ron Paul does not claim to know how you should live your life; he claims you should have the liberty to live as you choose. Ron Paul is the most knowledgeable candidate for president. Vote Ron Paul for President.

Yes, politicians are arrogant especially people like Clinton, Obama, Giuliani, Romney, etc.; but Ron Paul is the exception to the rule . Ron Paul is a sincere and humble leader who is knowledgeable of history. Ron Paul doesn't claim to know how to run your lives, but he does know that it is your choice to live your own life. Liberty is the platform of Ron Paul. Slavery and increased taxation are the basis of the platform of the aforesaid arrogant politicians. Vote Ron Paul for President.

America does not only need to be humble. It needs to bring to justice war criminals.

i didnt like this article. first off, im not Amercian. why does an Amercian citizen or politician CARE what a foreigner thinks? i dont even find americans arrogant. the real word is they have a tendency to put theri foot in theri mouth. in other words.. they pronounce themselves too fast.FRance is an arrogant nation, more so their people. i think any men from any culturral background that can see themselves equal with any other human being, wheter their sex , religion , or race is a ignorant man, but if he publices that others are weaker because of those factors, he then sounds arrogant. i think arrogance reflects insecurities. I do not Beleive that Amercia has shown insecurity in the face of adversity. thats all that matters right now. but if we stepo back , there was never aneed to educate or help nations in the middle east. that is where humility should have come to play.

Answer? Vote against all DemoPublicans, aka RepubliDems. We need a second party - the Libertarian Party.. Ron Paul is humble. He knows our Constitution respects both our own citizens and those of other nations. Govenment meddling shows lack of respect for the rights of all humans. Even extreme meddlers like Hillary deserve respect as long as her meddling does not interfere with the rights of others.