Europeans React to Pummeling of Dems in Midterm Elections
Leading newspapers and magazines across Europe have all published front-page stories about the outcome of the American midterm elections and the negative implications for U.S. President Barack Obama’s future. The intensity of the European media focus on the 2010 elections has been similar to that of the saturation coverage of the 2008 presidential elections, the only difference being that the Tea Party movement has replaced George W Bush as the new focus of European ire.
Although most European elites no longer elevate Obama to cult-of-personality status as they did just two years ago, in general terms, most reporting about the 44th president of the United States from both the left and the right remains highly sympathetic.
In general, left-leaning publications across the continent have expressed varying degrees of anger and contempt over the setback the Tea Party has dealt to Obama’s efforts to Europeanize the United States. Many left-wing commentators have openly ridiculed the U.S. electorate for not being sufficiently sophisticated to comprehend why Obama’s social policies are in America’s best interests.
By contrast, many (but certainly not all) right-leaning publications have taken the position that Obama has only himself to blame for failing to dedicate sufficient time and energy to turning around the ailing U.S. economy. A number of conservative commentators have also admitted, astonishingly, that a movement similar to the Tea Party would be good for Europe.
In any case, the vast majority of European newspaper editorials express concern that the election outcome ultimately will produce gridlock in Washington until the next elections in 2012, and that this will impede economic recovery in the United States.
What follows is a brief summary of some European media coverage of this year’s midterm elections.
In Britain, the left-wing Guardian, in an article titled “GOP and Democrats Gear up for All-Out Combat,” writes:
Voters want both parties to work together, but incoming Tea Partiers in Congress are set to throw a spanner in the works. … Behind the scenes, Republicans and Democrats are preparing for all-out political combat on a scale not witnessed in Washington for decades.
Another article titled “US Midterm Election Results Herald New Political Era” asserts:
Republicans will now be able to use their position of power to wage a guerrilla war against Obama in the remaining two years of his presidential term – the next 24 months are likely to be marked by rancorous partisan bickering and little in the way of new legislation.
A Guardian commentary titled “The Fight Obama Now Faces” advises:
With an uncompromising Republican Party back in the game after strong election results, the president has to play hardball. … Republicans will pick fights, and they’ll think they can roll him [Obama]. And they will hold a constant parade of hearings investigating the administration, trying to snare some big administration fish (maybe Obama himself?) in a perjury or obstruction of justice trap. Republicans play for keeps. And now, Obama is going to have to, too.
The left-leaning Independent, in an article titled “Did Obama Forget He’s in Charge?,” writes:
The easy view to adopt would be that we’re back to normal, and Americans are just mental. Because the people leading the hatred of Obama are characters such as Glenn Beck, spokesman for the Tea Party. Beck hosts a TV show in which during the last 18 months he’s likened Obama to Hitler 349 times. Every night he must tell viewers that Hitler started out with a health-care plan, then things spun out of control so he invaded France. … But the collapse in Obama’s support can only partly be explained by the vitriol of the Tea Party. … Most of those who supported him have lost the enthusiasm that brought him to power. This is probably because so much of the change he promised has been abandoned almost without a fight. … Obama could have listened to the health [insurance] companies, then said: “That’s all fascinating, but the thing is, I was elected President and you weren’t, so piss off.” Otherwise what’s the point of having an election at all?
The center-right Telegraph, in an essay titled “Obama’s Problem is that He’s Not Black Enough,” asserts:
The upshot is that Obama no longer seems “black enough.” … It’s not just African-American voters who have stayed at home. White liberals, too, haven’t been nearly as evangelical in their support of Obama as they were two years ago. … The phrase “glacial elitist” is interesting — code, perhaps, for not black enough? And this complaint is echoed across the liberal media. His left-wing supporters were expecting Obama to be a more quick-tempered president, more visceral, more macho. Is it too much of a stretch to interpret that as a complaint that Obama hasn’t conformed to their idea of how a black man should behave when someone tries to pick a fight with him? It’s as if they were hoping for an adrenalin shot of Negro authenticity, something like the moment in 48 Hours when Eddie Murphy takes down the crackers in the all-white bar. He’s too cerebral, too much of a policy wimp — too white. In the absence of Obama being willing to serve it up during the midterms, liberals have had to turn to Bill Clinton for a dose of streetfighter machismo and it’s worth noting that Clinton has many of the attributes of Norman Mailer’s “white negro.”
In France, the center-right Le Figaro, in an opinion article titled “Tea Party: An American Fever,” writes:
For months people have spoken of nothing else. It’s the Tea Party, a collection of people who believe in creationism but deny the reality of global warming; who decry an overly-intrusive state, but dig into the government archives to track and publicly denounce those they accuse of being on American territory illegally; and those who constantly refer to the Founding Fathers, yet violate the spirit of the republic desired by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and the rest. These bigots with their oversized waists and gas-guzzling 4x4s have taken center stage when in reality they represent only themselves – which it must be said is not very much. … The Tea Party is nothing but an obsessional crisis seen regularly in America. Whether it’s the witch trials of Salem or the witch hunts of Joseph McCarthy, the impeachment process of Bill Clinton, Prohibition or the rhetoric of Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, a pact that would pave the way for a Republican majority that evaporated two years later, America loves these obsessions. That’s the fever of the Puritans. They love to see the fever rise so they can delight in the repentance that follows. … The new Tea Party representatives will undoubtedly arrive in Congress where one will hear of them for a few months. And like all of those who preceded them, they will eventually disappear, victims of their own incompetence, after voters regain their senses. Not too late, one hopes.
Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, in an article titled “German Politicians Predict US Elections will Impact World Politics,” writes:
German politicians believe Tuesday’s congressional elections in the United States will change the landscape of foreign policy. The elections represent a major threat to U.S. President Barack Obama’s power at home … conflicts within American politics could weaken the U.S.’s leading position in worldwide diplomacy. …Germany and Europe would have to take a stronger position in global diplomacy if the U.S. were to take a step back, especially in matters such as the Mideast conflict, Russian-American relations and China’s ascent to the world stage.
I live in Europe right now, so I’m not surprised at some of the reactions. What I find most interesting is that each of these editorials shows the mindset and history of the different countries. I think the best written ones in terms of fairly neutral analysis and less appeal to emotion and ad-hominem attacks are Die Zeit and the Irish Independent. The French paper editorial which called the Tea Partiers Fat 4X4 drivers was very bad. Why did they think they needed to add a personal insult? The French are so insecure…..so upset that French isn’t the universal language. They lost as most international business is done in English. Second worst is El Pais, but then they are so far left they hate anything American.
The French have been out of it for years. They have long forgotten who saved their sorry asses in the 40′s. Too bad the boys buried at Normandy can’t slap the snot out of them.
I, too, have lived in Europe for the past decade. Nearly 2 years of that time was spent in France. As far as the opinions of the French, people may be surprised to find out that this anti-American obsession is actually older than America itself. European aristocracy viewed America as a threat to their status, and thus began to associate America with something wild, intangible, and not quite civilized (Cue the Star-Spangled Banner with photos of people driving large trucks, eating at McDonalds, or otherwise just doing something “non-French.”). French media drums this opinion into their citizens on a daily basis, and in fact most of what passes for “news” there could be more appropriately called “suckling the masses at the socialist teat.” They have no true “news” outlets, but depend wholly on a very narrow-minded elite to provide editorials in the form of news. Keep in mind this is the same country that said Obama’s victory proved once and for all that Americans are racist; and of course, if he had lost, that would have proven that we are indeed racist. So, no matter what the outcome of events happens to be, the French will fall back on their stale, old, lifeless stereotypes as their country continues its statist inspired death-spiral.
You’re right Jacob — and it’s an very insightful comment — that the anti-Americanism so regularly displayed by the French is a product of their insecurity — insecurity every since Napoleon lost both at Moscow and Waterloo — although you say it predates this (which I am willing to believe as I vaguely remember a good essay on exactly that subject).
But in many ways their anti-Americanism is the most pathological of the Europeans (due, perhaps to it’s personal derivation as you point out). It’s the exact same thing I saw during many years of working for the Port of Montreal and the whole question (or movement) of Quebec to secede from Canada. The last vote — and I still remember this — was a referendum that ended in (ok, maybe my memory has 1 digit off, but still) 49.9 to 50.1 — and it may have even gone out into the hundredths place.
In any case, after that ALL of English speaking Canada basically said, this is just not worth it — let them secede, and let them try to maintain their living standards as a separate country. They’d have to re-negotiate every single trade deal with the United States as a “new” country. But Quebec seems to simply not care. There is only one thing that Quebec (in my opinion) has “over” the rest of Canada and that is a stronger arts environment. OK, that’s great, but it won’t bring them trade deals.
Further, they drove off almost all their Jews to Toronto in the 1960s and 1970s when their whole French signs, French language, French everything began (and an accompanying rise in anti-Semitism). Even as an American I’d like to see them “achieve” what they seem to so desperately want: separation.
And that’s the same feeling I always get from reading about France — the absurdly wild “anger” over anything that even remotely “smells American” like their… (gasp!) 2 year extension in the retirement age (from 60 to 62 years old). Sometimes I truly feel sorry for Sarkozy despite his own “Frenchness.” as one can see he is at least trying to be rational.
Great to hear from you FF!
Indeed, there is a certain hatred and fear of all things American that drives a lot of the French consciousness. I remember when I lived there a few years ago, it was hard to describe just how much animosity you could see in all areas of French life for anything perceived as being “Anglo-Saxon” in origin. I once checked a bookstore, and around 50% of all books in the “new non-fiction” section were hit-pieces on America. Most of them were grotesque propaganda pieces bearing titles such as “Americans a fat, ugly, and stupid” (no lie; there was a book about just this) or “Who is killing France?” (The answer of course, was America. Surprise!) I think it surprises the French to find out that we just don’t give a toss about them. Perhaps that is the biggest insult of all. It was all quite sad, really. It was like some jilted paramour churning out tomes of bad poetry and worse prose on myspace all centred around the object of their obsession who doesn’t even realize they exist.
This obsession, in the long run, will damage them far more than it will us. During the referendum on the European treaty, both “Yes” and “No” advocates used the spectre of America to alarm people into voting their way. One side said “America is afraid of a strong Europe, and the treaty will allow us to finally confront the Yanks of the world stage” while the other said “This treaty is Anglo-Saxon in nature and will erode the French safety net, weakening Europe, which is just what America wants.” The saddest part was that none of the French were able to see how base and ridiculous it all was. Even friends of mine who are relatively pro-American just failed to see the “folie Ă deux” (or perhaps folie Ă 62,000,000) for what it was. As Sarko has figured out, you just can’t take candy from the French, even when you just don’t have anymore candy left to give out.
Much of this madness has indeed infected the Quebecers as well. Leaving Canada would absolutely cripple them. Every Quebec needs a few other provinces to keep them afloat artificially, in much the same way that the EU budge transfers massive amounts of money to French farmers so they will never have to face competitive pressure to modernize. Sad really, but it is one of the slowest train wrecks on the planet, but apparently very few people on the train realize it.
I mostly agree with you. The best one was the Irish Independent, which had at least some understanding of the ideological underpinnings of this election. As I read, the overarching theme to me was the stunning ignorance and misunderstanding of the Tea Party movement. They think it’s a flash in the pan. It is not. And, Glenn Beck is NOT the leader of the movement. In most of these excerpts, the disdain of the Europeans came through loud and clear. We are a nation of country bumpkins, way too unsophisticated to realize that liberal left policies result in utopia–just like the utopia they live in. What our founders gave us is a constitutional republic, a far superior form of government than any in the history of humankind and they seem not to understand that we want to keep it instead of becoming slaves to socialism.
Who gives a f**k what these filthy Eurotrash think? They are just a bunch of lazy, Socialist, anti-American dhimmi cowards whose favorite sports are soccer and Jew-killing.
all the 500 millions of them!
You’re right.
Only 400 million of them.
I am sure you have been in Europe many times, have been speaking with thousands of people from different European countries, and regularly read major publications and media at least in the main 4-5 EU countries. That is why you know the EU so well.
You know I’m right. Even from a distance, the frothing anti-Semitism is clearly visible. Scratch a European, and just below the surface, you find a swastika-wearing, goose-stepping Marxo-fascist who believes that ovens are for baking Jews and not for baking casseroles.
Europe does not hate Hitler because he murdered 6 million Jews. They hate him because he did not finish the job.
The euro’s have made their bed by their political choices. You would have us believe that the nazi’s were good despite the nazi leadership did.
Why were the French unwilling to celibrate being French on the biventenial of Bastille day? U was there on business amd it makes no sense to me. Only doing a week or so at a time couple time a year does leave one as confused as trying to understand from the blogs and the “Economist.” Of course I can say the same about insane Conecticut.
I am surprised such a filthy language and venom thoughts were allowed to be published. Hopefully not many Europeans will read your comment or if they do, they will realize you don’t represent the majority of Americans.
I represent a lot more Americans than you realize. Or care to admit.
We have grown tired of the America bashing. Don’t expect us to come bail you out again when you’re hanging on the precipice of becoming a new part of the growing world-wide Caliphate. Be warned.
Sad!
It is sad that Post-Christian/Neo-Pagan/Pre-Islamic Europe fails to see what’s in store for them after their current stage of Orwellian cultural Marxism. They will continue to self-flagellate until the Muslims take the whips out of their hands and finish the job for them. Maybe they’ll feel better when every vestige of European civilization is wiped clean from Gibraltar to the Shetlands to the Elbe by sword and fire (I would say to the Urals and Caucasus, but the latter people have more sense to go along with all the PC self-destruction and have the balls to fight back [if you don't believe me, ask a Serb or a Russian]).
I am also sad that you think Europe = West Europe.
Europe does not consist only of UK, Greece or France. There are countries named “Hungary” Czech Republic” or “Poland.”
For example, majority of articles in Polish newspapers are quite knowledgeable and fair. Although some (Gazeta Wyborcza) tend to repeat opinions from NYT or Guardian nevertheless comments from the majority of readers seem to disagree with these opinions. Not to mention the fact that many commentators do live in USA and are Tea Party people.
Of course many comments and articles pertain to Polish reality, meaning the readers are also interested whether GOP or Tea Party representative will change their policy towards Russia. But that’s normal, isn’t it.
Oh, and btw some Europeans are eurotrash (how true!) but so are some americans…..trash, I mean.
Ella thank you for your well spoken comments, as an American that lives in rural (extremely) France, is typically tea party- thank you for not “losing it” against the anti Europe sentiment in the US. Most normal everyday Americans and most normal everyday Europeans actually would get along if there wasn’t so much spin out in the media. And no it isn’t a bash the media rant either. All of us have become extremists in some form or another…
By the way folks, the Europe America thing has always reminded me of middle-aged brothers fighting over past glories… neither place is very good shape, we both had better be careful or we’ll all go down the tubes…
Bruce Bawer, a gay American who lives in Europe, had something to say about that. Bawer said that when Europeans found out he was from New York City, the question very often arose, ” Are you a Jew?” Bawer wrote that Europeans had a certain obsession with Jews.
From what I have read , anti-Semitism has increase in Europe in the last ten years. There was the French ambassador to the UK who referred to Israel as a “shitty little country,” for example.
If Europeans don’t want to be called anti-Semitic, they need to clean up their act- or at least grow a pair when the Muslims in their midst tee off against the Joos.
Disclaimer: I am a Gentile.
Or maybe you euro’s would rather to silence any but Statessprechen.
You euro trash do not even have a understanding of freedom. That is why you put Gert on trial.
Truly you are the scum of the earth.
Eric is one of this site’s resident retards. That was as smart as he gets.
Your are surprised something is allowed to be published? It’s called freedom of speech and it is why we are better then Europe.
HAHAHAHA!!! Great answer.
Please excuse little Scythe. He was supposed to have just a lobotomy. But the surgeon removed his entire brain by mistake.
What an ignorant, hate-filled comment. First off, Europe consists of some 50 countries with numerous languages, unique cultures and histories. To even utter the word “Europeans” is rather stupid as if all people living in the continent were be a homogeneous group itching to put joos into ovens.
I’ve actually lived in Europe (and Asia, Middle East, Africa, etc.) and read daily European newspapers in several languages. I’ve had dialogue with locals and not everybody ‘hate’ America and love the “Kenyan.”
Commentators here seem to miss the fact that “right-wing nuts” (local ‘Tea parties’) won in many elections from Norway to Holland (and so did Geert). They voted a lot of bastards out.
I’m not sure which “side” is more ignorant, us ‘Americans’ or ‘Europeans.’ Our high-school drop-out rate is what – 30?, some high-schools graduating less than 60 percent of the pupils.
Americans keep on daily complaining the biased left-wing American media, and now a few selected “European’ newspapers prove that all of Europe is anti-American, Jew-hating Nazis.
Who even bothers to read The Guardian?
ONE HELL OF A LOT OF RESIDENTS OF THE UK, that’s WHO!
For those here who speak German: The “Bluthilde” (“Bloody Hilde”, named after a former stalinist GDR secretary of justice) blog – a partner blog of the People`s Cube – published an acid-tongued parody of the German mainstream media comments on the election`s results, demanding the “further Europeanization of America”:
http://bluthilde.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/jetzt-erst-recht-amerika-konsequent-europaisieren/
Unfortunately I did not find the time to translate it into English yet…
Bluthilde is a seriously funny blog. It captures the essence of the GDR’s political writings perfectly; my guess is that it will not translate well into English. Of course, as for Die Linke, I can’t imagine they’ll get the satire.
You’re right, bluthilde is hard to translate. I don’t even try to do the same in other languages since the concept involves local leftist speaking that has to be observed: There are many political buzzwords in German that can be used to support any argument since they are essentially meaningless. My favourite: “Soziale Schieflage”. Political debates in Germany work this way, because nobody asks neither for the meaning of these buzzwords nor for the rules of logic.
Well done Soeren. I suppose its no surprise with the European continent response but I suspect with many conservative/libertarian Americans Britain’s response from their right is not what’s expected. We need to become more informed about our UK ‘friends’. There are many who are indeed friends but I think a majority may want nothing to do with us other than angle for their own self-esteem superiority. Underlying this sentiment is resentment, blame and insecurity toward an America in control of it’s own self-determination. So, the Tea Party is degraded.
You know, what’s funny about the Europeans is that they really don’t know anything about Americans. They don’t understand why anybody would reject a big-spending, nanny state loving, big government socialist like Obama. After all, you stupid Americans, the man is offering you all of this great “free” stuff, like healthcare, student loans, nationalized car industries, nationalized banks, unlimited growth in the Federal Government (along with all the super health and pension benefits that go with it), and, of course, limitless unemployment benefits. The Europeans must think, “You stupid Americans, why aren’t you enlightened enough to understand that the European-style nanny state is the way to go?”
The Europeans can’t understand that Americans don’t want the huge taxes, the poor healthcare, the constant unemployment, and the insurmountable debt the European countries have. How’s that big government thing working for Greece and Spain these days? Most of Europe is about to go bust, especially Britain, Ireland, Spain, Protugal, Italy, and France, and the Europeans STILL want all of their “free” stuff. Well, Americans prefer to actually spend less money so that the Federal Government will have less control over us, not more. Those silly Americans, they just don’t listen. Maybe that’s why we’ve been a superpower now for 65 years, while ALL of Europe today is just a backwater and a mere shadow of its former self. Yep, those Europeans sure got it right when they decided to become socialists. Arrogant jerks.
..or maybe it’s because
1 – Europe has been the center of the world for the previous 200 years, and nothing is forever?
2 – European youth and workforce were wiped out twice in the previous 50 years, and European cities and industrial base were wiped out in WWII?
Exactly how did Europe come by those two world wars? Also, who bailed them out both times. Of course, the second time might not have come to pass if Der Fuhrer had not declared war on the U.S. The again it is easy to strut and preen while behind the U.S. shield. Incidentally your post looses much of its’ starch when WWI &WWII are brought up.
One other thing, that would be 200 years untainted by progress!
Exactly! The intensity of their ire is due to the fact that we elected a European president, and when it became clear enough to all of us that that is what he was, we enthusiastically and wholeheartedly rejected him. They identify with Obama because he is the quintessential Euro-worshipping liberal, and to see that taken down so hard is like a personal blow.
Excellent way to sum it ALL up msouth.
USA is not socialist Europe. We do not envy tired, old, poor Europe. The USA does not WANT to be like Europe.
Europeans also don’t get that Europe is the place most Americans’ ancestors left. On purpose.
The most pathetic part of it is that Europeans secretly desire to be Americans. At least a good part of them. Remember the 60′s when every kid in Liverpool wanted to be Elvis? The French were more inclined to Charlie Parker or Miles Davis… The Europeans have been following and mimicking American culture for years. Think about it and you will see my point. They are projecting when they say we are provincial because they know it is them that have not created anything original in a long long time. Their problem with America is one: ENVY.
America may have big problems but our problems come from facing the uncharted waters of History, the challenges of people brave enough to advance relentlessly towards a frontier that is always moving forward. That’s America. Europe is always looking back and it will die away dusting its old glories and dreaming of centuries gone by. They will come knocking to our door when Islam begins to choke them. I say, give them the opportunity to redeem themselves by fighting that battle alone. Enough American boys have died so those envious ingrates can have freedom.
>:(
And all of these excerpts show yet again why the majority of Americans don’t care even a tiny bit what Europe thinks of us. They just aren’t important to us.
Sorta seconded.
The fact to bear in mind is that to an extent we here cannot really appreciate, European, and especially Continental, media is little more than a propaganda organ of the State.
Ergo, whatever is printed or is broadcast is not necessarily what the bloke on the street thinks.
Getting a view of Europeans’ mindsets from their media would be an error akin to internalizing your view of where America is at from watching only “The View” and MSLSD and reading only the New York Times and the Washington Post…which may be one reason why Euros come across as so abysmally ignorant and hostile when American populism speaks.
The kind of reaction that Kern reports is only the latest in a very large catalog of Euro-ignorance about us and our politics.
Remember this?:
http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/US-Election-IQ2004.jpg
And how they saw Bush 43 is also how their media saw Bush 41, (to say nothing of how they perceived Ronald Reagan).
Since the Europeans appear to love Obama so much, why aren’t they making him any offers to come run their countries? They can have him for free, but they have to take Reid and Holder as well – it’s a package deal. Better watch out though. There’s a lot of people in the U.S. Lame Brain media who will be looking for jobs soon. How about a Krugman or two?
After reading this on a first cup of coffee, I suddenly had an epiphany: I am a red diaper baby, who is a life long Dem, who has many “tea party” friends and repub friends, am active in politics, but am extremely disaffected, as is the rest of the body politic – but we all agree on one thing and this cuts across all lines of the “angry” Citizens: we see a weak foreign policy in an increasingly smaller world and we ALL see Eurabia and now fear for our life style and freedoms – on THAT we are united to a one. For THOSE reasons we agree we and the world are suffering. We have lost our moral courage to lead. The “angry” and “idiotic” people of America threw out many who would allow the Islamization and import of Shariat or Sharia into our way of life and laws – then the “economy” means nothing – we will be dhimmis in our own land – we undestood that – we started to act in a non violent, civilized manner – we voted and we will vote again and again until things are corrected.
A sleeping giant has been awakened again. The paws are stirring. Americans are now saying “Don’t Tread On Me”. The world better believe it.
I think the election result has the same cause as the Democrats’ victory in 2008. The voters simply don’t like bad economic times, and they’ve been led to believe that prosperity is in the control of the President.
“… led to believe that prosperity is in the control of the President.”
Maybe so in the past. Not now. A slowly growing majority understands that increased government (or presidential) intervention in the economy brings more misery, not prosperity. This same majority is starting to understand that increasing regulation ties up and immobilizes the economy. Whatever pitiful tax cuts the president (government) deign to give, said taxes are absolutely nullified by the regulations of the EPA, DOE (education and energy), and other agencies.
Recently Obama said that the Tea Party wants to cut taxes and regulations and have the American people to fend for themselves. Exactly. Americans have fended for themselves very well in the past and they can do so now.
The leftists sure think is was all about George Bush, especially when Dems had congress for 2 of the last years (when things started to go wrong). LOL!
Any time Americans piss off the leftwing Eurotrash intelligensia, you know we’ve done something right.
Yessss!!!
Carla,
Although what you said is entirely true, it’s really, really funny!
Bravo.
Just to remember readers that what is mentionned above should not be titled “Europens react” but “European MSM react” or “Bunch of arrogant never do-wells with el-cheapo degrees but who seem to think they graduates on rocked science and are entitled to tell the peasnts what to think, react”. Of course most Europeans allow their opinions to be molded by the never do-wells I mentionned but the distinction should still be established.
Very important distinction. Plus the state TV stations have an aura of seriousness that the people have not yet seen through.
Distressing obnoxious Limeys and Eurotrash is a feature not a bug.
I am truly amazed at how little these European publications know about how our constitution works and what issues are behind the Tea Party movement. The stereotype images of Americans and our government comming from these supposedly intellectual people is appalling. And they think Americans are ignorant!
I am truly amazed at how little these European publications know about how our constitution works and what issues are behind the Tea Party movement.
It’s not really so surprising. Think about where they are getting their information. How many of these editorials were written by people who know America well from their own personal contact with it and have been there recently? I suspect the answer is: very few. The rest probably get their information from whatever American and European mainstream media are available to them, such as the New York Times/International Herald Tribune. The American MSM utterly failed to paint an honest picture of, say, the Tea Party movement so it’s inevitable that Europeans utilizing the American MSM are going to get anything like an accurate account of what is going on in America.
It’s really the old computer programmer’s mnemonic in action: GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out). If they form their opinions about America with bad, second- or third hand information, their opinions will be bad too.
Here we go again….another blast of anti-European rants…”blah blah blah who cares what those Euroweennies and socialists think, blah blah blah” zzzzz
Let me try and work this out…..the European media is predominantly liberal….EXACTLY like the US media. So when the European media expresses their pro-Democrat/Obama bias it proves that all us Europeans are socialists (oh and jew killers too of course, isn’t that right Eric R (comment 2), you brainless imbecile) however when the US media reports with the EXACT same bias then surely by your own reasoning that must prove that all Americans are socialists too. No? What, you mean the the US media doesn’t express the opinions of all its citizens? Wow, imagine that. Guess what…that goes for European citizens too.
And take a look at the socialist administration your electorate voted into office in 2008 before you bleat on about Europeans love of socialism.
I agree with you up to a point; my experience of living in Britain twice showed me that the Guardian and the Independent are often way off base from the opinions of the average guy on the street. But that does beg the question of what relevance the visceral Jew hatred found in many European countries has to do with their media. I was living in England during the 2006 war between Israel and the Hizbullah, and many people were, let’s say radicalized, by the vicious anti-Jewish and anti-Israel press coverage: even some people who were generally quite balanced in their political beliefs suddenly became rabid, frothing at the moth lunatics as a direct result of coverage in a few outlets. It didn’t even matter when I showed them proof that a lot of the photos they were seeing had been staged. They considered it the worst crime imaginable that the Jewish state would dare defend itself.
When you move to the continent, the situation becomes much worse. (Disclaimer: I am Jewish and have lived in several EU countries.) In France, for example, the population is largely perfectly attuned to the opinions expressed in their press. Concerning Israel and America, there is very little difference between left or right wing press. They all essentially say the same thing, and this has created an environment that is extremely hostile to Israel AND Jews as well as America. Ditto Spain, Belgium, and to a certain extent, the Netherlands. It is clear that many West European countries do indeed have a Jew problem that goes far beyond resistance to any of Israel’s policies. Otherwise, why would so many people feel comfortable for attacking me, a non-Israeli Jew, for “Israeli atrocities” within 30 seconds of finding out that I am a Jew. (That certainly goes a long way to proving that anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are indeed linked, btw.) We also know that the mainstream press in Europe, including Britain, has been able to incite anti-jewish violence in the past few years. To say that European press perfectly represents the beliefs of mainstream Europeans would be a misnomer. But it is also overwhelmingly obvious that there are strong currents of anti-Judaism that people are tapping into by spewing vitriol at the Jewish state that does not represent much of mainstream America in the way that it is right at home in Europe. Many British people I have met have very nuanced views regarding America and Jews, and indeed my individual personality there was far more important than my national or religious identity; in large swathes of Europe this just isn’t the case. Eventually, I had to resort to using my second name which is decidedly less Jewish to avoid confrontation and violence in France. Whenever I travel to Spain in the future, I will have to do so there as well. To ignore the effects on Jewish populations living in Europe of the daily bile spilled across continental broadsheets is doing everyone involved a great disservice. The socialist elite in Europe will never “get” America, and it is their fervent hope that the populations that read their writings never will as well. Part of this obviously involves inciting against America’s allies, especially Israel; the writing is on the wall. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23484717-synagogue-walls-daubed-with-anti-jewish-graffiti.do
No, it really is quite an accurate representation of anti-Americanism and especially of right-wing Americans like the Tea Party supporters. If anything, it’s actually downplaying how venomous and widespread that very real hatred is.
I chat with people from all over Europe daily. They really do hate and despise us. The only Europeans who tend to be pro-American are the Eastern Europeans.
I frankly think they should be punished for their treachery. How dare they bite the hand that feeds them? We should dump them on their *ss and make them start paying for their own defense bills. And we should adopt a semi-hostile foreign policy towards Europe just like they have towards us for years.
That would be fantastic. Nothing would please me more than to watch them drown in their own self-imposed misery. I can already see the riots and soup kitchens in my mind.
Oh, please, let someone like Ron Paul (who I generally despise – but will make an exception in this case) get elected as President so I can see this become a reality in my lifetime. Then I could die a happy man.
American blogs are alive with complaints that your mainstream media is totally divorced from reality. Well, we have the same problem. The Guardian and the Independent are left wing anti-American newspapers. Of our 4 biggest newspapers they are the ones in danger of sinking. Most of us “obnoxious Limeys” don’t read them. Unfortunately, the Guardian Reading Classes control the BBC. We haven’t worked out what to do about that. Today is nice though, as they are mostly on strike!
“Unfortunately, the Guardian Reading Classes control the BBC. We haven’t worked out what to do about that. Today is nice though, as they are mostly on strike!”
What are they on strike about THIS week?
Maybe they should strike and shut down publication in order to get more readers, eh?
A pity that your eco-weenies legislated against it, since it is my firm opinion that the Graundian made the absolute best wrapper fro my fish and chips of any of your broadsheets.
As far as what to do about them…your crew already did that in voting out Labour, didn’t you?
Simply erect a stout bit of fencing around them all, and steadily decrease the amount of subsidy you toss over the wire, and like our Islamist chums, they’ll reliably turn cannibal and then contract cholera from drinking each other’s stools while blaming everyone and anyone but themselves.
You chaps have to remember some of the tricks you learned during the days of the Empire… that literal approach worked like a charm in South Africa and in the Raj, didn’t it? I see no reason that it wouldn’t also work politically in Yorkshire and East Anglia.
I do appreciate the Telegraph UK. They seem to be the most sensible of the entire lot.
I didn’t say all you Limeys were obnoxious. I’ve met plenty of Brit soldiers and Royal Marines who are quite pleasant – unless you try to keep up with their alcohol consumption.
You HAVEN’T WORKED OUT WHAT TO DO ABOUT THAT?
My apologies: submitted the post before I was done. As I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself…
You HAVEN’T WORKED OUT WHAT TO DO ABOUT THAT?! My good man, your countrymen seem to know PRECISELY what to do when the British army is in any danger of carrying out their NATO-related responsibilities. They, and their Continental confreres, know precisely what to do when their leaders show any signs of cutting back spending. They’d know precisely what to do if your soccer team had a big win. Continentals know just what to do if there’s a chance they’ll have to work 31+ hours, or work any distance into their grey-haired years. If they’re capable of taking to the streets over things like that, they’re capable of taking to the streets just as their left has, just as American conservatives have been known to.
I have very little sympathy over this “don;t judge the European man in the street by the European media” line. If the European man in the street minded all that much, he could make some noise that his media couldn’t utterly ignore on occasion. Hell, he could make the ghost of an audible peep. He could foster alternate media avenues to disabuse outsiders of their low opinions of Europe. But he doesn’t. That’s Europeans’ prerogative, but don’t fault Americans for considering them no better than their media, or so phlegmatic and incurious about their media that they might as well not be.
“I have very little sympathy over this “don;t judge the European man in the street by the European media” line. If the European man in the street minded all that much, he could make some noise that his media couldn’t utterly ignore on occasion.”
Ahhh, but the likely explanation for the non-response is that the average Jacques and Gunther couldn’t really give a Frenchman’s fart about American domestic politics…just like most Americans couldn’t give a Mexican’s fart about who’s elected poo-bah of Westphalia.
It just doesn’t impact people that directly.
C’est vrai, but I was actually referring to European claims that their “man in the street” (Josephe le plombier and Josef von Sechserpackung, if you will) are more conservative than we’d think w/r/t their OWN country’s internal politics. And as I said, let ‘em prove it–they’re pretty good at street theater when they want to protect their 30 hours a week and cradle/grave benefits.
” . . .the next 24 months are likely to be marked by rancorous partisan bickering and little in the way of new legislation.”
I will go to my grave without understanding why “legislation” is a good thing.
Yes, don’t we have enough laws already?
If we had a House of Repeal, I would be excited about legislators “getting things done.”
amen to that!
Progressives the world over are pathetically flawed, delusional creatures. Useful-idiots to be exact.
i agree … who gives a s***
Six weeks ago, rioters in Spain were overturning cars and setting them on fire. Two weeks before the American election, rioters in Lyon were torching cars, smashing shop windows, and looting stores. Worst of all, last May rioters in Greece set fire to a bank, killing three people inside. Why do these European opinionators fail to notice the contrast between the riotous and sometimes murderous conduct of European protests with the friendly civility and absolute decorum of Tea Party rallies, whose participants don’t even litter?
Why? You know the answer. It doesn’t serve their own self absorbed interests. Such willful blindness is a shared characteristic of Leftists around the globe.
Shhhhhh … it would ruin the narrative!
About the only one that has it half right is the Irish Independent article titled “Jumbo Sized Drubbing is no Republican Endorsement”. The rest sound as if they were beaten at the polls as well. None of the rest, nearly all of Europe, can fathom the fact that we cherish our independence and individual liberty.
For Pete’s sake, do they even see their contradictions and hypocrisies? The wailing and moaning at Obama’s failure to bring about a European paradise in America while they duck and dodge their own violent protesters demanding their goverment handouts is astounding. How dare those knuckle-dragging, bible thumping, gun toting, neanderthal Americans reject their ObamaMessiah and the benevolent government’s feeding trough!
While they disparage the Tea Party with broad brushed accusations of ignorance; How many of you geniuses over there believe 9/11 was an inside job? That, among many other conspiracies and superstitions, are found all over Europe. So cram it, you holier-than-thou Euroweenies.
No, I don’t care what Europe thinks. If they have a problem with the US, they can go hang their hats in Russia’s closet, or China’s. See how they like the treatment they get there.
Plus, we get to pull out of NATO, bring home all troops, and finally dump the UN.
I call that a win.
There’s really nothing new here in the Europeans’ reaction to our elections. Anti-Americanism is de rigeur in Europe, and always has been. As usual, we Americans will go on our merry way, doing exactly what is in our own interest, without the slightest regard for the so-called “sophistication” and “nuance” of the Old Countries, but in this 21st century, we may not be able to provide the security umbrella under which they have so happily languished. And they have forgotten that Europe has as many enemies as America does.
Europeans have long held that “Middle America” is composed mostly of gullible, woefully uninformed, bigoted right wingers who tend to vote for the most conniving and sinister politicians imaginable, who then go on to cause confused, bloody mischief abroad. And the post elections comments by the likes of Mitch McConnell didn’t exactly do much to assuage their fears.
Europe? You mean there’s still a place called Europe? I thought it was a part of the United Arab republics by now. Carries about as much weight with Americans.
“Voters want both parties to work together, but incoming Tea Partiers in Congress are set to throw a spanner in the works.” Tea and America…perhaps still a sore subject for the Brits.
Would Angela for Barack be a fair trade? Which economy would improve?
Europeans live in a bubble every bit as insulated from reality as a New Yorker. They have no news source other than Leftist media. There is no Rush nor Pajamas Media in Europe.
Many of the Europeans are as divorced from reality as Obama and his gang are. How audacious for this degenerate bunch to call American citizens names. As I recall, Europe is largely bankrupt because of its years of wasteful spending creating Socialist utopias all over the continent. Various nations have been overrun with Muslims and other immigrants that are creating havoc. The European nations depend upon the United States to save their lousy a**es because they are incapable of self-defense. Europe has living conditions inferior to those of America and the health care system is atrocious. For all of these reasons, I am amazed at the hubris of these people that ridicule American patriots who do not want to see the United States go the way of Europe. It isn’t the American people who are stupid, it is these Europeans.
The cretinistic rantings of the LE FIGARO editorial prove conclusively, that the US threw away hundreds of thousand of American lives in the effort to liberate Europe.
I find it funny that Europeans feel a need to complain about US politics. They have enough problems going on withing their own borders. If one of those governments decides to add 2 years to the universal retirement, protesters explode in rage. Meanwhile, we are funding wars to protect them from terrorists and they just complain endlessly like a naggy wife. The US needs to simply ignore Europe as a whole. Then, after they start another World War with their petty bickering amongst each other, we can graciously decline to bail them out anymore.
Bilgeman
Yes, we voted Labour out, unfortunately they had a backup – the other two parties. A lot of people here are very angry, but no light at the end of the tunnel is visible. Richard, we have some good bloggers, but nothing like Fox or Pajamas, no. And no Tea Party, so what does get said can just be written off as isolated goofing off.
As for bailing us out, we don’t need the Marines just yet. It’s political will that’s lacking. We need you to elect Sarah or someone like her in 2012 who will make the elites who run Europe look like the jackasses they are.
Go America.
Thanks Steve — I think all us Americans here appreciate those sentiments quite a bit! Very gracious of you.
– FF
Europeans do not understand the USA largely because their media has created a fantasy “Absurdistan” and slapped the label “USA” upon it. European envy of America has been entrenched and has inspired supercilious sneers for centuries.
Firing wild insults back at them just reinforces the imaginary stereotype and is a waste of energy. What does it matter that they cannot understand, mis-read and mis-label the tea party movement?
A vitally important, fundamentally democratic discussion about what government should be, what it has become and how it should be changed has been started by ordinary people in the USA. Thankfully it will gloriously continue over the next two years and beyond.
This discussion is the thing to focus on. This discussion is vital to the well being of the USA and to the well being of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This discussion could never take place in Europe but ironically and unbeknownst to them, it is also vital to the well being of Europe.
Europeans do not understand the USA largely because their media has created a fantasy “Absurdistan” and slapped the label “USA” upon it
Grrrrrrrr, I am getting really *&^%&% mad.
You are saying that “Europeans do not understand USA” because majority of MSM in Europe are writing disparaging articles about Tea Party and think that all conservatives are mental. Right?
But Canadian media do?
Perhaps CBC does?
If you look at media in Canada their description of Tea Party is hardly different from European press.
So, if I thought like you do, “this discussion could never take place in Canada but ironically and unbeknownst to it, it is also vital to the well being of Canada“………., hmmm?
Ella, sorry for my delayed response – my pet moose got loose. I agree that the CBC and the Toronto Star are as insulting about the tea party movement as any other left wing media outfits, in Europe or anywhere else for that matter. Other Canadian media like the National Post and Sun Media are more supportive and understanding of the tea parties. Periodically since the Great Depression, we in Canada have had our own grass roots discussions about the role of government and populist movements whose principles are similar to the ideas about small government and fiscal conservatism that the tea parties believe in.
For example The Reform Party of Canada was a Western-based political party that grew out of a coalition of discontented Western interest groups. The coalition began in 1986 as an attempt to voice Western concerns at the national level. The Reform Party’s major preoccupations, however, were with decentralizing and otherwise reducing the size, scope and cost of government, primarily by cuts to social welfare and cultural support programs (including bilingualism and multiculturalism) and firm opposition to QuĂ©bec’s demands for special status within Confederation. The Reform Party split the conservative vote with the long established Conservative and the Liberals won that Federal election.Disillusionment with the traditional political parties in general, and with the Progressive Conservative Party specifically, saw the Reform Party win 52 seats, 22 of 26 in Alberta, 24 of 30 in British Columbia, 4 in Saskatchewan, and one in Manitoba. Reform won only one seat in Ontario. the Canadian election of June 1997 saw the Reform Party of Canada register a stunning success in emerging as Her Majesty’s Official Opposition. Reform won 60 seats (out of a total of 301), compared with 155 seats taken by the victorious Liberal Party.
The Reform Party remained a Western party and in 2000 was replaced by the Canadian Alliance which inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held it throughout its existence. The party supported policies that were both fiscally and socially conservative, seeking reduced government spending on social programs and reductions in taxation.
The Alliance was created out of the United Alternative initiative launched by the Reform Party and several provincial Tory parties as a vehicle to merge with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. On October 15, 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party (under its new leader Peter MacKay) announced that they would merge to form a new party, called the Conservative Party of Canada. The union was ratified on December 5, 2003, On December 8, the party was officially registered with Elections Canada, and on March 20, 2004, former Alliance leader Stephen Harper was elected as leader of the party. The new party was dubbed “the Alliance Conservatives” by critics who considered the new party a “hostile takeover” of the old Progressive Conservatives by the newer Alliance.
The new Conservative Party would form the government on February 6, 2006. Mr Harper remains Prime Minister of Canada.
A second example of a grass roots political movement is the Wild Rose Alliance party of Alberta. Alberta. This is not a Federal party. The Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta is a libertarian conservative provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. It includes both libertarian and socially conservative factions and was formed in 2008 following a merger of the Wildrose Party and the Alberta Alliance. The party, led by Danielle Smith, seeks to become a centre-right alternative to the governing Progressive Conservatives (PC).
It first contested Alberta’s 2008 provincial election, but captured less than seven percent of the popular vote and failed to win a seat in the Legislative Assembly. Support for the party rose sharply in 2009 as voters grew increasingly frustrated with the government, resulting in a surprise win by outgoing leader Paul Hinman in an October by-election. The party’s popularity continued to increase following Smith’s election as leader, and by December 2009, the Wildrose Alliance was the leading party in opinion polls with 39 percent support, 14 points ahead of both the governing PCs and the opposition Liberals. Wildrose’s caucus has grown to four members, after two former PC members of the Legislative Assembly defected in January 2010 and an independent MLA joined the party in June 2010.
So I have to say, yes we do have these types of discussions in Canada. Quite regularly in fact.
It’s just so funny to me that Europeans and other parts of the world laugh at American ignorance about them, and then demand that we educate ourselves on the culture and politics of places with names like Rinkydink & Tabasco and Upper Baboonia.
The rest of the world is every bit as ignorant about America, despite the fact that we are a big, powerful, influential country that people should know more about. I will not apologize if that sounds arrogant, because it’s the reality.
I lived in Europe as a child and am glad for having had that experience. I’m all in favor of America “getting out more” so to speak, and appreciating the rest of the world more, but I have no use for the rest of the world being woefully ignorant about as obvious a place as America while demanding we “understand” them better.
You’re right. European knowledge of America is often woefully lacking. For example, I met an English girl who planned an American/Canadian road trip from abroad; she was going to travel from southern California to Vancouver, BC in one day, while taking in the sites, before she drove the next day from Vancouver to NY. And she booked hotels according to her travel plans. Or the Spanish girl who accused me of being a stupid American, but when I gave her an impromptu quiz on American history, she failed it with flying colours. She couldn’t name one country that bordered the US, or even come within 200 years of the declaration of independence. Or the entire group of 20+ University educated French people who were surprised to find out that most Americans do not eat Hamburgers for breakfast; in the end, they didn’t believe me and resolved that we must do it, but I was too ashamed to admit it. They were also surprised to find out I had never had plastic surgery, nor had any of my family members. Or the room full of Brits who were surprised to find out that Canada is not an American state, even though they participate in the Commonwealth Games. Or the numerous people who were shocked to find out I had never witnessed a shoot-out on the streets. Or the Italian girl who refused to believe that I was American based on the fact that I speak French and German. She just outright refused to believe me and accused me of pulling a cruel, easily refuted joke on her. Because NO Americans speak a foreign language: none at all.
I could go on and on. So, I guess I will.
Or the French Arabs who honestly thought that all Moslems living in the US, all of them, had been arrested and sent to Gitmo. Or the time I read in a British broadsheet that most people on death row were there because they were caught with a small amount of marijuana or other narcotics meant for personal use. Or the time I read in a French newspaper that America was so involved with helping the tsunami victims (2005) because Americans love to see pictures of death and destruction; otherwise, if not for our utter joy at seeing so many people dead or dying, we would never have heard about it. Or the time I read in a French newspaper that Barack Obama’s election proves without a doubt that all Americans are extremely racist, unlike their betters in France.
I guess we can all contribute anecdotes in this game. I’ve been asked by English people if we have Masters Degrees in Canada. (Duh, of course we don’t. We have Mistresses with degrees). Or a prospective visitor expecting to drive from Vancouver BC to Fort Liard, a Dene village in the Northwest Territories, in one day. But there are counter stories, like the one about N.American students going to Greece and getting a fantastic deal on the plane ticket; only to find they booked a flight to Athens Georgia, not Athens Greece.
At the Belmont Club blog, there was an article in October by Richard Fernandez called The Giant Brain
One of the commentors made this observation about technology – “The hard fact is this: we’re doing less, and with better tools….Yeah, we got cell phones that run circles around UNIVAC. But we use them to vote on American Idol. So, in many, many ways, the situation is not improved.”
In other words we are managing to do less with more. Apparently the same applies world-wide to the level of general knowledge about countries other than our own. The more information we get, the less we know about each other.
Masters Degrees in Canada? That is a new one to me. I thought I had heard most of the classics multiple times. I usually use the opportunity to take the piss; in your position, I would have probably pretended like I didn’t know what a Masters Degree was at all. Then when they tried explaining it and used the word University, I would have acted confused as well. “What? You mean you guys go to school after high school? Why?” I was asked multiple times in France if we had hospitals, and it got to be quite a bit of fun seeing exactly how far I could go with pretending like we didn’t. Same with libraries. “You mean you have one building where you keep all your books? What, like a bookstore but you don’t pay? Where do you keep your library? In Paris somewhere?” It gets to be a bit of fun, after a while. Of course, there are only so many times you can pretend that Michael Moore’s films a true depiction of your country. Do you know how many times I had to pretend that we always got guns when we opened an account at a bank? There are only so many times you can deliver this line with a straight face; “But, why would anyone actually open an account if they don’t get a free gun with it?”
A person can either curse the darkness, or light a candle.
I would think that Daniel Hannan, whose blog is over at http://www.hannan.co.uk has company in giving a sigh of relief regarding the shellacking the Democrats took.
Fewer than 200 seats in the House of Representatives. The last time that was the case was the Congress which ran from 1947-1949. Plus, it would mean something that a number of Governors-elect are Republicans, and the Republicans gained a number of seats in State Legislatures.
The thought occurred to me: The Tea Party is the shot of adrenalin to the zombie which was the GOP.
One thing I would like to see is a comparison of the 2006 drubbing the Republicans took, with the events 4 years later. Changes took place, and one change was the Tea Party.
I don’t understand Europeans and I believe that Europeans don’t understand the USA at all. It may be that fighting two monstrous wars on their own soil and losing two whole generations of young men in the process has made them unwilling to face any other reality than nihilism. They aren’t even willing to bear children any more. That is very sad indeed. They don’t seen to understand that we Americans believe that we are, and should be, in control of our own government to a degree they are not. We may indeed be naive, but we are not jaded. They need to understand that, unlike the French protesters who in their earts know they are powerless, the American Tea Party was smart, because they were enfranchised in a way the French citizens were not. No smoke and broken glass. We made ourselves heard, and when ignored we voted the bastards out. It’s as simple as that when the government belongs to the people.
But are the French people powerless? Perhaps deep down they remember what happened last time the ruling class thought they were powerless. Madame Guillotine arrived…………..
that was so long ago that Madame Guillotine arrived, she has since been regulated out of existence.
Thats the thing about regulations – you can always make another one! I’m pretty sure that the French have a working model somewhere in some museum or other. Drop of WD-40 and away they go……
The French are not powerless, they get out on the streets every few years, but they do it to force the government to mollycoddle them more.
It’s weird.
You’re right. When French people protest, it is invariably to keep things exactly as they are now. Perhaps the funniest thing I have ever seen was a group of people marching in protest of “2007.” (I may be off by a year + or -.) Their slogan was “NO! to 2007. Let’s stay in 2006.” It was a perfect parody on the French habit of completely ignoring reality to demand that absolutely nothing ever change at all.
Remember Aesop’s story of the wolf and the dog.
The dog explained the benifits package that came with being owned by a human.
The wolf asked what the dog collar was for.
Something about Bush always brought out the best (or worst) in the Euros and the more interesting anti-American screeds were penned in those years. But these days the Euros are back to firing away at their all-time favorite target, i.e., Americans in general. They have to do this to in order to get our attention; we have a tendency to ignore them.
I’ll never understand why those on the left seem to think producing new legislation is by itself a laudable goal.
That’s kind of like insisting the cook keep producing more and more dishes, even though nobody in the household is hungry.
I am an American living in London. A few t hings to remember–
1. Most Americans here in Europe tend to be of the same upper-middle “bobo” class that supported Obama. So Europeans really do not have much experience with non-liberals
2. The European press in the US is based in NY and Washington. So the news comes back here filtered through that lens. Reading the British press, other than the Telegraph’s Toby Harden, I doubt few European reporters venture much out past the DC or NY inner suburbs.
3. When Europeans visit the US, they go to NY, Washingtoon, Boston, Las Vegas or Disney. The first three reinforce their belief that the Americans are becoming just like them, while the last two reinforce their beliefs in the worst abouot America.
4. Most Europeans get their view of America through movies and tv. We know when a US movie is exagerating, they don’t
Last Monday I was speaking with a delivery man who asked if I was American. When I said yes he said that he had heard on the radio that President Obama was going through a tough time. I said yes.
He then said “Thats too bad”
My reply was a shrug of the shoulders a shake of the head and a “not really”
The look of incomprehension on his face was delicious.