Vote OBAMA! (from DB himself)

[Peterb]

I don't think Chris was doggin' David.

He was just saying DB should become a citizen in order to vote. There's probably a solid reason DB hasn't become a citizen. I don't really care...Chris probably doesn't actually care either.

Chris play the snare part from "Thankyou For Sending Me An Angel" and wear an aqua polo shirt

Peter

[bigideas]

wow, i had no idea David was not a US citizen.
he is so tied to New York i just assumed.

[finnikko]

I've always seen David as a Canadian or Brit who loves the U.S.A. culture. That doesn't
mean he should sign up to serve for the country which is home to that culture. Citizenship
is much more involved than getting the right to vote, and there are good reasons to
avoid getting tied down with the wrong one (travel to Cuba being possible is one).

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN!!!

There are good reasons to avoid getting tied down to the wrong one

For God's Sake
HE'S BEEN LIVING IN NEW YORK FOR DECADES!
If he didn't up and leave when the great Satan Bush was in power I think it's a good bet he plans on sticking around. And what service is "labrador" referring to?
Travel restrictions aside, I'm still very proud that this culture, as flawed as it is, elected Obama to be their leader. He is now my President and I will stand behind him, even though I was one of the haters who voted against his own best interests - thanks DB, artist as unifier looks good on you.

[labrador]

The night of the election, the Canadian Broadcasting Company had pretty good coverage of what was happening. One of the locations they visited was a big gathering of Americans in Toronto who are Democrat supporters. They estimates there are 50,000 Americans living in Toronto who are U.S. citizens and able to vote in the U.S. election from Canada.

The American woman who organized the event was a resident of Toronto for the last 30 years. My reaction to learning of these things, was "way to go". It was not "why the hell aren't you a Canadian yet?"

This expression by Chris is a flaw of the American psyche. It bugs many Americans if someone doesn't naturally want to become an American. Here is the news: the United States isn't the natural ruler of the world, nor is it the best country to live in. What country is the best to live in or be a citizen of can vary by individual.

There are many artists who have left the U.S. for the remainder of their life for a variety of reasons. Check out this wikipedia link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expatriate#Famous_American_expatriates

What many of them have in common is being stuck with U.S. citizenship and wanting to be out of the reach of their home country.

In David's case, not having U.S. citizenship may have allowed him to travel to Cuba to work on their Luaka Bop label business without breaking U.S. laws. Given that he received a draft card in the 70's, I'd also understand that he may have wanted to keep the option of leaving the U.S. if conscripted and have the option to be a citizen of the U.K. without any threat of being sent back to the U.S.

In general, you never know what the future will unveil, and keeping a Plan B in your back pocket isn't a stupid thing to do.

If you still think American citizenship is the most natural thing to acquire, then ask yourself: why do tourists in Europe sew a Canadian flag to their backpacks?

Of course this could very well reverse in the future, if all of the hopes around Obama hold well. But it has never been like this since Kennedy.

[reno]

Great post which is really thought provoking. Thanks - R

[finnikko]

It is a good post but I have a hard time believing the conscripted part (how old is David now). The world may blow up tomorrow, better to live on the Moon and just visit. I know, dumb analogy, but I don't live my life in fear of what MAY happen in the future. I work to make today better.

I don't know, it just sounds to me like one of those friends who can't commit to an invitation because he's forever keeping his options open, always looking for the better party. It also has that feel of someone who wants the perks but would like an 'out' if things become disagreeable.

Which is strange because, as I said, DB has been here for so long and has experienced the good and the bad right along with the rest of us, you'd think after so much time he'd just go ahead and pull the trigger.

"labrador," my main point was to take issue with DB's stance that people who voted for McCain were voting against their own best interests.

I think they are both good, decent people. Check out my comments "the ongoing 2008 election thread". I kept all my opinions to issues of experience.

Both sides claim to want to put aside the bitterness, so how about we start with someone who has the eyes and EARS of so many.

Always remember:
Even the smallest pancake has two sides.

[labrador]

I always have a hard time understanding how people use the line "pull the trigger". You use it like "make a commitment". We just don't think in that type of language where I live. We might say "bite the bullet", but if I remember the John Wayne flick correctly, that is associated with taking the pain, not inflecting it. It is a different mind set.

I had a girlfriend from Britian in my twenties. She had a British passport and landed immigrant status. She had been in Canada since 8 years of age or so. In her thirties she still was not Canadian. It never bothered me at all. By keeping the other citizenship she was free to live and work here or in the EU if she ever wanted to move. There is nothing wrong with keeping one's freedoms.

Of what I know of Republican values and their track record, I don't know how anyone could take the McCain and Palin ticket as an option for one second. Do you understand the term "conflict of interest"? In my country, if the Prime Minister phoned for a $30,000 loan guarentee for a friend, the press jumps all over him. In the U.S., Haliburton is awarded millions in contracts, without a procurement and bidding process (no competition), which the V.P. of the U.S. has business dealings with. You know by now that they lied to you about WMD and really went in for the oil. There is also a good chance 9/11 was an inside job, the Pearl Harbour which was spoken of in months prior to 9/11. As was said in F9/11, if you can make people have fear, you can get them to do anything - that fear button is the only thing the Republicans have used for the last 7 years.

[labrador]

Regarding voting for McCain and against their own best interests, the quote was:

there are plenty of racists in this country who will vote against their own best interests

He never said everyone who votes for McCain votes against the own interests. I think he was thinking of people who are working poor and would not vote for a black person, while Obama seems more likely to be committed to helping the working poor.

Regardless, I'm sure we are going to see something more intelligent than being attacked by bin Laden (as far as it is known) and then retaliating against Iraq. I also expect illegal constructs like Guantanamo Bay to be taken down. Every country in the world is just shaking its head at these past behaviours by the United States.

If you want an alternative perspective that is done lightly, try out the video "Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?". It is a light and funny introduction to what people think outside of the West, and why.