brianlux said:

Right now, I'm thinking the whole democratic party is a bunch of dumb asses.  In the first debate, out of two hours, less than 10 minutes devoted to the most pressing issue of our time- global warming?  Unforgivable and inexcusable.

Give it time though.  I don’t focus on particular issues really these first few, they’re all going to say the same thing.  

RoleModelsinBlood31 said:

brianlux said:

Right now, I'm thinking the whole democratic party is a bunch of dumb asses.  In the first debate, out of two hours, less than 10 minutes devoted to the most pressing issue of our time- global warming?  Unforgivable and inexcusable.

Give it time though.  I don’t focus on particular issues really these first few, they’re all going to say the same thing.  

Could be.  We shall see.

brianlux said:

Being a native Californian (others living in the south west, I appreciate the Hispanic heritage that is a big part of this part of the country (Texas etc. could say the same).  I can understand why a governor or representative from these states would want to know a little Spanish.  But why is this such a big deal for a presidential candidate?  If it's about immigration, then why don't they also show off their prowess in Arabic and some of the African languages, etc. 

Meanwhile, they spend 7 minutes (ONLY) talking about global warming.  Politics is becoming more and more a crock of shit in this country.  Geee- suss!

In Canada about 20% of the population (almost all of them in one province) speak French. It is literally unheard of for a PM not to be fluent in both English and French, and they literally always switch between French and English for official announcements and speeches, and there is always a french language debate as well. This is not simply because French is one of our two official languages (the USA doesn't have an official language). It is simply out of respect for the fact that 20% of the population speaks French. 18% of Americans speak Spanish (spread out across several states), which easily makes it the second most spoken language in America (only about 0.3% speak Arabic). Doesn't it make sense that the presidential hopefuls all show a similar sign of respect for all those people? I think any respectable POTUS nominee should be fluent in Spanish, and that they really do need to do parts of all the debates in Spanish, or have a Spanish-only debate. If English were actually the official language of the country, I might not say that, although it certainly would still be appropriate. But English isn't the official language. So the fact that these people all made an effort to speak Spanish is quite meaningful IMO - it's about inclusion. That doesn't mean climate change isn't important. Of course it is. And yes, more time should have been spent on it. But it is the moderator who really could have changed that...

brianlux said:

RoleModelsinBlood31 said:

brianlux said:

Right now, I'm thinking the whole democratic party is a bunch of dumb asses.  In the first debate, out of two hours, less than 10 minutes devoted to the most pressing issue of our time- global warming?  Unforgivable and inexcusable.

Give it time though.  I don’t focus on particular issues really these first few, they’re all going to say the same thing.  

Could be.  We shall see.

If you think about it timewise - 120 hour debate, minus commercials and the time the moderators are asking the question - generously 100 minutes left for answers from 10 candidates. Global warming was discussed for more than 10 minutes because several candidates brought it up and used it in their closing statements and in answer to the most existential threat to the US.

So with 90 minutes left - they covered healthcare - if you can't afford your prescriptions or can't afford to go to a doctor that is a crucial topic.

Guns - people are dying everywhere - parents who would never have considered it are home schooling their kids out of fear of shooters.

Mental Health - tied in with both health care and guns and the stigma and parity was not even discussed. 

Immigration - people are dying in our internment prisons and due to bs laws imposed by Trump - they should be in the US, not on sidewalks in Mexico for months trying dangerous and deadly ways to get in after trying the legal way

If we say that 60 minutes went to 1 2 and 4 above - those are just as crucial as global warming. It is absolutely something we need to address now, but there are other things that affect quality of life, or end of life for people everyday. 

That leaves 30 minutes for all other topics and arguing for 10 candidates. 

It will be discussed further in the 2 future debates when their are fewer candidates.

LETS GO

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

Being a native Californian (others living in the south west, I appreciate the Hispanic heritage that is a big part of this part of the country (Texas etc. could say the same).  I can understand why a governor or representative from these states would want to know a little Spanish.  But why is this such a big deal for a presidential candidate?  If it's about immigration, then why don't they also show off their prowess in Arabic and some of the African languages, etc. 

Meanwhile, they spend 7 minutes (ONLY) talking about global warming.  Politics is becoming more and more a crock of shit in this country.  Geee- suss!

In Canada about 20% of the population (almost all of them in one province) speak French. It is literally unheard of for a PM not to be fluent in both English and French, and they literally always switch between French and English for official announcements and speeches, and there is always a french language debate as well. This is not simply because French is one of our two official languages (the USA doesn't have an official language). It is simply out of respect for the fact that 20% of the population speaks French. 18% of Americans speak Spanish (spread out across several states), which easily makes it the second most spoken language in America (only about 0.3% speak Arabic). Doesn't it make sense that the presidential hopefuls all show a similar sign of respect for all those people? I think any respectable POTUS nominee should be fluent in Spanish, and that they really do need to do parts of all the debates in Spanish, or have a Spanish-only debate. If English were actually the official language of the country, I might not say that, although it certainly would still be appropriate. But English isn't the official language. So the fact that these people all made an effort to speak Spanish is quite meaningful IMO - it's about inclusion. That doesn't mean climate change isn't important. Of course it is. And yes, more time should have been spent on it. But it is the moderator who really could have changed that...

brianlux said:

PJ_Soul said:

brianlux said:

Being a native Californian (others living in the south west, I appreciate the Hispanic heritage that is a big part of this part of the country (Texas etc. could say the same).  I can understand why a governor or representative from these states would want to know a little Spanish.  But why is this such a big deal for a presidential candidate?  If it's about immigration, then why don't they also show off their prowess in Arabic and some of the African languages, etc. 

Meanwhile, they spend 7 minutes (ONLY) talking about global warming.  Politics is becoming more and more a crock of shit in this country.  Geee- suss!

In Canada about 20% of the population (almost all of them in one province) speak French. It is literally unheard of for a PM not to be fluent in both English and French, and they literally always switch between French and English for official announcements and speeches, and there is always a french language debate as well. This is not simply because French is one of our two official languages (the USA doesn't have an official language). It is simply out of respect for the fact that 20% of the population speaks French. 18% of Americans speak Spanish (spread out across several states), which easily makes it the second most spoken language in America (only about 0.3% speak Arabic). Doesn't it make sense that the presidential hopefuls all show a similar sign of respect for all those people? I think any respectable POTUS nominee should be fluent in Spanish, and that they really do need to do parts of all the debates in Spanish, or have a Spanish-only debate. If English were actually the official language of the country, I might not say that, although it certainly would still be appropriate. But English isn't the official language. So the fact that these people all made an effort to speak Spanish is quite meaningful IMO - it's about inclusion. That doesn't mean climate change isn't important. Of course it is. And yes, more time should have been spent on it. But it is the moderator who really could have changed that...

But then why just Spanish?  Why not French, since a big portion of the center was bought off cheap from the French via the Louisiana Purchase.  And since this country's railroads were built by the Chinese, so we need to add Cantonese and Mandarin as well.  And let's not forget that much of the country was built by the sweat of African slaves.  How many languages is that? 

Or here's an idea- how about we expect the president to be well spoken in English again, the way Obama was.  I would be happy with that.

I already said why (that was my point in saying that only 0.3% of Americans speak Arabic, for example). Because of the very large portion of the population that speaks it. It is the second most common language spoken in America by far. That warrants the heavier use of Spanish by the government IMO.