Ok, I don't ever want to see another link to an article from the Guardian posted in this forum and have it passed off as being an objective source. Fegwu, didn't you post 3 Guardian articles in 9 minutes a couple of weeks ago? Yes you did. The Guardian is writing "undecided voters" in Ohio telling them to vote against Bush. I will respect anybody's opinion, but for them to meddle in a US election is crossing the line. This is atrocious. http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/19/britain.letters.reut/index.html UK anti-Bush letters spark outrage Tuesday, October 19, 2004 Posted: 8:54 AM EDT (1254 GMT) LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A pro-Kerry letter-writing campaign by Britain's left-leaning Guardian newspaper, targeting undecided U.S. voters, has provoked outrage across the Atlantic. The paper has encouraged its readers to express their opinions on the November 2 presidential election to voters in the key swing state of Ohio -- to the fury of Clark county. "Hey England, Scotland and Wales, mind your own business. We don't need weenie-spined Limeys meddling in our presidential election," was one of the e-mail reactions to the campaign. The Fox national cable television network tore into the newspaper and even John Kerry's own Democrats expressed horror at the campaign. "We all feel it is not a good idea. I think it was unwise. It is so poorly thought-out," said Sharon Manitta, spokeswoman in Britain for Democrats Abroad. But the newspaper, whose cartoons regularly portray President George W. Bush as a semi-literate ape, was unrepentant. "We did consult a number of opinions and made our decision accordingly," assistant features editor Paul MacInnes told Reuters. "It has been an operation to give our readers an opportunity to express their opinions." With just two weeks to go before the election, Kerry is running neck and neck with Republican incumbent Bush. Ohio is a key swing state which Bush won by just four percentage points in 2000, and Clark county is at its heart. The campaign is a bid to sway voters on the county's electoral register who have declared themselves undecided. As of Monday night, more than 14,000 people had registered to write to a voter in Cook county which has a population of just 143,000. Individuals like film director Ken Loach, spy writer John Le Carre, historian Antonia Fraser and opposition Liberal Democratic parliamentarian Menzies Campbell have all written in their own capacity -- not that their names necessarily carry much weight in Cook county. The Guardian, which simply bought a list of registered voters and extracted the undecided, pledged that it would only give out the name of each voter once, to avoid them being swamped by unsolicited mail from complete strangers. "We know that in many ways this is the world's election, and we understand the passion and concern in many parts of the world over it. But I wonder how people here in the UK would react to Americans telling them how to vote," Democrats Abroad's Manitta said. "This will certainly garner more votes for George Bush. I have strongly advised other media entities who have come to me and suggested this against doing so," she added. While some e-mails to the Guardian from Democrats in Ohio were supportive, others suggested the campaign was misguided. But their mild admonitions paled into insignificance against the more reactionary views received by the paper. "Real Americans aren't interested in your pansy-ass, tea-sipping opinions. If you want to save the world, begin with you own worthless corner of it," wrote one from Texas.
Yeah, this kind of stuff sucks. Imagine if, for example, somebody like Vladimir Putin came out and told Americans that they will lose the war on terrorism if John Kerry is elected. Good thing something like that hasn't happened...
I don't think other countries should be giving us advice, but if we're going around the world and forcing democracies on other countries, I think they have the right for a little or a lot of criticism. Its another one of those two way street things. that said, this was an incredibly poorly thought out idea.
Americans want all the goodies that come with being the world's only super power, but none of the responsibility. This country essentially runs the table on the global scale, but Americans still become indignant when a "Euro" dares to question our policies. Our government can attack, invade and occupy two sovereign nations because, well, we're America. But some Americans get defensive when an English newspaper criticizes our president, as if Europe is completely unaffected by American policy. That's one helluva double standard, right there.
I don't see what the big deal is. Why can't one write letters to others urging them to vote in a particular manner?
Because they're from Europe - which my ethnocentrism tells me is populated by p*****s and commies - unless they agree with me. Also, I have a bigger penis than all of them. Also, tea-sipping? That email came from a tamu.edu address.
