An english lesson... (I know, it's old but it is still sooo good)

[andrea.from.roma]

Don't get me wrong: my english sucks, I'm trying to improve it to make it sound better. Last summer I was at the station and this guy comes to me and says he needs directions. He's from Houston, we talk for half a hour, he gets what I say (or, at least, he pretends to) and we shake hands and have some laughs. So, my question: is my english that bad? Maybe so, maybe not. And this is just when he comes to my mind...

Mister President! The guy. The member of a masonic lodge. The closest-to-the-mafia-related-italian-politician ever. The commander in chief of the worst right-wing antisemite, homophobic, racist bunch of cro-magnons ever seen in this country since the time of another bald guy... Mussolini.

Ok!

He's not the best. I truly hope he gets convicted for what he's done, I do.

But yet... don't you find it funny when he and former president Bush get together and one (that one) says to the other (that other) that 'his english is very good'? I'm gonna miss them.



A.

PS In case you didn't get it, here it is:

"E aggiungo una cosa ancora (I'll add one more thing):
I considerszsz that the flag of Unite Stateszsz
nose only a flag of a country. Buzz is a universal
message of freedom and deemocracy."

Priceless.

[Whoey]

hilarious, can't wait to show the wife when she gets home, she'll feel 100000x better about her level of English...

former (Aznar) and current (Zapatero) president of Spain aren't much better... I've seen videos of Aznar giving a speech in the US somewhere... and when he went to visit Bush at Camp David, he returned to Spain with a Texan accent... 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Maria's English is fine- excellent in fact.  I never had any problems understanding what she was saying when you were here, and it's no problem understanding her on the show.  In fact, the only time we had any communication issues when you were here was when you kept referring to Veesta, and it took me a while to realize you were referring to Windows Vista! 

Def

[Whoey]

This is the Speech he did at Georgetown after they lost the election...


can't find any transcriptions... but his "facts" are almost as hilarious as something you'd expect to fall out of Dubya's mouth

[Whoey]

this is my favorite... the King of Spain telling Hugo Chavez to shut up

[Whoey]

Maria's English is fine- excellent in fact.  I never had any problems understanding what she was saying when you were here, and it's no problem understanding her on the show.  In fact, the only time we had any communication issues when you were here was when you kept referring to Veesta, and it took me a while to realize you were referring to Windows Vista! 

Def

When she first started giving classes here, most of her students thought she was English from the UK. Even some natives from the UK were stunned at her level of Spanish, until she told them she IS Spanish...

[ringzero]

Mister President! The guy. The member of a masonic lodge. The closest-to-the-mafia-related-italian-politician ever. The commander in chief of the worst right-wing antisemite, homophobic, racist bunch of cro-magnons ever seen in this country since the time of another bald guy... Mussolini.

At least Berlusconi is interesting.  ;>

It's entertaining to follow his exploits.  The various corruption trials.  The various women who claim to have slept with him for money and jewelry.  The 18 year old model rumored to be his illegimitate daughter.

His general level of sleaze and corruption, and his constant womanizing remind me of Bill Clinton.

Plus, I figure that anyone who is so hated by the Left Wing can't be all bad.  ;>

.

[andrea.from.roma]

At least Berlusconi is interesting.  ;>

It's entertaining to follow his exploits.  The various corruption trials.  The various women who claim to have slept with him for money and jewelry.  The 18 year old model rumored to be his illegimitate daughter.

His general level of sleaze and corruption, and his constant womanizing remind me of Bill Clinton.

Plus, I figure that anyone who is so hated by the Left Wing can't be all bad.  ;>

He's interesting, that's for sure.

And one thing he did good: he made the world understand how fragile is a democracy when its people forget about how hard it was to gain it. I mean, when you ask around who voted for him, you're likely to find nobody. It seems that nobody voted for the guy, and yet he won the election, so there must be a lot of people around who chose him. But they are kind of ashamed. And that makes me wonder: what else could they do? About fifty years ago, these same guys did one thing and then denied it right after: they let the nazis take over this country. Do you see what I'm talking about? Berlusconi is funny, is ridiculous, is outrageous, he is unbelievable. But if you get used to the clownish mask he wears all the time, you forget about who he really is, what is party is all about and in a second you find yourself lost in a country that barely resembles the one you used to live in. We're to a point where the question is not 'left or right' nor 'republicans or democrats', but 'democracy or dictatorship'. Scary...

Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, they were just plain boring evil smurfs. But Berlusconi... well, he is unique. I remember only of one other guy who can destroy you while he amuses you: Satan!

A.

[ringzero]

Do you see what I'm talking about? Berlusconi is funny, is ridiculous, is outrageous, he is unbelievable. But if you get used to the clownish mask he wears all the time, you forget about who he really is, what is party is all about and in a second you find yourself lost in a country that barely resembles the one you used to live in. We're to a point where the question is not 'left or right' nor 'republicans or democrats', but 'democracy or dictatorship'. Scary...

Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, they were just plain boring evil smurfs. But Berlusconi... well, he is unique. I remember only of one other guy who can destroy you while he amuses you: Satan!

A.

Corrupt pols like Berlusconi and Clinton, though objectively deplorable, do offer a certain entertainment value.

Both of these guys are so venal and so corrupt, with such gross personal appetites, that they just can't restrain themselves.  They can't restrain their appetites even while in office for the sake of how they appear to the public.

Although it is commonly done, neither Berlusconi nor Clinton deserve to be grouped with Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler IMO.

They simply lack the single minded lust for power that characterized those Great Dictators.

They are actually weak men, allowing themselves to be ruled by their appetites for money and sex.

.

[jzmtl]

It's alway the lesser of the two evils when it comes to politicians, and people wonder why I don't bother vote, I tell them it's like choose how you want to be raped, we are screwed either way, might as well leave it as a surprise.

But I think Clinton did more good/less bad than Dubya thou.

[american lockpicker]

It's alway the lesser of the two evils when it comes to politicians, and people wonder why I don't bother vote, I tell them it's like choose how you want to be raped, we are screwed either way, might as well leave it as a surprise.

But I think Clinton did more good/less bad than Dubya thou.

I think if Clinton hadn't done the Assault Weapons Ban in '94 he would have been a good president.

[ringzero]

It's alway the lesser of the two evils when it comes to politicians, and people wonder why I don't bother vote, I tell them it's like choose how you want to be raped, we are screwed either way, might as well leave it as a surprise.

But I think Clinton did more good/less bad than Dubya thou.

A century from now, Clinton will be barely remembered by most people.  Bush will be remembered somewhat more, because he was a wartime President.  Like Truman with the Korean War, and Johnson and Nixon with Vietnamn.

A paragraph summary of Clinton in a textbook will mention corruption, impeachment, and truly pathetic foreign policy.

Bush's paragraph will mention reversal of foreign policy from appeasement to fighting back against terrorism, and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

.

[cliosguy]

this is my favorite... the King of Spain telling Hugo Chavez to shut up

priceless

[jzmtl]

A paragraph summary of Clinton in a textbook will mention corruption, impeachment, and truly pathetic foreign policy.

Bush's paragraph will mention reversal of foreign policy from appeasement to fighting back against terrorism, and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

.

Dude, are you serious? Clinton knows hell a lot more about international politics than Bush's "you are with me or you are with the terrorists". And corruption? You think Bush went to Iraq and Afghanistan 100% for the terrorists?

That's all I'm going to say, have no desire to argue politics on the net.

[ringzero]

A paragraph summary of Clinton in a textbook will mention corruption, impeachment, and truly pathetic foreign policy.

Bush's paragraph will mention reversal of foreign policy from appeasement to fighting back against terrorism, and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

.

Dude, are you serious? Clinton knows hell a lot more about international politics than Bush's "you are with me or you are with the terrorists". And corruption? You think Bush went to Iraq and Afghanistan 100% for the terrorists?

That's all I'm going to say, have no desire to argue politics on the net.

Clinton was one of the very worst Presidents of the 20th Century.  His foreign policy was one of appeasement.  I was ashamed to have Clinton in office during his tenure.

Bush was a good President in terms of foreign policy.  Not the greatest domestic President, but at least I wasn't ashamed to have him in office.

Obviously weren't not going to agree on this issue, so it'd probably be best to drop it.


.