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!
How do you square the "we're free..." with common rules and regulations coming from Belgum?
How do you square the grand plans of a european economy to rival ours when the French are already whispering about total reform of their (euro's) system and work ethic if they are going to compete with ANYbody?
And, in you opinion, who is getting the biggest boost from tax dollars, Airbus or Boeing?
Finally, why the hell didn't your guys kick the french out of canada when they had the chance?
I should imagine the Brits kissed the ground on the other side when you finally hauled ass out of our country.
They know you well.
bmp
Proves my point...the young are so ignorant.
Your posts suggest ignorance is not confined to the young.
I'd have a battle of wits with you, but I don't like fighting with an unarmed person.
When we build the concentration camps, your heathen ass will be in the first group.
Just flip the wino a quarter and move on.
You couldn't argue your way out of a paper bag. Go and eat a McDonald's or switch on Springer.
"What happened to the Anglo Saxon who developed the long bow, taller than himself, that allowed an army of 9,000 footmen to lay waste to 27,000 French knights in armored horseback ?"
Well, we struck a deal and decided we wouldn't stage chivalry and archery events anymore.
"When a Red State American goes abroad, we don't assume we know anything about the folks we're visiting"
Judging by some of the posts on this thread, Ray, you are one of the few Red State Americans - even here on FR.
Yeah, that's how the US got to where it is today -- us backwards, stupid, simple folk.
BTW, how is the British Empire doing? Something about the sun setting...
Yes, I lived in the UK for nearly eight years, and what you are saying is absolutely true. I get along well with most Brits, as well, but most of them have a profound misunderstanding about the U.S. and Americans, despite the belief of many who are convinced that they know quite a lot after having watched all of those American television programs(!). In addition, their own news media (along with our own) is largely responsible for the Brits' general lack of any true understanding about America.
The day after the election, I spoke with my closest friend who is English (and lives in England). She said that the media continues to be almost comically biased against Bush and gave me a few examples about their coverage leading up the the U.S. elections. One of the things she said they began doing is referring to Kerry as the "incoming" and Bush as the "outgoing" president (LOL)...
But none of this surprised me too much, since when I was there I worked at the BBC World Service. Not much surprises me now :+)
Where exactly did it get to?
Excuse me? How was I snotty about the Brits? I thought I was defending them...
read later bump
Here's hoping you recover soon.
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