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The Brit's view of Obama

Melensdad

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*** I put this in the TRAVEL forum because it is something I noticed while I was traveling but if the other mods want to move it to the debate forum I don't have a problem with that.


While traveling around the UK it was very apparent that the Brits, or at least their press/media folks, are in LOVE with Barack Obama and apparently will stoop to creation of false history and gladly will omit factual information about this candidate. Basically anything they can do to help Obama, they will do!

To be fair, here in the USA we have a very biased press that has been shown to be strongly favoring Obama. That said, there is a far higher level of skepticism about Obama here than in the UK.

Just a couple of media examples from the UK, one from their BBC news service, the other from one of their TV series:
  1. Obama went to Berlin and while there he stopped off at a rock concert event that had about 200,000 young people attending the concert. Obama gave a speech and the crowd cheered. The press report from the BBC completely omitted the fact that the huge crowd was there for the bands. In fact they went so far as to claim that Obama is capable of drawing huge crowds . . . they then contrasted that with McCain in tiny towns and small groups of people. It was very misleading in many ways. First it gave Obama credit for something he did not do. Second it bitch slapped McCain as being inept at attracting popular support. It should also be noted that Obama has used the technique of showing up at other rock concerts and making speeches in the past, the BBC never reported that fact either, however they did report that he is able to "attract huge crowds of young people." Clear bias, little fact.
  2. On a TV show called BONECRUNCHERS (or something like that) which is a crime/history/drama show that features forensic investigators. On the episode of the show that I watched they featured a plot that involved a young, black, US Senator as the main character; he was running for President of the US. Hmm? Coincidence? Well if that is not enough coincidence for you, the plot suggested that he had no war record and people in the US were skeptical of his ability to lead an army. Hmmmmm. Well the show went on with the plot from that point . . . seems a "slave" ship was found with the bones of slaves and seems that the US Senator's Grandmother gave the Senator a brass button from a Revolutionary war uniform. Seems that the button belonged to a black freed slave who led a group of other freed slaves in battles against the British, seems that this black freed slave helped George Washington win a very critical battle. Seems that George then gave the freed slave his gold pocket watch but then abandoned him despite the claims in the TV show that this black freed slave should have been given a key role in forming the fledgling US government. Seems that this freed slave is the great great great grandfather of the US Senator.

    One of the very last scenes/lines in the show had the young black US Senator standing on a podium, addressing a crowd, and words he spoke were "I am a warrior" :yum:

    I would just be guessing, but I'd think that if you took a poll of the Brits who watched that episode of BONECRUSHERS you'd find that a large % of them probably now believe that Barack Obama's ancestors help overthrow the King and fought in the Revolutionary War.
 

DaveNay

Klaatu barada nikto
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I would just be guessing, but I'd think that if you took a poll of the Brits who watched that episode of BONECRUSHERS you'd find that a large % of them probably now believe that Barack Obama's ancestors help overthrow the King and fought in the Revolutionary War.
And a larger percentage of Americans think Brits all talk and act like Benny Hill.

That's the media for you.
 

Melensdad

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And a larger percentage of Americans think Brits all talk and act like Benny Hill.

That's the media for you.

Ah but Dave, the perception of the "Benny Hill" character (and let's not forget Monte Python) is clearly based on a comedy show that is obviously presented as humor.

What the BBC is guilty of (as I believe they control both the news and the production of the TV Drama) is clearly misleading people by fabrication and omission. There is a huge difference.
 

DaveNay

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Ah but Dave, the perception of the "Benny Hill" character (and let's not forget Monte Python) is clearly based on a comedy show that is obviously presented as humor.

What the BBC is guilty of (as I believe they control both the news and the production of the TV Drama) is clearly misleading people by fabrication and omission. There is a huge difference.

You know that, and I know that, and most people here know that. I'm referring to the people who think Iraq is part of Canada when asked to point to it on a map.

The same people who vote.
 

BoneheadNW

New member
You've got to ask yourself, why is Obama so popular outside the U.S.? Because he doesn't wear a flag on his lapel? Because he doesn't have a prominent flag on his plane? Because he is young or black? Or because the rest of the world sees the U.S. differently and realizes that the last 8 years have been a disaster and Obama, more than McCain, shows more promise for improvement.
Bone
 

Melensdad

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. . . and Obama, more than McCain, shows more promise for improvement.
Bone
Yes, "improvement" is such a precise word and I'd suggest that is exactly what the rest of the world wants.

They want the US to 'improve' its gun laws (I overheard 2 discussions of this on the airplane by Brits who could not understand the 'wrong' decision rendered by the US Supreme Court) They want us to 'improve' our medical care so they could get "free" care when they came here to the US on their holidays (overheard that on the bus in Edinburgh) They want us to 'improve' our treatment of Mexican immigrants ( overheard this in several places, was asked directly about it too . . . being an island they don't quite have the same problem we have with borders). There are so many things I overheard them suggesting we 'improve' that I'm sure that is why they would love to see Obama elected.
 

daedong

New member
Bob I obviously can't speak for the Brits but in a very general way the majority of Aussies don't give a shit about US politics. Having said that if they make any comment it invariably will be in regard (right or wrong)to the equality ( the extreme rich and the extreme poor) in America.
 
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thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
Bob I obviously can't speak for the Brits but in a very general way the majority of Aussies don't give a shit about US politics. Having said that if they make any comment it invariably will be in regard (right or wrong)to the equality ( the extreme rich and the extreme poor) in America.


Vin,

I agree that the pendulum swings far but why is this of something that concerns the Aussies? How does it affect them to make any difference?


murph
 

Melensdad

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Interesting comment, Not all foreign tourists get coved here.

Vin, obviously OZ needs to 'improve' its health care too! :dizzy:


The BBC broadcast stories most evenings on their nightly news about the US Presidential Election while I was there, I'm not so sure why they so closely watch our politics. They seemed to cover it more closely than our media does! Personally I don't much care about the politics of other nations unless they are trying to use their influence to change our system. I can't imagine anyone in the UK really giving a rat's butt what I think about their system either, after all, I'm not a subject of their government, not only do I have no say so, I should not have any say so. Still, the BBC, through its news and through its entertainment seems to be in a love fest with Senator Obama and cover him in great detail. Just because I have an opinion doesn't mean it matters!
 

Melensdad

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Sure, I'm happy to express my opinion, but I realize that opinions are really pretty pointless!

However, we seem to be getting off track from the thread, perhaps we should get back onto the topic of what I observed? That being that the BBC is having a 1960's style lovefest over Senator Obama.
 

California

Charter Member
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Bob, when I lived in Venezuela 1966 and 1967 many, maybe the majority, of homes had a little shrine with pictures of Pope John XXIII and John F. Kennedy on the wall, on either side of a Jesus statue.

The Jesus portion of the shrine was timeless of course but the Pope and JFK pictures represented a fresh interest in contemporary issues, a new hope, a new attitude, for these poor. The people really expected that these two leaders meant the opening of a new era, and that within their lifetime things would be measurably improved. (And they didn't have any more faith in the Venezuelan government than Venezuelans do today.)

While this isn't a perfect simile, I think the Brit's interest is similar. You may not agree but I think they expect better of our next government than the present one.
 

Melensdad

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. . . I think they expect better of our next government than the present one.
I think they expect Obama will socialize the US in the fashion that the UK is socialized and they view that as good (despite their problems with roughly 20% of their young people on disability because they are too 'stressed' to work [as reported by their press while I was there]) and I also think they do not understand our 'gun culture' and see Obama as a way to restrict our guns (not sure why that matters matter to them since private citizens here don't export guns to the subjects there) and I also believe they see we are not compassionate enough to the lower classes and see Obama as a solution to make us more compassionate (despite the fact that their press was full of "work for welfare" ala the Tommy Thompson model).

They don't expect better of our next government, they are trying to steer opinion to elect their choice for our next government.
 

CityGirl

Silver Member
SUPER Site Supporter
I think they expect Obama will socialize the US in the fashion that the UK is socialized and they view that as good (despite their problems with roughly 20% of their young people on disability because they are too 'stressed' to work [as reported by their press while I was there]) and I also think they do not understand our 'gun culture' and see Obama as a way to restrict our guns (not sure why that matters matter to them since private citizens here don't export guns to the subjects there) and I also believe they see we are not compassionate enough to the lower classes and see Obama as a solution to make us more compassionate (despite the fact that their press was full of "work for welfare" ala the Tommy Thompson model).
They don't expect better of our next government, they are trying to steer opinion to elect their choice for our next government.


Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev said of Roosevelt's "New Deal" paradigm shift, "We can't expect the American people to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."
Perennial Socialist Party presidential candidate Norman Thomas (the grandfather, incidentally, of Newsweek Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas), echoed that sentiment: "The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened."
We are much closer to that day in 2008.

perhaps that is why the Brits love Obama....if in fact they do. Their news media may be as biased as ours.
 

California

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I'm not convinced the average Brit has much interest in internal US issues, even if BBC emphasizes that.

Rather, I think they are very interested in our external affairs. Britain as a trading nation has always thought internationally. I think the political detail on their tv is of interest because it helps them predict our external policies.

Here's one such US international issue, a small one for us but somebody somewhere probably considers it significant: The US foreign aid bill has a section to provide some funds to hospitals in third-world nations - Zimbabwe etc. A while back the foreign aid legislation was amended to cut off funds to to any hospital that includes birth control among the services it offers its patrons. (Search on Rep. Christopher Cox for details.)

I expect somebody somewhere is watching US politics to see if times have changed, indicating that this amendment will be overturned.
 

daedong

New member
Vin,

I agree that the pendulum swings far but why is this of something that concerns the Aussies? How does it affect them to make any difference?


murph

Originally Posted by daedong
Bob I obviously can't speak for the Brits but in a very general way the majority of Aussies don't give a shit about US politics. Having said that if they make any comment it invariably will be in regard (right or wrong)to the equality ( the extreme rich and the extreme poor) in America.
Murph as stated most Aussies don't give a shit about America but if they make a comment that is what is often said. Its just the same thing as an American that slags Europe for their socialists attitude, many Aussies think that America has the extremes of rich and poor and look down on it.
 

Ice Queen

Bronze Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Who or what is Obama? I neither read the newspapers or watch the news, it is mostly rubbish invented by scandal mongers or muck rakers, and I don't need it. According to my late partner, I have an ostrich complex (I stick my head in the sand) and have no interest in what is going on. I AM interested in things I can DO something about, the rest - NO.
 
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