I may be wrong, and please don't be offended, but I think the portrayal of many Americans as being (for instance) Christian fundamentalists, Survivalists or even vaguely supportive of acts like the Patriot Act, seem to suggest there are many people inclined that way. Knowing many US citizens, I know this to be a caricature. Unfortunately I'm sure many US citizens still think we all drink tea and wear bowler hats.


Not only that, I think increasingly, there's no distinction being made between the USA and the UK.

That's an interesting point. Perhaps it boils down to the most recently heard headline. I think most people judge the country and its inhabitants by the stance taken by its political leadership at any one time. That's one of the reason things take time to change.

LOL, well I'm not sure about you guys drinking tea and wearing bowler hats; but for the most part your caricature of American public is generally true. And its that authoritarianism that is intertwined with their language of "Americanism". Even though not everyone fits that particular frame, you can generally say that the American political mainstream does, maybe except for being Christian fundamentalists. You'll notice that, even though not too many people approve of Bush right now, generally speaking, in the Republican ranks and even among most of the Democratic ranks (supposedly the "opposition party"), they basically agree with and uphold the unchecked power of this administration on its own citizens, and the almost Orwellian-esque legislation of the Patriot Act. The very passing of that Act was a knee-jerk chauvinistic reactionary vote by Congress, where no one in Congress even read the act before they passed it. In a show of authoritarianism and blindness in the wave after 9/11, they just 'trusted' the President and his authority.

However, even though I think a generalization that most people in the United States are deeply religious and politically so is a false one; it is fair. Because even though religious moderates might outnumber the evangelists, the evangelists make up a huge voting bloc (the largest one that is something other than a political party in terms of organization and mobilization) with like 80 million people or something. So even though they might be a minority (a quite fat one, anyway) they do influence the political mainstream a lot. And undoubtedly the evangelism and religious extremism is indeed a force of authoritarianism and even sometimes fascism in America.

And IMO "there's the rub". I think even people on the left in the UK (including myself) have been concerned with the centralisation of power with the PM that has occurred during Tony Blairs leadership. I for one, see Gordon Brown, as having his roots in a more traditional, democratic and consensual (and constitutional) type of leadership. It just seems too easy for a demagogue to emerge in the USA, than it does here. That's what people fear IMO.

Hi, Reg - good to see you here!

I think your point about Labour and Conservative supporting, broadly, Democrat and Republican viewpoints seems to have been turned on its head in recent years (well, you did say it was a generalisation!). There seemed to be a close relationship between Blair and Clinton in the early 90s, and there was certainly a close relationship between Thatcher and Reagan in the 80s. But at the last US election, it was the Labour leadership that were being very friendly towards Bush, while the Tories paradoxically were voicing support for Kerry.

I don't see anti-American sentiments in the UK as being anti American people, just anti the current US leadership. In terms of acting as the world's policeman, it isn't the concept of a wealthy democracy encouraging other states towards a peaceful road that's the problem - after all, Clinton had tremendous influence and respect on both sides of the divide in Ireland and we now seem to be on the verge of a genuinely peaceful outcome there as a result, in part, of his efforts - but the "gung ho" attitude that it seems to have been executed with in recent years. And this isn't anti-Americanism - the anti-Bush sentiment in the UK is also an anti-Blair one.

The war in Iraq, for instance, has been a disaster. US service personnel have been responsible for "friendly fire" incidents where they've shot down allied planes, and both US and UK service personnel have been implicated in the bad treatment of Iraqi citizens. Saddam Hussein was an appalling dictator, and he really shouldn't have been that hard an act to follow! For the forces who liberated Iraq from his dictatorship - initially welcomed by most of the Iraqis - to be so hated now is a tragedy that will take generations to fix.

Blair's popularity ratings were pretty high before Iraq. I think he's widely perceived as having blown it - not because there was any sympathy for Saddam, but because many of us get the feeling we've been conned. We were told we had to invade Iraq because there were weapons of mass destruction, which both governments now admit weren't there; and what weapons they did have were provided to them by us - we were the ones who were arming Saddam to the teeth, selling him weapons and chemicals to kill his own people with, on the flimsy grounds that he didn't like Iran, and our enemy's enemy must be our friend. And yet our politicians attempt to take the moral high ground, and never once said "OK, maybe it was a mistake to sell powerful weapons to a psychopath, sorry - we won't do it again."

Hello Chris!!!! Fancy meeting you here!!!! I wonder how this will go? Anyway lets immediately demonstrate a good ole English divide!!!!

You don't actually think anyone other than Blair felt vaguely comfortable with that "love in" do you? I bet even the Americans were embarressed by it!!

As for the Tories going the other way, well......we all know that they were so desperate they'd try anything. C'Mon.....don't misrepresent how people in both parties really felt.

I think that British people love American people. Friends, Will & Grace. I even got into a 10 year old series called "Just Shoot Me" during my recent stay in hospital. (8.30 am, before my blood tests but after Frasier). There's just this thing isn't there. Do you Americans see it? That thing that makes us uncomfortable when we're talking to our French mates?
It's what makes Richard Dreyfuss hate Brits and it's what someone I can't think of, hates Americans.

IMO the war in Iraq has only served to reinforce stereotypes that already existed Chris. What new ones have emerged from WW2 or Vietnam? Sorry USA guys, we did it in C19.

I and many of my left leaning friends never believed the Bush/Blair cover story. I believe Blair believed it!! But all the previous stuff about arming Saddam is just historical Real Politik. I made Kevlar vest panels for the Iraqi army in 1981 for Gods sake!!!
Back to the question though.... Anti Americanism... It's a real source....innit!!!!


PLEASE EXCUSE SPELLING MISTAKES, THEY'RE UK ENGLISH VERSIONS