Waging a War on Anti-Americanism

You want to know the best way to put those yanks in their place? Just tell them, “You Amerikkans are all stupid!” Tell them how low their IQ scores are, how they can’t pass the SAT, and how they cannot find any countries on the map. Tell them how they don’t know anything about their own countries let alone anything about the world outside them. If you still haven’t irritated them enough to get them off their “superior” throne of “religious patriotism”, one thing that is sure to make a yank fall flat on their feet and surrender to their holy righteous elitist friends across the pond and to the north of the border is to send them a link to this video.

By now, you should feel better. The yank has listened. He or she may become defensive, but you know in your heart that, “you won”.

But did you? Well, you may have fooled some yanks into thinking that they’re less superior to you. It is those yanks that truly don’t know about the rest of the world and about the people living in their own country. Pray (in the secular way, of course) your darndest that you’ve insulted a dumb yank. But what if you are insulting a yank who knows… a little something. We yanks who DO know a thing or two are a bit more common than you’d like to think. So, be careful — as you don’t know who you’re running up against.

So, did you really win?

Anybody who knows about this “jaywalking industry”, will also know that they interview hundreds of Americans and just pick the dumbest ones to broadcast on air. And this is another thing to keep in mind: (Courtesy of Bruce Bawer)

One reason why Europeans view Americans as ignorant is that when we don’t know something, we’re more likely to admit it freely and ask questions. While Americans, I saw, cherished liberty, Europeans tended to take it for granted or dismiss it as a naïve or cynical, and somehow vaguely embarrassing, American fiction.

I found myself toting up words that begin with i: individuality, imagination, initiative, inventiveness, independence of mind. Americans, it seemed to me, were more likely to think for themselves and trust their own judgments, and less easily cowed by authorities or bossed around by “experts”; they believed in their own ability to make things better. No wonder so many smart, ambitious young Europeans look for inspiration to the United States, which has a dynamism their own countries lack, and which communicates the idea that life can be an adventure and that there’s important, exciting work to be done. Reagan-style “morning in America” clichés may make some of us wince, but they reflect something genuine and valuable in the American air. Europeans may or may not have more of a “sense of history” than Americans do (in fact, in a recent study comparing students’ historical knowledge, the results were pretty much a draw), but America has something else that matters—a belief in the future.

I will be the first to admit that there ARE many Stupid Americans. Yes! Yes! We ARE stupid! Very! We are stupid when we compare the US to …the US. BUT… when you compare the US to other countries, mmm…. things change a bit to the tune of…. well, we’re *not* all as “different” (in the department of smartness) as you AA Canadians and Europeans would like to think.

Why don’t we do a little exploring?

People like me know that a lot of you Anti-Americans get your information from the biased media, hearsay (mom and dad), Noam Chomsky, Al Gore, and your all time favorite hero, Michael Moore. (He’s the one man you excuse for being fat.) But is he FAT with knowledge when it comes to accurate statistic gathering and information?

Let’s take a look at that, shall we?

Remember that book you read so many times that you’ve lost count of called, “Stupid White Men” by Michael Moore? (Psst…. yes, that’s the same book that brainwashed you to believe that all Americans are white.) Anyway, some people took him to task and challenged his statistics. What did they find? They found data that Michael Moore conveniently left out. You can read the full rebuttal here, and I’ll just leave the key points for you to examine.

Case Study #1:

Many factors help to explain why so many adults demonstrated English literacy skills in the lowest proficiency level defined (Level 1). Twenty-five percent of the respondents who performed in this level were immigrants who may have been just learning to speak English. Nearly two-thirds of those in Level 1 (62 percent) had terminated their education before completing high school. A third were age 65 or older, and 26 percent had physical, mental, or health conditions that kept them from participating fully in work, school, housework, or other activities. Nineteen percent of the respondents in Level 1 reported having visual difficulties that affect their ability to read print.

Not to mention that 4% of those surveyed (1,100 of 26,000) were serving time in jail. Surprise: functional English literacy is not high among the blind and visually-impaired, people learning to speak English, and prison inmates. This hardly makes the US a place that “GOES OUT OF ITS WAY TO REMAIN STUPID AND IGNORANT,” in Moore’s typically capitalized phrase. (SWM, p. 87). By the way, as the National Adult Literacy Survey confirmed, a disproportionate share of those Moore labels “STUPID AND IGNORANT” happen to be blacks and hispanics.

In any event, as Michael Moynihan points out, limited functional literacy is a worldwide event: “almost 20 per cent of Australian adults had inadequate literacy skills to be effective in everyday life;” “some 25 per cent of Irish adults are functionally illiterate and approximately another 20 per cent can perform only simple reading and writing tasks;” “American teenagers rank higher than the Germans in all three subjects (math, literacy and science); 30 percent of Germans drop out of university, roughly equivalent to Mexico;16% hold university degrees, compared with 35% in the United States.”

Frankly, if Mike was of the working class, instead of a pretender to it, he’d understand something that I learned back in the No. 1 tunnel at Pima Mines. These guys may not write like Shakespeare, or go home to read Neitzsche and Spengler, but they are smart, live in the real world, and know one heck of a lot about the things that matter. I was in college, working summers, eventually bound for a doctorate in law — and they left me in the dust when it came to knowledge of current politics.

Case Study #2: Is it purely an American phenomenon when it comes to the inability to read maps properly?

Young adults worldwide are not markedly more literate about geography than the Americans. On average, fewer than 25 percent of young people worldwide could locate Israel on the map. Only about 20 percent could identify hotspots like Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. Of all the young adults in the survey, only about one-third in Germany, Sweden and Japan, could name four countries that officially acknowledge having nuclear weapons. In the rest of the countries that number dropped to less than a quarter. In France 24 percent did not know that that their own country was a nuclear nation.

The facts…

89% of Canadians couldn’t locate Iraq on a map, a higher “ignorance rate” than that of the United States.

81% of Canadians couldn’t locate Israel on a map

5% of Canadians couldn’t locate Canada on a map

90% of Britons couldn’t locate Iraq on a map, again a worse figure than that of the US

21% of Britons couldn’t locate the USA on a map

7% of Britons couldn’t locate the England on a map

Swedes scored highest in the poll — but even there 70% couldn’t find Iraq.

Case Study #3: A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation blunder?

And possibly the world record on geographical foulups? The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has a granite map of North America on the floor of its lobby. A few minor problems: it shows shows Vancouver Island as a penninsula, and shows no trace of the Queen Charlotte Islands. In compensation for that loss, it gives Canada the state of Alaska. As the Ottawa Citizen reported,

This isn’t the first time a bold new geography has been created for the North American continent. In July, the inaugural issue of the Canadian Tourism Commission’s magazine, PureCanada, contained a map that eliminated Prince Edward Island, Labrador, Halifax and Fredericton.

And just last month, Ottawa International Airport’s new terminal was opened, and a map in the baggage area located Atlanta in the middle of Alabama, Chicago in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C., in Virginia. Perhaps the map was meant to indicate where your luggage would end up. You know, if you fly to Atlanta, you’ll have to pick up your bags in Alabama, and so on.

But you ask, why do we always find videos about Stupid Americans on Youtube and on TV all the time?

Dumb Americans are a money-making machine in the US. We don’t mind internationally humiliating ourselves in public. Americans love to poke fun at the dumb just as much as you guys do! However, the difference between Americans and those from other countries, is the televised exposure of said ignorance. The very fact that you are entertained by our stupidity, puts money into our pockets. (Psst… remember, we’re the fat greedy capitalists that will do ANYTHING for money - ANYTHING.)

Next, if you read, “Hating America” by Bruce Bawer (an American living in Europe), you will see that Europeans put the same amount of smart cards on table as Americans. We’re just about even. Or are we?

I moved from the U.S. to Europe in 1998, and I’ve been drawing comparisons ever since. Living in turn in the Netherlands, where kids come out of high school able to speak four languages, where gay marriage is a non-issue, and where book-buying levels are the world’s highest, and in Norway, where a staggering percentage of people read three newspapers a day and where respect for learning is reflected even in Oslo place names (“Professor Aschehoug Square”; “Professor Birkeland Road”), I was tempted at one point to write a book lamenting Americans’ anti-intellectualism—their indifference to foreign languages, ignorance of history, indifference to academic achievement, susceptibility to vulgar religion and trash TV, and so forth. On point after point, I would argue, Europe had us beat.

Yet as my weeks in the Old World stretched into months and then years, my perceptions shifted. Yes, many Europeans were book lovers—but which country’s literature most engaged them? Many of them revered education—but to which country’s universities did they most wish to send their children? (Answer: the same country that performs the majority of the world’s scientific research and wins most of the Nobel Prizes.)

Yep, you guessed it. America. Oh and the hypocrisy?

“…And while Americans’ relative indifference to foreign news is certainly nothing to crow about, the provincial focus of Norwegian news reporting and public-affairs programming can feel downright claustrophobic. Hertsgaard illustrates Americans’ ignorance of world geography by telling us about a Spaniard who was asked at a wedding in Tennessee if Spain was in Mexico. I once told such stories as well (in fact, I began my professional writing career with a fretful op-ed about the lack of general knowledge that I, then a doctoral candidate in English, found among my undergraduate students); then I moved to Europe and met people like the sixtyish Norwegian author and psychologist who, at the annual dinner of a Norwegian authors’ society, told me she’d been to San Francisco but never to California.”

Americans dominate medicine and science: US medical schools are at the top of the world. Doctors come from all over the world to train in the US with the biggest teaching hospitals being the Mayo Clinic and John Hopkins. We globally dominate the modern pop culture that YOU secretly devour. The most inventions and patents in technology are attributed to the US. Some examples are the lightbulb (Thomas Edison got the 1st one working *commercially*), telegraph: Samuel F. B. Morse (”Although many researchers had worked on similar projects prior to Morse, his was the first instrument that could successfully send messages across wires utilizing electricity”).

More information on our inventions can be found here.

James Dreyer has some insight on “Stupid Americans”.

Let’s define “stupid” before we begin to answer the question, “Are Americans really stupid versus the rest of the World?”. Webster defines “stupid” as being “slow of mind; given to unintelligent decisions or acts; lacking intelligence or reason”, etc.

Well, that clears that up.

Are Americans slow of mind? Some are; some aren’t.

Are Americans given to unintelligent decisions or acts? Sometimes.

Are Americans lacking in intelligence or reason? Some are.

Are all Americans stupid? No. Are Americans the only Nationality that are slow of mind at times, make unintelligent decisions every once in awhile, or may be lacking in intelligence or reason? No.

I think that the topic may have been better worded to ask, “Why do American Students appear to be lagging behind students in other part of the World?”. I have an answer for that one…

Read the full story here.

But then you ask for the 699885520048314th time, “But you elected Bush, not once… but twice!”. You are stupid!

No! You REALLY did ask THAT many times!

Usually when I’m asked dumb questions, I usually reply with dumb answers. But I digress…. I will answer this one for the 98500550300987th time.

Election #1 November 2000:

Al Gore won the POPULAR vote. Bush did *not* win.

Election #2 November 2004:

Bush won the popular vote. He won by 2%

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an electoral voting system in America that, in my opinion, is a bit unfair. In EVERY election, the electoral colleges decide. The popular vote only counts so much.

There are many problems with the Electoral College in electing our president. First, if a candidate wins 8-10 of the largest states, they win or nearly win enough Electoral College delegates required to win the presidency. Candidates only campaign in about 10 states, or swing states.

They ignore the rest of America. These 10 swing states are larger then average sized states — such as Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Any candidate for the presidency has to campaign in more then 10 states, under a presidential direct voting system, just as a senator or governor has to campaign in more then the largest cities in his/her state if they want to win that office.

Lastly, the individual is more important then the state. Our states are a vestige of colonial times, with their lines drawn by the British Crown. In that regard we are still in bondage to the British Empire.

So, to you yank-haters out there, no… we Americans don’t all think alike. With 300+ million Americans, how could anyone think that we’d all think the same? We’re very diverse in every way, shape, and form. And I like America because of this.

But really, we still have a problem with Stupid Americans. Here’s one man’s explanation. I find it to be very true. And at the end, he says something that we all should keep in mind:

It all boils down to the fact that knowledge and intelligence are two different issues. Rote memorization of world capitals does not equate intelligence.

I do find it interesting that Europeans have such strong opinions on this, considering that there are many more pressing issues to be concerned about. Perhaps the steady European refrain of “Americans are stupid” is a reflection of their own deep-rooted insecurity. You know — an inferiority complex.

By the way, I have an American friend who lives in Finland and her husband (a Finish guy) used to get PAID for going to college. So, if Americans ARE a few points down the scale in IQ compared some other countries, than can also be another reason. And for freaksakes, we’re only 1 point lower than that of Canada!

Anyway, let’s just say for the sake of argument that ALL Americans are “stupid”. Why would that be something to get so alarmed about insomuch to wait all day for an American to pass by on the internet or in the streets of London to flame them? Why be obsessed so much with a group of dumb people? Do you argue with people who have Down Syndrome? Well, of course not! Then, why do you chase Americans around all day? There are American Pride groups on Facebook (not as much as there are Canadian Pride groups, mind you). Here’s what’s interesting for me. In every American Pride group on Facebook, the number of Britons and Canadians significantly OUTWEIGH the number of Americans in those groups. I find that quite the fascinating. Brits and Canadians purposefully search for American Pride groups for this purpose and this purpose only: to taunt. Now, if you don’t do this with the mentally retarded, why… oh why do you pick on the stupid, stupid fickle-minded Americans? If they don’t know what they’re talking about, why bother with them? Could it be that you’re just as stupid as THEM and you feel an irresistible emotional connection?

I will fess up. I argue with the Anti-Americans. And, yes, I’m very stupid for that.

And when you call all Americans stupid (by the way), you’re not only wrong, you’re not only being inflammatory and juvenile, but you’re also being racist. Did it not ever occur to you that blacks, Mexicans, Asians…etc are all Americans too? But now that we’re on the topic of “racism”, you might not want to be too overly confident about your IQ scores.

In any event, if you cannot find any other ways to piss off the mentally-challenged Americans, you can always use this as a last resort.

Good luck and G’day.

I wrote this post a while back in response to the popular notion that Americans (white Americans) “mold” every person that decides to immigrate to the US into doing things the “All-American-White-Way” in that we train immigrants to be obnoxious, obese, racists, stupid, and greedy.

I must say, I’m increasingly getting sick and tired of people accusing American-whites left, right, and center of being “racist”. It infuriates me that just because of the color of my skin and where I was born (had no control over that, by the way), I am assumed to automatically be a “racist”. Interestingly enough, the African Americans are nowhere near as noisy about “racism” as the “cultural elitist” white population in Canada or Europe… who have never stepped foot in the US. And if someone can tell me how Caucasians are “oppressing” the blacks in the US, I’d really love to know. Yes, I’m aware that hate crimes exist. Yes, I’m aware that racism STILL exists in America. Yes, I feel that it’s wrong. But coming from Anti-American Canadians and Europeans who claim to have the “upper hand” on “worldly matters” are nothing more than *clueless* as to what truly is both going on in the states and in other countries (including their own) abroad.

My friends, it’s “Guilt by Association” - just for being White (…and living in the US). Let me start off with this video.

Notice, from watching this video, how other racist groups in the past and present get a “free pass”? Notice how they’re conveniently ignored?

Here’s what the “know-it-alls” DON’T know: Having lived in California for 5 years, I noticed tension between the Mexicans and the blacks. There are both black gangs and Mexican gangs. They kill each other A LOT in California. A black person cannot join a Mexican gang and visa versa. But the friction appears to come more so from the Mexicans. And no, I’m not saying ALL Mexicans. I’m saying that there are a lot of Mexicans who don’t like African Americans. Period. It’s a reality. And it’s a reality unheard of in both Canada and in Europe. And even if it were to be “heard of”, it would be conveniently ignored. As Erik Svane said,

If you’re not harmed by an American, your suffering doesn’t count.

On a message board called, “Why Mexicans and Salvadorians Hate Black People“, I read some interesting comments:

My parent are italians born in brazil. I was born in chicago but I lived in texas for 10 years in a area populated in majority by mexicans. I notice that Mexicans have more préjudice toward African american than whites.

I know many puertorican and they have less prejudice toward blacks than mexican have.The more indian looking they are and the more they are racist.

This surprise me because for me, mexican are not far of the color of black people.

And another one:

I’m always amused when people who are utterly focused on whites finally see that minorities hate each other. Ask a black man what life is like in China or Japan. Ask a latino what life is like in a black neighborhood. Ask an Arab what he thinks about any of them.

And one more:

If you lived in America you would know that the racist blacks have shown their hatred to all people different to them and this includes koreans, indians, and chinese which are also here in big nummbers. When you think of racism the truth is black and non-black.

What is the reality? There are two realities that we ALL must face:

1. Racism is wrong.
2. Racism is not specific to the White-American “culture”.

Wake up, people.

I know some people are uncomfortable with Fox News thinking that it’s ALL biased, just look at the “related videos” off to the lower right hand side of the screen and see for yourself that there are BOATLOADS of “Mexican vs Black” videos all over the place. It’s overwhelming.

Clearly, if Obama doesn’t win the presidential election, I will be expecting all the Anti-American crowds to conveniently accuse the “Evil White Americans” for being “too racist” to vote in Obama. Anyone want to place bets? …But is it only the racist whities that won’t vote him in? Read this, and think again.

To continue,… I’m one of those people who felt that former President Vicente Fox in Mexico was being a bit racist when he said the following:

“Mexicans are doing the jobs that not even blacks want to do.”

Racism has decreased dramatically in the US compared to the past. In fact, we even have Affirmative Action in place designed to give minorities not only a chance, but in rather many instances, a benefit above white people. But let’s have a look at what some are saying about Europe:

(sic) Some of the best football (soccer) players in the world have been victims of racial slurrs and other racially motivated actions at recent soccer games. European crowds curse at the African players, and even throw bananas on the field, calling them “monkeys”. A Spanish coach told his players to “Show that black peice of shit that you’re better than him”, referring to an African player on the team. Here in the United States, such widespread racism in sports does not exist. Do European forer@s see these racist acts as “the norm”? Why are European nations so comfortable with this blunt racism? Of course, these actions do not represent the entire continent of Europe, only a select few who choose to act this way and show racial retaliation. Basically: all Europeans aren’t racists…but it seems like a lot are.

What about when Americans travel abroad to either Europe or Canada? They are judged SOLELY on their skin color and American accent. Hispanics and blacks come home from Canada or Europe with hardly any complaints whereas Americans-whites - many of them come back home to the US with horror stories of having been spat at, punched, beaten up, taunted, told off, ignored, and the list goes on.

Anti-Americans say “they are tolerant and ‘care’ about others”, I say that they’re hypocrites and more than likely, LESS tolerant than Americans. We are MUCH more diverse, anyway.

Anti-Americans say they are more intelligent than Americans, I say they are no more educated, bitter, and incapable of making solid arguments than Americans.

Anti-Americans say that they are “nice people”, I say that they are no more rude, loud, and obnoxious than Americans.

Anti-Americans embrace Islamic Fundamentalism under code of “multiculturalism” (pseudo-multiculturalism?), I say that they’re liars as they don’t extend the same respect toward Judaism and Christianity.

I received a comment from a gentleman living in Austria on Youtube that confirms that we are just all humans who will, at one point or another, wind up mixed in with “the hype”. The comment is as follows:

Actually I WAS one of those Antiamerican morons, one of those “look at barbaric America” freaks. Fortunately I gradually woke up.

It is pure and utter brainwash by our media, politics and general liberal socialist Euro-era. I regret having been so stupid. But then again we also let ourselves be blown up and sympathizse and support those Islamofascist perps. (Nah, I am not exaggerating; for real; just check the web).

Europe right now is culturally in bad shape and hasn’t recovered from the WW’s. (In fact that’s one of the best signs to begin with when one starts to make comparisons between the US and Europe). The US certainly never plunged the world into a blazing crucible till its molten.

But whilst the Antiamericanism is just one of the many symptom (and 100% hypocritical), the disease is within us - and we are the ones hurting ourselves, you Americans are only the ones verbally attacked.

I am not posting this to glorify the US or support any political party. I just want to show that not everyone hates us, that some DO admit to having been brainwashed (that takes courage!!), and that some are willing to see issues at different angles. Additionally, all of this is even more proof that Anti-Americanism IS a problem (otherwise, other country’s people wouldn’t be standing against it) and not the result of “paranoia” that only “I” experience. (Some people just love to throw that word around, don’t they?)

I have a friend from England on Facebook. When I was looking throughout his profile, I discovered a blog post written by him that made a lot of sense. I’d like to share it with everyone. This is more evidence that some people are willing to step out of the gooey mold and question issues, but sometimes we just need an ice-breaker before we realize what is truly happening - as evident here:

A Poison in Society - written by David H. of Newcastle, UK (8:32am Tuesday, Jan 16, 2007)

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great regret and sorrow that I report that we have a poisonous and highly damaging trend sweeping through even the “sensible” ranks of our society, a trend that we would like to think that we had confined to the extreme and disenchanted minority: Racism.

Racism in all its forms is horrendous and degrading, not only to the targets but to those who perpetrate it. Most of the racism we see reported is either anti-black or anti-Islamic. Whilst there is a lot of this sort of discrimination around, that is not the topic of this particular note. This note is to serve one purpose: the prevalence of totally irrational anti-Americanism and antisemitism in all classes of our society, but particularly the middle-middle and upper-middle classes.

I am acutely aware that if I were to ask the average person if they were racist, they would be horrified at the suggestion and fervently deny it. It would not surprise me however, if that same person was to be found in their very next conversation accusing the US and Israel of being the sole cause of the world’s problems.

I myself have been in denial of this problem for many years, that was until an example of it was handed to me on a plate, when two of the least “racist” people I know who are almost universally kind and open to everyone, decided to take exception to another friend of mine simply on the count of their being American.

The view that is communicated to the public to create this irrational viewpoint is an over-simplistic one:

America: Most evil state on the planet, dedicated to killing, bombing and otherwise maiming peoples/societies with a less than friendly stance.
Israel: America’s agent in the volatile middle east region
Britain: America’s Poodle/Lap dog, obedient to the last to Washington and profits from the exploits of previous two.
Palestine: a territory that is partially and illegally occupied by Israel
Palestinians: A people that are brutally oppressed and pillaged by a far superior military force under the command of Israel.

[Further definition common to almost all viewpoints: Arab Neighbourhood: all Arab countries that surround Israel, Egypt and Jordan with peace deals with Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Iraq still wanting Israel's destruction.]

Sadly, too many people subscribe to this view. Very little could be further from the truth. Let’s start with Britain’s foreign policy: many people accuse the UK of having an anti-Israeli stance, whilst others consistently accuse it of being anti-Arab. The truth is that it is neither. British foreign policy has only ever been formulated as to look after one state’s interests: Britain’s. I’m willing to bet that the very moment it is no longer in our interest to act as US lapdog, we’ll be turning our economic and military ties elsewhere.

As for Israel and the United States, it is certainly true that the US (effectively) gives Israel $1.5 billion worth of free arms per year. (Which, given the price of technologically advanced arms, isn’t that much). However, that alone is not enough to demonise them in people’s minds. Many other countries have similar standing orders, and have no issues with anybody. So what galvanises public opinion so strongly against Israel and the US?

The answer is Fleet Street. By “Fleet Street”, I don’t just mean the daily papers, I mean the press in general. Newspapers have, by tradition, always been biased. The Telegraph has always been aimed at conservatives, the Times at centreline conservatives, the Independent at Liberal Democrats (that’s right… the Independent is not actually independent!) and the Guardian at socialists. (Tabloids do also have leanings, but they are less detectable beneath the celeb-gloss and scare mongering about the end of the world. That, however, is another note.)

As a result, the public are aware that a newspaper’s story will not be a totally impartial representation of events. They have however, come to expect a different story from television.

Unfortunately, Television has sided firmly with the Palestinian people. I have noticed that if a suicide bomber carries out his “mission” anywhere in the world, he is immediately referred to as a “terrorist”, UNLESS it is in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, whence the BBC never use the word “terrorist” and instead replace it with phrases like “freedom fighter” or “activist”, which either elevates him to the status of a local hero, or at worst, nothing more than an animal rights protester, where in fact, what he did is no better than anything the Israelis have done. There is no difference between an Israeli F-16 hitting a house, and a bomber taking out a busful of schoolchildren. They are both atrocious and tragic losses of life.

However, this is not reflected in reporting, which serves only to fuel an atmosphere of anti-Israeli hatred and anti-Americanism that, in the end, is only damaging to us all.

The BBC is supposed to be impartial… Pah! they’re as one-sided as a mobius’ loop! I’m not saying that the US and Israel are free of responsibility, but we have to realise that the situation is never as it is reported… least of all by our wonderfully unbiased media…

David is also responsible for starting a group on Facebook called, “Anti-Americanism is Racism Too“.

A group of like-minded people who wish to see an end to senseless anti-American and anti-Israeli bigotry across the world. This group exists to demolish the last bastion of so called ‘acceptable racism’ in western society. For the promotion of rational reason within debate, the abolition of politically correct censorship and the restoration of truly free speech.

Sadly, there are only just a few members in that group. I’m not surprised. However, if you look at any Anti-American group (and I’m not talking about those groups established to criticize American government or foreign policy), there are hundreds to thousands of members!

Anyway, you’re probably wondering why the word, “racism” is being used - as Americans aren’t a race, right? But he’s partially correct in that if you say, “I hate Amerikkanz”, you are including all those people from different races. And if you’re of the popular camp that associates the “Evil Americans” (namely, all of us) with the “white folk”, then that is a bit racist on behalf of American whites. But David did send me a message explaining his usage of the word for what it means to him - if you care to read it.

The most authoritative definition of ‘race’ in the anthropological and categoriacal rather than competitive sense I have seen to date is:

“Race /rãs/ n the descendants of a common ancestor, esp those who inherit a common set of characteristics; such a set of descendants, narrower than a species, a breed, a stud or herd (obs); ancestry lineage, stock; the condition of belonging by descent to a particular group; inherited disposition; a class or group, defined otherwise than by descent; a sex (obs); peculiar flavour, as of wine, by which its origin may be recognised, raciness, piquancy.”
(Source: Chambers 21st Century English Dictionary)

Couple that with (from same source):
“Rac’ism n hatred, rivalry or bad feeling between races; belief in the inherent superiority of some races over others, usu with the implication of a right to be dominant; discriminative treatment based on such belief.”

I think that a nested definition formed from those two would very much include anti-americanism within their scope. You are right in suggesting that it is a figure of speech, in that the use of the word ‘racism’ in reference to anti-Americanism is colloquially coined, however, unlike many figures of speech, this one holds accurate under even the most pedantic scrutiny.

The BBC published an article called, “Anti-Americanism ‘feels like racism‘”. After reading that, anybody with half a heart will feel disgusted. And yes, I can see why someone would say that Anti-Americanism feels like racism. Unfortunately, there are plenty more articles where that came from…

And… finally one more vocal Englishman on Facebook stands up in defense of the United States in a group designed to give perspective to the increasingly “blame America first” fit-pitching crowd of pessimist radical liberal elites:

Stop Anti-Americanism in Britain

This group is an attempt to shed some much-needed light on the blindingly ignorant attitude towards Americans as often expressed by British students.

I feel that many British students have adopted an unfairly arrogant attitude toward “yanks”. The prejudices are well-known: Americans are loud, rude, uncultured and ignorant of the world outside Northern America. All Americans are to be held accountable for the acts of their government (which is ironic, since the British government has been the most supportive in Iraq) or for certain ‘types’ of Americans. The conclusion, of course, is that Britons know better.

To all you dear anti-American British students:

It’s just downright dumb to make any generalization about a country as big and diverse as America. We’re talking about 300 million people of different heritage, culture and ethnicity. The differences between Americans are often greater than the differences between Europeans. To me, stereotypes of Americans always lack credibility because of this.

Then there’s the culture issue. This is a big one. Unlike Britain (which seems awkwardly stuck somewhere between 19th century tradition and the reality of the 21st century), America is much more forward moving than Britain is, and boasts a lot more cultural diversity and innovation. The 20th Century, in my opinion, belongs to America. In literature, which is my field, Americans have proven much more exciting and productive - from Steinbeck’s social criticism to the experimental and darker fiction of William S. Burroughs. America has also proven it can produce movies much more independent-minded and original than the usual Hollywood movies, and it seems almost too obvious to even mention music, another area in which American artists dominate and excel.

Yes, much can be said to criticize America and much of it is very just. It’s a weird and strange place and there are forces in that country that really worry me. But that comes with the territory of being, above all else, a country of extremes. Only in America will you find the most obese person you’ve ever seen waddling down the same street as the most fit and healthy person you’ve ever seen.

This group doesn’t aim to hinder the flow of criticism of America. That would be silly. All this group does is ask that the prejudiced British students addressed be a little more open-minded. The overwhelming irony of the situation is that they are what they accuse Americans of being.

And don’t forget that of all America’s critics, Americans themselves are the loudest voices.

If you want to hear the fight against Anti-Americanism from Canadians, you can find it in one of my old posts, “Canadians and Americans Speak Up (PartII)“, but you have to scroll down toward the middle/bottom to see the POSITIVE quotes.

I will conclude by saying that I’m still of the belief that there are more Anti-Americans out there than there are not. Hopefully as more Europeans and Canadians speak out on more constructive ways to criticize America, the younger generation can take the lead. The problem is - is that they have to want to listen.

In my last post, I asked some questions.

If you are European or Canadian and aren’t Anti-American (see definition), can you have friends that are Anti-American and visa versa? Can you speak about any positive feelings about the US publicly in your country? How about Australians? Or New Zealanders? I’d be most curious.

A gentleman who lives in Germany was kind enough to not only answer my questions, but also gave me a lot of his personal experiences (as a German citizen) about his country and his people. You can find him here on Youtube. Let’s call him Cappl because that’s what his screen name is. He replies after reading my blog post:

And for the questions you ask:

Yes, I am able to express positive feelings on the US, I am able to write it to you and on YouTube and I have never been shot or insulted for this I don*t believe all Americans are of the same opinion (would be hard work to reach this in such a big and multicultural country) And to do it in short…. Americans and europeans are not that different as some would claim.

I made it clear to him that that I knew he’d never get shot at for his opinions. He understood and gave me a thorough answer.

I decided to have a new try, to answer your question, when I woke up this morning and thought about it… it would have been really easy for me, to simply reply: “hmmm? Oh yes sure, sure - can do that, whenever I want to…” but then I decided to simply - try it I got a discussion going with the people in my class (many of them are not of my opinion in some things, so I thought, it would be the best place to start this ^^) and our history teacher… nice thing - this is surely not representative, but I think at least the evidence, that I can do it.

I asked this… “Isn*t it ridiculous, how many people here in europe judge the american citizens, without even having talked to one of them? Surely not everything the US is doing is great, but this rather is concerning the american politics and not the USA at a whole! I think the USA is a great nation!”…. And we discussed about that - some were of my opinion, some were more cirtical on the US - some simply didn*t care or participate… and our teacher participated, too - even if this was completly terminating his plan for the lesson ^^…. We even discussed this while we had brake and so any teacher was arround to concern about an anti-american answer… but… the people were taking this serious and really thought about it - not one attacked or even insulted me for being of this opinion. Thanks for the idea ^^, this was interesting ^^

This was very interesting for me to read. I see diversity in thought. Not the “just following the crowd” mentality going on there at all. Could it be because it’s a college community? I don’t know. But how refreshing is that? A stark contrast from what you can find here.

It appears that Canadian grade schools have a reputation for teaching their students to compare themselves to the United States. We know America is no angel, but I’ve heard no evidence of Canadians ever being taught anything the states did RIGHT. As you can see from my sidebar and previous postings, their knowledge of past wars are frighteningly distorted (the Anti-American Canadians, that is). I’ve heard many Canadians say that America’s role in WWII was, if anything, minimal and at maximum, self-serving. All I hear, basically, is “Shame on you for Hiroshima and Nagasaki!!”. If you hear this once, you think… well, that person’s just clueless. If you hear it twice, you think … “Well, I ran into another bad egg”… If you hear it time after time after time, it makes you wonder, “What are Canadians learning about the US in their school system - especially when they’re in grade school at that young and vulnerable age?”. They are also led to believe that they successfully burned down the White House in the War of 1812 - when technically the credit is reserved for the British. (Aren’t Canadians about “peace-keeping”, anyway?) While there may have been Canadians among the troops, the main Gold Star goes to Britain. So, I wonder. But when you read articles like this, it makes you wonder EVEN MORE. Perhaps, maybe a Canadian can give me some clarification on this?

To be fair, I’ve seen Americans online announce publicly that the US (and the US exclusively) was responsible for defeating Nazism in WWII. I feel embarrassed when I hear these things. I wonder where they get this from, but suspect that it was taught to them by their parents. The fact of the matter IS - is that ANY COUNTRY not part of the Axis of Evil in WWII WON the war and liberated the Germans! It was a TEAM effort.

So, with that said, young people are brainwashed from their own homes. Sadly.

Let’s hear what my German friend learned about WWII in Germany.

What am I taught at school….

WW2 and the NAZI-regime were the biggest mistakes in german history. The victory of the allies and the reconstruction of the european nations and their lasting peace were possible through the participation, help and engagement of the USA. Without the participation of the US after WW2, france and other european nations would have ripped germany appart. (The french for example wanted to make us a agrar-nation (farm land)… in other words… a third world nation - so we could never attack them again. By reminding me, that we attacked their country in both world wars I can understand this position.)

The USA are the ones who taught germany how to run and start a democracy. The USA are the nation, who prevented germany from being overrun by the russian communism.

We are educated to LOVE the USA for their work here. And actually - many germans emigrated to the USA - In the past - starting with the colonialisation of America - to avoid the several german dictatorships and wars, or simply because they liked what they heared about the USA and wanted to live there.

Nowadays - because the USA in our eyes is a great nation and is a big economic power….. and maybe simply because many of our relatives already live over there Just by the way… Every time I see an american on tv, who has an german first or second name I have to smile - sometimes simply because of the spelling of this name (american style)

Cappl also criticized some things about America as well, and could not have put it in a more constructive way.

I have a couple of friends in America and so am more in touch with what is on vogue in the US, than many people here… The US have a BIG problem - which is not actually, that you attacked iraq, but that you (dangerous word—I don*t really mean you as a person, or the citizens of the USA) put a really scary picture of the US in the world.

To be honest - simply the way mr.bush tends to explain his intentions is frightening me… I hear about a “crusade” against the “evil” of a worldwide war on terror… of an axis of evil, which is not clearly defined, so that I don*t know which nation is next (Iran or Syria I guess).

I hear and see, that the USA attacks nations without respecting international law - using torture and mercanaries as an instrument for the modern war - I hear and see on YouTube, how patriots are grunting at everyone, that they could “f*** the whole world - and every nation in it” and so on and on and on.

I*m scared and frightened (as many europeans), that all this will result in additional international instabilities, or another worldwar. So much for the european perspective… they can*t do anything about it and they are frightened of big, powerfull USA raging arround all over the world - and this creates anger and maybe even hate…

The Europeans can*t really support the US and they can*t really judge their actions, for they are threatened by the islamic fundamentalists, too - our own extremists (extreme left or right) over here use this situation for their own benefit, by giving simple answers to the big questions (USA is evil - fullstop) So don*t feel too offended by them, for they are only a minority and in an adition - maniacs (I mean it - I know the Neonazis over here - And you know your maniacs over there.)

I*m not going to write about the unbelievable things islamic fundamentalists are doing to their and our people (here and in their originate countries), because I think we both are well informed about this, through media. And I don*t think, that I really have to point out, that every human being should be terrified by this and though I am not going to try to justify it, nor do I think, that it could ever be justified by anyone.

The big question for me is… what do I want to think about all this?

- The USA has been attacked -

Fact for me! I don*t believe WTC was an inside job! And even if it was - this would denounce the US-gouvernment to consist of total barbarians, but would NEVER justify the islamic terror on the other hand - which IN FACT is existing

- and as every nation, responsible for the safety of it*s citizens, the USA has to react.

So the “war on terror” is not to evade and - from my point of view - justified. The way this war is fought is odd, and as every war dirty - and as every crusade it*s about profit, too. International right is violenced, Iraq is more likely to be an chaotic Anarchy, than a Democracy after this and the target of a clean and reasonable war was failed once again - for there will never be a war to ensure peace and war will never be clean.

This is very fair, balanced, and constructive criticism of the US. Notice how up above he stated very positive things about America, but also was able to talk about his disappointment without insulting Americans. Also notice how he *included* other crimes (re: his own folk and Islamic Fundamentalists) not associated with the US. He’s not part of the “blame America first” committee. He doesn’t blame ME for all of his problems. He *doesn’t* have a black and white view of the complex world that we live in. This is the kind of criticism that I can handle because it sees me as a human being and is intelligent enough to differentiate American people from the government. A lot of people are ignorant about the US and assume that the people have the control and power to moderate the actions of our government - when, in fact, we don’t have that power. Yes, we ARE a democracy. But we only have so much control. We have the same amount of control Canadian and British citizens have or those from other developed nations. I don’t know where people get the idea that I can just go to the White House and throw Bush out and re-write foreign policy. Sadly, some people expect Americans to do this. I said this before, and I’ll say it again. We have an electoral voting system here that I find to be a bit unfair. The popular vote doesn’t assume the next president. The electoral vote decides. I disagree with this. And even for those that DID vote for Bush… who would have known in advance about the Iraq War? Don’t get me wrong, though. We have many Iraqi War supporters here. While I disagree with them, I don’t judge them.

Cappl is obviously educated in a sophisticated kind of way and knows how to communicate his feelings intelligently, thoroughly and reasonably.

It is becoming increasingly VERY popular on Youtube to create, “Why People Hate America” videos. Just put those terms in the search engine over at Youtube, and you’ll find so many videos like these, that you’ll be overwhelmed. I received 1,230 results.

This is my point of view: If you see something as ALL GOOD or ALL BAD, you’re not thinking. There’s (aside from the obvious evils) good and bad in EVERYTHING. Too many people who critique the US neglect to mention anything positive, and just as importantly, neglect to mention the evils that exist elsewhere in the world. Some radicals go as far as sympathizing with the terrorists. But there’s something else that’s not mentioned in a lot of foreigners’ criticisms of America. Can you guess? In this article, there’s a tiny hint:

Britain’s opinion of the United States has sunk to an all-time low, according to a YouGov poll that revealed only 12pc of Britons trusted America to act wisely on the world stage.

The Daily Telegraph defended the superpower in a Leader article, “To Hate America is to Hate Mankind” arguing that to dislike such a diverse country is misanthropic as well as ungrateful, given America’s benign intervention in various European conflicts.

Do you think it is hypocritical of Britain to demonise the United States, while supporting its foreign policy and copying its social trends? Or does the UK have a legitimate case for backing away from the ’special relationship’?

Have recent controversies such as the war in Iraq and the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo bay affected your feelings about America?

Yes….. they forget to mention that their own countries (i.e. Canada and Britain) are doing the same things. It’s also interesting to note that these two countries are the MOST vocal in their hatred of the US… on the internet, that is. A lot of people like to say things like, “… and YOU ALWAYS DRAG US INTO FIGHTING YOUR STUPID WARS….” Who’s dragging who? America is *NOT* responsible for your leader’s decision to send their troops to Afghanistan OR Iraq. Nobody has a gun to anyone’s head. Remember how YOU blame us for voting in Bush? It would be nice if the Anti-American Canadians and British could own up to some of the responsibility instead of using that tired “victim card”.

You can take a look at the comment section of that article too. It’s very interesting. You’ll see both balanced and unbalanced views there. There are 286 comments posted. The majority of the comments are obviously posted by British people. But I cannot help but to share one view from an American that’s after my own heart (which are comments # 8 and 9).

As an American, please allow me to begin by asserting that our nation has had its strengths and its weaknesses, its successes and its failures, and its justices and injustices throughout history and continuing into the present. Although I sense much patriotism for my homeland, I recognize our need for humility to understand that our country is not above questioning or reproach but is rather under the same standards as all other nations of the world. I would simply like to ask those who view our country from afar to maintain a balanced perspective and realize too that there exists good and bad in America, both in terms of its domestic society and politics as well as in its relations with other nations.

Whilst there may be growing anti-Americanism in the United Kingdom I do not believe such sentiment to be reciprocated on our side of the Atlantic. I viewed a recent survey that indicated most Americans view England positively, and never have I seen the flag of your country (or any other foreign land, for that matter) burned in the streets of our cities. Clearly we as American citizens have not meant to be your enemies.

This is exactly how I feel.

Speaking of “copying America’s trends”, Cappl spoke about this going on in Germany too.

We germans are listening to your music, eat your food (ok most of the time your _fastfood_, but hey we really like it anyway), watch hollywood films, many dress american style (I dislike HipHop, but it may show this the best.), we are learning your language - as it*s the world language… and watch thousands of documentaries about your - history, culture, problems - and so on and on and on… And by the way - we are using many english words even while we speak german! Want to see some examples?

“Das ist so verdammt cool!”
“OK, das hab ich verstanden.”
“Verdammter Bug! Immer, wenn ich das Game starte, flieg ich raus und lande auf meinem Desktop!”
!!! hey we guys like you !!!
ok - most of us like you…

This is not specific to Germany, either. In fact, the majority of those who moan, groan, and spit at the USA and it’s people are ’secretly’ devouring our popular culture. Here is just one of the numerous examples that was mentioned in the article and in the video, “How European Media Damages America“:

“Anti-Americanism is hypocrisy at its finest,” he added. “You can spend your evening catching the latest episode of “24″ and then complain about Guantanamo the next morning.”

I’m going to continue this topic with a Part II, but I’d like to finish this with one fine quote:

“There is a big difference between being anti-American and being critical of the United States….critiques are appropriate and necessary, provided that they rest on facts and address real abuses, real errors and real excesses–without deliberately losing sight of America’s wise decisions, beneficient interventions and salutary policies. But critiques of this kind–balanced, fair and well-rounded–are hard to find, except in America herself…” — Jean-Francois Revel

Hat Tip: Christopher

We live in a very “black and white” world where if you’re not a slut, you must be prudish. If you agree that a conservative person was right about something, you must be a neo-con. If Obama doesn’t get elected as president, all Americans are racist. If Hillary doesn’t get elected, all Americans are sexist and primitive. If you openly admit you didn’t vote for Bush, you must be an acid-tripping-tree-hugging-bleeding-heart hippie leftist. If you’re into moderate politics, you must be either a radical liberal or a radical conservative hiding underneath. If you say that you’re agnostic, some people think that you’re just too scared to say you’re an atheist. If you welcome the freedom of Christians to practice their religion, you are automatically assumed to be a bible-thumping red-neck Fundamentalist. If you support Israel, you’re automatically pinned as “hater” of Islam. If you feel that invading Afghanistan was justified, you are to be presumed a “war monger”. If you support the troops, you are thought to be FOR the war. If you make friends with liberals, you are to be assumed that you are one too. If you make friends with conservatives, you are assumed to be one of “them”. If you are against the violence of Fundamental Islam, you are considered to be a racist and a “disgusting person”. If you’re an American, you must be white, fat, lazy, stupid, individualistic, ignorant, arrogant, a greedy capitalist, a racist, a homophobe, materialistic, rich, overly patriotic, a religious fundamentalist, a neo-conservative, a war-monger that is obsessed with McDonalds, guns, violence, SUVs all while stepping on the poor man’s toe to obtain it all. This is how Anti-American nationalists from other western countries perceive Americans.

But does this mean that if you’re a non-American, you are non-Caucasian, slender, politically correct, hard-working, intelligent, generous, humble, tolerant, don’t buy expensive things (because you’re saving that money to send to South Africa), you’re poor or belong to the lower middle class, you share your money with those that need it without question, you say “we” instead of “I”, you’re not patriotic, you’re an atheist, a radical Noam Chomsky liberal, against all wars, eat very healthy, exercise a lot, have no guns, are non-violent, you drive a tiny car, and if someone you know at work wants to get ahead or promoted, you do whatever you can to cooperate to help your co-workers move up in the company sacrificing your own status. You are a very nice and self-less person who never throws his trash on the floor?

Where are the shades of gray? Or is it… to err is to human American?

This is the world we live in. Simple-minded people come from all over.

Critical thinking is beginning to phase out little by little as insecure, bitter, and lazy individuals find it always easier to follow whatever the popular hype is at the time. They find strength in numbers. They are blind. They are sheep. They refuse to see the world in the complex shades of gray that it really is. Forget America. The entire world is dumbing down. The media has latched on to many people and have taken them hostage. Is it really the media’s fault, though? In my opinion, no. It’s always the fault of the one who chooses to be manipulated. Canadians and Europeans (the Anti-American ones) will claim that their media is flawless. I find it natural for them to say this. If you are correctly brainwashed, you WON’T realize that you’ve been brainwashed. Your ears, to anything other than the popular consensus, are closed. Your eyes are forever shut to anything “out of the ordinary group think”.

Many Americans are brainwashed too.

But one thing that I admire about Americans is that we tend to vary more in our political opinions and opinions in general. We don’t have here a majority that thinks one way to such a degree that if someone were to deviate from “the norm”, we’d be considered a pariah.

Here are my questions: If you are European or Canadian and aren’t Anti-American (see definition), can you have friends that are Anti-American and visa versa? Can you speak about any positive feelings about the US publicly in your country? How about Australians? Or New Zealanders? I’d be most curious. My guess is that it’s easier to have diversity of thought in a land that has over 300 million inhabitants such as America.

Some say that all Americans do is watch Fox news and are brainwashed to believe that whatever Bush does is correct. But then we have people like Bill Maher, Howard Dean, George Carlin, Rosie O’Donnell, Michael Moore, Madonna, and literally TONS of American folk (or how about almost ALL of Hollywood) that speak out for the liberal party. Our press, as well, for the most part is liberal. You can find information on that here. Micheal Moore is a millionaire. If all of his profits were just made overseas, he wouldn’t be the success he is right now in the US. He has MANY fans here. But Anti-Americans still run their mouths and complain that everything we touch, see, hear, and feel in the US is stars-and-stripes coated conservatism…. which is not true.

In a Vancouver Sun article on Canadian Anti-Americanism, a Canadian that truly sees America said the following regarding the way people feel about Bush:

Of course the Canadians, Europeans, and South Americans etc. are not alone in feeling ill treated. Many Democrats have a visceral dislike of the Bush administration and their feelings are reflected in American population as a whole. Literally millions upon millions upon millions of Americans simply loath the man; one result of this is that Bush bashing is a billion dollar industry in the States. Another result of this is that while Bush bashing is international in scope it has distinctly American face to it. Michael Moore is arguably its most recognizable figure and a good number of critiques have a Chomskyian like flavor to them. Of course, South Korea’s Roh Moo-hyun and German’s Schroeder are not the only politicians to capitalize on the phenomena either. Howard Dean was the first American politician to capitalize on it and his doing so set the tone for the Democratic primaries.

How come people from other countries cannot see this??? Bush is hated just as much in the US. It’s the “black and white” simplistic-world-view phenomena. A bottled-up hatred that needs an outlet finds [insert nation] as a convenient target for its release. Whether it be temporary anger or anger-management issues in general, an angry person only sees “black and white”. However, a person willing to look at an issue at several different angles seeing all of its complex shades of gray is not an angry person with an ax to grind. I’ve watched myself make sweeping generalizations before, and in retrospect, I realized that I had been furious. When you’re angry, there’s no will or time to reason and explore both sides of anything. Your vision is narrow and you’re on a mission. Seeing the shades of gray would only cause a person to look inward and find faults within themselves. And when you’re angry, you don’t want to see that!

Here’s a black and white example for you:

“Anti-Americanism is at base a totalizing, if not totalitarian, vision. The peculiar blindness of fanaticism can be recognized in the way it seizes on a certain behavior of the hated object and sweepingly condemns it, only to condemn with equal fervor the opposite behavior shortly after–or even simultaneously….According to this vision–in the sense that Littre confers on the word: a ‘phantom projection, a credulous fantasy of fears, dreams, delusions, superstitions’ – Americans can do nothing but speak idiocies, make blunders and commit crimes; and they are answerable for all the setbacks, all the injustices and all the sufferings of the rest of humanity.” — Jean-Francois Revel

Hat Tip: Christopher

Being a moderate, it is hard for me to find other Americans that share the same views I have. I know that they’re out there though. I base my political stances on what the issue is. I know that I’m in the minority here. This is one political class that you don’t find as often in the states. We find more a mixture of liberals, radical liberals, conservatives, radical conservatives, and “apathists” (my new term for those that just don’t care).

Anyway, America is very diverse in thought. And while we are not an entirely a free country in every aspect, how many other countries out there would put up with a person who aggressively challenges its government, and globally exposes his country’s weaknesses via creating books and movies one after another? What would YOUR country do about a Micheal Moore equivalent?

There is a DIFFERENCE between Islam and Islamic Fundamentalism.

There is a DIFFERENCE between Christianity and Christian Fanaticism.

There is a DIFFERENCE between being a Canadian and an Anti-American Canadian.

There is a DIFFERENCE between being an American and a Racist American.

There is a DIFFERENCE between being a European and an Anti-American European.

There is a DIFFERENCE between being a moderate, a liberal, a radical liberal, a conservative, and a radical conservative.

There is a DIFFERENCE between being a Patriot and an Arrogant Blind Patriot.

There is a DIFFERENCE between Anti-American-Government and Anti-American.

There is a DIFFERENCE between LEGAL immigration and ILLEGAL immigration.

My glossary is a work in progress. Please check it out. This may help clear some things up.