chrisscholbe Loc: Kansas City, MO

Wasn't it the conservatives that kept saying that Obama was going to make himself a dictator?

If you believed that Obama could do it, why can't you believe that Trump could try to do it?

PalePictures Loc: Traveling

I try not to say what conservatives say.
Supposition on your part.
I never believed Obama could become a dictator.( I guess that's what you mean by me "believing Obama could do it."
(I guess you technically just asked a question. If I believed)

I happen to believe our Democratic Republic is working fine thank you.

If you want to try and use something that I have said to try and show an inconsistency I'm ok with that.
1) Make sure I actually said what you think I said.
2) Don't make up stuff in your head that I said.
3) Don't extrapolate what I said to your belief system.

I have no problem explaining my position.

I do not believe OBAMA or TRUMP was or is becoming a dictator.

Finally I can't defend an argument you make up in your head.
I never heard anyone accuse Obama of becoming a dictator. I heard a lot of people calling him a socialist, which I believe that he is.
I am sure some conservatives called Obama a Dictator, That just wasn't what I normally heard. I usually defend my statements not the actions or statements of others when defined as a collective.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

You've missed the point entirely.

And as far as "flawed" goes, I'll bet those huge rocks that Burton gave Liz had some flaws in them as well, but he chose the big ones over small, perfect ones. Sometimes, there's just no comparison between the two.

Twardlow Loc: Arkansas

In the Dictator Department, I point out the John McCain can barely keep himself from Accusing Trump; listen to what he says.

PalePictures Loc: Traveling

You using what other people say and believe is no argument, it's childish....He said she said.
How can you possibly determine what someone can barely keep themselves from doing?
That is conjecture.
I don't believe McCain likes Trump based on what he has said. To be objective you cannot let your likes and dislikes override an argument.
The argument in my last statement only requires what I believe not what you believe or someone else believes.
I typically don't listen to what people say about other people. I try and look at what ones being talked about does or says.
Just because someone else does not like Green. It does not mean that I do not like him.
I still like him even though I disagree and Jab at him some.
If I agreed with everyone I wouldn't be Human or Free.
There is agreeing and there is disagreeing....and then there is whining.

Graveman Loc: Indiana

Yes it is a type of democracy, however the POTUS is not elected by the direct popular vote of the people. Thank goodness or the East and left coasts would have picked Hillary to be the president. While we may not be perfect, having lived in other countries I prefer here with all it's flaws, be they real or imaginary. As was pointed out we are a melting pot and have many diverse nationalities/races represented, unlike Norway.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Steve, the bigger takeaway for me is, was the USA ever #1? If not, how much higher have we been in the rankings?
If we were ever higher, then what has changed?
Are we not capable of being #1. And why not? Those are the things YOU should be examining. Instead, you are whining. Norway was NOT responsible for our low rating...., WE are!!!
Whining is the hallmark of an uneducated person. Uneducated people see all the negative in a negative way. Intelligent people see it as a problem that needs to be tackled to propel us higher!
Change starts at the very bottom before kids get into school. Then 20 years later when they have succeeded, the country is better for it.
But this country will continue to go backwards. Instead of bringing disadvantaged children into the fold to train them to be successful, we are primed to start to shut them out to make sure they fail and surely we will fail as a country because of it.
When you walk around with a pair of big white blinders on, you will be blind to that.
Failure is not pretty, it's called crime, prisons, minority expulsion rates, homelessness and the rich getting even more power.
When our democratic rating goes down, I'll GUARANTEE YOU IT WILL BE FOLLOWED by a drop in our global financial credit rating at the world bank. Get ready to watch the a real nosedive!
SS

Twardlow Loc: Arkansas

I added a link in my original post that you should see. This particular institution does extensive study on several different subjects, and tell how they arrived at their list and had, if I remember, several different score or healthcare, finance etc.

Texcaster Loc: Queensland

Surely any nation that invented the Hardanger Fiddle and a musical tradition to support it can't be all bad. Long dark winters gave these folks time for innovation, music and craft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc-WGo4N8h8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZX0e65xMtw

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Really Tom, in a pure democracy the people vote on all issues facing the government, in a republic elected representatives decide the issues, the issues are not bought before the people, when was the last time that you got to vote yeah or nay on a piece of legislation? Were we a democracy Obamacare would never have passed and Hillary Clinton would be our president. In a republic not only are issues decided by our elected officials, but the rules which decide how legislation and regulations are passed and instituted not necessarily democratic in nature, but also as we saw in Trump's election other rules may be applied in the functioning of our government, do you understand the cloture rule in the Senate Tom, the Senate is hardly run as a democracy, something that you may currently be thankful for.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

I had not read the article, after reading it I don't take issue with the article, it is actually a pretty good article, I do stand by my position that you can't compare the two countries especially given the two country's populations and histories, we have created plenty of complex problems in our society that other countries don't have to suffer, today we as a nation are still suffering from the vile fruits of the sin of slavery in this country, beyond that a society as diverse as ours and which has experienced massive and uncontrolled immigration as we have also suffers because of a lack of integration into our society and very disparate values permeating our communities, you may wonder what I am talking about because it is not always so visible, but I grew up in south Florida and something as simple as obeying traffic laws and right-aways no longer happens, you may think that I am crazy but an example of what I am talking about is major roads being backed up because people are turning left from all three lanes because they refuse to wait in line for the turn lane, it is crazy and never used to be like this, but it was always like this in South America and the Caribbean, they have come here but they don't respect the community standards of the communities into which they have relocated. I know this because I have lived in the Caribbean and have visited South America numerous times. It does not mean that they are bad people, but they don't really consider themselves Americans first even though they may be citizens and they are not fully integrating into the culture of America or at least what America used to be. Problems such as these have not been an issue for countries like Norway as the article points out.

I did notice that the article pointed out that they are nervous about Trumps attitude towards NATO, yet they are not funding their requirement, they rely on the American taxpayer to fund the defense of their country. This is the root of Trump's criticism of NATO and I think it foolish for the left to be so critical of him for making this important point, let's not forget that every penny our federal government spends as long as it is in debt is borrowed money that we pay interest on and are supposed to somehow pay back to the lenders.

The erosion of our electoral process may be at issue, but only for those on the left who don't appreciate the nature of the electoral college and why it was so defined in our constitution.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

I'm surprised at you, Sharpshooter. Whining? No, I was merely pointing out the disparity to compare what Blurry referred to as a small city sized nation of congruous white people to a complex multicultural nation of 320 million. My problem was in NBCNews' obvious relish in pointing out that we are a flawed democracy whereas Norway is so frickin' perfect. Well, I suppose if we got rid of all of those multicultural problems that end up in prison and causing gang problems, etc., that are causing the murder rates, crime rates, etc. leading to prison incarceration, we, too, might have the perfect democracy. You gasp. Yes. The problems that the United States has is the result of what the United States is. It IS the greatest country in the world. Despite what the various races may say about how terrible this country has treated them, I don't see them immigrating to Sweden or elsewhere for a better life. Everybody stays here. Everybody comes here. So.....excuse me if I believe that, with all it's flaws, this country still is the land of opportunity for the (legal) immigrants of the world. It you want a white paradise, go to Sweden.

PalePictures Loc: Traveling

1) The first wave of immigrants came here because of adventure.
2) The second wave of immigrants came here to flee a tryrant.
3) The third wave of immigrants came here because we were free
4) The fourth wave of immigrants came here because of famine in their country(The great Potato famine)
5) The fifth wave of immigrants came here because of opportunity and we were free.

The immigrants did not come here because we were no1.
The immigrants came here because our country allowed them to be no 1.
The freedom to use their on hard work to keep the profits from their labor to benefit them and their family.
To leave a state where the state or church was elevated above them.

The concept of what someone calls no1 cannot be quantified.
A nation of wolves will always be stronger than a nation of sheep kept by wolves.

In the 1980's before China took back Hong kong, they had more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in the world.
It was also the most densely populated place in the world.
They had a 5 percent flat tax. The English just couldn't swallow the 0 percent Income tax that was here in 1899.
They did one thing that we did not do. The constitution that they operated under was never changed to modify the income tax to be more than 5%
Being no1 is relative.

richosob Loc: Lambertville, MI

The main MSM strikes again, probably wouldn't run that story if their black dictator was in the White House.

Rich

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

It's interesting to note that Norway is a constitutional parlimentary monarchy. They have a King.