U guys still have Statue of Lenin ? (Seattle: military, shop)

[gnab gib]

Originally Posted by kanhawk

Just what is the history of this statue anyway? Who is the dope who thought that was a good statue to erect?

It was toppled in Slovakia after Communism fell. An American found it in a dump over there and actually mortgaged his house to pay to have it shipped here.

Why the city agreed to let the statue be erected here, I still don't know. But there you have it.

Lenin Statue, Seattle, Washington

The statue is for sale. Maybe somebody will buy it and put it out of its misery.

[Puddy4LyF]

Originally Posted by 509

Hey, toughguy....I am so pissed at your comment. My father's grandmother was murdered by Lenin and they took the family farm.

As for your comment about civilian deaths in Iraq...I give you this story from my mother.

Born under Stalin and captured for slave labor by Hitler. She sat in a barn and watch the American bombers drop their bombs. The German owner was safe in his bunker with his DOGS who he fed first and took to his shelter. The slaves laborers were left on their own.

I asked my mother how she felt about those bombs raining down. She said she was scared for her life, but knew that those bombs meant that she had a chance at freedom. Now how a 19 year old that lived only under Stalin and Hitler could figure that out and American's living under freedom can't just amazes me. You were blessed by GOD to live in this country.

Her comment was there were only two things wrong with American's.....they don't realize how lucky they are and they are incredibly stupid on how the rest of the world operates.

Sorry for the thread drift....but this hits right at the heart.

Could we have anymore random emotional appeals? Read Baghdad Diaries and Baghdad Burning I and II when you get a chance. Maybe then you can accurately have empathy for other cultures and situations outside of your family's. I feel for your poor great grandmother, but she falls in line with all alot of people who have been maimed and killed by powerful influence.

Should we also tear down all statues of Reagan, afterall it was he who empowered the Mojaheeden in Afghanistan (later to become the Taliban) along with guerilla soldiers in Latin America for the U.S.'s sake? I don't think so. (This of course, says nothing of John Roberts' horrific mismanagement of the AIDS epidemic in 1981)

Should we also tear down all statues of both George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush for their policies in Iraq, which have wrecked havoc on a population for two full decades? Ask the innocent Kurds, too, if they enjoyed Papa Bush's promise to sustain a Kurdish rebellion against Saddam and then found the U.S. nowhere to be found when 300,000 of them were gasses in 1988. Or, how about the weoponry we issued to him which gassed them later when we supplied Saddam for 8 years during the Iraq-Iran War? Tear down those statues? Well... maybe.

How about Lyndon B. Johnson, for his ideological miscalculation in Vietnam or his support of David Ben Gurion and the subsequent slaughter of Palestinians at the hands of Israeli bombs. Gaza Strip, for example, is a 24-mile long and 4-mile wide area of land which contains 1.2 million Palestinians. There, are, on the other hand, 6,000 Israeli's who also live in the Gaza Strip, behind fortified walls, security, and using 30% of the land. Forget that they've used U.S. weoponry and helo's for the intentional murder of Palestinian children, but the Israeli occupation controls every step a Palestinian even considers making. Do you think they deserve our continued support? Should we rip down all of those statues too for any administration which participated in any of the prior misgivings?

[As a note, soldiers in border control tanks who have seen Palestinian children of about 6-10 years old nearing the border fences (of their own country), have dropped off boxing gloves filled with explosives, intentionally destroying dozens of children. Do you make emotional appeals for them too? Israel has been the largest annual recipient of direct economic and military assistance from the U.S. since 1976, and the largest total recipient since WWII, of course... but this is God's country, so it's OK.]

Surely we should rip down Dwight Eisenhower's statue. His agreeing to lead a CIA-lead coup de tat of Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953 lead to the brutal living conditions Iran was forced to live under Reza Shah for 25 years. Clearly he's a mongral too.

Maybe it is you, as well, who could use a history lesson regarding the world. Afterall, anyone using a "God's country" reference in your argument probably could use one. The world isn't quite as innocent and naive as you seem to think it is.

[gnab gib]

To try to get this thread back on track, I think we can all agree that having a statue of Vladimir Lenin erected in an American city is controversial, to say the least. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have it there, but on the other hand, look at the impassioned debate it has triggered ... even here on this little old forum.

[509]

Originally Posted by toughguy

P.S. Your comment about being blessed by God is offensive, I am not a christian or a member of any other religious or spiritual group.

I'm sorry if referring to GOD offended you.

You were blessed through a random event of history and do not even realize it.

Please, Please travel and live in other places on this planet before dissing America.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by toughguy

P.S. Your comment about being blessed by God is offensive, I am not a christian or a member of any other religious or spiritual group.

For someone sporting the handle of "toughguy," you sure are easily offended. I am pure agnostic and I appreciate the sentiment behind someone saying God bless you.

While I don't agree with much of our foreign policy, I never discount how fortunate I was to be born in this country. We really have it easy here. And I say that as someone who grew up as part of the working poor.

[silas777]

What do you get when you cross lutefisk and LSD? A trip to Ballard! I used to drive by that stupid statue every day, and think to myself how has that not been destroyed. But then you realize it's in fremont! Most people there would be pretty comfortable with Lenin!

[rickers]

The next time I am in Seattle I will spit on that piece of junk statue and if any commie pinko anti American wants to stop me I will spit on the statue anyway.

[toughguy]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

For someone sporting the handle of "toughguy," you sure are easily offended. I am pure agnostic and I appreciate the sentiment behind someone saying God bless you.

While I don't agree with much of our foreign policy, I never discount how fortunate I was to be born in this country. We really have it easy here. And I say that as someone who grew up as part of the working poor.

Internet tough guys typically are easily offended. It's almost like a calling card, if you will. I am not like you, I don't appreciate the the sentiment, at all. It deeply offends me. The notion of a paternal, intangible guardian is repulsive to me. Religion and spiritualism are loathsome constructs, devised by weak minded fools. No offense.

[levibluewa]

who would score higher on an IQ test. The statue or our current president?

[wythors]

Anybody else have any problems with the statue of the troll under the bridge a few blocks away? My grandmother's goat was eaten by one a couple of generations back. I think I'll stop on the way to work on Monday and urinate on it to show my American pride.