RE: # 19: you can't help but wonder what percentage of Brits feel the same as this socialist.
Quite a few. I was just in England and Ireland on R&R. The Irish, as charming as they are, are just as bad, if not worse.
The Brits and the Irish kept trying to bring up politics when they found out I was American, and I kept waving them off of the subject. I will give them credit for respecting that. Once I made it known I didn't want to discuss it (I learned long ago it's pointless and leads to contention and anger), we moved on to talking about more fun things.