Quote:


...Which ally will step forward when they are attacked?..
Bob



Well, as I see it we Brits have always stepped up to the bar when asked to do so. We’re losing a soldier a day doing so at this very moment in the Middle East. Thanks friend, so much for the special relationship...

I haven't been taking part in this forum for a long while now precisely because of the massive anti-anything-not-American vitriol that gets spewed forth at the drop of a hat. If a post so much as whiffs of criticism of the US, out come the Bubbas, all guns blazing. Free speech? Nah, not when anyone takes the slightest issue with the US for something. What is it with you guys and the Europeans anyway? You're a huge hybrid race of Europeans and Africans anyway, so why the hatred for your roots?

Personally, I don't lump a whole country's population in with their governments, now that would be crazy. And I don't make assumptions about all forum members because of the tetchiness of a minority: I'm just put off from the sheer aggression on show sometimes. My brother in law is American and our families had a great time at our home on Christmas Day, even discussing politics with no over-sensitivity on anyone’s part or either of us perceiving our nations’ fundamental values had been 'got at’.

I've always had a soft spot for the US. I'm an avid student of US history and have immense admiration for the early pioneers and the grit at the heart of US culture. I've been on many visits and always loved the welcome and hospitality I experience. Nothing will change that in me.
I hold the same warmth for my many long-standing US friends on this forum. I just wish some forum members wouldn't take the odd note of criticism as a full-on, all-out attack on the fundamental ethos of the US as a country, responding with barely-disguised rage. Over the last few decades some folks in the US seems to have a developed an alarming “they're out to get us, the ungrateful swines” psyche. I'm puzzled as to the origin of this.

Music brought us all together, let’s stay together. A Happy and Peaceful New Year to all.
I’ll maybe drop by again at some time in the future.