don’t drink the water

@bemused. I’m not talking about the cases where they left because of something that happened to them, then came back after venting it in France or the UK or wherever. I’m talking about the ones that you coud go back to like, 1988 or whatever year, and they hated the shit out of America then, but they couldn’t afford to live where they wanted to yet. So they said it without saying it, but were hardly shy about “not saying” it.

Depp and Madonna are my best go-to examples because before they shut up and left, they couldn’t “not badmouth” this country enough on both sides of the pond since the freakin’ 80s. When they decided to make the big show and leave, claiming it was over Bush, no one was really that upset to see them go, because even the presidents of their fan clubs thought the bit was well past it’s welcome.

Shania Twain is another good example- she was notorious for finding ways to “not say” she thinks America is the most infeior country she’s ever seen, that it’s nothing compared to her native Canada, yadda yadda… she got to the point where you quit feeling sorry for her the way she was getting shut out. I’ll admit that the reaction to her moving to Eastern Europe was uncalled for, but she brought it on herself. She became an American for fame, she should have kept those opinions of us to herself.

All the cases like that? What I’m talking about. And it’s still batting a thousand with Depardieu- He doesn’t seem to like this country very much, outside of it’s money. Been “not saying so” for a while where it’s easy to get that from him.

Anyhow, that’s as far as I can justify that aspect of commenting. Still trying to process the segment without getting a headache.

@aria. It’s awfully hard to work a few months outside the USA and in a mainstream occupation in the host country (i.e. not military) and not be influenced by the outlook of the people one works with.

America’s image took one hell of a beating yesterday with the airing of Wayne Lapierre’s so-called press conference. The commentators are having a field day and I cannot but agree with them. I’m so thankful to the two people who sneaked in to hold up those hand-made posters. Their action is a good illustration of how big money is hampering free expression in the USA. During the Bush years, protesters were firmly shunted over to an isolated field several miles away from the cameras. One side stands on a pulpit to deliver a sermon while the other side has to resort to subterfuges in order to get 30 seconds of air time. Over here, the 30 seconds are getting a lot of coverage that I’ve not seen on Fox nor even on CNN (aka FoxLite).

My personal experience (almost 50 years abroad) has been that it hurts to hear people lump all Americans into the mold of the likes of the NRA and Fox. But that’s reality and it’s true that the media like anything that’s controversial almost as much as they like the perks of hobnobbing with the wealthy and the powerful.

PS: Seems the IRS can’t do much if the cash is stashed in an off-shore account in one of those rogue finance states (e.g. the Cayman Islands, even England and – it seems – Belgium) but the very existence of those places is being attacked, with the American government leading the charge.

BTW, the struggle against tax havens and tax evaders/avoiders was not started by the current administration. May even have been the Bush Jr. administration. Nobody was squealing, then. Wonder why? Oh wait.

Americans who’ve never set foot outside the USA may not know that the IRS is looking for expatriates who’ve fallen through the cracks. Americans living abroad are being identified when they apply for a new passport. Many of them were born in the USA but never actually lived or worked there and yet they have to square themselves with the IRS.

Please, please, dear God, direct Neil Cavuto to the country of his ancestors and let the IRS find out about the move.

Gerard Depardieu’s decision to leave France for Belgium because of higher income taxes on the rich.

Every time I hear about a celebrity that leaves the US to go to France, or England, or where the hell ever… whatever their stated reason is, the real reason always ends up being that they hate America, and couldn’t stop badmouthing us to the rest of the world when they were overseas filming or on vacation.

I mean, look at Johnny Depp and Madonna- They both went to live overseas, supposedly over Bush, and the first thing they both did was tell literally anyone who would listen that the real reason is they think Americans are a stupid, borish, disgusting lot, and being around us makes them sick.

And if you think they’re the only two that pulled that… Google. Now.

I’ll get to Cavuto when my head stops hurting, I just had to get that out of the way now.

Halliburton already left – just before Cheney/Bush’s reign ended.

If paying a bit more in taxes would drive “patriots” like tRump and Wrinkled Rupert out of this country, then I say go for it!