Gravel to America: You're 'fatter and dumber'

[on-ramp]

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Trying to be a "friend" to the American people, Democratic White House hopeful Mike Gravel gave his honest assessment to potential voters during an online Democratic candidate forum Thursday.

"I'm prepared to tell you that Americans are getting fatter and dumber," the former Alaska senator told comedian Bill Maher, one of the debate's moderators. "I have no problem saying that."

Maher asked a question to each of the eight Democratic candidates during the forum, which was sponsored by Slate, Yahoo! and the Huffington Post.

Maher told Gravel that obesity rates are up and reading levels are down and added that the "definition of a friend is someone who tells you the truth." Gravel replied that he was willing to be honest with the American people.

"I've also said that Americans are going to get the government they deserve," Gravel said. "And so if things are going bad, just remember who put these people in power."

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he's right. telling it like it is.


btw, Americans already have a government they deserve: fat and dumb and incompetent .
no need to change it.

[targa todd]

Huh? Something tells me this post doesn't belong in the 911 technical forum.

Now where's that "US politics forum"?

[on-ramp]

Originally Posted by targa todd

Huh? Something tells me this post doesn't belong in the 911 technical forum.

Now where's that "US politics forum"?

OOPS!! Please move to OT... i messed up.
thanks

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by on-ramp

OOPS!! Please move to OT... i messed up.
thanks

Gravel's example of dumber? Just kidding. Anyway, the politicians out of Alaska seem to be more realistic and straighforward than most. I guess that comes with an Alaskan lifestyle that is not compatible with BS. I could vote for a Dem from Alaska, given the Republican alternatives. Too bad he won't get far.

[kach22i]

Daddy Gravel makes me cry when he talks like that.

[BGCarrera32]

Originally Posted by on-ramp

OOPS!! Please move to OT... i messed up.
thanks

*A shining example of a dumb*

[Rick Lee]

In On-crack's defense, a lot of new topics when hit in off-topic discussions end up in the 911 tech forum. I think it's a site issue.

[on-ramp]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

In On-crack's defense, a lot of new topics when hit in off-topic discussions end up in the 911 tech forum. I think it's a site issue.

Right. oh btw.
Charlie, I'm 34 years old and I already have 7 patents to my name in the field of biomedical devices and process. That makes me dumb.
Anything to your credentials? besides tinkering with cars?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by on-ramp

Right. oh btw.
Charlie, I'm 34 years old and I already have 7 patents to my name in the field of biomedical devices and process. That makes me dumb.
Anything to your credentials? besides tinkering with cars?

A little sensitive are we??

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by on-ramp

Right. oh btw.
Charlie, I'm 34 years old and I already have 7 patents to my name in the field of biomedical devices and process. That makes me dumb.
Anything to your credentials? besides tinkering with cars?

Thou doest protest too much.

On-ramp, I hope you're sharing your patent royalties with the hardworking people who turn them into products, so you can never be accused of being "the man" you so hate.

[on-ramp]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Thou doest protest too much.

On-ramp, I hope you're sharing your patent royalties with the hardworking people who turn them into products, so you can never be accused of being "the man" you so hate.

if you knew anything about patents, you would know that inventors do not always benefit. I received them while working for corporations, so I do not receive a dime.

[Rick Lee]

I do know that because my dad received his own patents while in the military and didn't get rich off of them.

[bpoteat]

We're so dumb that more people come to US universities for educations than anywhere else in the world. I guess they just want to learn to be dumb like we are.

I got an idea. Why don't we start turning away people coming here for educations. "Sorry, we're too dumb to educate you".

[rammstein]

Originally Posted by bpoteat

We're so dumb that more people come to US universities for educations than anywhere else in the world. I guess they just want to learn to be dumb like we are.

I got an idea. Why don't we start turning away people coming here for educations. "Sorry, we're too dumb to educate you".

+1000

[berettafan]

fatter and dumber is right on. it's a result of the trend to shun personal responsibility.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by bpoteat

We're so dumb that more people come to US universities for educations than anywhere else in the world. I guess they just want to learn to be dumb like we are.

I got an idea. Why don't we start turning away people coming here for educations. "Sorry, we're too dumb to educate you".

Yes, we're so dumb that we NEED foreigners to come to our universities because they keep the prestige up and usually pay full tuition. And we also need them to fill jobs later on because our own public schools are so bad that our young folks are ill-prepared for jobs that need filling. Why do you think major companies are always pushing for more H1's?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

The overall quality of university graduates is plummeting however. I routinely deal with college graduates that can't spell, can't compose a sentence properly, etc.

Partially I blame the fast-paced world and over-use of abbreviations, colloquialisms and so-forth (often seen in electronic correspondence like e-mail, text messages, Blackberry notes, etc.) but I also blame the university system for becoming "mills" that simply churn out degrees to unqualified/underqualified graduates. This devalues the degrees and brings the caliber of the entire system down. Think about it - a college degree (particularly an undergraduate degree) isn't NEARLY worth what it once was - it qualifies the holder (in most cases) to not have to work at Arby's or to do oil changes at JiffyLube for a living. This is even more marginally true with "pseudo" degrees like "Associate" level degrees.

It used to be going to college and holding a degree meant someone had proven a certain capacity for rational thought, critical problem-solving and achieved a certain level of mastery in a particular area. Now it means quite little - it takes a GRADUATE degree today in order to really ensure one of a "professional" type job with real potential.

Another problem is our society's emphasis on "multi-tasking". I admit I'm guilty of this too, but I see this push to make everyone/everything "multi-task oriented" as having an unfortunate side-effect - people can't focus on problems any more. The attention span is somewhere between ADD and retarded for most problems even "qualified" people are confronted with. Sitting down and bashing through a problem with intellect isn't valued any more, but somehow taking on 50 problems and solving them all halfway is. This is a real problem. . .

[bpoteat]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Yes, we're so dumb that we NEED foreigners to come to our universities because they keep the prestige up and usually pay full tuition. And we also need them to fill jobs later on because our own public schools are so bad that our young folks are ill-prepared for jobs that need filling. Why do you think major companies are always pushing for more H1's?

Well, why don't other countries have major companies to hire their own guys? If they're so intelligent you'd think they'd have industries to keep the people that WE educate. There are very few modern innovations that American technology didn't have a major part in. Self centered (proud?), maybe, but Americans are, in general, no less intelligent than the populations of any other industrialized country. And I say this as a well-traveled person who works with and interviews foreign workers and students on a daily basis.

BTW, my comments about turning away foreigners were not to be taken seriously. If countries want to send their most intelligent citizens to be educated and work in the US, that is fine with me. As I've seen time and again, they usually end up wanting to stay and become Americans themselves. After all, if a person lives and works in the US, what makes them foreign?

[Rick Lee]

I never said those people didn't have jobs waiting for them in other countries. But the vast majority of them are Asian and can make far more and live far better here than in India or China. Nothing we do will ever outrun the demographics of those two countries, so education is all we have and we're not exactly setting the world on fire with kids who think the Holocaust was in the 70's or who place dead last in math and science among other industrialized countries. No other country spends close to what we do on public education and gets less for it. Clearly, money ain't the problem.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by on-ramp

Right. oh btw.
Charlie, I'm 34 years old and I already have 7 patents to my name in the field of biomedical devices and process. That makes me dumb.
Anything to your credentials? besides tinkering with cars?

So you are saying that your poop does not stink and that non bio-medical engineers who happen to be more mechanically gifted than you are stupid? Two words just popped into my mind...douche & bag.