American "diplomat" Victoria Nuland and her not so diplomatic invitation to "copulate" with the EU ;-)

I’ve always known that the US are not happy with the EU per se, but I have never heard a diplomat being so outspoken about it :wink:

3:05 - that’s where she talks about the “copulating” part :wink:

Kind of ironic that the US should complain about their phone conversations being bugged…

Nothing surprises me except the use of the unsecured (at least I think it was unsecured) telephone line. People live in the real world – just because they are government doesn’t mean they don’t have emotional outbursts or use vulgar language.

ad spatterson: (…) …emotional outbursts …(…)

Having listened to what she said before and after the “f…” part, I don’t think she was anywhere near an emotional outburst.

I’m pretty sure, however, that she wouldn’t have used the same words in public.

I’m not outraged at what she said, I just think it is funny especially in the light of the recent spying affair.

European politicians probably say similar things about the US (I know I have ;-).

As a guy from the NSA said in an interview: Don’t be angry at us just because we are better at spying on you than you are at spying on us. Well, at least this time we beat them :wink:

I don’t think she was emotional either. I said emotional OR vulgar language.

Personally I’m more inclined to vote for politicians that act and talk like the common man… not a bunch of lawyers.

"European politicians probably say similar things about the US (I know I have ;-). "
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone is a US hater until the next natural disaster happens and we send in our aircraft carriers.

ad spatterson: (…) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone is a US hater until the next natural disaster happens and we send in our aircraft carriers.
(…)

With all the things you post on this site I’m surprised how thin-skinned you are. I remember your first response to one of my posts where you said something like “spoken like a true non-American…”, as if only “true Americans” knew what’s right or wrong.

Assuming that I am a US hater just because I said that I sometimes say things one of your diplomats said about the EU is a bit far fetched. So, I guess she is an EU hater based on your line of argumentation.

I’m certainly not one of those “Oh, the US is the greatest nation of all” believers as you seem to be (just jumping to conclusions as you did in your post).

Besides, you make it sound as if the US were the only ones helping people out. That’s kind of arrogant and simply not true.

Any time the US are criticized, people like you turn the critics into “US haters”. Black and white TV sets are long gone, people with black and white views obviously not.

The US have done and keep doing a lot of good things (their involvement in WWI and WWII which saved lots of lives, the ERP or Marshall Plan, their involvement in the war on the Balkans, their relief efforts in many places of this world etc.), but they also have caused a lot of damage (arming the Taliban against the Soviets, attacking and destroying Iraq, supporting a mass-murderer like Pinochet, lending support to the regime in Saudi Arabia…).

You are probably too “patriotic” to understand that being criticial does not equal being a hater.

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I’m not even going to read your last message. You obviously didn’t get the joke. It’s a joke. I was joking.

Lame joke, lame excuse, whatever. I’ll do the same with your future posts. That will save both of us lots of time.

Okay I couldn’t resist. I read your message and I about died laughing. I don’t think any of my friends or coworkers here in Switzerland would describe me as “patriotic”. I usually spend a good 30 minutes a day badmouthing the US – the president, foreign policy, the NSA, the idiotic Christrian right, pathetically demeaning rap music and that culture, redneck bible thumpers… and so on.

Sarcasm. I know it’s rare in Europe but it really is a fantastic thing.

I had a conference call with Paris the other day. And a guy from our US office came out and gave a presentation to the French there… and the opened with: “I just want to say how NICE Paris is. The food is just sooo good here. And the people are SO friendly. It’s just soo nice.” The guy sounded like he’s never left the US (I’m including Canada and Mexico here… because well, Canada is like the 51st state and Mexico – everyone goes there at least once for Spring break) Everyone here looked at me and said “That’s your countryman…” He has become the running joke at the office.

Okay… I’ll be sure not to respond to your posts. No problem. People take things so serious here

@lovelanguages - Didn’t you know, that’s 'mericas way of being friendly! :wink:

But to be slightly more serious, the way she said it is pretty much the same thing as saying, “who cares what the EU thinks”. Which is strange… wasn’t all of this started when the Ukraine wouldn’t sign some trade agreement with the EU?

//edit for late night poor grammar

ad cgreen: (…) …Which is strange… wasn’t all of this started when the Ukraine wouldn’t sign some trade agreement with the EU? (…)

Yes, that’s true. It is more of a power struggle between the EU and Russia. I guess the US don’t look too favourably on the Ukraine possibly strengthening its ties with Russia again. This is why her statement doesn’t really make much sense politically speaking.

But maybe she thinks the US should send their troops there to settle things once and for all. After that they can send their relief teams to clean up the mess again…:wink:

Seriously, I like the US and enjoyed my stays there. I just don’t think I have to agree with everything they say and do. I don’t think that makes me a US hater though.

“Seriously, I like the US and enjoyed my stays there. I just don’t think I have to agree with everything they say and do. I don’t think that makes me a US hater though.”
Trust me Bob, the only person reading this thread that thought I was serious… is you.

“…why her statement doesn’t really make much sense politically speaking”
Exactly. The US prefers that the Ukraine gets friendly with the EU instead of Russia. The EU’s opinions be damned on the matter. That’s how much we like you guys. We’re getting you friends even when you aren’t all that emotionally involved.

“…maybe she thinks the US should send their troops…”
Hmm… our troops probably do need something to do after we pull (most of) them out of Afghanistan. When you account for about 40% of all military spending in the world you can’t expect your troops to just stand around all the time. Plus all the new toys that money gets you. Gotta test those toys out somewhere, right?!?

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I think Spatterson should be hunted down by a posse of good 'ole boys, tied by the feet to a crazy horse(!) and dragged through the dusty roads to the sheriff’s office. That’d show him! :smiley:

Don’t be silly Jay. I carry a small emergency Bible in my back pocket for emergencies like that. I just whip it out and start thumping on it and they soon realize I’m “one of them”

@spatterson - "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone is a US hater until the next natural disaster happens and we send in our aircraft carriers. "

Well, you had me going there for a sec! I thought you were serious.

Pretty much most countries respond with emergency aid to help others, so the thought of the Amerocentric USA sending out the cavalry makes us roll our eyes…

@Chris - speaking of testing out their toys - on human beings I might add - my blood still boils because of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

“Well, you had me going there for a sec! I thought you were serious.”
Look, no rational person would think that I seriously thought Robert was a US hater because he’s said a few bad words about the US here and there.

“Pretty much most countries respond with emergency aid to help others, so the thought of the Amerocentric USA sending out the cavalry makes us roll our eyes…”
Yeah, except that well… the US does send out the cavalry. And this is not my “patriotic” bias – it’s a statistical fact. So roll your eyes all you want.

I’m almost hesitant to post these because everyone on this forum takes everything so god damn seriously. But don’t worry, Australia and Austria made the top 15

@Julz: “…my blood still boils because of Hiroshima and Nagasaki…”

It was a low point in world history for sure.

But the alternative - a longterm complete naval blockade of Japan - could have costed many more civilian lives through starvation.

In war there is no good option, really.

Oh, and I remember when this was the major headline in Switzerland

“Die Amerikaner sind angekommen” The Americans have arrived.

You are entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts. The rest of the world helps out, but like I said, when the next natural disaster happens guess who’s sending the aircraft carriers.

“speaking of testing out their toys - on human beings I might add - my blood still boils because of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”

No, actually you just don’t know history. Dropping the bomb here and halting the war was the best option. The Nash equilibrium. And don’t forget we gave the Japanese 3 days to surrender after bombing Hiroshima. They refused. Also, the Japanese were months away from launching a long range bomber that could have reached the western US.