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| Fifth Column | |||||
| I loathe America, and what it has done to the rest of the world | |||||
| 2003-05-08 | |||||
| Bulldog. Are you familiar with this raving maniac? By Margaret Drabble Wasn't she in the Flintstones? I knew that the wave of anti-Americanism that would swell up after the Iraq war would make me feel ill. And it has. It has made me much, much more ill than I had expected. My anti-Americanism has become almost uncontrollable. It has possessed me, like a disease. It rises up in my throat like acid reflux, that fashionable American sickness. I now loathe the United States and what it has done to Iraq and the rest of the helpless world. Jesus, lady. Take a pill, willya? I can hardly bear to see the faces of Bush and Rumsfeld, or to watch their posturing body language, or to hear their self-satisfied and incoherent platitudes. The liberal press here has done its best to make them appear ridiculous, but these two men are not funny. You got that right. Ask the Taliban and Saddam Hussein how funny they are. I was tipped into uncontainable rage by a report on Channel 4 News about "friendly fire", which included footage of what must have been one of the most horrific bombardments ever filmed. I think she tends to exaggerate.And she appears to be a just a teeny bit high strung.
A tradition we picked up from the RAF in North Africa in World War Two. That's the Royal Air Force, lady. As in British. Others have written eloquently about the euphemistic and affectionate names that the Americans give to their weapons of mass destruction: Big Boy, Little Boy, Daisy Cutter, and so forth. You left out "Mother of All Bombs". And it's "Fat Boy", not "Big Boy". Get it right, looney tune. We are accustomed to these sobriquets; to phrases such as "collateral damage" and "friendly fire" and "pre-emptive strikes". We have almost ceased to notice when suicide bombers are described as "cowards". The abuse of language is part of warfare. Long ago, Voltaire told us that we invent words to conceal truths. More recently, Orwell pointed out to us the dangers of Newspeak. But there was something about those playfully grinning warplane faces that went beyond deception and distortion into the land of madness. A nation that can allow those faces to be painted as an image on its national aeroplanes has regressed into unimaginable irresponsibility. A nation that can paint those faces on death machines must be insane. Again, lady. We got this from the RAF. The insane Royal Air Force. I believe they work for you. If you look not so hard, you could probably find a few of their aircraft decorated in a similar fashion. There, I have said it. I have tried to control my anti-Americanism, remembering the many Americans that I know and respect, but I can't keep it down any longer. I detest Disneyfication, I detest Coca-Cola, I detest burgers, I detest sentimental and violent Hollywood movies that tell lies about history. I think we'll get by without your support. It'll be hard , but I think we'll survive. We got plenty of our own nuts over here. I detest American imperialism, American infantilism, and American triumphalism about victories it didn't even win.
Oh, we'll listen, lady. If you scream loud enough, we don't have a choice. America uses the word "democracy" as its battle cry, and its nervous soldiers gun down Iraqi civilians when they try to hold street demonstrations to protest against the invasion of their country. So much for democracy. (At least the British Army is better trained.) Yeah, so much for democracy. Saddam would never do anything like this.
They call this justice and the rule of law. America is holding more than 600 people in detention in Guantánamo Bay, indefinitely, and it may well hold them there for ever. Guantánamo Bay has become the Bastille of America. They call this serving the cause of democracy and freedom. I keep writing to Jack Straw about the so-called "illegal combatants", including minors, who are detained there without charge or trial or access to lawyers, and I shall go on writing to him and his successors until something happens. This one-way correspondence may last my lifetime. I suppose the minors won't be minors for long, although the youngest of them is only 13, so in time I shall have to drop that part of my objection, but I shall continue to protest. That's good, lady. It's good to have a hobby. Maybe you can adopt a couple of them and they can come live with you? A great democratic nation cannot behave in this manner. But it does. I keep remembering those words from Nineteen Eighty-Four, on the dynamics of history at the end of history, when O'Brien tells Winston: "Always there will be the intoxication of power
Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - for ever." We have seen enough boots in the past few months to last us a lifetime. Iraqi boots, American boots, British boots. Enough of boots. ...one of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you. I hate feeling this hatred. I have to keep reminding myself that if Bush hadn't been (so narrowly) elected, we wouldn't be here, and none of this would have happened. There is another America. Long live the other America, and may this one pass away soon. It's that Evil Bush again! Bring back Billy and Jimmah and that other America? No thanks,lady. | |||||
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #32 Old Patriot, that's uncalled for. Our cooking skills aren't necessarily that bad. I, personally, have (pleasantly surprised) Italian friends who would testify to that! Frank G, the Best of the Web peice wonders why the Telegraph published Drabble's article - I think that's pretty clear. Although the Telegraph (or Torygraph as it's sometimes known) is a right-wing paper at heart, it has inputs from left-wing writers auch as Drabble. Drabble's opinions, though they may occasionally sound surprising to you, are absolutely typical of many in this country and many more abroad. They are, as I said before, emotional, maive, inaccurate etc. and yet are held firmly. It would be amusing if this were one lone idiot crying to the world, but she is just one of many. This is the kind of mindset we, and the average Telegraph reader, are up against. She encapsulates and exemplifies he mental aptitude of your average leftie. Know thine enemy! |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-05-09 02:48:33 |
| #31 If you've ever had the misfortune of eating a Wimpy Burger, you cannot really appreciate Micky-D's or Burger King. I believe the Brits could foul up boiling water. Obviously, this "lady" needs a huge reality-fix. Wonder if she could survive it... |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-05-08 21:04:15 |
| #30 She's just a narrow-minded bigotted little racist. Don't worry the left are so full of bitterness that they lost (ie: didn't get to undemocratically control the actions of our elected leaders) but also humiliated (ie: were blatantly proved wrong by that happy crowd dancing on Saddam's statue) that now they have turned even more venomous (if possible) stewing on their hate. They will turn to personal attack. What they cannot win by political debate they will try through the back-door of dirty politics to destroy people's reputations personally. Witness: Livingstone's abuse of Bush Witness: The Australian Lefts gunning for the Governor General in an attrocious smear campaign (because if they get him sacked, Howard will be smeared by association). Lucky Blair is head of the Left: they cannot organise against him quite so viciously as he's one of their own. |
| Posted by: Anon1 2003-05-08 19:12:36 |
| #29 Best of the Web had her bio w/ comments (of course) Dementia Watch "Lonely pregnancies, jealous sisters, fears of physicality, and loss of identity are Margaret Drabble's specialties," according to the novelist's bio on the Art and Culture Network Web site. That may explain why she's so addled when it comes to the world around her. For some reason London's Daily Telegraph has seen fit to publish an essay in which Drabble describes her allegedly war-induced psychosomatic symptoms: |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-05-08 19:03:30 |
| #28 Drabble and Whatshername from the east coast that can't stand the USA should become roomies in Costa Rica. They have alot in common, but Drab seems to have some more fire in her belly.....ah...yuuuk! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-05-08 16:22:10 |
| #27 Would they name their estate Drabblemoore? |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-05-08 16:00:02 |
| #26 Liberalhawk: How Hitchens would describe himself today would be interesting. I saw him carve up some academics like I never saw before on Charlie Rose several months ago re Iraq/Saddam. BTW, has he been on TV recently, since beginning of war, anywhere? I haven't seen him at all, but I work nights and don't have cable. |
| Posted by: Michael 2003-05-08 15:50:48 |
| #25 Would the kids be named "Moore-Drabble"? |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-05-08 14:30:49 |
| #24 Marks for technical merit: 1.1 , 1.3 , 1.0 , 5.9 , 6.0 Marks for presentation: 5.5 , 5.8 , 5.5 , 6.0 , 6.0 (the last two judges were French & N.Korean respectively) |
| Posted by: RW 2003-05-08 14:05:38 |
| #23 "If you don't believe me, just hope you have a conversation with Chris Hitchens, a legit, published Orwell expert. " and still a liberal, or even radical. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-05-08 14:01:40 |
| #22 Time for someone to up their dosage. Sheesh, I hope the old gal feels better after she's vented cause for every reasonable point there were ten unreasonable ones. And where do the Brits get off complaining about American food? I suspect no one ever forced this gal to eat at McD's or Burger Sling. |
| Posted by: Hiryu 2003-05-08 13:27:12 |
| #21 Who the hell is this person. No matter what the US does it will not be good enough for this one - her anti-americanism distorts her vision of the world. Isn't sad when everyone has to see the world through the United States. She also ends with saying if Bush wasn't elected none of this would of happened. What world is this person in - does she think the people of US just do as we are told! No president could ignore the changed world (at least from the American perspective) Dem or Rep without feeeling the wrath of the american people. Listen we were attacked and not just by a bunch of sods out for weekend outing. Terrorist do not operate without support of nations and Iraq, during the 90's, did support terrorism. Be it alqeda ( or however you spell this shit) or another group terrorism is going to met with the full force of the United States. These countries really messed up thinking that we would never do anyting. If 9-11 never happened the status quo would still be, the tally's would still be there, saddam would still be there and these liberal aholes would find another issue to badger the big bad ugly americans! Screw them, if you play with fire expect fire in return. This culture that has grown in the Middle East that it is ok to kill americans is going to stop - either by talking or by the bullet- but it is going to stop! I just thank god we have a president who looks after the interest of the US and not he rest of the world (or young interms). It's interesting the last US president who was called a 'Cowboy' was Reagan - he brought the Soviets to their knee's and cowed Libya into thinking twice about hitting us. We need more Regans and Bush's - if you do not like well you can go to hell. Dan A patriot. |
| Posted by: Dan 2003-05-08 13:25:54 |
| #20 Colorado. She couldn't have voted for Gore. She's British. It ain't one world yet. I see her more as more of a Nader voter. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-05-08 12:38:40 |
| #19 "Margaret should marry Michael Moore." What do you think there offspring would be like? My quess is some combination of George Galloway and Howard Dean. |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-05-08 12:36:31 |
| #18 Mike: Here you go... In describing the genesis of the name "Flying Tigers" and the group's insignia, Chennault says: ... The insignia we made famous was by no means original with the A.V.G. Our pilots copied the shark-tooth design on their P-40's noses from a colored illustration in the India Illustrated Weekly depicting an R.A.F. squadron in the Libyan Desert with shark-nose P-40's. Also, it's not "Fat Boy", it's "Fat Man". That one's on me. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-05-08 12:34:56 |
| #17 It's interesting, and a measure of the left's Goebbels-inspired duplicity, to see a British trotskyite hate-monger try to invoke her subculture's greatest and most successful opponent, George Orwell. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2003-05-08 12:34:01 |
| #16 Margaret should marry Micheal Moore. They would make for the perfect couple. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-05-08 12:33:09 |
| #15 **** you, you piece of ****** ****, you are a real ******* and I am ******* sure that you voted for Al Gore. There, I feel better now. |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-05-08 12:26:59 |
| #14 Tee hee... what a sad little lady... Check her out: http://www.redmood.com/drabble |
| Posted by: ----------<<<<- 2003-05-08 12:26:45 |
| #13 tu3031: Just a footnote. Weren't Chanute's Flying Tigers in China the first to decorate their noses? Or had things already heated up in NA? I guess we're talking 1940 for both forces, in any case. The important thing is those painted noses are still beautiful to see 60 some odd years later. |
| Posted by: Michael 2003-05-08 12:25:40 |
| #12 She rages because America executes 'children.' Looks like a 16 year-old murderer is a 'child' in her eyes. Fair enough. Britain's Labor Party, under pressure from homosexuals who must have needed access to younger meat, lowered the age of consent for sodomy to 16 a few years ago. That means that HER country and HER party legally allows homosexual acts with children. Geez, I could really hate a place like that... |
| Posted by: Ned 2003-05-08 11:58:36 |
| #11 If it weren't for the thousands of American combat aircraft during the 1940's (along with other types of American combat equipment) painted with cartoons, Goofy here would be speaking German and citing passages from Mein Kampf, rather than talking about '1984'. I suppose she finds Disneyland Paris an abomination (like many French parents with children who love Mickey Mouse). |
| Posted by: VRWC Colorado Chapter (Vast Right Wing Conspiracy) 2003-05-08 11:21:35 |
| #10 I'll second that FormerLiberal. And what the hell is she talking about when she says painting faces on warplanes goes beyond deception? Does this dumb gash really think the U.S. army is trying to disguise a bomber squadron, or a swarm of friggin Apaches as cartoon caracters? |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2003-05-08 10:59:07 |
| #9 Oh that other America, candlelight vigils, workshops, sit-ins, virtual protests, voices that must be heard. Hey lady it gets worse, in this state (WA) it's click it or ticket, we mean it, seatbelts save lives. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2003-05-08 10:58:32 |
| #8 Kinda makes me want to celebrate the Fourth of July right now. |
| Posted by: FormerLiberal 2003-05-08 10:45:14 |
| #7 I found this interesting..."she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford during which time she understudied for Vanessa Redgrave". |
| Posted by: Becky 2003-05-08 10:36:41 |
| #6 Dribble from Drabble. As Sullivan says "mistaking a newspaper column for a therapist's couch" |
| Posted by: john 2003-05-08 10:30:57 |
| #5 Fascinating. I've never seen anyone actually blather before. Somebody dart her before she hurts herself... |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-05-08 10:24:59 |
| #4 "...that fashionable American sickness" sums it all up pretty nicely, I think. Emotional, naive, inaccurate, full of pithy yet unwarranted wisdoms. Typical leftie diatribe. But you've got to hand it to her - she's refreshingly open about her problem. Good fisking, tu3031, but she did half the job herself. I don't know anything about her, but you can read her bio on her website. She seems to be a failed actress-turned prodigious, though obscure, author. She should try writing comedy. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-05-08 10:22:49 |
| #3 Pity, poor woman can't afford her meds now that her bonus checks from Sadaam have ceased. She looks just like you would expect her to. Heh heh. http://www.artandculture.com/arts/artist?artistId=1238 One of her philosophies: "The human mind can bear plenty of reality but not too much intermittent gloom." Ironic for a woman who clearly can't handle reality and wallows in gloom. |
| Posted by: Becky 2003-05-08 10:20:27 |
| #2 Who the F. is she? Lady, 25 million Iraqis have a hope now. It won't be easy and there have been/are/will be hurt feelings and mistakes made as reconstruction moves forward. You didn't see your precious Commie Party of Iraq demonstrating on May 1? Notice, guys, she didn't mention the Iraqi Antiquities scandal. Then to compare us to "1984". Lady, the guy who was in power was the one who promulgated that horror. Orwell would take you down so quickly in a debate, you're head would come off. He's a favorite of mine, and I know how he'd feel re Iraq/Saddam. If you don't believe me, just hope you have a conversation with Chris Hitchens, a legit, published Orwell expert. Let's look at the numbers. Mark Steyn has said it so well. What damage and death the war has cost so far does not in any way compare to the numbers of even 6 months of Iraq in Saddam days. And we won't go back to those days, anyhow. Yeah, baby, the USA and friends are responsible for it. I'm proud. I used to be a liberal; now I'm a thinker. This wacko lady is all emotion. She obviously has no contact with Iraqis on the ground, just probably the Archbishop of Canterbury dude. |
| Posted by: michael 2003-05-08 10:19:04 |
| #1 America uses the word "democracy" as its battle cry, and its nervous soldiers gun down Iraqi civilians when they try to hold street demonstrations to protest against the invasion of their country. So much for democracy. (At least the British Army is better trained.) Two words, Margaret: Bloody Sunday |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-05-08 10:14:55 |