I have to say this, and you won't like it ...

[Darth Wong]

I am occasionally in a reflective mood, and as I reflect now on America, I must say that over the past six years, bit by bit, I have lost all respect for your nation. And I'm not going to sugar-coat this the way most people do, and say that I have only lost respect for President Bush while still holding the American People in the highest respect; that would be the easy thing to say but it would be a lie. The fact is that the kind of things Bush and his hit-men have gotten away with do not exist in a vacuum. They exist, and they succeed, because the American public allows them to.

As a collective group, despite the existence of some dissenters, you tolerate absolutely breathtaking lies, distortions, and worst of all, a complete and utter evasion of all moral responsibility, both for the actions of the Bush Administration and the actions of The People themselves, who are ultimately responsible for voting him in not once, but twice. The People continue to give him far more support than he deserves, which is why he will never face impeachment while he is in office even though he has violated virtually every aspect of the oath he took when he assumed the presidency. And please note: I use the word "assumed" here in the most perjorative possible sense of the term.

This is not just a "pass the buck" presidency; it is now a "pass the buck" nation. Bush blames Clinton, the Democrats, the UN, the Fates, everything but himself for 9/11. He blames anything but the Republican party's collective refusal to go after Bin Laden proactively: a refusal which dates back to the 1990s when Clinton repeatedly tried to kill Bin Laden and was attacked at every turn for doing so. The People, for their part, disavow any responsibility for the actions of the administration they voted for twice, and continue to give him levels of public support which cannot possibly be reconciled with his actions unless half the country has completely lost any grasp on its moral compass and the other half can't seem to muster any emotion about it other than apathy.

All of these depradations upon individual liberty and human rights over the past half-decade ... they did not happen in a vacuum. They happened because you as a nation allowed them to happen. Even now, after all of the abuses that this administration has inflicted, anyone who is identified as a "leftist" or a "liberal" still risks career suicide if he openly identifies himself as such, so the Democrats scramble to call themselves "centrists" who are only trying to slightly moderate Bush's policies rather than doing the right thing and vehemently opposing them. Even on the seemingly easy issue of torture, the American public is torn and its entire political apparatus, with its hundreds of politicians representing millions of people, cannot even muster a timid slap on the wrist for the ringleader.

And then there's the media, which is often accused of being biased "liberal" but has proven itself anything but. After six years of ceaseless and mindless Republican cheerleading, the FOXNews network finally worked up the courage to ask hard questions of a president ... too bad it was President Clinton, not President Bush. Yes, six years after leaving office, President Clinton is the one facing tough questions on 9/11, not President Bush! If someone had written this up as fiction 20 years ago, nobody would believe it. And yet FOXNews still has millions of loyal viewers, while CNN and all the other big-name networks say nothing. Oh, there is the occasional dissident editorial, but if you turn on the TV and watch the nightly news, FOXNews' ongoing and incredible abuse of the truth is simply a non-story.

How can this not be a leading news story? A New York Times writer gets caught making up stories and it's national news, but a huge national cable news network throws away any pretense of journalistic integrity in order to become a cheerleader for the ruling junta and none of the other media outlets think this is newsworthy? Why not? Why aren't there regular stories on the evening news at CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN about how dishonest FOXNews is? Why isn't FOXNews continually trying to defend its reputation against a withering storm of criticism? This is a network that actually had the unmitigated gall to ask if Bush was the greatest president in the history of the nation; you can almost see Karl Rove's hand up Sean Hannity's back, manipulating him like the soulless puppet that he is.

It is a truly sad statement on your society that the loudest voice against the establishment comes not from the opposition party (a contemptible collection of cowards who could not even support Feingold's move for a censure) or the mainstream media (which ranges between the centre and the far right), but from a comedy show, run by Jon Stewart. There are still dissidents, scattered here and there in a right-wing wasteland, but look at where they have been relegated to: comedy shows and Internet blogs. The much more powerful people in politics and the media who are supposed to look out for your interests have long ago discarded their duty, and nobody seems to care.

The most disturbing thing about all of this is the widespread belief that it will all get better once Bush is removed in 2008. This is simply not the case; if the Democrats win, they will have done so not by espousing clear moral principles and ideals, but by waiting out the president and hoping to win by default. The country still does not tolerate idealism on the left, the way it does on the right. The moment anyone stands up to vehemently oppose right-wing policies, which is the job of the opposition to a right-wing party, he is immediately labeled as an "extremist" and marginalized. And he is marginalized not just by his opponents but also by the media and the public, for without the public's tacit agreement, none of these tactics would work. Take away the Bush Administration and this perverse situation will still exist! Even a Democratic government would still be forced to work within this same structure, where one is considered a liberal "extremist" for advocating national health-care but mainstream right-wingers routinely advocate things like torture while simultaneously accusing homosexuals of harming America's moral fabric. Rod Serling would have been at a loss for words.

But after all of this, it's still not too late. America can and has done great things in the past. America can and has represented great ideals in the past. And it can do this again, if it rediscovers its heart. I hope for the day when I can respect my neighbour again.

Sorry to get up on a soapbox, but it had to be said sooner or later.

[dragon]

Don't be sorry most of that is true. After living here in Germany for the last 3 years and being married to a German I have come to realize that the U.S. needs a good old ass kicking. And it can't be done by other Nations all that will do is make the goverment seem more right to the public. People in the states need to realize that we have abunch of idiots that only looks after them selves and they contributors and not the country as a whole.

Then of course the few politicans that care about the whole either have not enough support or are far right or left. Hell look what happened with Clinton he had a minor affair that wasn't even illegal and all the politicans threw a fit. But Bush on the other hand is responsible for the deaths of thousandsof American soliders and tens of thousands of Iraq civilians mostly to finish a war his dad started. And while the war on terror can be made a case of the way the goverment goes about it can't be.

Then don't forget the superbowl incident a few thousand people compalined about a natural body part and suddenly have the country is being censored becase it might affend some delsuional relgious people. Hell I see more nudity at local catherdrals here than I saw during that brief second. These same people have no quams about seeing people blown away on tv though then complain about how their kids turn out.

I quess America is gowing through their teen years where they can't be trusted to do the right thing.

[Elfdart]

Exactly. The overwhelming majority of people in this country are (at best) sheep -and sheep are only good for three things: meat, wool, and getting fucked in the ass by a perverted Texan while just standing there and taking it.

[Rye]

Awesome, I've been having similar thoughts for a while but never took the time to put it all into words like that. I also think it's pretty funny how Elfdart has rubbed off on you with the "Bush Junta" name.

An interesting contradiction when it comes to the US "right" is the mixture of shepherding tactics, solidarity and tribalism, and decrying of materialism, "the cult of the individual" when it comes to "liberal" issues like sex and hedonism, and "irresponsible" use of the truth. And yet on the other hand, they're going around citing individual "common sense" (in a land where talking snake theory is extremely popular) when it comes to regulating industry or protecting the environment, and falling all over themselves to make sure america outspends everyone on everything with little to show for it, except a few extremely rich people.

[FaxModem1]

Well, yeah, why do you think I created my 'I need hope' thread, for shits and giggles? Seriously, my country's fucked up, and I hope it can be fixed.

[Col. Crackpot]

it's pretty obvious that the American people are fed up. Bush's poll numbers are in the 30% range and the Republicans are on the verge of losing both houses of congress. Every so often lessons need to be learned. Hopefully in November that is made apparant.

[AdmiralKanos]

it's pretty obvious that the American people are fed up. Bush's poll numbers are in the 30% range and the Republicans are on the verge of losing both houses of congress. Every so often lessons need to be learned. Hopefully in November that is made apparant.

I don't think so. They might replace Bush or his footstools in Congress but the political climate that allowed him to thrive for so long will remain. The nation's collective failure to condemn his actions and the actions of his supporters with the ferocity that they deserve will remain. The totally one-sided nature of American politics will remain, where only right-wingers are allowed to be idealists. It is wishful thinking to believe that the problem will be solved by voting in the Democrats.

[Gandalf]

I've seen America over the past few years being vaguely like a man forced into retirement. After the USSR fell and the cold war ended, there was no direction for the nation. There was no job that needed doing.

The people found a direction in the form of the Bush regime's Great War on Terror. See this dialogue from Gladiator to more eloquently state what I mean:

COMMODUS: My father's war against the barbarians, he said it himself it achieved nothing. But people still loved him.
LUCILLA: People always love victories.
COMMODUS: But why? They don't see the battles? What do they care about Germania?
LUCILLA: They care about the greatness of Rome.
COMMODUS: The greatness of Rome? But what is that?
LUCILLA: It's an idea, greatness. Greatness is a vision.
COMMODUS: Exactly. A vision. Do you not see, Lucilla? I will give the people a vision of Rome and they will love me for it. They will soon forget the tedious sermonizing of a few dry old men.

[Rye]

1 in 3 people in America still don't get that Bush sucks. Lollercaust. The people that understand that he sucks will all probably be in the apologist for the people camp and allow the rise of another puppet and go "can i have my vote back pls lol" 6 years down the line when they ignored all the legitimate criticisms and predictions.

[Cao Cao]

It may not be popular to say, but it's the truth.
America as a nation and it's people have lost much of the respect they built up with the rest of the world. And themselves for that matter.
Of course it's not just Bush, it's the system that lets people like Bush be President with no dissenting voices.

I guess it's a "I'm just one person, what can I do?" mentality, and from the point of an individual it is hard to get over that. Frankly the situation here in the U.K. isn't very different. Tony Blair has run us into the ground and while opposing opinions are not so unilaterally smacked down as "hating freedom" or whatever there is still much more that could be done.

[FSTargetDrone]

This post would be worth sending off to some newspapers for the letters to the editor section.

[Majin Gojira]

For a while now, I've labelled my generation (current college students and such) "Generation Apathy", and I'm rather apathetic about most things ('cept education, I'm not very politically active, but appear to be moreso than my contemporaries).

I honestly didn't expect shit like this to happen (American Apathy) for at least another 5 years.

[Molyneux]

My problem would be that a) I'm still a college student, and b) I'm in fucking NEW YORK.

Do you know how strongly Democrat NY is already?! There's nothing here for me to DO!

[Ghost Rider]

Sadly from seeing how even the political lobbyists and a variety of movers react, it's a mixture of apathy and isolation. Most don't care beyond he keeps the status quo of America = #1, regardless of the truth and that the deals of politics keep going.

Change is only going to happen when something actually changes in world view that actually catches the dim witted American public to realize how much is fucked up and it is not just happening 'over there'.

[Rye]

Tony Blair has run us into the ground and while opposing opinions are not so unilaterally smacked down as "hating freedom" or whatever there is still much more that could be done.

I think "run into the ground" is a bit much, haha. Life here is fine. The bullshit with faith schools and Iraq et al are all important failures on his part, but his leadership can't be considered anywhere near the failure and dicking about of Bush, and life around here isn't that bad. If we were run into the ground, you would really know it; the public services would all be on strike, there'd be mass petrol strikes shutting down the country again, etc.

[Darth Servo]

No need to warn us we won't like it Mike. You've been saying for years that the U.S. school system is rubbish with states like Kansas trying to teach creationism and the like. The idiots have been working their corruption to pull the nation down to their level for decades and this is the result. People are stupid. I've been saying it for half my life and I'm personally sick of the way people vote not according to ethics or standards but only by party loyalty and how their preacher says to vote. The apathy is apauling.

[Darth Wong]

No need to warn us we won't like it Mike. You've been saying for years that the U.S. school system is rubbish with states like Kansas trying to teach creationism and the like.

Yes, but it's always been comforting to cling to the notion that of "two Americas- the redneck idiot one and the smart one." It turns out that there are actually three Americas: the redneck idiot America, the smart America, and the masses in between who tolerate the former much more than the latter. The net result is a seriously fucked-up country in which it is the moderates, not the extremists, who are primarily to blame.

[Civil War Man]

It's one of the reasons why watching the clips of Olbermann tearing into Bush depresses me a little. He does it so eloquently, but it always feels like he's trying to shout in a vacuum, because so few people seem to care.

[kheegster]

I have lived and worked/studied in 3 major Anglophone nations (UK, Australia and US) in the past 3 years, and being in the US now I can't believe the level of immaturity and stupidity in the politics of what is supposed to be a developed First World Nation, most of which Mike has already articulated.

I grew up idolising the US, and regarded the US a great country. I remember being a child wishing I could be American, but now having actually experienced American life and its society, the thought of becoming an American citizen fills me almost with revulsion, and this is despite the fact that I'm living and studying in one of the most liberal corners in the country (and still have 4 years to go at least). The decision to come to the US to study was a major dilemma for me for precisely these reasons, and in the end I chose purely based on academic reasons rather than on my misgivings about the country as a whole.

I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel and experience different ways of life in different countries, whereas the average American would simply never get to see the different possibilities, and continue in the illusion that what they so blithely call the 'American Way' is the best way. So long as people are still able to make a living and get their SUV and fast food, they don't think there's any need for change.

I don't think the departure of Bush will arrest the downhill slide of this country, and I believe that positive change will have to come from an improved education system for the average citizen and an increased exposure to the outside world, and that isn't likely to happen. And what frustrates me is that by virtue of being the only superpower, the US is going to fuck the whole world up as well.

I'm unusual in the sense that I am certainly going to immigrate to another country, and that I will most likely get to choose where I want to settle down in the end, and I'm sorry to say that all factors being equal, the US would be bottom on my list of developed nations.

[Darth Wong]

If only the mythology of a reasonable American mainstream beset by extremists on both sides were true.

[Medic]

Ann Coulter's books are NYT bestsellers [:roll:] -- that tells you more than you need to know.

I have lived and worked/studied in 3 major Anglophone nations (UK, Australia and US) in the past 3 years, and being in the US now I can't believe the level of immaturity and stupidity in the politics of what is supposed to be a developed First World Nation, most of which Mike has already articulated.

In a recent conversation with my mother [which lasted, and typically, over 2 hours] she told me something which picqued my interest more than a little: an aunt of mine from Australia came to visit and her opinion of our news was "you don't get any real news at all!"

Another small fact, that almost every documentary I find interesting comes from Britain. I wholeheartedly value a foreign intellectual's opinion of the U.S. [at least, from the 1st world; Europe, Australia, Japan, etc.] in this regard, because they're insulated from birth-to-death acclimitization to bullshit -- especially over a domestic one. [not to say I disvalue yours kheegan, I just use "intellectual" as a qualifier to disqualify hooligans ]

That is the one point I'd throw out in my own generations defence -- we're all acclimated to this environment, the culture, the government, the media etc.. Along with some propaganda, be it a patriotic movie or just uniquely American in it's naïveté, religious indoctrination infused with nationality, or just blatant nationalism, puts in the mind of a citizen, that we're some "City on a hill." That phrase is a veritable mentality and it's nothing short of a sacrosanct American truism.

Lewis Black illustrates one small point, health insurance, that crystalizes 'city on a hill' in my mind.

[ThatGuyFromThatPlace]

wait, you had respect for our nation?
Man, that was misplaced, the last time America was respectable was back in WW2.

[theski]

wait, you had respect for our nation?
Man, that was misplaced, the last time America was respectable was back in WW2.

yea.. nothing since then

[Setesh]

Nothing I haven't already thought or said.

I am always reminded of a pair of french photojournalists who spent most of their money during the great depression to come to america after the stock market crash. Their plan to make a photographic record of the second american revolution. When their wasn't one they where struck speechless. It made no sense. A country utterly failed by its government, and no one tried to start a revolution? WTF?! Now here we are again. Utterly failed by our government. And to quote V

to find those most to blaim, you need only look in a mirror.

Its our own fault, we let it happen, we continue to let it happen. The call to impeach this monkey may come from congress, but we have to motivate them to do it. Enough people yell at their elected and they'll do something in fear that we aren't sheep any longer.

But is it enough? No I don't think it is. I love my country, but I'm almost willing to bring it crashing down to save it. Not yet, but soon, I'm not quite willing to take that step, but if this bullshit keeps up, eventually I'm going to be.

A revolution is an idea that has found its sword

[SirNitram]

wait, you had respect for our nation?
Man, that was misplaced, the last time America was respectable was back in WW2.

yea.. nothing since then

Have you considered all the actions in the Cold War that might lead someone to have no respect for the US, or is it swept aside under the 'Need to beat the commies'?