Replies

You are on target about the great influence that the media has. In my limited experience with lurking on European message boards, I have found that Europeans almost unanimously think that Bush stole the election from Gore--I recongize that as their own media feeding them only one side of the story.

Here's another example of how the media likes to push our buttonsm here in the United States. I do not like John Ashcroft, he is too extreme for even me, but he's not as bigoted as the media protrays him. There is a running joke about how John Ashcroft covered up the breasts on a statue of a naked woman with a drape. However what is untold is that Ashcroft did this not because of modesty, but because at press conferences idiot reporters liked to take close-up pictures of his head next to the breasts. Anecdotes like this only build up a very one-sided image of Ashcroft. No doubt the media has also shaped European perception of America in their own image and vice-versa.

No matter my conception of Europe is right or wrong, I apologize and withdraw the statements that I made about France getting bombed. You have convinced me that the Europeans are not wholly to blame for believing Bush--they were led into it by their leaders, friends, and media. Here's hoping there will be more citizen-to-citizen dialogues to get rid of our own prejudices against the other side.