Anti-Britishness

Will Heaven of the telegraph online says that animosity towards BP is tied up with feelings of anti-Britishness. He quotes: Graydon Carter in August edition of Vanity Fair:

“BP can bill itself as “Beyond Petroleum” all it likes. But to most of us it will always be British Petroleum. And it’s no secret that its very Britishness is causing considerable friction between the U.S. and the Old Country.”

And Congressman Anthony Weiner:

“Here’s a viewers guide to BP media briefings. Whenever you hear someone with a British accent talking about this on behalf on British petroleum, they are NOT telling you the truth”.

So why are Americans so anti-British?

I haven't noticed any anti-Britishness here.

It's Shelagh's fault. She has been blamed for lots of things, why not the oil spill in the Gulf?

I agree with LC. That anti-British idea is a totally new one for me. No evidence that I know of.

Ann

If there's any anti-Britishness, it's been drowned out by the anti-Mexican. There's a lot of that, lol.

eta -looks like the British make the same stupidass excuses for behavior that Americans do. Here's one who killed his family and his boss blamed it on "the pressures of modern life." Uh... ok.

http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article/british-dad-andy-case-kills-family-before-taking-own-life/19570055

We could start an anti-British thread. Let's see, the Brits drive on the wrong side of the road. That has to have a detrimental influence on right brain/left brain thinking patterns.

It's their food. Have you ever eaten their food?

Haha, yeah, I have. It was pretty bad, right up there with Russian food.

Maybe the guy in the article was tired of the food? That's as good a reason as "the pressures of modern life."

I don't know about the food; the best breakfast I've ever had was at a B&B somewhere outside of London where I was so tired of screaming every time my spouse came out of a round a bout on the wrong side that he finally pulled over, stopped; and we walked until we found a quaint B&B. The host and hostess were lovely; our room obviously once belonged to a daughter with pink curtains and frilly, foofy stuff decorating the room. We woke up to the wonderful smell of fresh coffee, fresh breads and found a sumptuous feast at the breakfast table with other guests to chat with.

I could complain about the hitchhiker we picked up who gave us a wonderful tour of London: no, that was a good thing, too.

I'm with DK on the driving thing. I only drove once in England and it was the last. I did the same thing coming out of the round a bout. Lucky there was no accident.

Can't say much about the food, but the girls were nice. Why they are called "birds" still puzzles me.

I had some really good food in and around London when we were there in '75. We didn't attempt driving there, but the taxis and buses seemed safe, certainly compared to Hong Kong, the only other place I've been where people drove the opposite way to what many of us are used to driving.

I liked England so much I came home with a British accent that lingered for weeks.

It's a lovely way of speaking.

Ann

It seems that anti British Empire sentiments fed the politicians. My kids have watched most of the Disney films and many if not most of the villains are British or speak with an English or Scottish accent.

Ask the French or Italians what they think of British/American/Russian food.

Mike wrote:

Quote :

Ask the French or Italians what they think of British/American/Russian food.

What's the connection? For that matter, what is "American" food? Every region of this country, it seems to me, has a different cuisine.

Was Mary Poppins a villain?

Ann

I am not anti British--my son in law is British.
I LOVE BRITS!

If you were to appoint as critics people from countries famous for high cuisine I suspect they will put all three culinary customs in the same junk category. So you have American, British and Russian food with similarly poor international reputations and the American (Al) turns to the others and says your foods terrible. It’s a case of the kettle calling the pot black.

Ironically one reason you can experience great food in the UK is a legacy of the empire but then that’s not exactly what people mean when they say British food.

We have Jaffa cakes:



195 calories PER Jaffa Cake!

and ice cream to die for, digestive biscuits, and little fancy yogurts.

Yorkshire Pudding!

Ann

Alas, British humor leaves me in the dust. I do enjoy British drama, however. Actually, about the only comedy film that has ever brought me to near tears is Planes, Trains and Automobiles, a U.S. film with Steve Martin. I bought a copy just to laugh when I'm blue.

ps - and I do know that David Tennant and Douglas Henshall are from Scotland. But their TV shows are British.

dkchristi wrote:

We could start an anti-British thread. Let's see, the Brits drive on the wrong side of the road. That has to have a detrimental influence on right brain/left brain thinking patterns.

Funny.
They drive on the 'wrong' side in Ireland too.
Odd how quickly and easily driving in the wrong seat, shifting with the wrong hand, and driving on the wrong side came to me.

I was going to drive 'first' when my hubby and I picked up the rental car. He decided I was to good at being 'backwards' that I got to do all the driving.

Kind of scary how easy it was too me.

LOL DK! It must work on the the left brain / right brain thingy.

Maybe some kinesiology brain exercises before driving would help some people???

The only place I dared was in New Zealand. There, the primary road occupants were sheep. I didn't drive in the cities; just on the cross-country, open road journeys. I still have to be careful crossing the street in those countries or I'm likely to get smacked by looking the wrong way for traffic.

Squashed flat is more like it.