Turns Out Mr. Wikileaks is Mentally Unstable

[Krill]

Of course he is ****ing mentally unstable. Stress is the #1 cause of mental health issues.

[Kitschum]

#2 is being short

[Kitschum]

#3 is graying hair

[DaShi]

if that was his plan, at least he could be considered a cunning president... as it is, US is more soviet than one would think...

being able to vote for the same options (yes the communist party was "democratic" too, and anyone was able to vote... in US you have two parties however)
leading pointless wars half way across the globe
spying on its own population "for security"
general secrecy of governmental operations
elite driving the political processes
cult of the state
strong propaganda and distortion of obvious facts about the rest of the world (ie national health service debate)

How many countries don't have this?

[Hauldren Collider]

How many countries don't have this?

Most countries don't lead wars halfway around the globe, but I dunno about the rest of those points

As for the elite driving the political process, it's not really control as we can see with the tea party.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

no other developed democracy... (Europe, Australia, NZ, Japan)

the closest to the two party system in US is Australia, but in there you have a lot more more "third party" influence and thus choice for the electorate. UK is the next is line in "similarity" but the Lib Dems until now represented a viable alternative.

AFAIK no other country expect UK leads a significant pointless war across the globe, no other country spies actively and openly on its own population, it could be argued that US government is a lot more secretive about its operations than other democracies.

Given that other democratic countries have a lot more choice for whom to vote for, it is a lot harder for the elite to drive the political process unopposed. The "elite" sponsoring everyone outright is a lot harder, or even impossible.

Cult of the state - Pledge of alliance - no other developed nation has this sort of parroting enforcing the cult on a regular basis like in the US.

Media control is also a very strong feature - getting majority of the population to believe that Saddam did 9-11 before the invasion, was impressive... recently that "socialst" health service is "bad for you" is another impressive one, and plenty more... not that there is no media bias elsewhere, but in the US the propaganda machine is the strongest, typically complex issues are broken into "two" options one of them being "republican" and the other "democratic", public discourse happening between those two served options... and disinformation wins the day, apathy and disengagement is high as a result. In USSR you mostly had one opinion that you had to aggree with though, so "two" is better than one, still serves the same purpose. US wins the sophistication contest

[Elok]

Cult of the state - Pledge of alliance - no other developed nation has this sort of parroting enforcing the cult on a regular basis like in the US.

As somebody who had to say that stupid thing about 200 times per year for twelve years, I can assure you it does not result in any greater loyalty towards the American state. It just kills about a minute of time.

Also, it's the pledge of allegiance, not alliance.

Oh, and I don't know that the majority of the population thought Saddam did anything. I think the majority were too confused and frightened to stand up to anybody who acted like he knew what he was doing.

[DriXnaK]

The problem is that there aren't any countries out there with a significance like the US. The countries you listed are nothing more than insignificant puppet states that we grant a certain degree of autonomy to. Also, it should be noted that the individual criticizing the US is a socialist from an insignificant country.

[Hauldren Collider]

@ the pledge being cult-like.

For ****'s sake, it's optional and most Americans are quite proud of American achievement, which is totally legitimate, I might add, as American achievement is pretty impressive.

Also at spying on citizens comment....

People trying to imagine they are freer than america to justify their pride in their meager nation

Finally regarding the party system, parties in the US have very weak control over their elected officials. It's gotten worse in recent years, and it varies greatly by state, but for the most part parties have fairly little control over their candidates thanks to open primaries.

[Asher]

The pledge is legitimately creepy. It's just so normal to you that you don't see it that way.

[KrazyHorse]

Oh, Mr. Assange, will you ever learn? Seeing as this seems to be exactly the way he got into trouble in the first place, if the Daily Mail version of events is anywhere close to true, why he hasn't reevaluated his choice of lifestyle to save himself further embarrassment is the real mystery.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1307137/Supporters-dismissed-rape-accusations-WikiLeaks-founder-Julian-Assange--women-involved-tell-different-story.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

She made him breakfast after!

Sweden is ****ed up.

[KrazyHorse]

Pledge of allegiance

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

People trying to imagine they are freer than america to justify their pride in their meager nation

That would work better in nations where you can freely hang your laundry out, and don't get arrested for crossing the road in the wrong place.

[MikeH]

@ the pledge being cult-like.

For ****'s sake, it's optional and most Americans are quite proud of American achievement, which is totally legitimate, I might add, as American achievement is pretty impressive.

Whilst theoretically optional I've heard lots of stories of people 'opting out' of the pledge and being horrendously bullied for it. By pupils and teachers.

You might be used to it but as an outsider it's very creepy and unsavoury. Plus it has one nation under God in it, which is an issue in itself in a country with separation between religion and state.

[KrazyHorse]

As I understand it, the majority of schools skip the Pledge.