God Bless America and sod off Britain

God Bless America and sod off Britain

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The right wing of the web was buzzing this week with incensed Americans complaining about The Guardian's ill conceived stunt of asking its UK readers to write to voters in Clark County, Ohio to Vote for Senator Kerry rather than Dubwa.
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The gist of the responses was that British people should keep their noses out of another country's elections. Many of the responses also included references to 1776, 1812, The Potato Famine, The Highland clearances and the fact that it is widely known that Brits are fags.
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Yes, the stunt was stupid, insensitive and arrogant which is why I laughed, loudly, when the Executive Editor of the Guardian, Albert Scardino, defended his newspaper on UK television. He spoke with a rather strong American accent.
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Besides, ask 90% of the literate UK population and they'd advise you that believing anything you read in the Guardian is about as sensible as using the National Enquirer for stock tips. But, hey, even if the idea came from an American edited newspaper, which is a joke to the majority of the UK, why pass up on a good chance to jam a finger into British ribs?
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What really struck me was the rubbish spouted by right wing Americans, directed at the UK. Mmmmm, if that's what they think of their only significant ally is it any wonder the conservative US administration feels so friendless around the world these days. At the last count 68 British soldiers have died in Iraq supporting the American attack and occupation; smaller than US losses but we have proportionately fewer forces in the region. Every single one of those ignorant web-based nuts indulging in anti-British rants is spitting on the graves of those dead men.
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I shouldn't be surprised though. America is full of people claiming descent from people who where wronged by the British in the past. When there aren't genuine grievances Hollywood will make them up; which is why I'm such a fan of all those 'historically accurate' American films like the The Patriot, Braveheart or Titanic. Need a psycho in a movie? Cast a British actor. This ignorant anti-British hate has dried-up a little since 9/11 but reading the response to the Guardian story proves to me that its still there; lurking at near surface level, as strong as ever. During numerous visits to the US I have only ever met one person who owned up to English descent (for most Americans English and British seem to mean the same thing) but countless people who make big of their Irish or Scottish backgrounds.
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Yeah, yeah. The Potato Famine was a terrible thing. It was however 150 years ago. My ancestors were living off lichen polenta on top of a godforsaken mountain in Italy and Americans were merrily exterminating native people and working slaves to death on plantations. Come to think of it, until only about 3 years and 1 month ago some East Coast Americans were funding IRA baby bombers through NORAID. Time to let it all go I think.
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American democratic institutions and the concept of America liberties and freedoms are English in origin; they're not Irish, Scottish, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish or German. English settlers came to America and set up the framework of a society that drew oppressed people from all over the World. The first boatloads came from the part of London where I grew up. When 1776 came around most British soldiers, sailors and commanders disagreed with fighting people they saw as their kinsmen. That's why the British lost that one. Their heart wasn't in it. So why don't you Americans cut us some fricking slack for a change?