Posted on 07/06/2002 8:59:49 AM PDT by ginle
I've just moved from New York City to London, into a little house with a little garden - and it seemed a good idea to throw a Fourth of July barbecue. After years of cramped Manhattan parties, craning out of our air-conditioned apartment window to catch a glimpse of fireworks, I was determined to have the traditional outdoor feast.
My British flatmate loved the idea. "It's a themed welcome-back party," she exclaimed. She emailed invitations to our friends. I bought gourmet sausages, and then suddenly I panicked. Why would a bunch of Brits, anti-Bush and liberal Brits at that, want to celebrate our most all-American day?
Having lived in London on and off for two years, I've realised that young British people don't like America; in fact, now that Bush is waging his war on terror, they hate it. At a dinner party in the autumn, a boy I'd just met said: "You know, basically bin Laden is right." I began to cry. "America oppresses every other country, and really exploits them just to get richer and, you know, crushes them if they try to stand up for themselves. Bin Laden was telling America to mind its own business; it needed to be told."
And all this when my city was plastered with posters for loved ones missing since September 11; when I had just discovered that a friend had died in the attack. Knowing that one of the charges against Americans was that we "take everything too seriously", I apologised for crying.
Since September, most of my introductions to young Brits begin: "Oh, you're American." Then comes a barrage of questions and assertions about Bush and America's place in the world. If you can clear such political minefields, you find yourself with some friends for life, whose political attitudes about America do not extend to their opinion of individual Americans. "So really," I told myself, "stop worrying. These are your cherished friends coming to the party. You can make it through an evening without talking politics, and everyone loves a camp themed party, especially one with gourmet sausages and mustard in a squeezy bottle."
Then I read the "youth" survey in The Telegraph - a huge majority of young Britons thought America was "aggressive", "inward-looking", "concerned only with its own place in the world" and "not a good example to other countries". Thirty-seven per cent thought Bush was either "poor" or "dreadful". I accosted each new guest - even before they had negotiated the red, white and blue balloons that covered our floor - with interview requests. "Please will you tell me what you really think about Bush and America? I swear I won't get upset and really the more honest the better and I know that we disagree anyway." It worked, but not until we had more than a little drink. What a sight: BA literature students, photographers, actors and people in the theatre - all British but me - piling on to a sofa and talking tipsily about politics.
"Well, America," began someone, nestling into the couch and setting her drink on the table. "I really like America, but I don't think their political system inspires much confidence." "Bush is awful - a total idiot," broke in a boy from across the room, and the polite reserve was broken. "Yeah," nodded another friend earnestly. "Everyone in Britain thinks he's horrible; we were really gutted when he won. We wanted the other guy, what's his name? - Gore - to win."
Turning away from a conversation revolving around an Alabama-style chocolate cake that one of our friends had brought us, someone volunteered: "Bush is a homicidal megalomaniac; he wants to take over the world." My friend's boyfriend added a new sort of conspiracy theory: "The US is the world's biggest terrorist. They think that it is fine to go into other countries and pillage them for their own good, but when other countries attack them they call it terrorism. George W welcomed September 11. Look what it did for him. He didn't exactly engineer it, but he wanted to go into Afghanistan because of their oil resources. Do we really know Osama was behind September 11?" "Where did you hear this?" I asked, trying desperately to be impartial. "Well, I pieced it together," he replied. His paranoia was met with approval from some quarters: "Yeah, Bush wants to use 9/11 to start a world war." He was shot down by the others: "He's too stupid to do that."
I wondered out loud why they were convinced that he was so dumb. The answer was a bit feeble: "Our media has hyped him as stupid." But another friend, while pouring us more wine, came to the rescue: "He always messes up the speeches that are written for him and trips over big words." "He's a knob," yelled a friend as she went into the garden to partake of the sausages.
Finally, I went out into the garden to talk to my friend, the war studies undergraduate, who seems the exception to the rule. "There is less to worry about George W than everyone makes out," he said, lighting my cigarette with an "I Love NY" lighter. "He is a strong hand on the tiller and his responses are not wrong. The Republicans pick people for character traditionally and set up a really intelligent strong team behind them. I don't think we have to worry with Colin Powell and Rumsfeld." This inspired a boy who had been quiet the whole evening - "I am the most British person you'll ever meet," he confided, "and I am completely behind Bush and America. So I guess that I don't have anything to say here."
Probably this, not the paranoid anti-Americanism, was the most shocking comment. But it was a lovely evening, and no one got into an argument, except for two Brits about the NHS. The Telegraph poll said that 63 per cent of young Britons think America is a good friend to Britain, and that is what I most noticed at my party. For all their criticism of America and its supposed militant posturing, here were my friends, bearing wine, celebrating the Fourth of July and staying late, long after we wanted to clear up and go to bed.
After all, these were the same people who had called me and my parents on September 11 and sent flowers to lay at the site.
Julia shouldn't have been so keen to start a political debate among a bunch of "BA literature students, photographers, actors and people in the theatre". This lot were bound to have been brainwashed by the liberal/leftist press and the Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation. Please don't believe that the average Briton has the same anti-American bias as these middle class toffs.
When Julia says: "I've realised that young British people don't like America; in fact, now that Bush is waging his war on terror, they hate it." She fails to take into account that this generation can not remember the cold war, and the supreme wickedness of the Soviet Union. They have also been deceived by the media, most of whom just have a pathological hatred for successful countries and a love of the "underdog", regardless of what outrage the underdog might have committed.
My family were working class people from West Yorkshire in Northern England. My grandfather fought the NAZIS in Europe and was brought back during the Dunkirk evacuation, less than 5% of his unit survived. Even though the USA were not even in the war at that time (May 1940), he did not bear Americans any malice. In fact, he had a deep affection for the USA and really wished to visit. Unfortunately, my grandmother was ill throughout her life and grandfather had to work very hard to make ends meet, so they never could travel to the USA.
Why did he like the USA? Because unlike Britain the USA has a real democracy, not a pretend one, and real freedom. British democracy is a constitutional anachronism, the head of state is unelected as is the upper chamber of Parliament. There is no constitution and so the government erodes the rights of its subjects whenever it has a good excuse. This is especially true of late, given the recent email surveillance and ID card debacles. We British have lost our right to own arms, many of our rights to conduct a peaceful demonstration, our right to defend ourselves, our freedom of speech has been curtailed and unwarranted government surveillance is at an all time high. Britain, unlike the USA, has forgotten the words - freedom and responsibility.
I agree with my grandfather. The USA has more going for it than Britain and any other country I know. Don't let a minority of ignorant idiots make you believe that all Britons are anti-American, they aren't. The victory of George Washington and the USA's founding fathers over Britain's evil autocracy, was more than just a victory for Americans, it was a victory for international freedom. I too drank a toast to the USA on the Fourth of July, and was very relieved that those al Qaeda psychopaths didn't manage to pull off another outrage as they had threatened to.
It's a way of ignoring their little Islamist problem. I guess they can look at the increasing crime rate, the gang rapes, the violence and blame it on the Americans rather than admit that it's their own foolishness that has brought all this to their door.
I think irv nailed it - this social demographic is notable for its high percentage of self-absorbed ignoramuses, convinced through repetition that their uninformed feelings are the intellectual equivalent of informed opinion. Their greatest fear isn't being mistaken, it's being unfashionable.
This from a country whose history has endless wars of conquest? Is Britain a good example to other countries? Well, if we start reviewing their history....well, let's not get into that right now.
Thirty-seven per cent thought Bush was either "poor" or "dreadful".
Again, this from a country that presents Tony Blair to the world? He's their most dreadful leader in more than a generation. People who live on glass-walled islands....
"Well, America," began someone, nestling into the couch and setting her drink on the table. "I really like America, but I don't think their political system inspires much confidence."
As if their system inspires confidence?
"Bush is awful - a total idiot," broke in a boy from across the room, and the polite reserve was broken. "Yeah," nodded another friend earnestly. "Everyone in Britain thinks he's horrible; we were really gutted when he won. We wanted the other guy, what's his name? - Gore - to win."
I was unaware that goronism was a world-wide phenomenon, until now. Well, sorry Brits, but you don't get to vote in our elections anymore than we get to vote in your's. Blair is awful, a total idiot. I was really gutted when he won. I wanted the other guy, what's his name, to win.
Turning away from a conversation revolving around an Alabama-style chocolate cake that one of our friends had brought us, someone volunteered: "Bush is a homicidal megalomaniac; he wants to take over the world." My friend's boyfriend added a new sort of conspiracy theory: "The US is the world's biggest terrorist. They think that it is fine to go into other countries and pillage them for their own good, but when other countries attack them they call it terrorism. George W welcomed September 11. Look what it did for him. He didn't exactly engineer it, but he wanted to go into Afghanistan because of their oil resources.
Yep, lots of oil resources in Afghanistan...not! Hey Britoids, learn some friggin geography! Afghanistan doesn't have any oil resources.
July 4th is our Independence Day -- our Independence from Britain! Thank God and our Founding Fathers for that!
If you believe that, come on over. We need more people who believe that and we'd be glad to have you! (Just one hint, though, don't come here to the People's Republic of New York. There are states that have lots more respect for freedom - and maybe even a chance at a decent job!)
Most of the mental pygmies were chosen by Hitlery to satisfy her own agenda of diversity. Robert Reich was Sick Willie's choice, but fortunately he satisfied the need for a shortie. ;-)
Oh, give us a break, as you Americans say. The USA didn't join the war in Europe until after Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. Americans who fought in Europe deserve our admiration, but they were also doing it to defend their own country's liberty in the future. The war between the NAZIS and the USSR was what really saved Britain's bacon, not that I have any admiration whatsoever for the Soviets or Stalin. But the fact is, Britain's "darkest hour" as Churchill called it, had already been and gone before the USA joined WWII. If Britain and the USSR had been beaten, which great country do you think the NAZIS would have been threatening next?
We thank you for your country's financial help before it joined the war, and its military aid after the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, bear in mind that the USA insisted that the economic aid that helped the British war effort - be paid back in full. I hear that Britain will not finish paying it back until 2006. Therefore, it can not be said that the USA helped Britain out of pure altruism.
After the war ended, the USA was allowed its pick of British territories to plant cold war bases upon. Britain's loyalty during the cold war was one of the few things successive American administrations could count upon. Thus the USA also benefited greatly from its relationship with Britain during the cold war. If Britons had ended up speaking Russian, then your country's national security would have been seriously damaged.
As for saving our "great-grandparents' butts", the USA only came into WWI when the Germans were already loosing. America also benefited financially from WWI at Britain's expense, the British Empire was fatally wounded by that war. The USA declared war on Germany on the 6th of April, 1917, whereas Britain fought with Germany from the 4th of August, 1914 until the 11th of November, 1918. The USA certainly helped to lower British casualties, but it hardly single-handedly won WWI. Also the number of casualties it suffered in WWI were a fraction of those that Britain suffered, sorry to burst your bubble.
(Do they have Alabama-style chocolate cake in Tokyo on Hiroshima day?)
" I don't think their political system inspires much confidence."
LOL
Jeez! what a sob-sister.
Any one of my three very Virginia polite sisters would have drop kicked their behinds out the door. And these are her friends/acquaintences? She should have told them that "God Save You Queens", and topped their dessert with a can of whoop-ass.
They'd be speaking German if it weren't for us.
Bless your little cotton socks! You just go on believing that, if it keeps you happy.
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