"Yowie" wrote in message
...

Snippity...

Its America's PR that sucks. We get to see on our TVs all the nasty stuff
that America does, but rarely see much of the nasty stuff other countries
do. And by the same token, we rarely get to see all the good stuff America
does.

That's our "Catch 22"! Our freedom, especially freedom of the press, is
more important to us than our image to the rest of the world. Nice, "feel
good" stories *might* make page 8 of the paper, *if* it's a slow news day.
Scandals are when sells cereal and cars.

Through this group I have learnt that Americans are exceptionally generous
people. That isn't advertised far and wide. Nor is you openness, your
friendliness, or the fact that many of you find some of the things you
country does in your name just as distasteful as the rest of the world.
Its
only once you get to know regular Americans reasonably well, can you see
that they are just regular folks like everyone else, and aren't really
like
the people we see on the nightly news.

I think that's what's been getting to me lately. Our country gives billions
and billions of dollars to other countries, bails out their railroads and
their currency, gives our lives for others' freedom (who often won't fight
for their own freedom) and the only thing we seem to get in return is nasty
remarks about our stupidity (well, maybe we are being stupid by giving away
our hard-earned dollars and young lives to ungrateful people who pay us back
with slurs instead of thanks). But we won't stop doing it, we'll continue
to help wherever help is needed, and we won't even complain much when we're
stabbed in the back for doing so. I just have this image of the rest of the
world holding out their right had for our dollars while thumbing their nose
at us with their left.

That being said, however, I cannot stop being openly critical of those
things I feel are wrong and causing more harm than good to this planet and
its occupants. Of course, this forum is not the place for that criticism,
but I am just as critical of Australia, my adopted country and one I love
deeply, as I am of America, England and any other country's politics and
global behaviour. And I remind myself that, whilst I am critical of the
behaviour of the government of the country, that does not mean that the
general populace are at fault, after all, except for a very vocal few,
they
are regular folks trying to lead regular lives, just like the rest of the
world.

As I told David, I have no problem with criticism of the wrongs my country
has done, I'm fighting here at home to right them. It's just the
ingratitude and the "painting us all with a broad brush" approach that I'm
getting tired of - the "America bashing" that has become almost an epidemic
among the rest of the world.

Hugs,

CatNipped

Yowie


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