What do the Brits think?
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I was reading this article: http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/72400,news-comment,news-politics,wikileaks-has-exposed-vichy-britain-and-our-pro-american-elite-special-relationship
And wondered if this is a true reflection of what y'all over the pond think.
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This isn't exactly new, this 'news'. We've always had this flaccid "special relationship" with America. What's new? We've been trying to prop the British empire up for decades- ever since the second world war. And for what? Financially we are ****'ed. The last (Labour I may add) government, bailed out the banks- we should have just let them go under. But their bonuses once again are paid by the British tax payer, money we didn't have. We now have another equally inane (and equally conservative/ coalition) government in power.
We need to do something, and pampering to the USA is nothing new. Heck, at least we speak English! The Brits spend so much time slagging off our European counterparts (especially the French), yet our ability to speak any other language is pathetically poor. But then again, how many Americans speak any other language? As for the war, one could argue that it was a toss-up between Alan Turing and good old American brute fire-force that won the second world war, not the british, who were too busy sipping tea while tending to their organic vegetables and cucumber sandwiches!
Fwiw, Labour introduced this ridiculous idea that our kids need to learn "citizenship" (whatever that means?), introduced all kinds of changes to the British judicial system, including being able to hold people for weeks without trial or reason. Even some awful woman called Hazel Blears wanted to dress minor offenders in bright-orange bootcamp outfits, so people could easily identify them as "crims", in our whiter-than-white society. A funny thing was though, in the previous conservative government, one tory MP tried to pass a bill on "proper British family values", and then was found dead a few weeks later in his flat, with an orange stuffed in his mouth and a stocking over his head!!
Here, read this instead. Far more intellectually stimulating!;
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I think the problem we have in the UK is that we've had a hard time coming to terms with the fact we're largely ineffectual now on the global scene, we like the idea we're a key ally in the American Empire yet in reality we are just a tiny island. Also I think we're all aware Europe hates us and our colonial past. A frankly hilarious example of this is the Eurovision song contest with its political biased voting. Nil points!
Im interested to know what Americans think of this (scaremongering) article:
http://www.alternet.org/world/149080/4_scenarios_for_the_coming_collapse_of_the_american_empire/?page=entire -
Do the Euros hate us?? I was speaking with some Germans who pity England, because they see it as a kind of what may happen to them in 10 years or so- ie basically f**ked! The roast boeuf's and the frogs have always had a special relationship with one another (just like the Germans and the Dutch? ).
Remember though, we used to TOP the Eurovision song contest back in the old days!
[flash=425,344:ply84i8c]http://www.youtube.com/v/pACePi441ds?fs=1&hl=en_GB&fs=1&&[/flash:ply84i8c]
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As for Ireland though?
[flash=425,344:3rchukf8]http://www.youtube.com/v/jzYzVMcgWhg?fs=1&hl=en_GB&fs=1&&[/flash:3rchukf8]
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I wouldn't say that the Europeans hate the UK when it comes to Eurovision voting. Check the pics out!
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@solo said:
I was reading this article: (see first post)
And wondered if this is a true reflection of what y'all over the pond think.@unknownuser said:
And when the Blairites took over the Labour Party in the mid-1990s, both Britain's main political parties were in the control of people happy to pledge their undying allegiance to Pax Americana.
Public opinion has had nothing whatsoever to do with this shift.
Does it not??? Don't poeple think before they vote? obviously not.
IMO it's sad to face the truth in this article, which in general also applies to the Dutch government. We have some countries here in Europe with people in power with no backbone whatsoever.(just read an article about "data-mining which makes you wonder what the future will look like)
But Pete, what do you think of the article you linked to (and others on the other side of the pond)?
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The way I see it is the USA are like the self promoting cool kid at school who has a ball and will let the other kids play as long as they play by their rules only, he is also allowed to change the rules to suit him as the game goes on giving himself an unfair advantage. Now if any other kid objects they are ridiculed, not passed to or in extreme cases beaten up.
In a nutshell the USA is a bully that plays by it's own rules and frankly could care less about the world, majority of Americans know this and embrace it. We do not see any country as our equal, not even during the cold war did we have respect for our "enemy" (I say this because the whole "enemy" thing was fueled to keep Americans fearful and spending taxes on defense).
We bitch about Chinese human rights failures, China's growing need for non renewable fuels, the way they manipulate their currency and the dubious foreign relations they have without looking at ourselves on those exact issues.
The UK are our 'lackeys', you jump every time we speak, we know it, you know it and we also know that it won't change regardless we runs the UK or USA as business is the puppet master.I do not agree with the way things are, I'm merely passing through this time in history, I do believe however that our riegn as world leaders is coming to an end and fast, I see China and India as the next two leaders with America challenging this balance with everything they have.
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I don't know, but perhaps we (the UK) could ask the US of A (politely, of course) to remove their facilities from Ascension Island, Diego Garcia and Fylingdale etc. That might grab their attention. We could then follow that up by pulling all our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
I agree with Solo; if you are not American then you are, potentially, an enermy, which includes the UK. I see little advantage in the so-called special relationship, and whenever I hear friendly words from the American administration I am reminded of this clip from the film Outlaw Josey Wales:
Kind regards,
Bob
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