Serious question about Brit Bashing on Free Republic...

[BritishBulldog]

Just lately (noticeably since the US election result) there seems to be an awful lot of anti-British sentiment on here (there always was a little but I put that down to a handful of xenophobic kiddies)

What I would like to know is do most Freepers now share the low opinion that some (many) on here seem to have of our nation or is it just a small (but very vocal) minority of morons?

I've enjoyed this forum (for the relatively short time that I've contributed) and have always liked Americans in general, but I now find myself reconsidering my thoughts on both.

If we Brits are not liked or wanted around here, I think I'll probably discontinue my involvement.

[burlywood]

You can't deny that we Brits deserved most of the flak from FReepers recently after the vitriolic attacks in some our newspapers. It just annoys me that most of the insults are based on outdated stereotypes. There are so many more deserving targets in Britain than yellow toothed, tea drinking, pansie ass, toffee nosed, nazi appeasing limeys. Try here for a start ;-)

http://www.chavscum.co.uk/

[asgardshill]

What I would like to know is do most Freepers now share the low opinion that some (many) on here seem to have of our nation or is it just a small (but very vocal) minority of morons?

I just stumbled across this thread. And from what I've been able to ascertain, the bashing is directed solely at those pod people who read and believe the Mirror's and the Guardian's poisonous spew.

For better or for worse, most of you people are our true allies; Tony Blair stuck his political neck out a mile to stand by us. Heck, I myself came within an eyelash of marrying a British subject years ago (tall, blonde, flight attendant for Laker Airways, what she saw in me is a mystery for the ages).

Don't let the idiots get you down - there are plenty of "American" boneheads out there too.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

It's not British bashing that has been going on here of late.

More specifically, it has been British press bashing.

Some of the articles that have been written and published in your press have not fostered a 'warm and fuzzy' feeling here on Free Republic.

Example:
From the London News Review website

This is only one example that I can lay my mouse on quickly. The Guardian and others have been less than complimentary towards American Conservative voters since 11/02/04.

Do not take the attacks you see here personally. They are not, at least should not be, directed at the British people. Only the wankers who write for some of your more Liberal publications.

Cheers.

[LZ_Bayonet]

Sometimes we tend to make general comments about "Europeans" without excluding you guys. It can be a problem with Italy, Poland etc. too. Sorry 'bout that!

We need some new terminology. How about "Old Europe" (OE) for everyone not in the current Iraq Coalition (including sPAIN) and "Coalition Europe" (CE)?

[Max Combined]

"I took as implying that the NAZIs 'evidence' on genetics should not be dismissed out of hand."

It means what is true is true, no matter who discovers the truth. If someone wrongly uses a discovery, to make rockets to kill civilians or to use genetics to justify genocide for example, it is the use of the discovery which is wrong, not the information.

Nazis did not "discover" the importance of genes. Mendel did that, long before the Nazis. For that matter, untold generations of humans selectively bred domestic animals for both physical and temperament long before anyone knew that there were genes. Cows, for example, were bred to be more docile and tractable, so that they could be handled. Horses are, to this day, divided into hot blooded, warm blooded, and cold blooded breeds, based on their temperament. Dogs were bred to be more or less aggressive, depending on their use.

Look, you are obviously a liberal, wedded to your ideology, which holds that people are all a blank sheet, just waiting for society to turn them into the perfect unit in the glorious socialist utopia. Your justification for your obtuseness by referring to Nazis and bringing in terms such as genetically inferior clearly demonstrates your agenda.

This is a forum for conservatives or at least those who have an open mind. I am done with you.

[Jackknife]

I honestly like the Brits. The only Brits I see getting slammed here are the English leftists.

[mewzilla]

If we Brits are not liked or wanted around here, I think I'll probably discontinue my involvement.

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. I don't think most of us believe that Guardian and Mirror readers speak for all Brits any more than we think the NYT and the Boston Globe speak for all Americans. If anyone insults you, explain how you feel. If the insult's unfair, hopefully whoever delivered it will then see the light and apologize. If not, tell him/her to sod off :) Sticks and stones, you know.

[burlywood]

Look, you are obviously a liberal, wedded to your ideology, which holds that people are all a blank sheet, just waiting for society to turn them into the perfect unit in the glorious socialist utopia.

Interesting. I recently posted an article that offered an explanation for the survival of a "gay gene" in a gene pool. It provoked a lot of reaction from decidedly non-liberal FReepers who argued in favour of the "liberal" blank slate theory.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I personally think that Margret Thatcher saved the world. Ronald Reagan was her disciple. I find a lot of Brits, of all social classes and educational attainments, harbor varying degrees of resentment towards Americans and America. I do not care to speculate on the origins of this resentment, but more than one Brit has told me it is based on envy. (I've spent some time in England, you have much to envy. But we have much to envy you for - more later.)

This resentment leads to the preception of flaws in the American character, both real and imaginary. Oftentimes, the supposed flaws are merely projection, attributing to others faults we dislike in ourselves. Usually these "flaws" are common to the entire human race, Americans are critized for being human. Many of the accusations against Americans are nothing more than trendy notions promoted by European elites. Some of the "critisms" may be valid, but are merely artifacts of the differing circumstances, history and tradition, not necessarily evidence of the evil or cultural inferiority of Americans.

When people, Americans or others, feel they are being critized unfairly, they react not to the message, but to the messenger. Add to this that such critism is rarely offered constructively, "don't you want to drop the aitches at the start of words like 'ouse?" but in a manner intended to injure, "wot kinda igerant jew-lover can even pronounce the aitch in 'ouse?"

Americans are hard to love. We can be loud, ignorant of important things like the kings of England, the origin of Charring Cross [from the French "cher rein", Edward I's pet name for his Queen, Eleanor + Cross, site of a memorial to Eleanor at one of the places her funeral procession stopped on its way from Scotland to London ] or the what minor party holds the seat from East Twaddlebury. Yet in the face of all human experience and in defiance of the notion of a merciful God, we always seem to come through every storm, gumplike, keelside down.

To make matters worse, Americans like Brits. We find them charming, witty, most who come to our strands well educated, hard workers, possessed of every virtue. This only further infuriates them. To demonize people your whole life and then when confronted with them in their own environment, they hide their true colo(u)rs and treat you with sincere civility unknown at home. The deeper the red of the state, the more intense the civility. It's insufferable!

I said Americans had much to envy England. Time and distance are measured from Greenwich. This is not a mere historical accident. For hundreds of years England was a leader in commerce, in the advancement of human learning, in poetry and literature. She has a great cultural history, American Law and culural grew out of English traditions. The one bit which Americans eschewed was heritary titles. England has had a difficult time transforming itself from a traditional Monarchy to a liberal democracy. For the most part it has gone unbelievably well. I fear sometimes that you have thrown out the baby with the bathwater. In attempting to reject the vestiages of monarchy, you repudiate the traditions that leant to British society its unique civility.

I envy you your traditions, your heritage, your culture. Your newspapers. They're whacked, they span the spectrum, they're great. (Ours come in three flavors, Bland, Boston Globe Liberal, and New York Post Tabloid.) I envy you much, but fear for your future. (I meant that in a good way.)

[Chode]

"a worthy pastime"

yeah... i guess feelings of inadaquacy run deep and that's all they CAN do since we whipped their ass while taking America away from them and saved their ass TWICE from having to learn German!!! what ever gets them to sleep at night i guess

[broadsword]

No, I meant the post before that. You only called me a liar based on the first half of the post, you did not challenge the points made in the second-half of the post.

I never, repeat, NEVER called you a liar or even implied that you were a liar or that you had lied at all. If you are going to resort to such childish tactics, then I am finished with you. And, yes, I am saying that the sum of your gratuitous assertions, dodges, straw man arguments and now this false accusation, are childish tactics.

It is beneath a rational man's dignity to attempt argument with you, sir. Good day. I give you the last childish, irrational word on this.

[Max Combined]

'theory that human abilities are determined by race'

I guess you do not know the difference between determined and influenced. Too bad you are so dense.

[broadsword]

Lee? Grant? Forrest? Jackson? Patton? MacArthur? Washington? Pershing? Johnston? Yeah those are all Germans! What the hell are you talking about? Not sure what Sherman is?

It's just a statistical truth, my friend. The majority of America's greatest generals were of German, or mixed German, descent. You can make what you want of it or make nothing of it. That's up to you. It's just a fact. Same as the fact that nearly half of all America's Congressional Medals of Honor have gone to men with Scottish ancestry. Also 60%+ of American presidents have had Scottish blood running through their veins. What it means is your guess. If it gets under your skin... well, sorry.

You might find it interesting to note that nearly everyone in Europe (soon to be Eurabia) has German blood in them, because the Germanic tribes took nearly all the land in Europe at one time or another, even going so far as north africa and turkey. Even the word French comes from the German tribe of the Franks, who conquered and settled in that area. (How the Franks later became such silk-pantied little sissies is anyone's guess.)

[broadsword]

Well, if you think Eisenhower was a puppet and not a great general, then you are a part of a very small crowd and need to read a little history. Perhaps D-day was just a sham and a failure, too. Hmmm?

[Dengar01]

I think you are looking at this the entirely wrong way. I don't think anyone here thinks all brits are bad, only complete morons think that. The only criticism of the british i have seen has been against the radical leftists who hate us, our president and our country. Those people we will bash continuously but we have nothing against regular brits.

[broadsword]

Most of America's great generals had British Ancestry.

Not true.

And the English people are primarily of German ancestry: Angles, Saxons and Jutes, with a later influx of Norman blood. The original people of England were kicked out by the German tribes and forced westward into Wales.

[broadsword]

He's not worth your effort, my friend. Stop irritating him with those pesky facts.