bettyk

If I lived abroad and didn't have access to some "fair and balanced" news reporting, I'd probably hate Bush too. I am always amazed when traveling in the UK and the Continent at how slanted the reporting is against the Bush administration. Of course, we have the same problem here which is why Fox News has gained such popularity and ABC, CBS and NBC are losing viewership.

BTilke

Since we live in Europe, we spend most of our time away from the touristy areas. I would say the *general* (VERY VERY general, so mgmargate, hanskiday et al, don't jump down my throat) reaction to the U.S. is puzzlement. There IS a lot of antipathy toward Bush in Western Europe; but conversely, there is a lot of warmth/affection for Americans. The Europeans we know are trying to reconcile these negative and positive feelings.
I just got back from an extended trip in the U.S. a couple of days ago and the comments from many of the Belgians I've spoken with vis a vis the election is "what happened"? There was a genuine feeling among many Europeans that Kerry would win. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. The charming Egyptian (with an American wife) who runs our favorite frites shop said "I just don't get it. I don't understand America these days." I've heard variations on that theme from our German friends and relatives, my husband's British and Belgian staff, my Italian colleagues, and so on.
Of course, there are plenty of Europeans who strongly support Bush and America's current policies. I haven't run into them personally ;-) but I'm sure they're out there.
The general feelings also will vary from location to location. I wouldn't expect a huge welcome from the people in Fife, Scotland, for the moment.
Also, people are just nervous in general about the Middle East situation and how it will affect their lives--the murder of the Dutch filmmaker who criticized Islam, the impending death of Arafat and its aftermath in the Muslim world, and the instability in Iraq--are all mixing together to give many Europeans a sense of unease.

P_M

I have always felt like people judge me for the person I am and not by the actions of my government. Maybe it's my imagination, but it seems like I have treated better since the Iraq war began. This is NOT because the Europeans support the war, but many Europeans have gone out of their way to let me know that despite the differences between our governments, Americans are still welcome in their counrty. I look forward to at least 2 trips to Europe in 2005, and I do so with no apprehension.

karens

I was in Paris for 8 days in early October. I can say that I didn't experience any outright anti-American sentiment. Once when we were waiting in line for the Seine River cruise, a rude womean with a Paris guidebook in Spanish kept pushing us forward. She charged right through our group, and in doing so separated a mom and her daughter. When the daughter politely asked if she could pass and go ahead and join her mother, the women spitted out "Americans!" as if she were not the rude one.

One of the members on our tour had an American friend who was currently teaching English to French school-children. I asked her if she's experienced any anti-American sentiment. She said the kids love the fact that she's American and SHE said that the French like Americans but hate Bush.

I saw two Kerry pins on the Metro, which shocked me. I didn't know the nationality of the bearers, but as an American I would never have identified myself so readily.

We had an Italian guide. His parting words to us at the airport were "Vote Well".

PBProvence

I've lived in France and Belgium for over thirty years and have never experienced any kind of recriminations because I'm American. It's the decision making of the administration that they don't like, not to mention the arrogant tone of some in the administration when they "speechify".

to bettyk:
<<If I lived abroad and didn't have access to some "fair and balanced" news reporting, I'd probably hate Bush too. I am always amazed when traveling in the UK and the Continent at how slanted the reporting is against the Bush administration. Of course, we have the same problem here which is why Fox News has gained such popularity>>

I, and many others on the Continent and the UK, have access to Fox news. "Fair and balanced" and "news" are not words I would use to describe what they do.

Patricia

Florence

Bonjour BettyK,

You wrote: "If I lived abroad and didn't have access to some "fair and balanced" news reporting, I'd probably hate Bush too. I am always amazed when traveling in the UK and the Continent at how slanted the reporting is against the Bush administration. Of course, we have the same problem here which is why Fox News has gained such popularity and ABC, CBS and NBC are losing viewership."


What, in your opinion, would be a "fair and balanced" news reporting that should make us like Pres. Bush ? What makes you think Europeans (or citizens of any country in the World with a www access) don't have access to that "fair and balanced" news reporting ?

ira

>"I just don't get it. I don't understand America these days." <

Not unusual. Most of the world has never understood us.

Sometimes we don't understand us.

miguelgcuadra

This is too general, what is Americans in your opinion, the white anglo saxon. There black, hispanic, orientals...we are all Americans.
I am a American citizen and know very well how to behave, well educated and excellent manners.
The low class from any nationality get the treatment they deserve...

DAX

Hello Florence,
I beg to differ from you. Watching the european broadcast news makes me realized how incomplete and biased our american broadcast news is, even CNN or MSNBC. However, most people know how ironic the title Fair & Balance is because it is far from the truth. I can't imagine conversing with european locals if I base my opinions on Fair & Balance.

AisleSeat

I wonder if there are French sites saying "How are the French treated abroad" or German sites wondering the same thing? How do we treat people from other countries when we encounter them here?

This is a good opportunity for us to look at this from another angle and maybe go out of our way to make a good impression on people who are visiting our country, not judging them for their government, language or any other differences.

beachbum

My wife and I spent a week in Paris just over a month ago. The most vehement anti-Bush sentiment I heard was from the mouths of other Americans. We found that, while the French may not agree with your political opinions, they are generally tolerant and respectful of your rights to them.

Florence, I don't know if my observations were representative, but in more than one bookstore I saw book covers painting Kerry in a positive light, while the title of the one book with Bush on the cover was something like Bush's Secret Plan to Control France. Fair and Balanced?

cigalechanta

BettyK, Fox news is the propaganda arm of the White House.

PamSF

Just back from France where we were treated very well. They seemed most gracious in any number of ways and in a variety of contexts.

sundown

No problems whatsoever on my Switzerland trip last month. On the other hand, a friend who visited relatives in Austria told me her relatives are so anti-Bush they've vowed not to visit the U.S. again until he's out of office. (No word on whether they'd planned to make extra trips if Kerry won!)

The only reminder of the presidential election I had in Europe (other than some brief conversations with relatives) was a woman in Lausanne wearing a Kerry button. I found that rather strange because I'd bet she never once wondered what political party any of the Swiss around her supported, yet found it appropriate to broadcast her views to them.

bettyk

<Fox news is the propaganda arm of the White House.>

cigalechanta, if you truly believe that, then you really do have a small mind and all the traveling in the world won't help.

Most of the news reporting I have witnessed in the UK and Europe is liberally biased because most of the population is liberal leaning. They never show you the good things that our troops in Iraq are doing or the people they have helped. They only show you the death and destruction and it is ALWAYS our fault, even when it isn't.

I expect to see both sides from a news organization so I can make up my own mind. I don't want the journalists becoming part of the story like Dan Rather and CBS with their phony National Guard papers about Bush.

jor

I experienced a small bit of America bashing when I was in Scotland a few years ago. Some Scots were mad at us because we were not traveling to Britain with our tourist dollars because of the mad cow thing! I even heard this criticism from an Australian tourist. I think that sometimes we get blamed no matter what we do. But I do love Scotland and the Scots.

A_Broad_Going

Maybe bettyk "works" for Bill O'Reilly...wink wink.

cigalechanta

bettyK I can critique any station I want . It was not an insult to YOUR brain.

sheila

I must admit, Brenda, that I drove to work this morning listening to the news, and logged on and saw Budman's somewhat ungenerous remark, my immediate thought was "How many dollars is the value of a Black Watch soldier"

But it passed in a moment. We have, Deo gracias, lost many fewer servicemen than your army. I'd rather they weren't there, but it's not the fault of Americans, or EVEN the American government that they are. They are doing their job, and whether we approve the politics of the war or not, it is incumbant on us to support, and in this case, grieve, them.

I fear that no-one else in the forum will have caught your reference to Fife and I doubt that many are aware of the stushie that the deployment of Black Watch servicemen has caused in the UK.

I must admit to being amused on two level when I was in France a fortnight ago to see the headline in La Depeche "les Anglais a la rescousse" (the English to the rescue)

But, then again, in the midst of the Halliburton slagging, how many of you know that 54 Halliburton employees have lost their lives in Iraq since April 2003?

cigalechanta

We should grieve for all families who have lost their loved ones in battle.
I remember my uncle telling me that he met face to face with a german in combat. They both looked at eachother and walked away in opposite directions, having seen the face of a man who didn't want to do that and maybe a young father as he was way back in the early forties.