Dear World ...

Despite what may seem to be overwhelming evidence to the contrary, not all of my countrymen are bigoted, homophobic, whackjobs. Really.

The vast majority of us are decent, hard-working people – who don’t spend our time protesting government programs that we ourselves benefit from (and we actually know which programs are funded by tax dollars, and which aren’t). The vast majority of us don’t wear two-sizes-too-small American-flag stretch pants, or teabag-festooned hats – no, not even in the privacy of our own homes for laughs.

Most of us don’t look down our noses at immigrants. We remember the fact that our forebears were once immigrants here, too – and, truth be told, a lot of them weren’t “legal” when they arrived either. Most of us don’t use the term “them” when speaking of someone whose skin colour or accent is different from our own; we tend to think in terms of “us”.

The vast majority of us don’t live in constant fear that if the gay couple down the street is able to marry, our own heterosexual marriages will implode within seconds. In fact, the vast majority of us wonder who came up with such a lame-brained idea, and why anyone would believe it in the first place.

The overwhelming majority of us do not show up at the funerals of fallen soldiers armed with God hates Fags! placards. In fact, the overwhelming majority of us probably wish that God would “arrange” some funerals for those who do.

Most of us can speak coherently – in complete and grammatically-correct sentences. Most of us can actually spell.

Most of us think Rush Limbaugh is a tub-o’-lard with a mouth, and Glenn Beck is buffoon with a blackboard. Most of us think that Sarah Palin is a fifteen-minutes-of-fame punchline to an incredibly bad practical joke gone terribly awry.

Most of us don’t engage in histrionic displays of hysteria at the thought of our tax dollars being used to feed the hungry, or house the homeless. Most of us don’t believe that those who sometimes need a helping hand are just lazy no-accounts looking for a handout.

Most of us are pro-choice and anti-war; pro-separation of church-and-state, anti-torture; pro-live-and-let-live, anti-government in-anyone’s-bedroom. That doesn’t make us baby-killers, heathens, adulterers or wusses – that makes us who we are. And for the most part, we’re pretty decent people all around.

All of the above being said, I know what you’re thinking – those of you who only know us from what you see on your TV screens, brought to you by our beloved mainstream media. Having witnessed what you have, day-in and day-out, you are convinced that the crazy people are representative of my country – because they’re on TV, 24/7, spewing their nonsense into the cameras (between commercials for pharmaceuticals that may or may not be right for you, so please call your doctor and ask him, ‘cause why the fuck not?)

But here’s the thing. Remember I said up top that the vast majority of my fellow citizens are not bigoted, homophobic, whackjobs? Well, most of them aren’t. But those who are have control of the media. Hence (just threw that in there because I love using that word), we all look like on-screen idiots, because the lunatics who are running the MSM asylum tend to seek out their own, and give them as much air-time as possible.

Think about it. Do you honestly believe that we could maintain our nation’s position as a super-power if Wolf Blitzer was the best “journalist” we could come up with? Do you think the vast majority of us could hold down jobs, raise families, and contribute to society if we were all actually like the bat-shit crazy people you hear on FOX-News? Do you imagine we could dress ourselves, feed ourselves, and manage to function on a day-to-day basis if the best little political team on TV (aka the perpetually clueless) was representative of what we think, and who we really are?

I’m beggin’ you – please don’t judge my countrymen by what you see/hear being passed off as “news” on the boob-tube. Admittedly, we have some loonies runnin’ around – probably the same as wherever you live. But, unfortunately, most of our loonies have jobs as “news correspondents” – and them that don’t are politicians with an “R” after their names, busy promoting the bartering of live chickens as the definitive answer to our healthcare woes.

So the next time you tune in to any of our alleged “news networks” and see thirty people gathered together to scream about Inglish being our offical langage, no amnety, and the pubic option, I ask you to remember that this particular lunatic fringe is only half of a small (and exceedingly trying) portion of our citizenry. And those who broadcast their antics are the other half.

:hi:

Hopefully they will all be merely asterisked footnotes in history someday in the future.

Glad I was here for the birthing. :kick: & R

Very lovely...

Thank you!

:hug:

The media chooses who is on top for the day, and they seem to always choose the fringe as models of Americana. Oh hell no!

peace~

I did have a moment of envy when you wrote "colour" instead of "color" and I remembered that as American as you obviously are, you are also a Canadian citizen, something I still long for. BC is so tantalizingly close.

But as a court reporter living in Toronto, I have learned to "adapt".

Were I to hand in a transcript that included words like "color" and "neighbor", several judges would be furious over my inability to spell.

:hi:

I just went through the deposition from hell and besides the guy who was ostensibly on my side, the court reporter smiled at me so gently when we took breaks. Perhaps I'm projecting, but she seemed kind.

I'm a transplanted American, now a dual American-Canadian, living in Toronto these past 16 years. Nice to have you as a neighbour, Nance! See you at the next Democrats Abroad shindig? :-)

Yes - PM the details of the next meet-up! :hi:

and judges here like in the U.S. tend to be quite myopic. By the way I love the way you're becoming bilingual. Colour, color; neighbor, neighbour you're good. :toast: :-)

... by working as a typist for a court reporter.

He sent back my first transcript with a note about all of the mis-spellings, i.e. I'd left the "U" out of words like favour and colour.

My reply: "I am terriboully sourry four the spelluing errours, and will truy tou dou betteour in futuore."

It became a long-standing joke between us.

I live around 1.5 hours away.

Just wondering how you are finding it up here? Anything stick out as extremely odd or different from the US?

It's so hard to get an honest opinion on this. As a Canadian, which your awesome OP so clearly articulates, I do find myself believing in some of those scary American stereotypes. It just seems that Canada is always slammed on US TV, or marginalized in a very condescending fashion - almost always a hint of aggression in your MSM as well...

But, yes, I really do hope you are right and that these loonies are in the minority. Just understand the images we see up here are disturbing to anyone who can recognize propaganda for what it is.

Also, the healthcare debacle. I'm extremely political and engage in these kinds of talks whenever I can with my fellow canucks. I have yet to find anyone who would give up our healthcare system. Even the most radical, RW, ordinary, hard-working, blue/white collar citizens up here would never even give it a 2nd thought. It is just unfathomable that anyone can believe that healthcare isn't a right- a "privilege". Healthcare for profit just doesn't 'make sense' to most of us.

Always love your rants.

K&R.

no amnety!

posts never fail to make my day, and remind me that sanity remains the norm...;-)

And I'm not really an expat because I'll be heading back home soon but I am so tired of the confused, befuddled, sneering or just downright disgusted faces I see from my international friends whenever they see something related to the American right wing.

I will never, ever, EVER forget the looks on my Aussie friends and family over the whole mess regarding health care (they just truly could not even begin to understand why ANY American would be opposed to Obama's health plan) and the tea partiers (most of whom look as though they barely make minimum wage) wailing in terror about the evils of "socialism." ((hanging my head in utter shame)) The last few years have been humiliating and trying as hell.

if only these Tea Party people had experienced a (flawed but functional) system like Australian Medicare, they would see through the con.

It was also very relieving to recently see Obama regain much confidence from his supporters, after his (in my opinion obvious) mistakes last year.

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Even Nixon had his 'silent majority'. These people are whackjobs far outside the mainstream.

The "it's just a few bad apples" bullshit (for the last few decades, through to this very day) is a major contributor to bigot laws like in AZ being possible.

... and I'm not buying that crap from the MSM, any more than I'm buying it from anyone.

No offense - but on this topic we should simply agree to disagree.

Must have been a hangover day for me. :P

... by covering Teabagger events as though they are all-pervasive and country-wide.

I remember CNN's "coverage" of the international day of anti-war protests. By their estimate, 30,000 people protested in NYC. Being from NYC, I can tell you I've personally witnessed more than 30,000 people spontaneously protesting a hot dog vendor at 52nd and Broadway when he ran out of sauerkraut.

But get three dozen people together for a "Get the Gov'mt's hands off my Medicare" rally, and the MSM will keep spewing about how "tens of thousands are expected any minute now...

This is NOT who we are.

What do you think is a bigger problem in America:

a) racism
b) reverse-racism

?

but you seem quite eager to believe it.

and of course, in general, President Obama is a great ambassador who has the world's support.

Loonies and ignorant people all over the world aren't all that different. What *is* different in the US from my point of view is the level of duplicity, cynicism and frankly brainwashing coming from some of your politicians and some of your mainstream media, as you say.

... it's not like the loonies can't find gainful employment - the MSM is always hiring.

:fistbump:

As someone who has lived abroad (and is now happily in New Mexico) this is how I feel too. Thanks for expressing it in such a humorous manner.

... lovemydog! :hi:

I "did some time" in New Mexico when I was a kid. Too young to appreciate fully its beauty and culture (transplanted from the Pacific Northwest), but wish I had. A gorgeous state and you have an awesome governor!

Blessings.

Thanks for the kind words. It's really nice after reading here over a year. Yes, I live in Santa Fe and the beauty and culture inspire me. I've lived lots of places and for me now this is home. Hope you enjoy a wonderful day.

This is individual manifesto, superbly written, morphed to cultural anthem.

You're mowin' 'em down, ma'am.

:D

:woohoo:




:thumbsup:

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would make Goebbels blush.
The underhanded manipulation of information and how it influences the unwitting dupes who can't critically think serves the goals of the corporate titans bent on total control of the working class.
The methods for propagandizing are sophisticated enough to keep a large enough number duped into voting against their own best interests.
Without the corporate propaganda outlets the Republican Party would have Whig status.

Nance, you and your comments are one of the reasons I keep returning to DU. I heartly agree with you. Thanks again for expressing my feelings too.

Gotta love this girl for all she's worth!
She's priceless to D.U.

K&R

:hi:

But boy, do we like making fun of all of you for what that minority is responsible for. :)

Just think of our MSM "news" coverage as a 24-7 "unreality show"!

:hi:

It is not about what the majority of Americans are not, it is about the fact that majority of Americans have enabled that supposed minority of evil f*cks, seemingly non stop for the better part of 4 decades. And no amount of red herrings are going to distract the historical record from casting that judgement.


We want to be the country with the most capacity for destruction, with a difference, in the world. Yet we love to see ourselves as the victims.

We have the biggest level of economic and social inequalities in the industrialized world. Yet we love to think of ourselves as fair and compassionate.

We have the only for-profit healthcare in the industrialized world. Yet we love to pretend that keeping the same for-profit system which was at fault, while actually having the state forcing people to buy into said private system, is such a monumental achievement as to croon incessantly about it.

And on and on. So even though talking about that supposed "majority" may be a good fantasy to write about. Let's not forget that in the real world, almost half of the electorate who went to vote in 08 had no problem voting for office a dynamic duo made up of a senile warmongering asshole, and an insane uneducated and over entitled extremist half wit. And that was even after the two utterly disastrous terms from a party as toxic as the GOP.

As long as we refuse to look at ourselves in the mirror we will continue pretending we are something that we are not. But then again, there is something that is true for most Americans: we sure care more about perception and narrative than the actual reality of things.

But a big part of the problem here, IMHO, is that the "perception" of who we are as a nation is continually skewed by the MSM.

It's true that almost half of the electorate voted for the senile old man/clueless idiot ticket. But would all of them have done so had the "news media" hammered away at McCain's hypocrisy, or Palin's ethics violations?

As an American living in Canada, I was truly appalled by the outright lies told about the healthcare system here - a six month waiting list to see a doctor, doctors being "government employees", etc. Not a "difference of opinion" - lies, told over and over by GOPers on "the news", without challenge to the veracity of their statements.

It is the "actual reality of things" that is important. Unfortunately, that "reality" has become whatever nonsense is permitted to be spewed over our airwaves.

I don't think Americans look in the mirror and pretend to be something they're not. What they do is look at the MSM's version of things, and accept it as being reality.

I hear it all the time from RWers: If it wasn't true, they wouldn't be allowed to say it on TV.

The point is that so many believe that - and, as a result, believe anything and everything that FOX-News et al puts out.

The Teabaggers are NOT representative of the feelings of an entire nation - but to hear the MSM tell the tale, one would think all Americans are running around with teabags on their heads, carrying protest signs that make no sense whatsoever.

That is NOT who we are - and the MSM saying it doesn't make it so.

... but as I said, the real elephant in the room is that perception sometimes is there for a reason.

And we are the country which has conducted a two front of war of aggression for almost a decade. Any society, which is as good as you claim the majority of Americans are supposed to be, does most definitively not wage wars of choice. Wars in where hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians die while presenting no apparent threat to us whatsoever. A society which is good in its majority does not allow over 30 million of its citizens to be uninsured, or hundreds of thousands having to choose between their health or bankruptcy, or has millions of its citizens without a roof on any given day, or still has some of its states having trouble deciding between scientific theories or religious dogma in the XXI century. And on and on.

I understand what you are trying to say. I just disagree with the denial of pretending that the perceptions about our society are some how some evil plot. We're responsible for those perceptions, now whether we like that or not is a completely different manner. And as I said, for a society which prefers perception/narrative over reality. I frankly think this is a wonderful case of how do we like them apples: the perception that other people have of us is really bad.

As I said, I think some of these attitudes of disbelief are fueled by doublethink: we are the world's bully, yet we love to play victim. Our shit stinks just like everyone else, pretending that the stench is really concentrated herbal aromas is IMHO just plain denial. We are not that good, and if we want to be taken to be as such good group of people, maybe... just maybe it is time for us to start acting as such, rather than throwing a temper tantrums when people think ill of us.

... being the difference between our self-perception as a nation, and the way we are perceived by the world at large.

You are absolutely right that a "good society" does not wage wars in which innocent civilians die, having presented no threat to us in the first instance. The same holds true for citizens being uninsured, and having to choose bankruptcy versus healthcare, the homeless, etc. - I agree with you on all of this.

The problem here, IMHO, is that MSM continually presents misinformation (okay, out-and-out lies) about what's really going on - and Americans are caught up in those lies and base their opinions upon same.

How many citizens would have supported the invasion of Iraq if major news sources kept pointing out that BushCo's statements about WMDs were directly contrary to what on-the-ground inspectors had uncovered?

How many citizens would have been behind a universal healthcare program as it actually exists in other nations, instead of hearing, day-in and day-out, from GOPers and their spokescritters that systems in the UK and Canada meant a six-month wait to see a doctor? (A "factoid" oft repeated, and NEVER challenged by said news outlets.)

I don't think for a minute that we are an all-perfect-all-the-time nation - nor do I believe that most Americans perceive themselves as being so. However, as long as our so-called "news" programs are free to spew misinformation - about the reasons for war, or healthcare reform, or anything else - you can't blame the average American for basing their opinions, or their support or non-support of certain initiatives, on what they have been led to believe are undisputed facts.

I will go so far as to say this: Had the mainstream TV news media regularly invited spokespeople from Canada, the UK, Sweden, etc. to explain how a universal healthcare system works - what it costs the average citizen tax-wise, and how it benefits individuals and society as a whole - there would have been overwhelming support for implementing such a system in the US.

But they didn't. And we need not wonder why.

I would like to pretend that it is a simple case of ignorance and being misled, I honestly really do. But I can't, I can't give such a pass to a society which is not only willingly ignorant... but in some cases can display utter pride in their ignorance. And that is why I can't in good conscience give a pass to the majority of the American people.

I know people who grew up during the soviet years of the USSR. And one thing they told me was that the Russian population at large... knew Pravda was full of shit. No matter how much propaganda was spewed, there was an understanding that it was just that: propaganda. So I don't buy that Americans are misled due to the evils of propaganda (and by large the American MSM operates under a full on propagandist mode). Because people want to have that propaganda fed to them. People in this country want to believe they live in the bestest place on earth, regardless of how shitty their lives are. And that is why I don't think there is no worse blind than he or she who does not want to see. That is why I can't honestly pretend this is an "honest" ignorance or victimization.


Where you live, Canada, has an honest press. Not just because there is some sort of coincidence and so happens Canadian news outlets happen to not lie as much as American one out of sheer luck. Nope. They are honest, because Canadians expect and demand them to be so. Same goes for a plethora of issues, for example Canadians have a more human health care system because THEY worked for it. THEY forced their government to do the right thing. Now, there are issues every where else you go in the world. No place is perfect. But at some point responsibility dictates we need to take a good honest look at who we are. And a society supposedly made of good people in its majority, most definitively would not spend a decade long involvement in wars of choice killing untold amounts of innocent civilians, and thousands of troops in the process. Because regardless of how much propaganda they are fed, a society of mostly decent and compassionate human beings would not have allowed that. Period.

I commend you for having such a positive outlook on Americans. I wish I could too. :-(

It is easy to say that Americans should "know" that what they're hearing spouted on TV news programs is unvetted progaganda - but they don't.

This is especially true of older Americans (of which I am one, actually) who grew up on the TV news - AND the likes of Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, et al. We came of age with the idea of televised news, and accepted the concept that "if it wasn't true, they wouldn't be allowed to broadcast it."

As you and I know, there are no such limitations in place; no such oversight that requires fact and opinion to be clearly defined as being one or the other; no self-imposed industry standards that keep media news "fair and balanced" as a fact, rather than an ironic slogan.

Fifteen years ago, I - and the vast majority of those I knew - relied on CNN for honest reporting. Now I don't know a single person who still watches it.

The internetz is quickly becoming "the" news source for younger Americans, where they have access to a myriad of sources - and where contradictory news stories often lead to further investigation.

Of course the average Soviet citizen "knew" what propaganda was - they'd grown up with it. Americans haven't - and therein lies the problem. The shift from "real" news to "commentary and opinion" was slow and subtle - and deliberately designed to be so.

I would wager that the average over-65 American honestly believes that our broadcast regulations are such that strictly-enforced protections are in place that govern newscasting - and that, as a result, if they hear it on TV, it must be true. Sadly, this not the case, nor has it been for quite some time.

And it's not like the MSM is going to be pointing that fact out to their viewing audience any time soon.

So indeed we will disagree on this, and that is what makes this a lovely place for discussion (it would be mighty boring if everyone agreed, no?)

The thing is that people in the USA have grown with propaganda all their lives. Look at the average history book in American schools. People grow up believing this is the bestest place on earth just because. Is there any critical mention or open debate on issues like the Monroe Doctrine/Manifest Destiny which bother to point out the fact that they lead to the US becoming a de facto empire? Nope. Is there an open debate on the destruction those doctrines brought to the rest of the countries in this hemisphere? Nope, and if there is... it is either buried or not discussed further to its ultimate consequences.

Heck, during the Haiti disaster... most Americans thought we were the knights in silver armor, helping those poor souls. Of course, there was no mention that Haiti is so poor due to our policies against them during the past century and a half. Again, no mention whatsoever that we literally invaded them a century ago, that we forced their farmers out of business, and that they worn out their country's farm land bare in order to produce cheap crops for American interests. Literally, most of Haiti's arable land has been exhausted (they lost most of the humus) producing crops that are exported. Or that we forced them to pay the French for their freedom. I shit you not, the US imposed a de facto blockade on Haiti to help the French impose a payment plan on Haiti, with which they were literally paying for their freedom. France considered the slaves had broken their "contracts" and as such they were liable for penalties in order to reimburse the French state for the lost "property" (i.e. slaves). And the US government was all to happy to help the French enforce that payment plan, since the last thing our country needed at that period in time was a prosperous country made of ex-slaves. Lord knows our own blacks would have gotten all uppity seeing that the Haitians were capable of self governance and prosperity. And a milliard of other items. None of which are new developments at all.

There have been some great American intellectuals who had to leave in exile, simply because they were self professed socialist or *gasp* even communist. And we're talking people who had to leave the USA over half a century ago. Has there ever been an open debate about that? Of course not, yet people keep parroting how we are the freest country in the world. Really? We have one of the largest rate of per-capita rates of incarceration in the world. In fact, as far as I know we have the only privatized prison system in the industrialized world. Think about that for a second: we have a for-profit prison system in this country. Again, you can pretend we are a majority of good people. But it seems you just want desperately to try to play the victim/misunderstood card in order to not have to face the 800 lb gorilla in the room.

Is there any major political figure who is a socialist (Sanders doesn't count because he has to give all sorts of adjectives to hand wave his socialist ideals)? Nope. Is there any major political figure who is an atheist? Nope.

My point was that at least the Russians were self aware enough to realize that indeed they were being fed propaganda. But when we have a country in which there is literally no shortage of people to go to fight a senseless war in the middle of nowhere. Pretending that our propaganda is something new is rather senseless. It is nothing new. It has been systemic for so long, that Americans at large... demand to be lied to. Which is why I disagree with your opinion that most Americans are simple victims. And as I pointed out, Canadians have a free press because they demand it. We can hand wave our own responsibilities all we want. But honestly, as long as we simply pretend that it is a silly case of "misinformation" we will be trying to tap dance around the fact that our country's shit stinks just like the every one else's. Pretending we're the victims, while we ware the world's largest bully... seems to be part of the exceptionalism which is so ingrained in our society.

We have had bright spots in our history, there is no doubt about that. But we can use the exception to excuse the norm for so long, before the hubris becomes all too apparent.

As I said, I commend you for having such a positive outlook on the majority of our country people. I am not going to deny there are not great human beings. That was not my point. My point is that in this society we have a significant number of assholes. They are not a majority either, but they are not insignificant. We need to come to grasp with that fact. And it is not a bad thing, I believe sunshine and honesty are the best disinfectant. I assume you moved to Canada for some very specific reasons, no? If this country had had a majority of great people, I assume you would not have felt the need to move up North. Unless, you really enjoy the cold or the love of your life ends every sentence with "eh?" ;-)

But corresponding with you has been enlightening and very enjoyable!

Yes, I came to Canada for a specific reason - but nothing to do with politics. My first husband (we were both NYers) was offered a job here - an offer he couldn't refuse, money-wise and career-advancement-wise.

So up we came, with my six-month-old son in tow.

I initially hated it here - very homesick for family and friends. I used to drive or fly down to NYC at least once a month for the first several years.

My husband and I split two years later. But in the midst of plans to return to NY, I got involved with someone else. He was newly landed here from England. He couldn't work in the States, and I didn't want to move to England. So we married and stayed here.

I am now married for a third time (to a fellow American) - and I've come to love Toronto. I can't imagine living anywhere else. The city is clean, beautiful, very ethnically diverse - and safe. I own a house right downtown, and I don't bother locking my doors if I'm only going to be away for a few hours. I don't know of another city in North America that's like this one.

In fact, I DO love the cold and snow - although the weather here is not all that different from what I was used to in NY. And there is the added bonus of spelling words with gratuitous U's, eh?

I hear it all the time from RWers: If it wasn't true, they wouldn't be allowed to say it on TV.

Now, we both know Fox was given the go-ahead to lie, spin, and distort by a bought-and-paid-for Florida Appellate Court. But the RWers don't. Here's the relevant case info:

New World Communs. of Tampa, Inc. v. Akre, 866 So. 2d 1231

And here's a link to the text of the decision:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12622846756814921333&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr

Print out a copy. Keep it with you. Next time you hear THAT line, whip the info out and make 'em read it. It might influence the few that actually have minds.

Nance. So thoughtful.

Sadly, I don't think that we should expect anything resembling useful information from them anymore. They distract, deceive, misinform and then claim that it was all meant to be entertainment.

Our MSM and the teabaggers are a national disgrace and are a embarassment really to all of humanity. But we breed them the best here in the good ol' USA. For that we *are* #1.

I think the more important point here Nance, is that it no longer matters what the views of the majority of Americans are. All it takes in this country to direct policy is a small well funded minority of crazies.

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Thank you SO much Mods!!!

I appreciate the thoughtful words that describe the other 95%. We need to hear more about the positive and less about the negative. Whats the old saying "Good news travels fast,But bad news travels faster." Once again Ms. Nance you are brilliant and I mean like a star!!!!!!!!

:toast:

Not everyone who has a problem with this is some sort of racist. Sorry.

Your posts are always little islands of sanity and sense in the vast sea of the unconcerned,and the under-educated.