The country of Qatar has paid for the dc metro to stay open for game 4

[Bjornar Moxnes]

I am not defending Qatar at all. They use migrants from asia as slaves i dislike them a lot. Just pointing out the hypocracy

While I agree some Americans are hypocritical, most Americans that criticize Qatar, China, Russia, etc. also criticize their own government.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

funny how capitalism and communism have morphed into one.....

just thankful we dont live in china right now. we can kind of talk about stuff......

chinese posters = 0%

I used to be a Chinese poster last year haha.

 

[kerrabria]

just curious if anyone knows whether qater is pro putin or pro trump; either way they are hoping for some good karma for dishing out 100K

For the rest of the world there really isn't any "Pro-Trump" faction. Nobody believes he is going to take authoritarian control of the US, so the longest he has left in power is 6 years, so nobody is gonna bother allying with America specifically in the name of Trump. Putin is a different story because of the fact that he is the state of Russia a la Louis XIV.

Either way, Qatar, exactly like @AveryQuietMan said, is pro money. They're gonna side with whoever

a) let's them keep doing whatever despicable things they want
b) keeps them rich

so that usually means that they will play nice with Western diplomats and oil companies while funneling millions to Islamist terrorists across the region.

But to answer your question directly, Qatar is definitely more pro-America. They refused to have any relations with the USSR during the Cold War, and Qatar, a radical Sunni Muslim state, is natural enemies with Russia, a country that has aligned itself with Shi'a Muslim allies across the Middle East. Also, there was that time that a Russian diplomat flat out threatened to wipe Qatar off the map. So...y'know.

A big positive for some hockey fans, literally no downside for any hockey fans... not sure why this would be looked at as a bad thing other than to bring up how politically well-informed you are.

Are you really that cynical and/or have that big of an intellectual inferiority complex? Of course we need to dissect this. It's our responsibility as citizens who (hopefully) want an open, moral, and functioning society. The whole "take the money and don't ask questions" is bad enough, but the fact that you are backhandedly implying that people are discussing a real political issue solely to "show-off" is just sad.

 

[Anglesmith]

Are you really that cynical and/or have that big of an intellectual inferiority complex? Of course we need to dissect this. It's our responsibility as citizens who (hopefully) want an open, moral, and functioning society. The whole "take the money and don't ask questions" is bad enough, but the fact that you are backhandedly implying that people are discussing a real political issue solely to "show-off" is just sad.

What's to discuss? Qatar is paying the money to attempt to improve their image among people. Whether or not it works is up to those people. Given it is unlikely to change anyone's opinion on Qatar one way or another, the only real impact of this move is a positive one for the hockey fans in Washington.

To me, the appropriate response to this news is amusement at Qatar, and happiness on behalf of the Washington fans who will be positively affected by this. But you have some serious concerns about this? My bad. I didn't mean to belittle anyone's fears.

 

[kingsholygrail]

What if Qatar just really loves the Caps?

 

[kerrabria]

What's to discuss? Qatar is paying the money to attempt to improve their image among people. Whether or not it works is up to those people. Given it is unlikely to change anyone's opinion on Qatar one way or another, the only real impact of this move is a positive one for the hockey fans in Washington.

To me, the appropriate response to this news is amusement at Qatar, and happiness on behalf of the Washington fans who will be positively affected by this. But you have some serious concerns about this? My bad. I didn't mean to belittle anyone's fears.

Well first, that is quite a different response than what you originally said. It sounded a lot more like you were saying "nothing matters other than the fact the Caps are getting money. Who cares about anything else?"

Now it sounds like you're saying that it doesn't matter that the government takes the money because not enough people are going to be informed enough/care enough about Qatar for it to make a difference. Which I would say is a bit nihilistic and not the route I'd want my government to go down. Or that people should take the bribe and look at Qatar more favorably because of the money, which I would disagree with from an ethical standpoint.

As for my fears and concerns, it's not that I'm concerned, more so that I'm just frustrated with the current state of affairs between the US government and the Middle East. I didn't mean to come off hostile, but I just wanted to make sure that we could have a discussion about this topic without people shooting down debate on the grounds of "if it's not hockey I don't care." But that seems not to be what you're motives are, so I owe you an apology as well.

 

[M2Beezy]

Tom Wilson is confused . How many Quatars in a dollar ??

No, its like a country

 

[valet]

i wonder if the caps will have a fly emirates logo on the back of their jerseys next game

 

[Jray42]

Qatar literally enslaves people. "But the United States!!! Hypocrisy at its finest!!!"

 

[GongShowWilly]

No, its like a country

wow , he had no idea ...... big Tom says thanks

 

[mouser]

i wonder if the caps will have a fly emirates logo on the back of their jerseys next game

Wrong country.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

What do the human rights in Qatar have to do with rooting for the Capitals? Are you implying that rooting for the Caps makes me or others a terrible person with no regards for human rights?

Triggered. Don't be so soft.

 

[JAS 39 Gripen]

They (Qatar) should've used that money to actually pay the slaves (or create safe work-enviroments) that die while building their new football arenas for the World Cup :/

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Why, though? Is D.C. paying for their hosting of the 2022 World Cup?

 

[dkhockey]

They just knew Caps were going to blow up this year and win it all

 

[53or8]

I thought more people knew Qatar was a borderline slave state.

Unfortunate.

That doesnt matter aslong as american corporations can put mcdonalds and apple products in there hands.slavery is a back burner to American Capitalism.

 

[HugginThePost]

i wonder if the caps will have a fly emirates logo on the back of their jerseys next game

Come on......do a little research. Just a tiny bit.

 

[HugginThePost]

I am just curious, do you know what is actually happening in Qatar?

Like happening right now in Qatar...

Probably the same as Dubai and Oman? I've lived and worked in all three for the better part of a decade. They are all the same to a degree, they import workers at a staggering rate. They mostly work a 90 day on 21 day off schedule. They work in horrible conditions daily, but they still come because it pays better than jobs do in their home country. Dubai seems to get away with the same treatment of its workers due to their PR efforts.

As for their religious beliefs and activities associated with it.......well, they've been doing what they do long before America and most countries of the world existed......they're not changing any time soon.

And how is it that the "people" of America are being given a pass but we are painting all those in Qatar with the same brush. Like almost any country, the people here are amazing and kind for the most part. You can rant and rave about their religious practices......but as I said, they've been doing this for centuries. I'm in Oman right now and I have no issue recommending anyone come visit. It's a beautiful country filled with wonderful people. Of course you may want to avoid the summer months!!

 

[philip]

You think we got time to ask a man, why he giving us money? Or where he gets his money from? We'll take any motherf***ers money if he giving it away!

 

[Ivan13]

You think we got time to ask a man, why he giving us money? Or where he gets his money from? We'll take any mother****ers money if he giving it away!

 

[Plural]

Yeah, I would be 100% go Caps if not for that, but this has me extremely torn.

Then again, Brent Burns follows Trump on Twitter, so I guess these are just things that I should try to ignore when being a hockey fan.

It was so rough for me after Selanne (who is my all-time favorite player) retired and he seemingly got bored and revealed that he's quite not the kind of personality I love off the ice. I just decided to ignore the stuff that bothers me and enjoyed his outgoing character and memories of his exploits on the ice.

 

[Luigi Habs]

Anyone surprised this has turned into a political thread?

 

[Sam Spade]

With their record of human rights abuses it’s only fitting they’d be Caps fans.

What does this even mean? Is it like if a mesothelioma law firm had done this for Pittsburgh public transit in the '70's and '80's?

 

[branch]

Qatar is like that kingdom in Game of Thrones basically...I think it's Meereen? Or Qarth too. Could be wrong on that but that's what they essentially are

 

[beowulf]

Anyone surprised this has turned into a political thread?

Nope.