Obama: "Mexicans" Were Here "Long Before America Was Even An Idea"

[JohnSmith2007 353]

I can't watch the video, the paycheck gods have blocked it. I was commenting on the bit you added under the video. Nonetheless, it is clear what he meant. You are arguing semantics and ignoring any and all context. He meant the the people who would come to be Mexicans were here long before us. This is absolutely nothing like Palin saying "I can see Russia from my house" as if her location imbued foreign policy knowledge and experience. He was not perfectly clear in his speech, but you know what he was talking about. Don't delude yourself, you understood his reference, you are just nitpicking things to be selectively outraged about.

The words are a direct quote from the video. And you are deluding yourself if you think he meant anything other than Mexicans from Mexico. He was pandering to the audience.

Oh, see, you aren't as retarded as you pretend to be. They in fact were NOT from India, but were mistakenly named Indians by Columbus. Now go back and read that encyclopedia entry on the origins of the name, Mexico - so you'll stop being such a dumbass.

Ok, that was name calling number 4. Reported.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Ok, that was name calling number 4. Reported.

Your mom is calling. She said to be sure to stop by the drug store and buy her some panty hose, son.

[The_Dude 1,142]

The words are a direct quote from the video. And you are deluding yourself if you think he meant anything other than Mexicans from Mexico. He was pandering to the audience.

So, you really are intentionally being dense about this. This is really just a troll thread then. I see.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

So, you really are intentionally being dense about this. This is really just a troll thread then. I see.

A troll thread from a troll account. Go figure.

[Danno 1,228]

Not sure why anyone in America would be surprised at this.... He comes from a long line of "History rewriters".

But thankfully he is being brought down by more meaningful errors.

[JohnSmith2007 353]

So, you really are intentionally being dense about this. This is really just a troll thread then. I see.

No, I am dead serious. The context is clear. The intent is clear. Your being obtuse because you want to be. It is clear to everyone that isn't in the bag for Obama.

Your mom is calling. She said to be sure to stop by the drug store and buy her some panty hose, son.

Nevermind, you are not dragging me down to your level. A very low level at that.

Edited September 23, 2010 by JohnSmith2007

[one...two...tree 2,762]

[JohnSmith2007 353]

Posting pictures of yourself?

[The_Dude 1,142]

No, I am dead serious. The context is clear. The intent is clear. Your being obtuse because you want to be. It is clear to everyone that isn't in the bag for Obama.

You are right, the context and intent are clear, yet you are the who is willfully ignoring it and arguing literal semantics.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

You are right, the context and intent are clear, yet you are the who is willfully ignoring it and arguing literal semantics.

Leave him be. He needs to go home and kick a puppy now.

[Danno 1,228]

No, I am dead serious. The context is clear. The intent is clear. Your being obtuse because you want to be. It is clear to everyone that isn't in the bag for Obama.

See how low you have sunk. Being unemployed and living off your wife has had an effect I see.

Actually I feel for some of these -in the bag- types.

Here just a mere few months ago the political landscape looked so fertile to remake this country into a place they could finally be proud of and the "DREAM" has crumbled before their eyes.

Now we are back to the same ole #######.... "people limiting government".

[JohnSmith2007 353]

You are right, the context and intent are clear, yet you are the who is willfully ignoring it and arguing literal semantics.

Maybe I can explain this so even a hyper partisan can understand.

"Long before America was even an idea, this land of plenty was home to many peoples. The British and French, the Dutch and Spanish, to Mexicans, to countless Indian tribes. We all shared the same land," President Obama told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

"long before America was even an idea" Meaning: Before the country of the USA was an idea, I.E. before we started the path to nationhood, "this land of plenty was home to many peoples. The British and French, the Dutch and Spanish, to Mexicans, to countless Indian tribes. People from many countries and the native people lived here." At this time there were British, the people of Britian. There were French, the people of France. The Dutch, the people of Holland. And the countless Indian tribes, the native people. The word "Mexicans" in this context is refering to "the people of Mexico". There was no country of Mexico at this time. If he would have said the Meso Amercicans then he would have been correct but he was pandering to the Hispanic Caucus so he used the word Mexicans.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Oh, you really are thick, Johny Troll. You didn't catch on to the fact that the indigenous people of the New World were mistakenly called Indians. A name that has stuck for centuries. The indigenous people of Mexico were regarded as Mexicans long before Mexico the country, and actually the term is a hell of a lot more accurate than calling them Indians. Now take a few deep breathes and try to digest that information into that thick skull of yours.

[JohnSmith2007 353]

Oh, you really are thick, Johny Troll. You didn't catch on to the fact that the indigenous people of the New World were mistakenly called Indians. A name that has stuck for centuries. The indigenous people of Mexico were regarded as Mexicans long before Mexico the country, and actually the term is a hell of a lot more accurate than calling them Indians. Now take a few deep breathes and try to digest that information into that thick skull of yours.

More insults. You don't want to see the pandering so you don't. Obama talked about French, Dutch, and Spanish. In each of these cases this refers to people of a country. He also talked about native people. Native people takes in the people that later became the Mexicans. To mention Mexicans in this context does not refer to a native people but of a nationality. Your are the one being thick because you don't want to admit you are totally wrong.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The Aztecs/Mexicas

The Aztecs/Mexicas were the native American people who dominated northern Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest led by Hernan CORTES in the early 16th century. According to their own legends, they originated from a place called Aztlan, somewhere in north or northwest Mexico. At that time the Aztecs (who referred to themselves as the Mexica or Tenochca) were a small, nomadic, Nahuatl-speaking aggregation of tribal peoples living on the margins of civilized Mesoamerica. Sometime in the 12th century they embarked on a period of wandering and in the 13th century settled in the central basin of México. Continually dislodged by the small city-states that fought one another in shifting alliances, the Aztecs finally found refuge on small islands in Lake Texcoco where, in 1325, they founded the town of TENOCHTITLAN (modern-day Mexico City). The term Aztec, originally associated with the migrant Mexica, is today a collective term, applied to all the peoples linked by trade, custom, religion, and language to these founders.

Fearless warriors and pragmatic builders, the Aztecs created an empire during the 15th century that was surpassed in size in the Americas only by that of the Incas in Peru. As early texts and modern archaeology continue to reveal, beyond their conquests and many of their religious practices, there were many positive achievements:

the formation of a highly specialized and stratified society and an imperial administration

the expansion of a trading network as well as a tribute system

the development and maintenance of a sophisticated agricultural economy, carefully adjusted to the land

and

the cultivation of an intellectual and religious outlook that held society to be an integral part of the cosmos.

The yearly round of rites and ceremonies in the cities of Tenochtitlan and neighboring Tetzcoco, and their symbolic art and architecture, gave expression to an ancient awareness of the interdependence of nature and humanity.

The Aztecs remain the most extensively documented of all Amerindian civilizations at the time of European contact in the 16th century. Spanish friars, soldiers, and historians and scholars of Indian or mixed descent left invaluable records of all aspects of life. These ethnohistoric sources, linked to modern archaeological inquiries and studies of ethnologists, linguists, historians, and art historians, portray the formation and flourishing of a complex imperial state.

http://www.indians.org/welker/aztec.htm