Shame On You American-hating Liberals

Cheyenne

Ms. Smarty Pantsless
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This article came to me in email today with an added note that said: " Just a word of background, for those of you who aren't familiar with the UK's Daily Mirror. This is a notoriously left-wing, anti-American daily in the UK."


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12188969&method=full&siteid=50143

Shame On You American-hating Liberals

Sep 11 2002

Tony Parsons

ONE year ago, the world witnessed a unique kind of broadcasting - the mass murder of thousands, live on television.

As a lesson in the pitiless cruelty of the human race, September 11 was up there with Pol Pot's mountain of skulls in Cambodia, or the skeletal bodies stacked like garbage in the Nazi concentration camps.

An unspeakable act so cruel, so calculated and so utterly merciless that surely the world could agree on one thing - nobody deserves this fate.

Surely there could be consensus: the victims were truly innocent, the perpetrators truly evil.

But to the world's eternal shame, 9/11 is increasingly seen as America's comeuppance.

Incredibly, anti-Americanism has increased over the last year.

There has always been a simmering resentment to the USA in this country - too loud, too rich, too full of themselves and so much happier than Europeans - but it has become an epidemic.

And it seems incredible to me. More than that, it turns my stomach.

America is this country's greatest friend and our staunchest ally. We are bonded to the US by culture, language and blood.

A little over half a century ago, around half a million Americans died for our freedoms, as well as their own. Have we forgotten so soon?

And exactly a year ago, thousands of ordinary men, women and children - not just Americans, but from dozens of countries - were butchered by a small group of religious fanatics. Are we so quick to betray them?

What touched the heart about those who died in the twin towers and on the planes was that we recognised them. Young fathers and mothers, somebody's son and somebody's daughter, husbands and wives. And children. Some unborn.

And these people brought it on themselves? And their nation is to blame for their meticulously planned slaughter?

These days you don't have to be some dust-encrusted nut job in Kabul or Karachi or Finsbury Park to see America as the Great Satan.

The anti-American alliance is made up of self-loathing liberals who blame the Americans for every ill in the Third World, and conservatives suffering from power-envy, bitter that the world's only superpower can do what it likes without having to ask permission.

The truth is that America has behaved with enormous restraint since September 11.

Remember, remember.

Remember the gut-wrenching tapes of weeping men phoning their wives to say, "I love you," before they were burned alive. Remember those people leaping to their deaths from the top of burning skyscrapers.

Remember the hundreds of firemen buried alive. Remember the smiling face of that beautiful little girl who was on one of the planes with her mum. Remember, remember - and realise that America has never retaliated for 9/11 in anything like the way it could have.

So a few al-Qaeda tourists got locked without a trial in Camp X-ray? Pass the Kleenex.

So some Afghan wedding receptions were shot up after they merrily fired their semi-automatics in a sky full of American planes? A shame, but maybe next time they should stick to confetti.

AMERICA could have turned a large chunk of the world into a parking lot. That it didn't is a sign of strength.

American voices are already being raised against attacking Iraq - that's what a democracy is for. How many in the Islamic world will have a minute's silence for the slaughtered innocents of 9/11? How many Islamic leaders will have the guts to say that the mass murder of 9/11 was an abomination?

When the news of 9/11 broke on the West Bank, those freedom-loving Palestinians were dancing in the street. America watched all of that - and didn't push the button. We should thank the stars that America is the most powerful nation in the world. I still find it incredible that 9/11 did not provoke all-out war. Not a "war on terrorism". A real war.

The fundamentalist dudes are talking about "opening the gates of hell", if America attacks Iraq. Well, America could have opened the gates of hell like you wouldn't believe.

The US is the most militarily powerful nation that ever strode the face of the earth.

The campaign in Afghanistan may have been less than perfect and the planned war on Iraq may be misconceived.

But don't blame America for not bringing peace and light to these wretched countries. How many democracies are there in the Middle East, or in the Muslim world? You can count them on the fingers of one hand - assuming you haven't had any chopped off for minor shoplifting.

I love America, yet America is hated. I guess that makes me Bush's poodle. But I would rather be a dog in New York City than a Prince in Riyadh. Above all, America is hated because it is what every country wants to be - rich, free, strong, open, optimistic.

Not ground down by the past, or religion, or some caste system. America is the best friend this country ever had and we should start remembering that.

Or do you really think the USA is the root of all evil? Tell it to the loved ones of the men and women who leaped to their death from the burning towers.

Tell it to the nursing mothers whose husbands died on one of the hijacked planes, or were ripped apart in a collapsing skyscraper.

And tell it to the hundreds of young widows whose husbands worked for the New York Fire Department. To our shame, George Bush gets a worse press than Saddam Hussein.

Once we were told that Saddam gassed the Kurds, tortured his own people and set up rape-camps in Kuwait. Now we are told he likes Quality Street. Save me the orange centre, oh mighty one!

Remember, remember, September 11. One of the greatest atrocities in human history was committed against America.

No, do more than remember. Never forget.
 
Doesn't sound all that liberal to me. Any of our UK members around to shed some light? Was this article a huge shift in ideals for Tony Parsons?
 
I have to say, being and American (especially a New Yorker) living in England for the past couple of years has been a heck of a thing.

If you went by most of the British press, it would have you thinking that all Americans think with the same brain, and that it is asleep 98% of the time.

And all the time I meet people who tell me "You're not like MOST Americans." To which I can only reply, "Oh, do you know all the other ones?"

Last year after Sept 11, when I went to the service at St Pauls and at other times, I was offered support and comfort by so many Brits who were complete strangers. And sadly I also was engaged in 'conversation' by a few individuals who, upon learning I was a Yank, used it as an opportunity to tell me why they thought, really, at the end of the day, we really had it coming and should have expected this. (I wonder how exactly it is my friends and neighbors back home should have expected to watch people plummeting from 85 floors above the ground, and to clean dust from their homes wondering if that is is in fact the very last remains of a former colleague, but whatever...)

Bottom line is, that was a shitty fucking day, and not one of the folks in that building deserved that. Not one.

Tony Parsons also writes some really good books by the way. I like his work a lot.
 
That is a very touching read, Chey. I think I'll do a little internet research and see if I can email Senor Parsons a hearty "Thank You!"

Rhumb
 
peachykeen said:

Tony Parsons also writes some really good books by the way. I like his work a lot.

Ah, then you know his work. Or maybe even the Daily Mirror. was this article out of the norm for either of them?

Is the Daily Mirror really " A notoriously left-wing, anti-American daily in the UK?"
 
My turn to bump this one Chey.

Well written article. He'll probably be hung in effigy by his former liberals now.

Ishmael
 
It was for the seemingly recently ubiquitious & nowadays very fashionable phrase, "American-hating Liberals".
 
Cheyenne said:


Ah, then you know his work. Or maybe even the Daily Mirror. was this article out of the norm for either of them?

Is the Daily Mirror really " A notoriously left-wing, anti-American daily in the UK?"

Well he is generally a lefty. But, you know, he's a dad, and a human, and I think that was generally his point in that article - it's about the people, be they Americans or Iraqis. It's much easier and more fashionable to say 'well it's just all America's fault' than to look for the real and meaningful contributions the rest of the world makes to human suffering.

I don't know much about the Mirror, I usually read the Guardian, which is usually pretty leftish as well - but then so am I. I'd never heard the Mirror described as 'anti-American' per se but as I said I don't read it, so maybe it is. The Guardian has its more biting columnists, but I wouldn't call it anti-American overall. Anti-US policy at times, but generally gives a good overview of the people behind the story.
 
Cheyenne said:
What touched the heart about those who died in the twin towers and on the planes was that we recognised them. Young fathers and mothers, somebody's son and somebody's daughter, husbands and wives. And children. Some unborn.

And these people brought it on themselves? And their nation is to blame for their meticulously planned slaughter?

These days you don't have to be some dust-encrusted nut job in Kabul or Karachi or Finsbury Park to see America as the Great Satan.
And you don't have to live in Kuwait to see Iraq as the exact same thing.

This is the part of the whole current international situation that I have a hard time reconciling: obviously the people in those buildings and planes weren't the real issue, not the ideological "target" of 9/11. They were ordinary people, workaday civilians. That's what makes it such a tragedy, such a senseless atrocity to commit.

On the other side, though, what did the thousands of Afghani, Iraqi, Palestinian, Vietnamese, citizens of Chad (et al) do to deserve the destruction of their homes, crops, means of living and the so-common-it's-not-even-news death toll? Usually, nothing. Well, nothing more than being in the wrong place and living under their native power structure--the "criminal" government (like Saddam, the guy *we* trained, armed and installed), the "evil" regime (ick! Allah! Quick, ethnic cleansing for everyone!), a "backwards" ideology. Like there are so many options available. Those options are here, not there. We'd do well to remember that, too.

In any war, on both sides of it, common people with little stake in the global politics at play pay the largest price. That's not unique to the U.S. It just hurts more to see people from "our" team die. But the river of blood flows in all directions. That is also worth remembering; not even turning to that old touchstone of saccharine sympathy, the slaughter of the "unborn," can erase that reality.

So a few al-Qaeda tourists got locked without a trial in Camp X-ray? Pass the Kleenex.

So some Afghan wedding receptions were shot up after they merrily fired their semi-automatics in a sky full of American planes? A shame, but maybe next time they should stick to confetti.
This sounds an awfully lot like "Well, they had it coming." Oh, the irony. So much for Sympathy for the Devil, eh?

Why is it only tragic and senseless when the human rights and very lives of the "good guys" are stolen?
American voices are already being raised against attacking Iraq - that's what a democracy is for. How many in the Islamic world will have a minute's silence for the slaughtered innocents of 9/11? How many Islamic leaders will have the guts to say that the mass murder of 9/11 was an abomination?
<..sniip...>

But don't blame America for not bringing peace and light to these wretched countries. How many democracies are there in the Middle East, or in the Muslim world? You can count them on the fingers of one hand - assuming you haven't had any chopped off for minor shoplifting.

I love America, yet America is hated. I guess that makes me Bush's poodle. But I would rather be a dog in New York City than a Prince in Riyadh. Above all, America is hated because it is what every country wants to be - rich, free, strong, open, optimistic.
And for me, that's the final irony: even when I think that our national *and* international policy is unbelievably fucked, I'd rather live here than anywhere else in the world. I love this country, warts and all.

That doesn't mean, though, that I have to just ignore the warts and pretend they aren't there. If this is the world's greatest-yet experiment in democracy, that is exactly its beauty. And it's a great beauty indeed.
 
peachykeen said:
And sadly I also was engaged in 'conversation' by a few individuals who, upon learning I was a Yank, used it as an opportunity to tell me why they thought, really, at the end of the day, we really had it coming and should have expected this.
Right after--in fact during--the thing last September, I started getting e-mails and calls from friends in Ireland, offering condolences and sympathy, but even so with the general feeling that "what ye sew, so shall ye reap." I think people here in the States don't understand how we are viewed by folks overseas, even those with whom we share a common culture and language. If anything, I think we've evolved in the last century form "walk softly and carry a big stick" to "we've got a big stick, and we'll use it if we want to." I still believe our intentions--as a nation, as a people--are good, but we can be awfully heavy handed and shouldn't be surprised if others see us as a bully.
 
Reading the article, it also made me think about what I take for granted.

My government tells me to do many things, and most of them just mean to "play nice." My definition of nice doesn't always match what is legislated, but I can live with that. I get a say in it if I want. It may be miniscule, but I get to state my preference.

I have much more to live for, and with, than many people in the world. I can change my name and type along this internet highway. I can afford the technology to do it. I concern myself with getting fat rather than where my next meal will come from. I have readily available health care. I have so many, many extras. I can spend a great deal of time playing.

And I am just one of the "little guys."

You article made me think about not just what I don't like about our government, but what I do like.

I may not agree with what is going on and how the Politico's are going about it, but I cannot even begin to comprehend the struggle to find a balance. I think the pressure of the multitudes of "little guys" does push through and help to keep the government "nice" and doesn't allow it to be as big of a bully as it could be. The "little guy" pressure also provides enough support for a show of clout.

Right and Left. Liberal and Conservative.
The teeter-totter.


Balance.

Many other countries don't believe in it.


That is what I learned from this article and this thread. The balance.

It makes us individually vulnerable and as a group very strong.
 
kotori said:
Right after--in fact during--the thing last September, I started getting e-mails and calls from friends in Ireland, offering condolences and sympathy, but even so with the general feeling that "what ye sew, so shall ye reap." I think people here in the States don't understand how we are viewed by folks overseas, even those with whom we share a common culture and language. If anything, I think we've evolved in the last century form "walk softly and carry a big stick" to "we've got a big stick, and we'll use it if we want to." I still believe our intentions--as a nation, as a people--are good, but we can be awfully heavy handed and shouldn't be surprised if others see us as a bully.

You know Kotori, I don't think that's it at all.

For hundreds of years the European nations enforced their will on most of the countries of the world. The US was a second rate player. Oh, we had some minor success's here and there. But generally we were regarded as the backwater 'colonials'.

The European aristocracy and later the 'enlightened inteligentsia' looked askance at us for our silly little concepts of 'equality', and 'freedom'.

Well, they're the second rate powers now. And they're somewhat jealous. They can't understand why the American attack dog won't come to leash for them anymore. And that frightens them too.

We defeated the Soviet Union without ever having to go to war with them. That was accomplished with our policies. Many of which were as roundly criticized at the time as the current policies are. (Are you old enough to remember Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech and the furor it caused?)

We're the leader of the free world now, it is our job to lead. And at all times that will not be popular with some, and sometimes not popular with many at all. But when it's all said and done, who do they call when their ass is in a crack?

Sorry, the fact that some foriegner's don't like our policies is of little interest to me. The State Dept. gets paid to handle that shit. I just sit back and think of them as little kids that aren't getting their way anymore.

Ishmael
 
I haven't read all the comments to this thread yet, but I wanted to thank you Cheyenne. Great article. Gave me goose bumps.

Moon
 
Ishmael said:

For hundreds of years the European nations enforced their will on most of the countries of the world. The US was a second rate player. Oh, we had some minor success's here and there. But generally we were regarded as the backwater 'colonials'.

The European aristocracy and later the 'enlightened inteligentsia' looked askance at us for our silly little concepts of 'equality', and 'freedom'.
And I thought it was because we kept expanding and taking what they had already "rightfully stolen." (to borrow a phrase from The Princess Bride)

I mean, England, Spain and France (largely, but not only those 3) came in with firepower and brushed aside the cultures already here on the N.Am. continent along with a sizeable chunk of the rest of the world--because, damn it, there must be LAND! More LAND we say! Bring us spices and exotic stuff we can put in our parlors and trot out for visitors! We demand more tribute to the King, and make it snappy!

We're the New World, baby. (Now that must have come as quite a shock to all those people already living here for centuries.) Imagine the Old World horror when one of those "colonies" said "Hey, good idea. We think we could do it even better."

And then we did, by adapting a version of the Roman idea of "bread and circuses." Rich and continuously entertained people are happy (if not particularly deep) people, and they'll do much to preserve and expand their wealth and entertainment, as we continue to prove. No wonder they're pissed off at us in Europe--it's hard on one's ego to be outdone by your own child. Europe has been saying "you damn kids don't know how easy you have it" about the U.S. for quite some time now, and it's no surprise. Inter-generational conflict, combined with land & capital envy and more than a little nostalgia for the good ole' days before the whipper-snapper Colonies got so uppity and started taking colonies of their/our own.

We benefit like mad from their decline, too--as well we should, having worked awfully hard to foster it. That's why it's so easy to be a smug American at this point in history. We're young, we're tough, we ain't takin' no guff. Isn't it grand to have the "might" that makes "right" ? :rolleyes:
 
Now to comment on some of the comments.

Americans have been spoiled to a large degree. We are not that old, as compared to many other countries. We haven't experienced a great deal of 'war trauma' on our soil. We've fought the Brits, to gain our freedom. We fought among ourselves and we were bombed in Pearl Harbor. There are few other events worth mentioning.

During the NATO years, when Americans were 'keeping peace' in many other countries, our people occupied part of their lands. Many Americans (or should I say most) stayed to themselves and never learned the culture of the country they were living in. They never learned their language. Those natives felt resentful. The locals that had to deal with Americans didn't cause the war, didn't have any influence over the NATO peace treaty, but were the ones that had to deal with these arrogant foreigners on a daily basis.

I lived in Germany for one year. The first thing that hit me, was how clean the country was. Then I noticed the cars. Finally, I noticed the resistance and coolness I felt from my neighbors.

I was different than my American brothers and sisters. I refused to speak English to a German. I learned as much as I could about their culture. It took time, but eventually I felt a warming coming from those I repeatedly crossed, and was consistent with.

Most Americans didn't bother. They didn't have to.

Another major issue I felt, was a blanket of security I grew up with in the US was suddenly gone. This was back in the late 70's, and the wall was still up, and communist invasion was still a major concern. I lived near Frankfurt (about 30 minutes away) and was advised if war broke out, this area had a 3 day life expectancy. Putting that in layman's terms, "if the communists started over the wall in attact, there would be three days before this area would begin experiencing casualties". They advised me that I should get out of the country before that happened.

I was still protected, as they would have shipped me and my small child home. The neighbors I was getting to know didn't have that choice.

I don't know if you will understand what I am trying to express here. America has a special protection dedicated to it's citizens, and there is still little threat of a true invasion. This article that Cheyenne posted sez a lot about what we could have done. The fact we didn't, even with a Bush as president means a lot to me. I personally hate Bush. Thank gawd he's not a dictator. We'd be in a lot of hurt if he had that ability. This is a democracy, and that's what makes it work.

Moon
 
That was perhaps the most accurate apprasial of both september 11 and our nation's response ( or lack thereof) that I;d read yet. It made me think and for that I'm grateful. would I have shed one tear if we'd decided to turn middle eastern deserts to glass in retaliation? No. Am I glad we didn't? Yes. This goes to show that the United States is not either the great satan or the cause of the worlds troubles. This was an enlightened and wise individual who penned this artical. Now having said that I'm going to have my Pro-america moment and say that when europe can start contributing on our level and stops needing american dollars then they can have an opinion. Until that point, they're gonna do what we damn well tell em.
 
I'm not even going to read the article. Sorry. I'm too put off by the title. If a thread was started that read "Shame on you, Nazi Conservatives!" I'd here the outraged screams from my porch.
 
Laurel said:
I'm not even going to read the article. Sorry. I'm too put off by the title. If a thread was started that read "Shame on you, Nazi Conservatives!" I'd here the outraged screams from my porch.

That's a shame. It wasn't written in a negative tone, but more supporting of a position that was very different from the one that seemingly many in his nation holds. I found it to be friendly but didn't pull any punches. Yes maybe we did reap a little of what we have sown in that fucked up region on earth, but that in no way justifies what happened. And as for deciding to attack Iraq, it's gonna happen sooner or later. So, why not now. I'm neither conservative or liberal, I go with what my instincts tell me. Right now they tell me we're doing the right thing. I've got a nasty habit of being right as well.
 
427cobra said:
That's a shame. It wasn't written in a negative tone,

So you're telling me you find nothing divisive or offensive about the term "American-hating Liberals"?

Interesting.
 
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