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!
They'll be wearing beards and praying East soon.
My daughter is attending university there for a semester. (That's how the say "going to college".) She reports the exact same thing. Luckily she will be returning before the end of the year.
'swhat the Clintons had in mind for the rest of us.
Wow.
"the tone transformed from criticism of Bush to berating not just the president but anyone who supported him."
That is exactly why the democrats lost. It's normal for candidates to attack each other but the democrats took it to a whole new level when they began attacking the american people who opposed John Kerry.
Isn't is sad, not just that the EuroPEONS so willingly accept their socialist thought training, but more so, they don't feel comfortable enough in their condescending sense of betterment. They somehow feel driven and desirous that America be the same way!
We own them and they hate it.
This is the point where I tell them I like Bush, voted for him twice, and agree with many of his positions. I love the jaw-dropping-shock look on their face after this.
Sounds like what I see on CBS, ABC, and CNN.
Please don't encourage Guardian readers and other EUrinals to come over here "to see for themselves." They damage the purity of our air by breathing it and their creepy postures and shabby clothes hurt our eyes. Also, they shouldn't leave the thin "blue zones" on the coasts, some of the good ol' boys might hear their foreign accents, mistake them for liberals, and feed them to the snakes and 'gators.
"Let me first say that the Brits are great people!"
With all due respect, this statement is completely incongruous with every other statement made in your post.
I can't read everything else you wrote and still believe that they are "great people".
We are descendants of brave people who threw off the yoke of tyranny whereas their ancestors embraced it.
NavyGuy:
Thanks very much for that report.
It must be a very bitter pill indeed for the memebers of the Greatest Generation who gave their blood and their lives to liberate Europe from the Nazis to see what has become of that continent some 60 years on.
Most of those GGers are now in their 80s and it must be painful to watch as Europe slips in rabid anti-Americanism and appeasement of terrorists... almost identical to the hate of the Nazis that they gave their lives to defeat.
It is sad indeed, but slowly the mainstream of America WILL come to see Europe not as some sort of benevolent father figure, as has been the case for arguably 200 years, but as a deranged and corrupted enemy of all that America stands for.
And then the day of reckoning will arrive.
I lived there for 5 years, left one year ago. If it is any consolation to you - the situation is worse in continental Europe, where I am now living. The intensity of negative feelings toward Bush is intense, and it has long since impacted general sentiments towards Americans. I wish I could say I don't give a xxxx, but I do. Perhaps most disappointing is the attitude of Eastern Europeans - who have quickly forgotten how and why the wall came down. They have not only joined the EU, but also the "Hate America" Bandwagon. I did read somewhere recently that Poles supported Bush over Kerry - can't confirm this as I haven't been there recently - but if they did they are the exception even in Central/Eastern Europe.I am left thinking that the current Anti-Americanism was latent, and waiting to come out - the roots are complex, but based in simple insecurity and jealousy. Bush is simply a likely catalyst, as his style does not appeal to European elitists. (A politiciian who says what he thinks, and does what he ssays...he m u s t be dumb!)
***'swhat the Clintons had in mind for the rest of us.***
I just heard on radio that Hitlery's favorability rating for president according to Gallup is up to 56% among democrats.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.