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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe whole world's watching--fallout in the German press was quick
Harris liefert fehlerloses erstes TV-Interview als Präsidentschaftskandidatin ab.Harris comes across with [an] error-free TV interview as a presidential candidate.
Im Gespräch mit CNN lässt sich Kamala Harris nicht aus dem Konzept bringen, tappt in keinerlei Falle und lässt sich von Trumps Beleidigungen nicht provozieren. Lieber predigt sie den "Weg nach vorne"
Talking with CNN, Kamala Harris does not lose her cool, falls into no traps, and doesn't let herself get provoked by Trump's insults. She instead promoted her "way forward."
Europe is paying close attention, and likes what it sees so far.
This matters because although some clueless people in DC (including, shockingly, such notables as Sherrod Brown) seem to think there are only 300,000 Americans Abroad, there are, in fact, about NINE MILLION of us, and about two thirds of us can vote. We are not in a vacuum over here, either, as the above quote from today's German press shows. They follow in real time, and their English is often better than many Americans who only speak and write in Republicanese.
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SheltieLover
(81,666 posts)I just presume the rest of the world would rather see the United States elect anyone but a pootin puppet. Kamala rocks!
carpetbagger
(5,516 posts)...that the Ukraine invasion was a test of Sholz more than Biden. Both stood firm, but to me it always seemed like he was thinking the coast was clear after Merkel.
SheltieLover
(81,666 posts) 
The Mouth
(3,416 posts)We Americans think *everything* is about us, from some minor piss-up in the ME or Asia or Pooty's attempted Anschluss
DFW
(60,426 posts)This includes a Russian-speaking German friend who spent five tears there as a German Radio News correspondent.
They see the Ukrainian invasion as a total miscalculation (see Bush Jr./Rumsfeld+Iraq) that Putin will never admit was a total miscalculation. He thought he could start re-assembling the Russian Empire in a cakewalk, running roughshod over a pushover people only too willing to rejoin the Rodina. For someone supposedly aware of history, he seems to have forgotten that Hitler’s Wehrmacht was initially welcomed by the Ukrainians as a liberating force, freeing them from Stalin’s socialist yoke. Only when the Nazis started acting like Nazis did the Ukrainians realize that their “liberators” were no improvement.
Where Rumsfeld, at the start of the Iraq invasion, foresaw a duration of “maybe six days, maybe six weeks, certainly not six months” Putin reportedly saw his forces wrapping up the conquest of a passive Ukraine within two weeks of the start of the invasion. Maybe he’s slow to get the hint that the Ukrainians are not interested in rejoining the Russian Empire, but the loss of a quarter million Russian troops has to have him scratching his head at some point. It took Cheney and Rumsfeld a while to say “oops,” too, but they eventually did. Cheney (dba Bush Lite) was term limited, and thus so was Iraq. Putin is there for as long as his health and the loyalty of his bodyguards will allow. Whether he’s facing scrutiny from Merkel, Scholz, Merz, Söder, or even Biden or Harris, it’s a safe bet that the support of friendly local money and a tight FSB is of far more importance to him than who is in the Bundeskanzleramt or (unless it’s Trump), the White House.
DJ Porkchop
(635 posts)
AllyCat
(18,987 posts)They saw it then. Our press was busy falling all over our soon to come Felon machine in the WH.
sanatanadharma
(4,090 posts)And the 3.4 million population of Uruguay (and land area) compare best with Arkansas.
The US Embassy here had a town hall for US citizens, where voting was being encouraged.
Voted in 2020 and will 2024 as a landless resident of the last State in which I am likely to ever live.
BTW, in Uruguay voting is compulsory for most adults.
The twice a decade Federal government election season is happening now on my TV, in Spanish.
DFW
(60,426 posts)Some like to pepper their stock speeches with made-up rhetoric about us, asserting that we are all millionaires and billionaires living tax-free on yachts moored in the harbor of Monte Carlo. Hell, there might even be one or two, but that doesn't have anything to do with the other nine million of us that are teachers, doctors, legal personnel, business advisers, academics, administrators, artists, accountants, photographers, authors, musicians and other professions that help round out the people that respresent our country overseas. That doesn't even start taking into account those of us who just followed our hearts and married friendly natives of other lands. People who use rhetoric like that to toot their own political horn are no better than Trump saying all Mexicans are rapists.
erronis
(24,498 posts)Auto:
In conversation with CNN, Kamala Harris cannot be slipped out of the concept, does not fall into any trap and cannot be provoked by Trump's insults. She preachs the "way forward"
DFW:
Talking with CNN, Kamala Harris does not lose here cool, if into no traps, and doesn't let herself get provoked by Trump's insults. She instead promoted her "way forward."
DFW
(60,426 posts)I have NEVER experienced it accurately translating anything from a language I knew so that it conveyed the true meaning of the original.
A German friend of mine always used to jokingly bid me good-bye by saying, "I wish you what." That is a literal translation of the typical German phrase, "ich wünsche Dir was," which really means, "I wish you all the best," But Google translate has never had German friends, so it doesn't know that unless someone programs it in. If all they translate is one word after another, they'll end up with "I wish you what."
xocetaceans
(4,444 posts)Evolve Dammit
(21,814 posts)DFW
(60,426 posts)Evolve Dammit
(21,814 posts)DFW
(60,426 posts)You can't remember what you never knew in the first place.
sheshe2
(98,408 posts)Bmoboy
(665 posts)How do the expat votes get counted and allocated?
If I used to vote in Georgia ten years ago before I moved to Europe, does my vote get added to the rest of Georgia?
DFW
(60,426 posts)If you are in the USA for 183 days or more a year, you're a US resident, and if you are there for less, you can (need not) declare a residence elsewhere. I say need not because some people have jobs that require them to be in many different countries during the yerar without living in any one specific country for 183 days. I'd also join the other countries of the earth (except Eritrea) and recognize residence-based taxation. The USA is (practically) the only country in the world that taxes its citizens no matter where they live, leaving them at the mercy of double taxation, as I am, in cases where the double-taxation treaties do not cover all possible situations.
If you have a legit residence abroad, then say so, and vote as an American Abroad. Since most of us are artists, techies, academics, and the like, we'd be a relaible Democratic state with maybe 10 or 12 electoral votes. If DC, with its 850,000 (or whatever it is now) population is worth a statehood movement, I say so are we. We even had a delegation at Chicago (21 delegates, oh well, it's something).
róisín_dubh
(12,379 posts)Which lucky you, is a state that matters. Mine is not.
https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/vote-from-abroad-overseas-voting#determining-quotvoting-residence-addressquot-based-on-quotresidencequot
COL Mustard
(8,384 posts)My favorite German word of the day...and feminine!
(Even if my computer won't display the ä)....
DFW
(60,426 posts)The text body will show practically any punctuation, but the headline space will not. There is a way to get around that, but I'm not familiar with what it is.
JustAnotherGen
(38,109 posts)Last edited Sun Sep 1, 2024, 08:02 AM - Edit history (1)
In Freiburg. He's so amped up. Watched it online and believes she can make the country a good place if our nieces decide to make a life here.
DFW
(60,426 posts)I don't think any one administration, no matter how benevolent, can pull off a miracle in the space of one administration term, or even two. Every time we get a Republican administration, they do so much evil and damage that any new Democratic administration spends more of half its time and resources on damage control. What Biden did is nothing short of miraculous, but we'd need about 25 years of such an administration to really wipe out a good portion of the wrongs that have been done to us by the administrations of Nixon, Reagan, Cheney and Trump. I include Supreme Court Justices such as Rhenquist as part of the damage.
JustAnotherGen
(38,109 posts)With tri citizenship: born in "the Bronx', raised in Italy, immigrant to Germany for prosperity and a "girl dad" -
The two houses my in-laws bought for their two children that were born in America - he feels like he's okay with them going to Columbia as my husband's two older siblings did and commuting from the Bronx. He won't have to get them on a plane quick if they are sexually assaulted. Gleason Ave is back.
heckles65
(633 posts)In essence - yes.
DFW
(60,426 posts)Were we to be recognized for the separate group we are, and you have a legitimate residence abroad, then you should have a voting allegiance to that group, just like you'd have a voting address in South Carolina if you moved there.
Hekate
(100,133 posts)highplainsdem
(63,060 posts)Aussie105
(8,164 posts)And not have their heads up their backsides like most of the US media.
More importantly, they can distinguish between a competent politician and a snake oil sales flim-flam artist like Trump.
They saw what Trump is early on - more US citizens inside the US should seek out news reported overseas about US politics.
(It shall forever remain a mystery to overseas watchers of US politics how a “hirntoter Mensch” like Trump got to be POTUS.)
DFW
(60,426 posts)My wife, who is German, was in the USA during the summer of 2016, and was appalled at how the US media gave 90% of its air time to Trump and so little to HRC. She warned me well before anyone in the US (including me) thought a Trump presidency was possible. She warned me--your country is getting a steady diet of only Trump, and by November, way too many people will vote that way, too. Not ONE of my American friends, including respected pundits with decades of DC experience, had as much insight as she did.
It's why socialist countries (including so-called "national socialists" ) take full control of the media before anything else. If the people are conditioned to believe there is no other way to govern the country, then they come to believe it. East Germany collapsed before any of the other Soviet colonies because they had access to West German media. Their people had had enough of being a "people's republic" and took to the streets in masses shouting "WIR sind das Volk!" i.e. WE are "the poeple!"
Blaukraut
(6,004 posts)VP Harris did exceptionally well, but honestly, she doesn't need our legacy media and shouldn't entertain them any more than necessary. Our daughter in Germany is an expat and is pretty excited about Kamala, without needing the MSM to find out all about her.
DFW
(60,426 posts)The one in Frankfurt retains her US citizenship, and so votes in Texas absentee. They both have birthright dual citizenship, and can thus live and vote where they want. Two solid Democratic votes, of course!
Wounded Bear
(64,619 posts)I remember a lot of the European press was calling the American people stupid for re-electing Bush Jr. Can't say I disagreed, even though he was far less dangerous than trump.
tavernier
(14,508 posts)would disagree with you.
Wounded Bear
(64,619 posts)And while Bush/Cheney bruised the American system, they didn't shake it to the core like trump did. In the end, they stepped aside like they were supposed to. trump certainly won't.
tavernier
(14,508 posts)He hides behind his elder statesmanship and his hobbies to try to wear the cloak of innocence. He can’t even denounce the traitor and throw his votes to someone else.
greatauntoftriplets
(179,330 posts)They're pumped that she's in the race.
soldierant
(9,372 posts)it was only last night (and I just saw today) that Joyce Vsnce put up those figures and two other figures - in 2020 1,25 million Americans abroad were registered and received ballots. 900,000 returned them.
I hope we can get more ballots from the rest of that roughly 6 million this time - especially those whose home of record is in a swing state.
DFW
(60,426 posts)But even so, if 900,000 Americans abroad returned ballots, then logic would dictate that there at least three times that many of us out here, and not a third that many. The fact that there are in reality ten times that many attests to hiw much work goes into obtaining, filling out and sending off a ballot back to the USA, and even then, whether or not it gets counted, we have no way of knowing.
If Sherrod Brown is that drastically ignorant of our numbers, he is also missing out on a huge potential donor pool, which he can only increase if he were to support legislation for fair taxation. But if he thinks there aren’t enough of us to warrant the effort, then he won’t get busy with it. Because that remains the case, and contributions to political candidates are not tax-deductible, I have to earn $400 for every $100 I contribute to him. He’s not interested in helping with residence-based taxation, but comes with his hand out every election season. He called me after primary season was over, so the max I could give him was $3300, and I did. The fact that I had to earn about $13,000 to be able to make that contribution did’t interest him (the rest got divided up between the IRS and the German tax bureau). My salary is no half million, so for me to set aside $13000 of my salary for a Senator who isn’t even interested in me or my fellow 9 million Democrats Abroad is a very big deal to me. I know how vital it is that we maintain his seat, so I made the contribution anyway, but he has two strikes against him in my book. He never apologized to Al Franken for helping hound Al out of the Senate, and he hasn’t shown the slightest interest in the unfair double taxation of Americans Abroad. I talked to him in March, and since then he hasn’t said a peep, publicly or privately (promises, promises)), about residence-based taxation. I know, he has a tough re-election campaign, etc. But just a small word, “I haven’t forgotten you,” whatever, would be nice. Instead, “please give me money, and then shut up for the next six years” is not what we like to hear from our allies in Congress.
soldierant
(9,372 posts)Joyce Vance is a former DOJ prosecutor who also runs a column with newsletter on Substack which she calls "Civil Discourse'" It may be about legal issues, social issues affected by legal issues, or politiical issues - or personal stuff - pr any combination of those. There are many competent legal analysts here; most use video to present their information. I prefer print, so she is my go-to. She writes clearly without being condescending, and her guesses are usually right. She's widely read, though of course there is no such thing as one news sourde used by everyone. This is the first and only time Americans out of country have been so much as mentioned by any source that I use,
I suppose most Americans would, if pressed, be aware that there are Americans who live outside the states - military, diplomats, all kind o f contractors, to name only a few, but not the numbers (And speaking of numbers, 900,000 ballots returned out of 1,320,000 ballots sent is darned near 70%. I don't believe any state can even come close to that. - though I may weong.)
Vance's point in writing about them was that we should not forget them - yom I should say. I think it;s a good one you likely do also. I note that your point is maybe even more valid than you know. Many voters who do live within the states get the same treatment from our representatives. I ,ay be fortunate in that when I send a message I get an answer, whether from my Democratic Senators or even my Republican in the House (not that I read his. I'm already on medication for high blood pressure.)
DFW
(60,426 posts)That goes for our governor and state attorney general, as well, as most know.
The last time I tried to reach out to any Texas member of Congress, I needed a passport renewal when COVI first hit, and they were useless. Only the US Consulate in Frankfurt helped out. The only time before that was in 1990, when for some reason the IRS determined that my elder daughter, age 7, was delinquent on some $7 payment to the IRS and was getting threatening letters. I sent the info and a letter of explanation to the office of Sen. Phil Gramm. Though a Republican, his office acted promptly and made the problem go away. They didn't even ask me for their $7.
I figure that there has to be a minimum of 5 million Americans Abroad of voting age, possibly six million. There will be plenty of Republicans among them, of course, but I suspect they are a minority. People who live abroad will, by necessity, be open to foreign languages, cultures and ideas in far greater numbers than typical American communities, with the possible exception of academic-rich enclaves in Massachusetts, New York and California. That would seem to indicate a majority of ex-pat Democrats. Even taking the lower number of 5 million eligible voters, 1,350,000 absentee ballots from overseas is only a quarter of the people eligible for them. If our reps in Congress would get busy rectifying the lack of residence-based taxation, the donor pool--and possible the number of voters, period--could double. PLenty of swing state companies based in PA, WI, MI and GA have large business presences overseas, and need mid-level American managers to run them. This, in turn, necessitates the teachers, accountants, and usual support staff that goes with it. The host countries are liberal in granting residence visas, because it brings in new tax money without their having to give anything back. I have to pay full boat taxes in Germany, and get ZERO in return. No pension, no health insurance, no nothing. Just the German government demanding half my income.
Colin Allred came a-calling again for money for his Don Quijote quest to oust Ted Cruz in the Senate. The first time I talked to him was a couple of years ago, when he was running for Congress. I said I'd give him money if he remembered the tax situation for Americans Abroad--not the theoretical situation (the Double Taxation treaties have it all covered), but the real situation (no, they don't, either). He said absolutely, and I never heard a peep from him until he came calling again for money for his Senate run. He even remembered that I had mentioned it last time. Funny thing how he never even gave it a thought after he got into Congress. I'm under no illusions about what he'll do for us if he somehow beats Cruz and becomes our Senator. I can add zero plus zero as well as the next guy.
If five million potential voters from overseas thought they could get some tax justice, imagine what a mere extra $100 per voter would mean: a half billion dollar pool of contributions (Republicans, included, of course).
But that would require some creative thinking and some action. Aiming rather high, I'm only too aware.
soldierant
(9,372 posts)I suspect what Americans Abroad needs is a Senator - any Senator - who will take the taxation issue as a pet project and stay with it -as Sheldon Wnitehouse (D-RI) is doing with Spureme Court ethics and reform, or Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has been doing for years with consumer protection, or, for a while, Jeff Merkley (D-OR) was doing with climate change I don't know what happened to that. If I knew all the Senate Committees I might be smart enough to recommend a name (Whitehouse is the chair of Judiciary, for instance), but I don't. If nothing else, these Senators do serve to keep the issue before the public. And that results in petitions and lotsof letters to all in Congress and gets the attention of at least some of them.
You are absolutely right, the system is unfair, and Americans do not like unfairness (even though some Americans have thoroughly distorted ideas of what constitutes unfairness, they don't like it either.) And being abroad makes it difficult for you to tap into grass roots inside the country.
Prairie_Seagull
(4,805 posts)OK, it was DFW but I would be if I had known.
Thank you DFW
liberalla
(11,217 posts)Thank you very much for bringing it to DU.
Hermit-The-Prog
(36,631 posts)
PatrickforB
(15,521 posts)DFW
(60,426 posts)In Germany, crossing your fingers means nothing. Here they press their thumbs (means the same thing).
malthaussen
(18,626 posts)If we let the rest of the civilized world elect our Presidents, we'd probably be a lot better off.
-- Mal
DFW
(60,426 posts)The presidency of the United States is an office far too important to be left to the American voter
Mr.Bill
(24,906 posts)Thanks for the thread, DFW.
DFW
(60,426 posts)Last edited Tue Sep 3, 2024, 04:33 AM - Edit history (1)
Few nations on earth remain completely untouched by decisions made in the White House. For the rest of the world, it matters plenty who is in there.
brewens
(15,359 posts)ever counting on Putin's troops. The way he's run his war in Ukraine is barbaric. If we did it that way, I would be helping draft dodgers in any way I could.
I give draft dodgers in Vietnam after the Pentagon Papers were leaked a total pass. Once the lid was blown off, if someone chose to show up and get sent over there, that was on them.
DFW
(60,426 posts)I think NATO would have literally fallen apart if our allies would have had to choose between following some Trump folly and leaving outright. And Western European nation that joined a military operation strongly opposed by their own populations. As it was, the European Defense Force, or whatever the French-German led project was called, was organized behind the scenes just in case Trump wanted to lead NATO into something stupid like Reagan's invasion of Grenada. These countries are our friends and our allies. They are not our puppets or our play toys.