A german view on history and terrorism

I liked it. It reminds me a lot of George Carlin's style. Too bad I don't know German, I hate subtitles.

I'm from the USA and I watched all five segments. I'd heard that stuff about South America before, but I must confess I don't know that much about it. Non-Americans tend to be much more critical of the USA, especially if their country has been ravaged by American forces at some time as the Germans were. I thought Pispers brought up some good points in his criticism of the US. He brought up nothing positive which just seems wrong.

Carlin was never that political. I don't remember him saying that much about this or that country. His schtick tended to be about society and it's rules. Carlin was most critical of his own people.

People are extremely critical of George Bush but they seldom consider what they would have done had they been in the same circumstances. They don't consider how difficult these Iranians and Iraqis are nor do they seem to understand that those powers love to put George Bush into difficult situations with no right answers. Germans also love to see America in a difficult situation.

I thought he was brilliant.
Right on the money.

I am Australian. We only do what the Americans tell us to do, so we do not have to think about anything.

You have to be good to use sarcasm as the basis of comedy. He just reels off sarcastic remarks one after the other like some boring New Age idiot. They are not even original, and mostly targeted at popularist controversy where he is guaranteed to get smug chuckles. I found it very precious and self important, and at the standard of junior high school debates.

Sorry, he didnt cut it for me, just one cheap shot after the other.

Regards
Zy

Ask a german what happened during the 1920's and 1930's-40's, see what kinda answer ya get.

Link to a guy throwing cheap shots and call it comedy? I call comedy how Germany tries to pretend Nazi Germany never existed.

Your trying to give a one sided view, and tell us not to bring up Germany's shit?

I'm sorry, but people can't bring up one sided views without asking for problems. Both sides have done wrong things, don't pretend like that isn't so.

I'm sorry, but this wasn't political commentary, or even jokes in a mature way. It's just cheap shots. Nothing good will come out of posting this, except to anger americans, which seems good to this 'comedian'.

Topics like this are why political discussions get blocked. Their usually one sided arguments.

Your entire first post was a one sided disaster waiting to happen.

It is comedy, not a historical analysis (though it is frightening enough the borders sometimes blur in this show). So he has the right to critizise, thats what this kind of comedy is about (cabaret). And to remark as well - he is not only critizising America if you didnt notice. He does critizise german politics as well, so its just fair.



I live in germany and i can tell you, you have an absolutely wrong picture of our handling of history. Actually Germany does NOT try to forget about Nazi-history (except some bald-headed lunatics shouting Heil Hitler in the streets and wearing swastikas illegally and trying to bend it to a positive picture). Actually Germany is traumatized hard by this part of history. If you look closer into german politics you notice the influences of history everywhere. And to my taste history is cited sometimes too often when politicians are trying to rectify decisions. We germans can not forget the history and noone wants. A big part of the nowadays peaceful and anti-war attitude of germany is based on history for sure. We have to try hard to get a comparable feel of patriotism like you do, because we have made really bad experiences with that. And to my very own personal opinion it is good, because in my eyes patriotism does serve no other mean than making the population unquestioningly obeying the decisions of the leaders - a contradiction to the democratic principle imho.

This is one thing we encounter in political context very often. When someone is pointing out the mistakes of others many say "touch your own nose". That is absolutely no way to deal with critizism, not in politics, not in life. Yes, we germans did one of the most cruel things in history. We were not the only ones, just think about the Tutsi-Massacre in Africa Pispers mentioned. 1000000 man dead for racial reasons and it was not important enough for the west that i really remember the day it was in the news. Sad, isnt it? Just because other people do mistakes as well, it is not a reason to not look at the own and try to learn from it. I can tell you, we germans did learn A LOT out of history, regretting a lot; accusing us to not remember it does not only speak of total lack of knowledge but comes near to be plainly offending.


And actually - this show is more than blatant cheap shots against American foreign policy. It goes much deeper politically than any Michael Moore movie will and any politician might state. Pispers just gets a lot of historcal facts together and gives you a clue, how politics nowadays really work. It is not about doing the best for the people, it is just about power. And it ever was this way...

Absolutely, no problem with that.


Yes he was very even handed, due credit to him.

It just wasnt comedy .... sorry .... maybe its a Cultural thing that came out badly on the sub titles ... dont know. I dont give a rats about the politics, thats a contrived issue frankly, the past is past, move on as they say, cant turn the clock back however much we might like to.

Regards
Zy

We're all shmucks, get over it.

Also, it's not Bush's fault as much as it is Congress's continuing blunder.

Bush can propose any dumb-arsed thing he could come up with, but it takes gullible congress members to make it a law. The United States Constitution gives the ability to wage war only to congress for a very good, and often forgotten reason. If the United States is at war and you don't like it, Congress has let you down, not the President. Bush will be gone soon, but we will have to live with his monstrous Supreme Court picks and foolish Orwellian laws he got passed for a very long time. None of this would have been a problem if Congress hadn't been taking dullard pills since about mid-1979.

Ditto. As far as I'm concerned, EVERYBODY is an idiot.

I'd be surprised if this doesn't get locked eventually.

I dont give a rats about the politics, thats a contrived issue frankly, the past is past, move on as they say, cant turn the clock back however much we might like to.
-Zy
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I would like for you to get a dictionary and re-read this.
After that I would like for you to ponder whether ignorance or apathy is most dangerous to America right now. Sorry I quoted incorrectly.

I admit, that it is very hard to get the comical aspect in subtitles. Comedy is about timing, ever met someone telling a good joke with a bad timing? Not funny anymore. Timing is everything, i know a german comedian that is successful for years with just talking idiotic nonsense all the time. No meaning, no intellectual content. But the way he does tell these things is so goddamn funny, people are laughing their behinds off since he began.
Subtitles cant do that. So to you it is reduced to the informational content rather than the comedy. Because it contains a lot information and because i am really interested in american opinions about it i posted it here. It isnt bad if you dont like it - that was basically my question

P.S.: We germans are said to be not very humorous - maybe its just that ;D

I vote for pomposity, its even more lethal - but then, thats none of my business, I live in UK

Regards
Zy

That's a popularist myth - I lived in Germany for 14 years at one point, had a great time :CONGRAT:

Regards
Zy

The "often forgotten" bit is perhaps the most important part of this remark. You are right to criticize Congress, but IMO your reasons are wrong, and primary responsibility for the Iraq situation lies with the Bush administration. Congress certainly deserves a good share of the blame (or credit, if that's your view), but they have played second fiddle all along, precisely because they have refused to declare a war for over 60 years despite the fact that we've had troops in harm's way for most of that span.

Ever since the Cold War began, we have had a pattern of excessive deference by Congress to the president's "commander in chief" powers. This is actually a later permutation of the trend towards executive authority that began with the Civil War and has escalated with every national crisis, economic or military, since then. Despite having founded our nation as a rejection of monarchical authority, we have ended up with elected kings. An elected, and term-limited, king is better than suffering under a formal dynasty, but I'm sure most of the framers would rather see us living with the natural messiness that follows from having the legislature as "first among equals" in our three-branch system.

Re the humour question, I'm sure that cultural differences, seriously enhanced by the need for translation for most of us in NorthAm, are the real trick there. Most of the US posters here could probably name a comedian we like a great deal who is just "not funny" to plenty of our fellow citizens. And I suspect there are similar law-like properties at work for both politicians and comedians: the more you please one crowd, the more likely you are to displease a different one.

Touch`e, sir.

Well Said - you get my Vote

Regards
Zy

I didn't see it as comedy.
I saw it as stating the obvious truth and disguising it as comedy to get away with it.

EVERYONE makes mistakes. We are only human. Every nation on earth has had a dark period. People who lead nations will continue to make mistakes.

I laughed hard when he was like "Americans can drop precision bombs from 5km, they can't make machines that can count ballots, but..."

I think you'll find we are actually considered an American state now, regardless of the clumsy installment of Chairman Rudd and his linguistic virtues. Still, the US is willing to pimp us around occasionally... did you know we sell gas to China for 2 cents a litre?

Sure beats the buck fifty I pay.

(If I type lol now is it comedy?)

Snort :LOL:

Would that be your entire performance?

Just to add my two cents, which used to be a dollar(thanks to Stephen Colbert for that one):

In my personal opinion, the reason these political threads sometimes (if not always) get out of hand is because someone with slightly or fully Conservative views have to come in and muck it up (and yes, I do realize that in me saying that, anyone who is a Conservative in America is going to flip out and bite my head off). I find that most Conservatives are so quick to join the bandwagon of other conservatives that they never stop and imagine the damage that they are causing.

I would like to pause and state right now that us Liberals are no better. We are just as bad as most conservatives. Same person, just with a different face and different ideals.

Now, I know the above statement probably completeley contradicted my entire arguement, but bear with me. First of all, in America, what group of people generally cause uproars over nothing? I have seen that across the United States, the Conservative-minded people will jump to conclusions over "facts" that are based soley on lies. I give you the great example of the Iraq War. 9/11 was a "fact" that "proved" to us that war with a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 could be justified. Now, im not saying that the Invasion was all bad (even though the word Invasion generally entitles something bad). Our forces got a dictator, who was known as a Mass-Murdurer, and although I do not approve of how they handled his death, we did get him killed (because all americans are great at killing (that was made of sarcasm by the way)). We have all but eradicated al-Qaida from Iraq (although the Taliban is still up and running, and very powerful). On another note, we have made a deficit so huge, it will take forever to clean up, and soldiers from all countries have been killed.

Secondly, and this also applies to Conservatives, I don't know how you guys managed to come to this, but how is Barrack Obama in any way someone who follows Islam? I have heard from countless sources that (and this is what some Conservatives say)"because Barrack Obama's middle name is Hussein, and his cousin follows Islam, he is OBVIOUSLY Islamic." Ok, there are so many things wrong with this statement (two to be precise, which isn't "many", but to make a statement, you must make it flashy and crap). First of all, his middle name.

What is a name? We always use a name to identify someone, such as "Bob" or "Kimberly". Since when has the name "Hussein" meant "Bomb-Weilding Infidel who is bent on the destruction of America"? A name is a name people, not a way to identify people as a Terrorist or a Saint. The fact the Barrack Obama's middle name is Hussein changes nothing, except for the fact that his middle name is not "Bo-Jenkins", but "Hussein".

Onto the second piece in my arguement, which is his family and there religious views. I love that people use this arguement, because it is so easy to refute. A lot of people say that, "...because his cousin follows Islam, he must follow Islam as well". Oh my god. This appalls me in so many different ways. And a statement that I have made to several people I know who have Conservative views that completley refutes there arguement is: "Oh. You think Obama follows Islam because his cousin does? Well, it is totally obvious that I am a Hardcore Conservative that beileves we should invade Mexico and Iran and vote in Bush for a third term, because thats what my grandmother thinks." For the record, I am a Liberal who doesn't think we should invade anyone (except for those damn little green men who beam us with stuff), and thinks that Bush was only in office to save his butt. I am also a devout Aethist.

One thing about the german press however. Whenever I read things that are written from the german press, I am always reading how "better and more sophisticated" the Germans and other Europeans are. It also seems like your media only views us as "Angry hicks who have rifles and kill babies for sport". I find your media to be very arrogant. You should write a letter to them.

Another statement: As you probably already realize, this has no relation to the topic at hand, and if any flaming occurs do to this post, I take full responsibility for what happens. Im very politically charged, ready to defend my view points.

Just to add my two cents, which used to be a dollar(thanks to Stephen Colbert for that one):

In my personal opinion, the reason these political threads sometimes (if not always) get out of hand is because someone with slightly or fully Conservative views have to come in and muck it up (and yes, I do realize that in me saying that, anyone who is a Conservative in America is going to flip out and bite my head off).
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On the contraire my friend. What if I made a post about my inability to allow gay marriage on not just a religious level, but a government level? Liberals like you would not only bite my head off but drag my entrails around like raving dogs. There might be more than one reference to someone demanding free speech

In fact, conservatives are getting harder to locate because Liberals attack them with every possible chance they get.

I'm more of the "Invade your country, kill your leaders and convert you all to christianity" Kind of guys.

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I find that most Conservatives are so quick to join the bandwagon of other conservatives that they never stop and imagine the damage that they are causing.
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Ohhhh if it weren't for your statement below I so could have sent you about a thousand links but for now I will make only one reference: Universities. Free Speech or Liberals only spots? (With the exception of BYU)

Anne Coulter got food thrown at for doing a speech at a university. Free speech advocates at universities or Liberalism spawning grounds?

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I would like to pause and state right now that us Liberals are no better.

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You are so lucky you said that, I was SO close to calling you on it!

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We are just as bad as most conservatives.
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-What? We are all humans, we all have the same problems. No one person's problems/habits have never happened before.

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Same person, just with a different face and different ideals. Now, I know the above statement probably completeley contradicted my entire arguement, but bear with me.
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Trust me, I'm doing my best trying to bear with you. Tooth and claw.

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First of all, in America, what group of people generally cause uproars over nothing? I have seen that across the United States, the Conservative-minded people will jump to conclusions over "facts" that are based soley on lies. Im very politically charged, ready to defend my view points.
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WHAT THE CRAP?

Global warming all America's fault or Global Warming man's fault, take your pick. My denying of global warming is no different than your denying of 9/11 down below which I didn't bother quoting because it's late and I want to go to bed early tonight.

The fact that you haven't heard about the Uranium findings/shipping really astounds me- wait, not really.

Let teh flaming begin!

Oh and edit so I can say i really did contribute to the conversation I find that in the UN reverse-psychology works very well when dealing with those in the UN due to the EU's fanboi condescending "The EU is better and much more sophisticated than America"