What's so great about America?

Britons see US as vulgar empire builder
By Ben Fenton
(Filed: 03/07/2006)

Britons have never had such a low opinion of the leadership of the United States, a YouGov poll shows.

As Americans prepare to celebrate the 230th anniversary of their independence tomorrow, the poll found that only 12 per cent of Britons trust them to act wisely on the global stage. This is half the number who had faith in the Vietnam-scarred White House of 1975.

Most Britons see America as a cruel, vulgar, arrogant society, riven by class and racism, crime-ridden, obsessed with money and led by an incompetent hypocrite.

American troops are failing either to win "hearts and minds" in Iraq or bring democracy to that country.

More than two-thirds who offered an opinion said America is essentially an imperial power seeking world domination. And 81 per cent of those who took a view said President George W Bush hypocritically championed democracy as a cover for the pursuit of American self-interests.

A spokesman for the American embassy said that the poll's findings were contradicted by its own surveys.

"We question the judgment of anyone who asserts the world would be a better place with Saddam still terrorizing his own nation and threatening people well beyond Iraq's borders.

"With respect to the poll's assertions about American society, we bear some of the blame for not successfully communicating America's extraordinary dynamism.

"But frankly, so do you [the British press]."

Re: What's so great about America?


There are some marvelously lofty generalizations in this piece, but this is one of my favorites. D'Souza knows this how? By observation? Though I suppose the homeless guy could afford to pass up the money; after all, as D'Souza notes elsewhere in this essay, the American poor are well-fed...

here's a couple of comments that caught my eye:



someone ought to compile a list of things that didn't work & send it to Mr. D'Souza for his edification.



the worldly focus that made LaHaye & Jenkins Left Behind series bestsellers?

It's good know that the first thing that came to your minds after reading that article was some reason to bad-mouth America.

Way to go! You guys are true patriots.

Why is it so hard for some of you to celebrate America's success? No where else, in all recorded time has there been a more noble experiment. All earlier Democracies failed, but this one with its representative government and Constitution has worked.

America is where one gets to choose their own social class, and pursue their own ideas without government interference. Here a man can start a pushcart business and his son might graduate from Harvard and be worth millions. Its also a place where failures are just a launching pad for another try at the brass ring. This may well be the least racist country on the planet, but Americans still work to further reduce chauvinism. This is a place where the laws have been enacted by the People's representatives, and it applies equally to all. Here a person has to work hard to be poor and without hope. Opportunities are everywhere in this fair land.

Without the United States, its enormous resources and productivity, the world today would be enslaved under either the swastika, or the hammer and sickle. We've fed the starving and clothed the victims of natural disaster without stint, or any hope of repayment. Our sons and daughters go into foreign lands and harm's way to protect this country and to bring the benefits of our values to the downtrodden of the world. This is a place where everyone is able to practice the religion of their choice, or no religion at all, and the government does not interfere unless there is a clear and present danger.

We make a virtue of throwing politicians out, and anyone in the country is welcome to try their hand at political governance. Whats not to like?

In some places an immigration problem is the difficulty in preventing people from leaving. Here, immigration is a problem because so many want in.

American will not be dragged down, not by all the sniveling whiners nor if every Muslim were to suddenly join the their own extremist madmen. Here we don't even lock up the loonies, we give them a computer so they can tell the world how terrible their lives are in Gulag America.

A thanks to Australia for this guy.

"An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.

An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.

When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!

As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. Americans welcome the best of everything...the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services. But they also welcome the least.

The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.

Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

__________________________________

Happy Independence Day, my beloved country.

What's So Great About America??? It's Mom's Apple Pie and Chevrolets! It's Ford and Chrysler! It's Budweiser and Miller and Sam Adams! It's Marlboro and Winston! It's Halliburton and Big Oil and Huge Corporations! It's Health Care for the few and privileged! See? There are MANY things that make America great!

http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i10414

Torture, rape, mass murder. The Bushie legacy. I wasn't shocked to learn his family has been in bed with Hitler, Saddam and bin Laden.

Admiral Yamamoto is reputed to have said after the attack on Pearl Harbor, "
I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant". So to have the international terrorist organizations who envision a world where only their own version of Islam is practiced by the entire family of man. In spite of what their Fifth Column and legions of Fellow Travelers might believe, they have set the course for their own destruction.

Don't be deceived into thinking Americans have grown so soft and cowardly that we can be defeated by a few thousands of fanatical religious zealots. If they want to go to Paradise, we'll be happy to help them achieve their laudable goal.

Torture, rape and mass murder. Went on long before Bushie, and will continue long after. Your mama was in bed with Hitler.

Say what you like about my bloody murderous government,' I says, 'but don't insult me poor bleedin' country.'

That may be quote-worthy, dys.

I am no longer Dys, I have been demoted by Finn D'abuzz to "Geezer of the West: you can call me Geez.

I'll still call you my pirate Cowboy, if you don't mind.

And, if you do.

BTW, where'd you get those beautiful blue eyes? How many forevers live in those eyes?

pirate cowboy geez works for me, what makes you think I have blue eyes?

never mind, I remember boomer or somebody posted the photo of me that Walter took.

Because they have a 3'X5' spread on one of these threads.

The good news is that Walter's new camera still works.

Your house is the International Date Line for A2K, eh?