Polish authorities arrest a terror suspect

[merithyn]

It is rather odd to continue to do so, once derspeiss had called him out for that mistake.

It's even worse when you consider that the arrested guy here wasn't even a member of the party szmik supports, but just supported it.

That might be an American thing. Here, in order to be a member of a political party, one just has to support it.

[Martinus]

It is rather odd to continue to do so, once derspeiss had called him out for that mistake.

It's even worse when you consider that the arrested guy here wasn't even a member of the party szmik supports, but just supported it.

That might be an American thing. Here, in order to be a member of a political party, one just has to support it.

Ah ok. Here membership is by application, you pay dues etc. 99% of people do not belong to any party.

It could also be related to a multi-party system - hardly anyone votes for the same party every time.

[Razgovory]

Did I?  It's been common currency in the US that the acts of terrorism legitimatize your positions.

Yes, you did. To be comparable to Hamas, you'd need to show some sort of collusion of the party that szmik reportedly supports and various terrorist actors. Otherwise, you're saying that any political party can be compared to Hamas as long as there is one individual who claims membership to the party and plots a terrorist act.

Yeah, but it's pretty common to do what Raz is doing, and equate anyone who supports a particular party, ideology, belief, etc., with the acts of the most extreme.  Not saying that it's right, but it's certainly not unusual.

Islamists aren't so popular in the US after the 9/11 thingy.

[dps]

It is rather odd to continue to do so, once derspeiss had called him out for that mistake.

It's even worse when you consider that the arrested guy here wasn't even a member of the party szmik supports, but just supported it.

That might be an American thing. Here, in order to be a member of a political party, one just has to support it.

Ah ok. Here membership is by application, you pay dues etc. 99% of people do not belong to any party.

It could also be related to a multi-party system - hardly anyone votes for the same party every time.

Well, Meri oversimplified a bit.  (Keep in mind that almost any general statement related to American politics or laws is an oversimplification, given our multiple legal jurisdictions.)  You can become a dues-paying member of the Democratic or Republican party, but almost no one does.  In most states, when you register to vote, you can register as a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent (and some states offer other choices, such as Libertarian or Green), and registering is considered becoming a member of the party and entitles you to vote in its primary elections.  In other states, though, you don't register as a member of a particular party, just as a voter residing in a particular precinct, and during the primaries, you get to pick which party's primary to vote in.  In some states in which you do register as a member of a particular party, if you register as an independent voter instead, you don't get to vote in primaries at all;  in other states, voters registered as independents can chose to vote in a particular party's primary;  and in some states, even voters registered as members of a paticular party can vote in the primary of a different party instead if you want (AFAIK, no state allows you to vote in the primaries of 2 or more parties in the same election, but there might be exceptions I'm unaware of).

Bottom line, Meri is basically right--if you consider yourself a member of a particular party,, you're a member of the party.  Though a lot of people who claim to be independents are effectively members of one party or another--you'll find a lot of so-called independents have voted for a straight-party ticket every election for the past 20 years, except for the one year when their brother ran for dogcatcher on the other party's ticket, and they voted for their brother.  (And yeah, in a great many communities, ever the local dogcatcher, or "animal control officer", is an elected position.  Has anybody every mentioned that Americans like to vote for a lot of really minor offices?)

[merithyn]

Well, Meri oversimplified a bit.  (Keep in mind that almost any general statement related to American politics or laws is an oversimplification, given our multiple legal jurisdictions.)  You can become a dues-paying member of the Democratic or Republican party, but almost no one does.  In most states, when you register to vote, you can register as a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent (and some states offer other choices, such as Libertarian or Green), and registering is considered becoming a member of the party and entitles you to vote in its primary elections.  In other states, though, you don't register as a member of a particular party, just as a voter residing in a particular precinct, and during the primaries, you get to pick which party's primary to vote in.  In some states in which you do register as a member of a particular party, if you register as an independent voter instead, you don't get to vote in primaries at all;  in other states, voters registered as independents can chose to vote in a particular party's primary;  and in some states, even voters registered as members of a paticular party can vote in the primary of a different party instead if you want (AFAIK, no state allows you to vote in the primaries of 2 or more parties in the same election, but there might be exceptions I'm unaware of).

Bottom line, Meri is basically right--if you consider yourself a member of a particular party,, you're a member of the party.  Though a lot of people who claim to be independents are effectively members of one party or another--you'll find a lot of so-called independents have voted for a straight-party ticket every election for the past 20 years, except for the one year when their brother ran for dogcatcher on the other party's ticket, and they voted for their brother.  (And yeah, in a great many communities, ever the local dogcatcher, or "animal control officer", is an elected position.  Has anybody every mentioned that Americans like to vote for a lot of really minor offices?)

The point was that in the US, one can be a member of a party by saying, "Hey! I support the Ignorant Ass Party!" I knew that that was not the case in most Euro nations, and in Poland in particular.

[garbon]

Well I don't know why you care that he looked like a windbag with all that text to say that you are basically right.

[Josephus]

Oh-oh...why was the Polish terrorist lying beneath a car with his lips to the tailpipe?


He was trying to blow it up