Besides Tony Blair...


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews...l&siteid=50143

 

Wow- and just when I thought we didn't have a friend left in this world. Leave it to an eloquent Englishman to put it in such moving words. This should be part of every US high schools' social studies curriculum.

 

It's a beautiful sentiment, I corrected the spelling errors and printed it out. You would think a newspaper would have a spell check.

 

Maybe it WAS spelled right- for the British.

What's that old saying?
"Great Britain and the U.S.- two nations divided by a common language."

 

Yes, That is an old saying.

I'm pretty sure it was meant in a way to *Understand & Respect each other's Language,Cultures,& People to the effect that they are different.

 

i agree. americans dont speak english, we speak "american". not to mention the whole "ebonics" thing. the english and the canadians speak their respective versions(exept the english, cuz after all, it is/was their language to begin with) but we definatly speak american.


a side note: any brit/frenchie/german with a spine is a good thing.

 

Maybe I ' recognised ' some spelling errors in their written word and I know how they spell.

 

Here is a reply to the article from a good friend who also served most of his adult life in the Military. Feel free to comment, I'll forward what you request. I've invited him to join us but he hasn't yet.

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Wow! What a total load of B.S. The only thing I'm ashamed of is that I bothered to read this tripe of Tony Parsons. I know it wasn't aimed at me specifically, it's aimed at a group of folks which makes it much easier to justify. Safety in numbers and all that. With that in mind I have a few minutes to type so here goes.. Feel free to read it (I hope)...or not. I'm assuming you all have 'delete' keys and know where they are.

I devoted over twenty-seven years active military service to my country, I pay my taxes, I fly the American flag every single damn day and I vote every time I get a chance. Your damned right I have serious questions about how our leadership is and has been conducting itself. I've earned the right to question the decisions of my countries leadership without being labeled an America-hater, nothing could be further from the truth. This smacks of the same old tired and worn' "Love It or Leave It" right wing propaganda that's always dragged out to paint anyone that dares to question the direction those in power are taking the country.

Any 'true' American will not hesitate to challenge decisions when they believe those decisions are wrong or are being done for less then honorable purposes. I'll stack up my service and devotion to duty and country up against Tony Parson's or anyone else's.. any day. You bet I question my leaders when I think they are wrong. I don't toe any party's line and I damn sure don't salute every time some politician in a pinstriped suit waves the flag or 'leaks' a false tear for 'Old Glory and the American way'. You can accuse me of being an American-hating Liberal I guess, just as I could accuse you of being a goose stepping fascist clone but we'd both be wrong. As I said, I don't tote any party's water.

I love my country but unlike many today, I make no such bargain with any political party. There's way too many that make no distinction between country and party and it's flat wrong. Being an American is more then spouting slogans, attaching labels and screaming for blood with false bravado. There are too many of that vociferous type striking the pose in this country of late. They are easy to spot, their the ones screaming for blood the loudest, the ones who never fail to point an accusing finger at anyone who dares to question what they say. they are the ones that are always more then willing to offer up the countries youth and blood for their cause as long as it isn't 'their' youth or 'their' blood. They're the ones that for the most part never wore their country’s uniform nor fired a shot or received one for her but instead, prefer to sit behind their microphones and typewriters where it's safe. Empty 'sound bite' labeling and the pointing accusatory fingers is easy and risks nothing. It's an activity that is cowardly in nature and principally designed to cow and stifle those it's directed at. Anybody that want's to confront me should plan to do it man to man..do it and be prepared to pay the price.

Questioning our leadership and challenging the direction they are taking the country is as American as Apple pie. It's the rock our country was built upon. The real enemies of America are those would muffle that right, that follow their 'leaders' unquestioningly and without thought or reflection on what they do while being told and thinking of themselves as the only true patriots. They are simply sheep.

As for anti-Americanism throughout the world, I believe there are many reasons for it but to continue to simply brush it aside as ignorance and mis-understanding by the mis-informed and ignorant 'natives' in foreign countries is to invite a further disaster. When you smell smoke, the first place you look shouldn't be outside, around the corner and down the block. America have always sought to be loved but in point of fact, America has never been loved except when we are needed and we do not love except when we need. Americans are too quick to paint any voice of dis-satisfaction or dis-agreement from abroad as simply the rantings of one that is either a socialist seeking to overthrow America, mis-guided or ignorant. Much of the current threat has been building for a long time and can be laid directly on our doorstep. Surely our leaders must have known it was coming. We have supported dictators and bad regimes throughout the world and in particular the middle-east for decades thinking only of what we would gain by doing so. We have looked the other way for too long, supporting these bad men while they oppressed, tortured, imprisoned and killed their own people. If we have not condoned it with our blessings, we have never the less condoned it with our implied silence. This was done for expediency and it was geopolitically handy. We have ignored the growing hatred of the people in these countries as long as the leadership bowed to us and met our demands and requirements of the moment. It was a brush-fire policy, a stop-gap that was doomed from the get-go and bound to fail. The Shau in Iran (past), Saddam himself in Iraq (past), the Saudi royal family in Saudi Arabia (ongoing), The Taliban in Afghanistan (past), Kadafi in Libya (past), Noriega in Panama (past), the current regime in Pakistan (ongoing), all these were or are friends of ours which we supported at one time or another with weapons, intelligence and funding and still the list goes on even today.

Sadly, until we cease our support of dictators through-out the world for reasons of expediency, I'm afraid it will continue and we should most likely get used to further things such as 9-11. Frankly, I don't see that we've changed all that much with the exception that now we are turning inward and beginning to oppress our own in a futile effort to placate the peoples desire to at least 'feel' safe.

Hank

 

1997rangerxlt, many thanks to your friend- that was a very eye opening thing which he wrote!

 

I wasn't (nothing has changed) sure how he would be taken but I'm sure he would stir the pot if I could get him involved in this conference.

This is the only conference I read where people (of any country) can discuss any topic w/o all the juvenile name calling and cuss words. I think it is the best of FTE, unequaled.

 

It took him a while to get to the point (I don't know where he was going for a while there), but I completely agree with him. That was my stance from the start, John Parson's article caused me to think about it in a new light, and that's never a bad thing.

Waxy

 

Ranger: The spelling was perfect. The British tend to use a "s" where we would use a "z". They also add the "u" when we often drop it, such as in favor and favour. It is just some minor differences in the vernacular.

The text itself is moving. What more can be said?

 

RangerXLT,
Your friend's comments are truly bizarre. Could you ask him specifically what part of Mr. Parsons's editorial he considers B.S.?



Let's consider this section of your friend's response:

'Being an American is more then spouting slogans, attaching labels and screaming for blood with false bravado. There are too many of that vociferous type striking the pose in this country of late. They are easy to spot, their the ones screaming for blood the loudest, the ones who never fail to point an accusing finger at anyone who dares to question what they say. they are the ones that are always more then willing to offer up the countries youth and blood for their cause as long as it isn't 'their' youth or 'their' blood. They're the ones that for the most part never wore their country?s uniform nor fired a shot or received one for her but instead, prefer to sit behind their microphones and typewriters where it's safe.'


These are very strong words. Who is he talking about? Right-wing radio talk show hosts? Surely not Mr. Parsons? I am quite conservative, politically. And I do listen, on occasion, to right-wing radio talk shows. I don't think I have heard anyone 'screaming for blood'. Could your friend give us some examples?
I have plenty more to say, but I'll wait until your friend responds. Basically, what I want to say to your friend is this, "Your lengthy diatribe in no way supports your assertion that Mr. Parsons's article is B.S."

 

Yes we have supported dictaterships in the past. Sometimes you have to take the lesser of two evils. Mistakes were made, and hingsight is 20/20. Don't forget the hundreds of millions of dollars in food and medicine we donate to foreign countries every year!

However, anyone who suggests that the innocent men, woman and children who died on 9/11 had it coming is Sick, in my opinion!
There, I got it off my chest. Isn't American freedom of speech a great thing?

 

philipwhite



if you live around 40-50,000 college age people every day- you'll see plenty of examples of false bravado and the like. especially two autumns ago. everybody was acting tough and calling for blood, yet nobody was doing anything about it. they were writing to the papers and standing outside with signs and hanging flags from everything, but that doesn't do much of anything for the situation- it may look like it does but its pretty superficial. people like to cause hoopla to give themselves attention, especially young males. its generally safe to say that the more people talk, the less they have actually accomplished or are planning on accomplishing. how about the american flag being plastered to anything and everything and flying everywhere you looked last year? how many people do you think just put them on their cars completely to go along with the fad?