Happy Independence Day!

[Gregg]

Happy July 4th from all us ungrateful peasants!

Y'all have fun at work today!

[Comrade Sharik]

Enjoy the parade of tanks through Red Square Washington....

[longdog]

Can't help but think a Happy Meal, a clown and a petting zoo would've been a bit cheaper and left The Commander in Chief just as happy.

[longdog]

Happy July 4th from all us ungrateful peasants!

Y'all have fun at work today!

We get four weeks paid holiday a year so have fun when we're sitting on the beach at Margit!

[Dr. Caligari]

For the benefit of the British Quatloos contingent, who didn't study Thomas Jefferson's immortal prose in school, here is an excerpt from the American Declaration of Independence, dated 4 July 1776, and arguably the most influential lines ever composed in the English language:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

[Comrade Sharik]

We get four weeks paid holiday a year

My partner is a US citizen, and I'm constantly shocked by how few rights they have at work over there in the Benighted States.

Still given that it took a civil war for 'all men are created equal' to have the (except slaves, obs.) bit taken out, perhaps its unsurprising.

[notorial dissent]

You really are all a whole lot better off and happier without us, just think of what things would be like if we were still part of the body politic and your politics. Seriously. Ponder that for a while.

[Gregg]

We get four weeks paid holiday a year

My partner is a US citizen, and I'm constantly shocked by how few rights they have at work over there in the Benighted States.

Still given that it took a civil war for 'all men are created equal' to have the (except slaves, obs.) bit taken out, perhaps its unsurprising.

Yeah, but we have (dramatic flourish)

The Second Amendment!!

"The Right of the People to keep and bear {paraphrasing here} Portable Anti-Aircraft Missile Systems and any other {back to defective original text} arms shall not be infringed.

Plus, we can make fun of every tax protester selling a scheme on the entire island, because we have proof that OUR METHOD works!

[Judge Roy Bean]

...
Yeah, but we have (dramatic flourish)

The Second Amendment!!

"The Right of the People to keep and bear {paraphrasing here} Portable Anti-Aircraft Missile Systems and any other {back to defective original text} arms shall not be infringed....

Oh, the "defective" part ... oh, wait, we're getting into politics. But one has to wonder what other parts should be considered "defective" when you decide we can start slicing off certain little parts of the bill of rights you don't like.

[AnOwlCalledSage]

Have I been misreading it all these years? I thought it was "the right to bare arms" and enshrined the ability to wear tee-shirt and jeans to formal occasions.

[Hercule Parrot]

Have I been misreading it all these years? I thought it was "the right to bare arms" and enshrined the ability to wear tee-shirt and jeans to formal occasions.

No, surely "the right to bear alms" means the ability to give spare change to the needy?

[John Uskglass]

I heard where that bit was to make sure Washington faced no consequences for an unfortunate incident involving a grizzly and a musket.

'There you go George, you have the right to arm bears.'

I'll get me coat.

[NYGman]

Obviously you are both wrong...

[Gregg]

...
Yeah, but we have (dramatic flourish)

The Second Amendment!!

"The Right of the People to keep and bear {paraphrasing here} Portable Anti-Aircraft Missile Systems and any other {back to defective original text} arms shall not be infringed....

Oh, the "defective" part ... oh, wait, we're getting into politics. But one has to wonder what other parts should be considered "defective" when you decide we can start slicing off certain little parts of the bill of rights you don't like.

I was poking just a little fun of people who distort many "sacred" texts to read what they want them to say, not what they actually say. It came up because a subject of the United Kingdom mentioned the very few rights we have by pointing out the biggest difference in their own, and our fundamental rights. by calling the original text the 'defective' part, I was making fun of people who might think so, I can assure you the biggest complaint I personally have about the current US Constitution is the 17th Amendment and I'm pretty sure that its so obscure half the people who care about it are looking right now to see what that one says.

To paraphrase George Carlin, "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke"


Please forgive me.

[Gregg]

We get four weeks paid holiday a year so have fun when we're sitting on the beach at Margit!

I should hate you for that, but I personally get 6 weeks vacation plus 10 personal/sick days and the Motorcar Company is closed 2 weeks at Christmas every year. Not everyone over here is so fortunate.

[exiledscouser]

I heard where that bit was to make sure Washington faced no consequences for an unfortunate incident involving a grizzly and a musket.

'There you go George, you have the right to arm bears.'

I'll get me coat.

Unfortunately we have the right to Bear Grylls.

[longdog]

I was poking just a little fun of people who distort many "sacred" texts to read what they want them to say, not what they actually say. It came up because a subject of the United Kingdom mentioned the very few rights we have by pointing out the biggest difference in their own, and our fundamental rights.

I think a lot of people in the US vastly overestimate exactly how free the land of the free is when it comes to actual rights.

Pretty much all of the constitutional guarantees in the US are enshrined in UK law through The Human Rights Act.

We don't have the right to bear arms exactly but a shotgun licence is a legal entitlement to the non-criminal / non-insane.

Freedom of speech is much the same in practice as is right to a fair trial, freedom of conscience, the right to a private and family life and so on.

With the exception of the insane gun laws in the US I'm struggling to think of any freedom the US has which we in the UK don't. But then we also have the right to (mostly) free medical care and the right not be executed by the state so I put the UK at least one point ahead.

[Gregg]

I don't think either one is close enough to the point between them, but our freedom of expression and freedom of the press is a little different in the nuance.

You're not allowed to make fun of Parliament on film, an institution that begs to be made fun of, especially on film.,,We seem to take every hiccup from somebody 50 years ago and bend it to how we feel now and they have little recourse.

When someone sues you in the UK, for libel, you're not as protected, but on the upside, if you win they have to pay your costs much more often than here. Your appeals system makes more sense to me, but over here it would end up being used to deny appeals with real merit. As it is, while you still have Tom Crawford and Neelu Berry in some still pending litigation, long past when it was ripe, over here they could still be doing the preliminary hearings for some of that stuff.

I like that your election campaigns don't start 23 hours after the last election, it must be nice. We have people now working on their campaign in 2024 already.

And around this time of year some Americans like to tip up the tyranny of your monarchy if not now at least under George III. Over here old Georgey is a vile and evil man, ruling with an iron fist and oppressing the masses at every opportunity. As far as I can tell, most Englishmen regard him as better than average and if not for the bouts of insanity he might rank as one of your better kings. (My American view) is that at the time, a siszable portion of the people of England were glad to be rid of the colonies as long as they could count on good trade relations with them afterwards. Reading Mr Pitt's and Lord North's papers is a lot like reading how Kennedy's "Best and Brightest" managed to get us into Vietnam.

For all that, your current Monarch is a grand and regal woman, sure she's a tourist attraction but she's damn good at it, and aside from getting to live like a Royal all her life, she's not gotten much out of it. I admire and pity both her and The Prince of Wales, if for nothing else for having to endure public criticism, some of it surely deserved and a bit not, without being able to defend themselves except through vanilla statements from their office staff and approved by the government. Long Live the Queen!

I'll take my drink and be off then...

[longdog]

Being born into a job for life with free mansions, more flunkies than you can shake a sceptre at, a weekly meeting with the PM to tell them what a tosser they are and complete immunity from the law? For that I'd cope with not being able to respond to criticism.

[Burnaby49]

I like that your election campaigns don't start 23 hours after the last election, it must be nice. We have people now working on their campaign in 2024 already.

We have a federal election coming up which must, by law, take place on or before October 21st. It might well result in the current ruling party and prime minister being kicked out. But it hasn't been called yet and nobody's really thinking about it much except newspaper columnists and Psam Frank. Canadians, as a group, will probably put our minds to it after the end of the summer. Until then more important things to do. You Americans seem to be constantly campaigning 24/7 regardless of the election cycle. It must be exhausting.