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Newsweek Columnist Disgusted by Patriotism at Olympics
The FOX Nation ^

Posted on 02/24/2010 9:39:47 AM PST by melwFN

If you would like a graphic (literal and figurative) demonstration of our nation's greatest failing, sit in front of your television set and watch NBC cover an international sports event, the Winter Olympics, as if only Americans were participating. Every time the Today show's Meredith Vieira stumbles over the name of the Russian figure skater Yevgeny Plushenko (it's pronounced exactly as it's spelled, Meredith, with the accent on the second syllables) and giggles to show that it's OK to be ignorant, I think about all of the announcers from Canada and Europe who pronounce everyone's name correctly. Their employers care about getting it right, and NBC doesn't. Not if the athlete isn't one of us, contributing to the mounting total of "American" medals announced breathlessly every day. Why, anyone would think that these medals were more important than the performance of American students on international comparison tests of achievement in school. In case you're interested, Finland was No. 1 and Canada No. 2 in the most recent international assessment of reading comprehension. The United States was No. 15. U.S.A., U.S.A....


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: cheeseandwhine; newsweak; patriotism; pravdamedia
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1 posted on 02/24/2010 9:39:47 AM PST by melwFN
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To: melwFN

Maybe you can explain why mispronouncing somebody’s name and being proud of it is patriotic.


2 posted on 02/24/2010 9:42:23 AM PST by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: melwFN
Like religion, traditional family and workplace values, patriotism just isn't cool and hip among the counterculture losers.

It has been that way since the snot-nose baby boomers came of age in the mid 1960’s.

3 posted on 02/24/2010 9:42:51 AM PST by EyeGuy
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To: melwFN

In case you were wondering, Finland has a mostly private, magnet school program with very few illiterate illegal aliens.


4 posted on 02/24/2010 9:43:13 AM PST by willyd (Reducing Taxes Reduces our Carbon Footprint)
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To: melwFN

Hillary and Obama couldn’t pronounce Medvedev.


5 posted on 02/24/2010 9:43:37 AM PST by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: Izzy Dunne

Just 2 years ago we were told it was patriotic to call Bush “Bushitler”. I Loathe the Pravda Media.


6 posted on 02/24/2010 9:44:42 AM PST by a fool in paradise
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To: melwFN

It’s not patriotism that’s the problem here. It’s stupidity and ignorance


7 posted on 02/24/2010 9:45:05 AM PST by varyouga (2 natural disasters, zerO action. Obama doesn't care about white people!)
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To: massgopguy
Hillary and Obama couldn’t pronounce Medvedev.

... and lets not forget "corpsman", or is that "corpse-man"?

8 posted on 02/24/2010 9:45:19 AM PST by 6SJ7 (atlasShruggedInd = TRUE)
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To: massgopguy

Ted Kennedy couldn’t pronouce Obama.


9 posted on 02/24/2010 9:45:30 AM PST by a fool in paradise
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To: melwFN
Newsweek bashes USA just like likes to do.
10 posted on 02/24/2010 9:46:23 AM PST by Berlin_Freeper
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To: melwFN
Americans usually support the home team, except for those ingrates who live to bash our country. Guess who?
11 posted on 02/24/2010 9:46:46 AM PST by ANGGAPO (Leyte Gulf Beach Club)
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To: melwFN

Actually Susan Jacoby is a religion hater first and foremost. Hating America is a close second.


12 posted on 02/24/2010 9:48:59 AM PST by VeniVidiVici ("Bring out yer dead! Bring out your dead!" - Cries of a Navy Corpseman)
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To: melwFN

These globalist and transnationalist types, like this Newsweek idiot, have neglected to tell anyone that becuase of globalization, which they trumpet as a triumph, has inherently produced NATIONALISM/Patriotism.....

I would suggest these idiot crybabies deal with it.
This particular Newsweek idiot should be fortunate he has the luxury to write his whining tidbits in ink.....


13 posted on 02/24/2010 9:49:18 AM PST by cranked
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To: melwFN

NBC’s Today Show’s Olympic coverage is slanted toward the American viewer. I guess they assume Americans want a recap of our performances first thing in the morning.


14 posted on 02/24/2010 9:49:58 AM PST by sarasota
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To: varyouga
My comment was cut off for some reason.

...stupidity and ignorance. Worship of both seems to have spread over the last 50 years accross the whole western world.

We now have stuff like this plastered all over our public places:


15 posted on 02/24/2010 9:50:44 AM PST by varyouga (2 natural disasters, zerO action. Obama doesn't care about white people!)
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To: Izzy Dunne
This is the age of Oboma where anti-Americanism is the height of Patriotism.

Its also curious that NBC, owned by GE, is the network most in the bag for this admin.

16 posted on 02/24/2010 9:55:32 AM PST by Pietro ("I am not an idealouge" BHO; "I am not a crook" RMN)
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To: melwFN

So what? CBC coverage was all about Canadians, except when it was about Lindsey Vonn.


17 posted on 02/24/2010 10:01:52 AM PST by Oratam
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To: melwFN
If the author is so disgusted, then he/she/it (didn't look, don't care) should feel perfectly free to emigrate to a better place.
18 posted on 02/24/2010 10:05:52 AM PST by greatplains
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To: willyd

I am very good friends with a Finn who has only been to the U.S. for one week of his whole life. In normal English conversation, you would not know that he isn’t American. The only time he has an accent is when he uses a multi-syllable word that he rarely uses.

He was taught English in school from ages 9-18, but learned how to speak from watching American movies! It’s quite impressive.


19 posted on 02/24/2010 10:07:18 AM PST by Dexter Morgan
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To: massgopguy

They can’t pronounce corpsman either...........


20 posted on 02/24/2010 10:14:38 AM PST by Red Badger (Education makes people easy to lead, difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave.)
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