Posted on 11/05/2004 5:53:39 AM PST by navyguy
I am an American currently working in England. I have been here for the last month and thought you might like to know what I've been seeing here...
Let me first say that the Brits are great people! They are cordial, giving, inviting and very decent people. I myself have old family roots here. There ARE some very vocal Socialists here, but I have no issue with the British people.
First, the pre-election media coverage of the election was totally skewed against President Bush. There wasn't even an attempt to hide it. As the election drew closer the coverage grew increasingly hostile. Further, the tone transformed from criticism of Bush to berating not just the president but anyone who supported him. In nearly every story I saw Republicans were characterized as complete religious zealots. In fact, like the US, leftists here believe that ALL conservative are Christian fanatics. I actually had to correct several Brits here that this was NOT the case. They seemed shocked. The tone rapidly descended into simple insults, with average americans routinely being called 'idiots', 'morons', 'stupid', etc... This tone continued, night after night for at least 10-12 days. If a european tells you they aren't anti-AMERICAN I can tell you they are lying. They simply do not like us, anything we do or anything we represent. I never saw a single postive word about Americans or America as a whole. I was told that were were 'too hung up on the US Constitution." This, above all, really disturbed me.
I never saw a single story about ANYTHING positive happening in Iraq. Ever.
I now know that europeans, for all of their 'sophistication' and 'worldliness', harbor serious misconceptions about America. For example, I saw New Mexico described as "a relatively small, mostly poor state." In fact, I saw a 1 hour documentary done by a Brit travelling through the states that essentially described America as a boiling cauldron of poverty, racism and violence. I could not believe what I was seeing. I saw southerners (I live in North carolina) described as "backwards", "fundamentalists" and "stupid". Farmers in the mid-west were described as "simple folk". There were many other examples as well. I now understand that europeans are half as sophisticated and worldly as they think they are. Most of them do NOT understand America. I finally got some of my coworkers here to admit as much.
There is a TOTAL anti-gun bias here. I saw it in the media over and over again. They are now trying to ban knives, BB guns and replicas of guns as well.
The Nanny State reigns supreme here. I predict that in 25 years the UK will be totally Socialist. If you want to see what the US would be like after 50 years of total Liberal domination come here for awhile. You won't like what you see.
After the election the anti-american torrent CONTINUED. Unreal.
The Guardian is viewed as MAINSTREAM MEDIA here.
It will be awhile before I return here. I love England and its people and its great and honorable history, but it is only a shadow of its former self.
Thank God for the Daily Telegraph.
Just thought you'd like to know. Cheers!
I think we should use the cow theory to explain why we are all differant.
FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.
PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.
BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and as many eggs as the regulations say you should need.
FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.
PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.
RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.
DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.
SINGAPOREAN DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. The government fines you for keeping two unlicensed farm animals in an apartment.
MILITARIANISM: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.
PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.
REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY: The government promises to give you two cows if you vote for it. After the election, the president is impeached for speculating in cow futures. The press dubs the affair "Cowgate".
BRITISH DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. You feed them sheeps' brains and they go mad. The government doesn't do anything.
BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. After that it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows..
ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to kill you and take the cows.
CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.
HONG KONG CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly - listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother - in - law at the bank, then execute a debt / equity swap with associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax deduction for keeping five cows. The milk rights of six cows are transferred via a Panamanian intermediary to a Cayman Islands company secretly owned by the majority shareholder, who sells the rights to all seven cows' milk back to the listed company. The annual report says that the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. Meanwhile, you kill the two cows because the fung shiu is bad.
ENVIRONMENTALISM: You have two cows. The government bans you from milking or killing them.
FEMINISM: You have two cows. They get married and adopt a veal calf.
TOTALITARIANISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and denies they ever existed. Milk is banned.
COUNTER CULTURE: Wow, dude, there's like... these two cows, man. You got to have some of this milk.
SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.
LIBERTARIANISM: You have two cows. One has actually read the constitution, believes in it, and has some really good ideas about government. The cow runs for office, and while most people agree that the cow is the best candidate, nobody except the other cow votes for her because they think it would be "throwing their vote away."
SURREALISM You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.
These are the same people that rallied around Churchill, faced down Hitler when the rest of Europe fell under his boot. There was once an incredibly courageous and tough nature to them, how could it have been lost so quickly?
Thanks, Sam. We all need to remember that. There's a lot of gross over-generalization and sloppy logic floating around. The problem isn't "the British" versus "the Americans', or even "the French" versus "the Americans". It is those who value human freedom and dignity versus those who worship the power of the State. Both our countries face two mortal totalitarian threats at this time: radical Islam and international socialism.
The primary difference between the US and Britain which our recent election demonstrates right now is that the American people have at least made a cursory attempt to counter that trend, whereas I fear the British have already passed beyond the point of no return. I hope I am wrong about that, and we need to remember to keep on helping those in Britain who still value freedom in their fight to save themselves from the long nightmare into which Fabian socialism is dragging them.
Tony
Thanks. It's been almost 20 years since I was there, and it sounds like things have changed dramatically.
What about the Magna Carta? This document placed King John and England's future sovereigns and magistrates within the rule of law. Not freely, but by force after the barons had captured London.
The US Constitution owes its existence to the Magna Carta. This is your "Constitution".
As to the royalty, they are a parasite on your nation. Hereditary monarchy saps individual incentive. My husband, formerly a "subject" of the Queen, just became a US citizen. The "subjected" peoples of England should demand their "citizenship" rights now!
No offense, but that's how they took away your rights to weapons and self defense.
WE DON'T WANT A DEMOCRATIC WAY OF MAKING LAWS. We want to be able to remove a law when the State exceeds the its authority.
As per Robert A. Heinlein, "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" translates as "Oh my God, how did we get into this mess?"
We are not a democracy, we are a republic. That is one of the things the libs here can't seem to get their mind around. Our Founding Fathers knew that pure democracy would get us into trouble. We have the different branches of government to check and balance the others. You mentioned that Parliment makes the laws and the courts interpret them. Are your judges elected or appointed? Are they there for life?
I think we needed that.
Taking off the gloves. The Euroweenies need to get tough and DEMAND that all American troops and military involvement be removed from their homelands. Pronto.
Furthermore, demands should be made to the USA for reparations for the lost Oil-for-Food income due to the deliberate interference in Iraq by the USA.
Greater Eurabia will be 35 percent Islamite within 25 years. They need to be disarmed now.
This is about England and her view of America.
Cheers Tony
Hmmm Interesting point.
Tony
Cheers Tony
The word 'republic' means, only, and no more than,
'there is no king'.
.
Interesting, to a point, by why do you insist that the US be bunched with republics like:
ussR
gdR
pRc
pRk
islamic Republic of (too numerous to type)
etc, etc, etc
.
the US is a representative democracy, also, we have no king,
(lack of a king was a big deal in 1776, not now)
"I love England and its people and its great and honorable history, but it is only a shadow of its former self. "
I guess Democracy and a Republic aren't for everybody.
European peasants, aside from those who had the courage to emigrate here, DESERVE and NEED a REAL monarch and aristocrats to do their thinking for them.
The current crop of British royality are a bunch of inbred, cowardly, inane mental misfits.
The last Monarchs worthy of name to rule in Britain were the Plantagenets. Then it was all downhill - the Tudors, Stuarts, Hanoverians and now, Windors.
"I react badly to people attacking my beloved country, even more badly to people attacking my Queen"
Lighten up, tjwmason. You've got your panties all in a twist. You English want a free pass on insulting our President, but hands-off on the Queen. You must be mad! No, excuse me, that was George III! Happy Guy Fawkes and have a nice day.
I see your point. Democracy is good, we have representative democracy. Saddam supposedely had democracy; his last election he got 100% of the vote. But it wasn't real because no one man is so great a leader that he can get 100% of any vote (including Presidnet Bush!). People getting to choose their leaders is a good thing. I'm not sure why folks are dissing your Queen, as I understand it, she is not the person who makes the big decisions, right? Your Prime Minister has that job and he is elected. I have no beef with England. I have always wanted to visit and see it for myself. I'm American, but not decsended from English, I'm Russian and Icelandic and German, an American Mutt.
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