U.S. Politics: Impoverished In Squalor

[Mudguard]

53 minutes ago, Ice Queen said:

But why was it Barr's decision to make? It should have been the House that made that determination.

 

It was Mueller's decision to make, but he punted on obstruction, so it fell to the DOJ, which meant that Barr would ultimately get to decide on the decision to indict or not indict.  Congress does not make this type of determination, which falls squarely under the jurisdiction of the DOJ. 

A big question right now is why did Mueller punt on obstruction?  It's a very unusual move, and it's not clear why Mueller would have thought that Barr would be in a better position to make this decision, especially since Barr's view on the obstruction case was already well known by the public.  The only reason that might make sense to me is if Mueller felt that he was conflicted out of making the decision due to Trumps repeated personal attacks on Mueller, which Mueller may have felt was evidence of obstruction, but would put Mueller in a difficult position as a witness in an investigation that he was leading.

[Rippounet]

1 hour ago, Darth Richard II said:

Depends how you want to define internationally. Pre 9/11 going up to Canada you generally didn't need one.

How much does Canada count as being "the rest of the world" though? Not to be snarky, but I think the article's point was that most US citizens don't travel enough to open their minds to different cultures.

Though in actuality, 36% of people *having* a passport is probably very high, even for a Western country. Also, a quick google tells me the number is a bit higher (more like 39%) and constantly increasing (it almost doubled in the last ten years). Also, most Europeans travel within Europe (the EU has made it ridiculously easy), which means they aren't more open-minded than Americans... Plus, if you take into account how huge the US is, a European traveling within Europe doesn't actually travel more than an American traveling within the US, even if they cross more borders... Also, if we want to have a laugh, I'm sure one could point out that an urban New Yorker traveling to rural Idaho is probably opening their mind to a different culture anyway. ^^

I think if you took all factors into account you might end up finding that Americans travel more and farther on average than citizens of any other country... For the very simple reason that, well, they can afford it. I think I've met Americans in every single country I've ever been to... And contrary to popular myth, they tended to be far more open-minded than my fellow citizens...

[Gertrude]

I've never liked the passport statistic to show how uncultured or close-minded or whatever Americans are. There's a lot to see and do in our own country and overseas travel is perceived to be out of reach or extravagant by many, even if it really may not be. I think travel even within the United States can be a little eye-opening. I don't know that I would correlate it with hate, either. In Europe we're seeing a lot of the same problems and I'd presume they have a higher percentage of people who have passports and use them often. I get and agree with the broad sentiment, I'm just not sure it holds up.

I once met two women who had never traveled outside of Iowa except maybe just across the border into Minnesota. Those are the people that really need to get out more and most likely never will.

[OldGimletEye]

3 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I'm looking right now and Minneapolis to London is $600-$800 on a month's notice. You can save $150-$250 if you do it like six months out I'd bet.

While I'd agree that you can get some really good deals when flying to Europe or what not, keep in mind that something like over 50% of Americans don't have enough in their savings to cover an unexpected $500 bill.

Also, on top of that, I'd never travel overseas or somewhere too far from home, unless I had access to at least a couple thousand bucks extra, whether in savings or credit. Who knows what could happen.

Perhaps that is one reason lots of Americans don't travel much.

[DMC]

37 minutes ago, Rippounet said:

Plus, if you take into account how huge the US is, a European traveling within Europe doesn't actually travel more than an American traveling within the US, even if they cross more borders... Also, if we want to have a laugh, I'm sure one could point out that an urban New Yorker traveling to rural Idaho is probably opening their mind to a different culture anyway. ^^

Yeah, I don't want to whole-heartedly agree with this because it sounds like a douchy American, but how much does any country's people travel beyond they're own continent?  Be happy to be proven wrong here, but I suspect it's low.  Beyond, like, touring the Mediterranean.  I've traveled a lot within the US.  I think it gives you a pretty good idea of the western world.  The rest of the world?  Of course not.  But that either costs more money than I'm willing (or can even) to pay*, just means I'm entitled, or I would have to sign up for service I'm not willing to do.  So, no, I'm not that great of a person in terms of the latter.

*And yeah, I know you can find cheap ways to go places.  Thing is, if I'm paying to go on vacation, which I don't really do anymore anyway, I want it to be good.  Like, a vacation.  Which means it will be expensive. 

[DMC]

55 minutes ago, Mudguard said:

A big question right now is why did Mueller punt on obstruction? 

No, that's not a big question at all.  He was always going to punt on charging the president.  I have been saying this on these threads for over a year.

[Zorral]

56 minutes ago, OldGimletEye said:

While I'd agree that you can get some really good deals when flying to Europe or what not, keep in mind that something like over 50% of Americans don't have enough in their savings to cover an unexpected $500 bill.

Also, on top of that, I'd never travel overseas or somewhere too far from home, unless I had access to at least a couple thousand bucks extra, whether in savings or credit. Who knows what could happen.

Perhaps that is one reason lots of Americans don't travel much.

I doubt it.  Many Las Vegas visitors budget losing that much into their Las Vegas trip.

Still most USians who go to another country go on a cruise ship or go to a resort.  Just not the same.  Within the US they go to Disney World and Branson.  Most Usians really hate leaving their comfort zone.

The people I see everywhere that aren't resorts, far more than USians, are young Asians, particularly young Asian women: Japanese, Chinese and Korean.  They TRAVEL.

 

[Kalbear]

3 hours ago, Ice Queen said:

But why was it Barr's decision to make? It should have been the House that made that determination.

Because legally that's how the special prosecutor works. They are not independent like Starr was; they work at the behest of the Attorney General. Quite literally that is the only thing that could possibly happen - it is either Barr's decision, or it's Mueller's.