When Did America Become The Laughing Stock Of The World?

[Webmaster Advertising]

Just had one of those stupid forward this email things with a bunch of dumb pictures in it about how Obama has turned America into a laughing stock.

While I agree to some extent, I am pretty certain this happened way before Obama took office.

I would actually say it goes as far back as the end of the Reagan era, followed by Bush senior, followed by Clinton, then Bush Goober and now Obama.

What do you folks think? Is there a specific time when you think the rest of the world looked at Murica and just thought we were one of the dumbest countries in the world?

[crockett]

You do understand most of those political related chain mails are just shit sent out by so called "family value" lobbyist groups from the far right.

[Fat Panda]

nevermind

[Captain Kawaii]

I Think Nixon started the America is a Shit Sandwich movement.

However, the writing was on the wall when JFK was assassinated and the TPTB could never be bothered to offer up a real assassin. They even whacked the clown they offered up.
TPTB have the mistaken idea the rest of the world is as dumb as the people in the US.

Or it could have been when it was leaked that Johnson had a taste for getting drunk and showing his guests videos of his farm animals fucking. Seems he liked the animal sex video genre.

Pick one.

[_Richard_]

you guys fucked with the british crown.

royalty has long memories

anyone figure out yet that american forces/nato are doing the job the british did 100 years ago?

didn't think so

[pornguy]

Whats really funny about your post is that you are worried about what people think of you and your country or the US.. If your american..

Really?? I mean does it really matter?

When I walk into Macys and buy clothes or shop in a grocery store with anything that I can think of or buy a new BMW or a new house, the last thing on my mind, is what people in other countries think of me or the US.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

ADG

[LAJ]

The period from the Nov. 2000 election to the Dec. 2000 selection and then the ensuing Christian madness and war missteps pretty much solidified it.

[Tofu]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

ADG

[Rochard]

I find it highly amusing how we tend to blame things on politics.

Every four years we hear how about they are going to take our guns away. After all of this time it still hasn't happened.

The best ones are Republicans bitching about Obama, telling us how bad Obama is. I am not a Democrat, but holy shit it's the funniest fucking thing when someone has the balls to say "Obama is horrible" while it was eight years of a Republican president who not only destroyed the US economy and brought us to our lowest point in sixty years, but yet Obama is "bad"? Come already... Your not serious, right?

[ajrocks]

100% since George Bush came into office. It's been down hill since then.

[The Porn Nerd]

To answer your Question:
August 12th, 2005.

[Bman]

I think when 9/11 happened it changed the world.
Bush getting into power was business as usual.
It was the rhetoric and lies about Iraq being involved that signaled an alarm amongst people that America will pin the blame on who ever it wants.
The rest of the world knew Iraq had nothing to do with it...the country was destitute

[AnimeFevers]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

ADG

[Evil Chris]

FDR would never have supported Harry Truman, who stole the Democratic leadership from Henry Wallace in 1948.
If Wallace had become president, we'd be living in an entirely different world.

[AdultKing]

If you live in Melbourne and see the typical rudeness, ignorance and loudness of the average American tourist on trams, or at the galleries or theatre then you'll be a little way toward understanding why we think that most of America and the people who reside in it seem to be little more than one foot out of the trees.

[Best-In-BC]

Originally Posted by Rochard

I find it highly amusing how we tend to blame things on politics.

Every four years we hear how about they are going to take our guns away. After all of this time it still hasn't happened.

The best ones are Republicans bitching about Obama, telling us how bad Obama is. I am not a Democrat, but holy shit it's the funniest fucking thing when someone has the balls to say "Obama is horrible" while it was eight years of a Republican president who not only destroyed the US economy and brought us to our lowest point in sixty years, but yet Obama is "bad"? Come already... Your not serious, right?

Well fucking said

[scottybuzz]

whatever happened... mcdonalds and fast food did not help America's cause globally.

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by Webmaster Advertising

When Did America Become The Laughing Stock Of The World?

Right around the time this hit TVs.

[Scott McD]

Originally Posted by ajrocks

100% since George Bush came into office. It's been down hill since then.

I hear this alot. Yet he was voted in twice ??

[sarettah]

Originally Posted by Scott McD

I hear this alot. Yet he was voted in twice ??

No, he was appointed by the Supreme Court once and then was Elected once.

.

[defunk]

war, war, fast and furious, benghazi, nsa spying on everyone, EQ1,2,3,4 and the reserved currency that's about to die.

all obama's fault? I'm not saying that. but some pretty crazy stuff has happened.

I'm glad I live in Canada, but I do have my fingers crossed for you guys

[_Richard_]

Originally Posted by AdultKing

If you live in Melbourne and see the typical rudeness, ignorance and loudness of the average American tourist on trams, or at the galleries or theatre then you'll be a little way toward understanding why we think that most of America and the people who reside in it seem to be little more than one foot out of the trees.

irony..

8char

[kane]

Here is what I know.

When the shit hits the fan in many countries what country do they turn to for help?

When that stops I will say we are the laughing stock of the world.

When Bush was in power I heard endless stories about how he destroyed America's reputation (and I'm sure with the invasion of Iraq some of it was true). I heard the same about Clinton and the first Bush and now Obama.

It is a basic, simple argument to make because it is impossible to prove or disprove. People who hate Obama will claim this, then they will give a few examples and assume they are right. Obama just showed up in an African country and was greeted at the airport by thousands of people. He didn't give a speech at the airport. He wasn't scheduled to do anything but get off the plane yet thousands turned out to see him.

I doubt they were showing up to laugh at him.

[_Richard_]

Originally Posted by kane

Here is what I know.

When the shit hits the fan in many countries what country do they turn to for help?

When that stops I will say we are the laughing stock of the world.

When Bush was in power I heard endless stories about how he destroyed America's reputation (and I'm sure with the invasion of Iraq some of it was true). I heard the same about Clinton and the first Bush and now Obama.

It is a basic, simple argument to make because it is impossible to prove or disprove. People who hate Obama will claim this, then they will give a few examples and assume they are right. Obama just showed up in an African country and was greeted at the airport by thousands of people. He didn't give a speech at the airport. He wasn't scheduled to do anything but get off the plane yet thousands turned out to see him.

I doubt they were showing up to laugh at him.

i think the world has embraced the reality that 'help' meant funding rebels (Al Qaida) to overthrow governments for national gain..

[kane]

Originally Posted by _Richard_

i think the world has embraced the reality that 'help' meant funding rebels (Al Qaida) to overthrow governments for national gain..

I'm not saying that we haven't made mistakes and done things for selfish reasons. If a hurricane wreak's havoc on a country, I'm confident that one of the first calls they make is to the US looking for help.

Look at the tsunami in Indonesia. We weren't alone, but any stretch of the imagination, but we sent some of our navy there to help and we ended up giving about 2.825 billion in aid. Of that 1.8 billion came directly from people through donations. That number doesn't include the cost of the military people we sent to help. The next closest country in aid was Aus at 1.3 billion. Germany gave 1.3 billion. The UK gave 800 million and Canada gave 750 million.

By comparison, China, who is in that region and supposedly has the fastest growing economy in the world gave 146 million.

Another example could be Haiti. After the earthquake there the US has donated $41 million dollars. The next closest is Sweden with $10 million and the UK at $8 million. These dollar amounts represent money from the government. Now let's look at money contributed by actual individuals who gave cash from their pocket. The people of the US donated 1.17 billion dollars to Haiti with another $86 million coming from the Red Cross. The next closest country was Canada with $163 million then a European Commission with $159 million.

When it comes to natural disasters we seem to be the one that steps up, sends people, supplies and money to help. I'm not saying other countries don't, clearly they do and many countries are not the same size as us so they can't do as much, but we are often looked upon to lead the way.

What I am getting at is that while there are some that hate us and think the US is a laughing stock there are still millions trying to come here and we seem to be one of, if not the, first country they turn to when they need help because of a disaster or because of a military threat. In many people's eyes we are still a great country and we are admired.

[Webmaster Advertising]

Originally Posted by kane

I'm not saying that we haven't made mistakes and done things for selfish reasons. If a hurricane wreak's havoc on a country, I'm confident that one of the first calls they make is to the US looking for help.

Look at the tsunami in Indonesia. We weren't alone, but any stretch of the imagination, but we sent some of our navy there to help and we ended up giving about 2.825 billion in aid. Of that 1.8 billion came directly from people through donations. That number doesn't include the cost of the military people we sent to help. The next closest country in aid was Aus at 1.3 billion. Germany gave 1.3 billion. The UK gave 800 million and Canada gave 750 million.

By comparison, China, who is in that region and supposedly has the fastest growing economy in the world gave 146 million.

Another example could be Haiti. After the earthquake there the US has donated $41 million dollars. The next closest is Sweden with $10 million and the UK at $8 million. These dollar amounts represent money from the government. Now let's look at money contributed by actual individuals who gave cash from their pocket. The people of the US donated 1.17 billion dollars to Haiti with another $86 million coming from the Red Cross. The next closest country was Canada with $163 million then a European Commission with $159 million.

When it comes to natural disasters we seem to be the one that steps up, sends people, supplies and money to help. I'm not saying other countries don't, clearly they do and many countries are not the same size as us so they can't do as much, but we are often looked upon to lead the way.

What I am getting at is that while there are some that hate us and think the US is a laughing stock there are still millions trying to come here and we seem to be one of, if not the, first country they turn to when they need help because of a disaster or because of a military threat. In many people's eyes we are still a great country and we are admired.

I honestly do not think we (as a country) are admired around the world.

I do however believe the rest of the worlds governments put on a good 'game face' when it comes to wanting our money, money that we should be keeping in our own country for our own national disasters such as failing education rates, homeless levels increasing and poor unemployment figures.

Imagine if just 10% of the money we gave to other countries for disaster relief efforts was used to better the country itself, from infrastructure right the way up through the economy, job creation and education...

There is an old saying 'charity begins at home' it seems like we have forgotten that, especially when it comes to assisting countries that quite honestly, are a hotbed of in-fighting and general clusterfucks overall, with or without natural disasters.

As country we waste so much money on useless crap, wars, election campaigning, etc... Why does it cost a guy over 10M to lose a presidential election?

[kane]

Originally Posted by Webmaster Advertising

I honestly do not think we (as a country) are admired around the world.

I do however believe the rest of the worlds governments put on a good 'game face' when it comes to wanting our money, money that we should be keeping in our own country for our own national disasters such as failing education rates, homeless levels increasing and poor unemployment figures.

Imagine if just 10% of the money we gave to other countries for disaster relief efforts was used to better the country itself, from infrastructure right the way up through the economy, job creation and education...

There is an old saying 'charity begins at home' it seems like we have forgotten that, especially when it comes to assisting countries that quite honestly, are a hotbed of in-fighting and general clusterfucks overall, with or without natural disasters.

As country we waste so much money on useless crap, wars, election campaigning, etc... Why does it cost a guy over 10M to lose a presidential election?

$10m for a presidential election? that is nothing. That is less than a week on the campaign trail. In the last election both Romney and Obama spent over $1 billion dollars. Assume that the election started in January although it is sooner than that. That means they spent an average of around $24 million per week. That is insane!

I am not saying we are perfect and I too think we need to do more at home. I read recently that with the money we spent on the Iraq war we could have given every American healthcare coverage for life. Still, I think in most places around the world we are still admired. We have those who hate us and our critics, but I think there are many that still like us, want to emulate us and look to us for leadership.

[Mutt]

Originally Posted by _Richard_

i think the world has embraced the reality that 'help' meant funding rebels (Al Qaida) to overthrow governments for national gain..

you're a loony tune whose primary source of news is conspiracy kooks. the US funded the mujahideen against a Soviet backed commie government in Afghanistan that was slaughtering the Muslims. the rebels won and that was effectively the end of the Soviet Union - all the Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, East Germans and the rest can thank Uncle Sam for that. Bin Laden and Al Qaeda were an unfortunate by-product.

the United States is the only superpower left in the world, it's human nature to be obsessed and envious of the top dog and the Internet has presented a perfect forum for it, a haters' paradise, not to mention that because Americans are free to speak their mind, the loudest and crassest America bashers are Americans themselves.

there are no 'good guys' in any of these trouble spots, when you intervene in any way you're going to look bad because both sides are murdering raping pieces of shit, it will always be a 'pick your poison' proposition - e.g. Saddam Hussein. fools like Richard only see black and white in this world, a 'Disney' view for 6 year olds.

as for funding rebels to overthrow governments for 'national interests' - that's my complaint, the people of the United States don't get shit out of this other than sacrificing their husbands, sons, daughters to some far flung shithole to kill and be killed and psychologically traumatized. The military-industrial complex and the bankers get all the profit. Take the oil fields, negotiate with Russia and China so they don't get their jealous noses out of joint, and let's enjoy dollar a gallon gas while the savages are left to kill each other over their tribal religious feuds. Oil money has done little for the vast majority of the people of the Middle East, made them suffer more.

I think Richard and the rest of the kooks must really want World War III, the way to get there fastest is a vacuum of power.

[dynastoned]

i don't give a shit what the world thinks. we aren't perfect but neither is your country.

[vdbucks]

Originally Posted by Rochard

The best ones are Republicans bitching about Obama, telling us how bad Obama is. I am not a Democrat, but holy shit it's the funniest fucking thing when someone has the balls to say "Obama is horrible" while it was eight years of a Republican president who not only destroyed the US economy and brought us to our lowest point in sixty years, but yet Obama is "bad"? Come already... Your not serious, right?

America isn't a country, it is a business. Politicians don't care about sides, all of that nonsense is just smoke and mirrors to keep the people occupied with nothing; meanwhile, all the real decisions and policies are made by big corporations.

[epitome]

I will be worried when we have to start looking for immigrants rather than turn them away.

[pimpmaster9000]

Originally Posted by dynastoned

i don't give a shit what the world thinks. we aren't perfect but neither is your country.

we too don't give a shit what you think, we would just like your army to go the fuck home...

there is so much fucking wrong with your that its a fucking joke...your whole economy is basically a scam, you exploit the shit out of the 3rd world, your politicians are a fucking joke just like in any other country, your elections are decided by skitzo bible thumper-s who have imaginary friends in the sky, by "gay rights" and "abortions" and "homeland security....has fuck to do with real politics...

you are so phoney as a nation that it hurts to watch, everything about you screams dishonesty and theft, from your founding fathers to your modern history it has basically been one theft after another if you are not stealing land you are enslaving people or their resources or just dropping bombs left and right, shit you dropped more than hitler since WW2 but this, somehow , does not count...

everything in the USA is a fucking scam from your iphones to your i-health insurance, to your democracy (same 2 parties in power for the last fucking 200 years), to your "Freedoms", the crime level in the USA is a FUCKING JOKE for a 1st world country...you are literally becoming a gestapo state...

please please please USA, build a fucking wall around your country and stay inside...not because I hate you, I really dont, I feel sorry for you, this is the reason:

Id fucking hate the world to become like the USA...I hope the borg invasion can be somehow stopped...

[Mutt]

Originally Posted by crucifissio

we too don't give a shit what you think, we would just like your army to go the fuck home...

<!-- mindless drivel by thankless evil kinda european but not really shithead deleted -->

Id fucking hate the world to become like the USA...I hope the borg invasion can be somehow stopped...

you know as much about the United States as an American knows about Serbia - which is jack shit.

[seeandsee]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

ADG

this one man, this one!

[mikesinner]

Originally Posted by SilentKnight

Right around the time this hit TVs.

Dammit, I told you guys to stop posting pics of my family.

[PornDiscounts-V]

When we liberated France for a second time and they forgot again.

[epitome]

Originally Posted by crucifissio

we too don't give a shit what you think, we would just like your army to go the fuck home...

there is so much fucking wrong with your that its a fucking joke...your whole economy is basically a scam, you exploit the shit out of the 3rd world, your politicians are a fucking joke just like in any other country, your elections are decided by skitzo bible thumper-s who have imaginary friends in the sky, by "gay rights" and "abortions" and "homeland security....has fuck to do with real politics...

you are so phoney as a nation that it hurts to watch, everything about you screams dishonesty and theft, from your founding fathers to your modern history it has basically been one theft after another if you are not stealing land you are enslaving people or their resources or just dropping bombs left and right, shit you dropped more than hitler since WW2 but this, somehow , does not count...

everything in the USA is a fucking scam from your iphones to your i-health insurance, to your democracy (same 2 parties in power for the last fucking 200 years), to your "Freedoms", the crime level in the USA is a FUCKING JOKE for a 1st world country...you are literally becoming a gestapo state...

please please please USA, build a fucking wall around your country and stay inside...not because I hate you, I really dont, I feel sorry for you, this is the reason:

Id fucking hate the world to become like the USA...I hope the borg invasion can be somehow stopped...

Nice internet rant. You're welcome. We built it. We also discovered a lot of the drugs that save your life. Cars. You're welcome. Electric. You're welcome. Phones. You're welcome. Pretty much everything you use day to day... You're welcome.

[PhoneSexKing]

Yesterday?

[pjamedia]

Originally Posted by epitome

Nice internet rant. You're welcome. We built it. We also discovered a lot of the drugs that save your life. Cars. You're welcome. Electric. You're welcome. Phones. You're welcome. Pretty much everything you use day to day... You're welcome.

inventor of the WWW - Tim Berners-Lee - English
developer/inventor of Penicillin - Alexander Flemming - Scottish
inventor of the first steam powered vehicle (1672) - Ferdinand Verbiest - Flenders (now Belgium)
What some people define as the first "real" automobile was produced by French Amédée Bollée in 1873, who built self-propelled steam road vehicles to transport groups of passengers.
inventor of first petrol/gasoline engine developed in 1876 by Nikolaus August Otto in Cologne, Germany

In 1600, an English scientist William Gilbert made a careful study of electricity and magnetism - discovering static electricity. This was before Benjamin Franklin sent up a kite into a lightening storm in 1752.
The recognition of electromagnetism, the unity of electric and magnetic phenomena, is due to Hans Christian Ørsted and André-Marie Ampère in 1819-1820; Michael Faraday invented the electric motor in 1821, and Georg Ohm mathematically analysed the electrical circuit in 1827.[13] Electricity and magnetism (and light) were definitively linked by James Clerk Maxwell, in particular in his "On Physical Lines of Force" in 1861 and 1862.

None of these guys were Americans (apart from old Benjamin playing with his kite ;o)

What was next - the phone you say? First patented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell - Scottish. He closely beat an American, Elisha Gray (Ohio) to the patent.

It is true however that most americans believe they did everything first.

[dyna mo]

some people choose to not realize the free ride the rest of the world gets due to our military securing their borders. fuck, some countries don't even have a military and rely on usa security ~100%

1/2 the world would take a massive economic shit if we brought all military ops back home requiring other countries to invest in their own military.

i say go for it, i couldn't give 2 shits. most the rest of the world are a bunch of hypocrits, point finger at usa with one hand and the other hand held out open for a handout. so we chip in to help ya out and you turn around and talk shit.

typical.

some people also must not realize how big of jackasses youd tourists are in usa. i have to deal with that shit on a daily basis living across the street from hostel and close to several international hotels.

australians are loud, asians are pushy, british complain, russians act like lost dumbshits. i could easily stereotype every fucking one and bitch about their country based on my observation of a few.

just like idiots on gfy, everyone thinks everyone else is an idiot.

it's easy to point fingers.


it's harder to not.

[slapass]

Travel a bit. Most people like America and Americans. Obama has helped our international image. And Bush was pretty much hated but overall our country is not disliked.

[J. Falcon]

A lot of hate in this thread. A lot of pride too. Both sides are pathetic.

[Slappin Fish]

Originally Posted by epitome

Nice internet rant. You're welcome. We built it. We also discovered a lot of the drugs that save your life. Cars. You're welcome. Electric. You're welcome. Phones. You're welcome. Pretty much everything you use day to day... You're welcome.

Cars?

Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, or even Edouard Delamare, might have something to say about that

Probably you mean who perfected the assembly-line.

[dyna mo]

Originally Posted by J. Falcon

A lot of hate in this thread. A lot of pride too. Both sides are pathetic.

so you are sitting on your own side pointing your finger at the other sides.

makes sense.

[Best-In-BC]

Originally Posted by vdbucks

America isn't a country, it is a business. Politicians don't care about sides, all of that nonsense is just smoke and mirrors to keep the people occupied with nothing; meanwhile, all the real decisions and policies are made by big corporations.

Yep

[PhoneSexKing]

Originally Posted by dyna mo

some people choose to not realize the free ride the rest of the world gets due to our military securing their borders. fuck, some countries don't even have a military and rely on usa security ~100%

The US only protects the borders of other countries if there is something in it for them. Usually resources.

Originally Posted by dyna mo

1/2 the world would take a massive economic shit if we brought all military ops back home requiring other countries to invest in their own military.

I should qualify before replying: I'm pretty much an anarchist.

Military power shouldn't be concentrated in the hands of a few anyway. It only leads to these sorts of problems.

Originally Posted by dyna mo

i say go for it, i couldn't give 2 shits. most the rest of the world are a bunch of hypocrits, point finger at usa with one hand and the other hand held out open for a handout. so we chip in to help ya out and you turn around and talk shit.

I don't know if I should blame your school system or main-stream media for your ignorance. Care to enlighten me?

[PhoneSexKing]

Originally Posted by vdbucks

America isn't a country, it is a business.

Actually "America" is a continent. It generally refers to the northern and southern regions together. Also called "Americas" (plural).

Also, the Spanish want their word back; "Dollar".

[PhoneSexKing]

Some more inventions the USA seems to think they created (just for shits and giggles):

Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey - all Canadian inventions.

Moon landing - most top engineers were Canadian - head of the Apollo and Gemini projects including the moon landing - from Kamloops BC.

Apple pie (Apples are asian) - McCains popularized the apple pie - a Canadian company.

Telephone was invented in Bellville ON, Canada.

Most telephone technology from the 70s and 80s Northern Electric - Canada.

Blackberry is a Canadian invention. (Yeah, I know it is losing market share like a titanic.)

Want more?

[deltav]

Lotta righteous indignation and half-baked viewpoints getting tossed around in this thread, par for the course here I guess. Geopolitics is complicated stuff and in reality there's a lot of nuance and gray areas, usually in any situation there are no true good guys and no actual moral high ground once you look behind the curtain & the spin.

Pretty much any nation is going to act in their self-interest within the limits of their power. At this point in time, the USA has by far the most ability to project their power on a global scale so they stand out in this regard, but *any* nation with comparable resources does the same. That's just how it works.

Personally I think there's a shit-ton of problems with the way the US interacts with the world, and there's definitely a divide between how its citizens view US actions and how the rest of the globe does (i.e. many Americans are oblivious to how interventions elsewhere could be negatively perceived). But best believe Putin's Russia would be pulling the same shit or worse if he hadn't been so busy preventing his country's slide into 3rd World irrelevance the last decade-plus. Perhaps you guys would prefer the predicted rise of China as a dominant power instead? Spend some time there & get back to me on that, sounds like a lot of fun.

IMO the root of many of the world's problems is the rise of multinational corporations that are in many ways beyond the reach of law and are so intertwined into the political structure of multiple nations (of which the US is just one) that it's impossible to determine their actual influence. Obviously the US system is beholden to monied interests, but it's pretty much the same shit the world over. Rather than some facile one-dimensional rant against the USA, that's where we should be directing our attention.