Ironworks Gaming Forum - Freedom's Banner Still Fries

This was a commentary piece in my local paper yesterday from journalist Steve Penells who is in America at the invitation of the US State Department.

It's a little lengthy, and you might wonder whether he is on all sides or none throughout the journey, but it seemed to me he had a few good things to say along the way.

Quote:

FREEEDOM'S BANNER STILL FRIES
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Why does the world hate America? I have been asked this question constantly over the past few weeks from L.A. to Washington, to the heart of Texas and the bars of New Orleans.
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It is a loaded question. I don't think it is even true, but I keep getting asked it.
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There is certainly a feeling out there that the United States, with all its economic and military might, remains something of an underdog on the world stage, trying to do good while the global community is determined to stymie, criticise, and demonise it.
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America has the worlds most advanced education system and institutions of learning yet the average man on the street appears to know little of world affairs. They don't know where other countries are located, they don't know much anout international history, and they don't seem to care either. Less that 10% of Americans reportedly have passports.
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But they are aware of criticism of their government, and take it personally.
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In a small diner in the Texas town of Huntsville, the phrase French fries is still banned from the menu in protest against France's position before the war in Iraq. Like many places across the States, what we know as chips are know known there by the absurdly patriotic moniker, Freedom Fries.
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Defiance is everywhere. Anchors on the top rating cable news network, Fox News, still manage to utter the stations catchphrase "fair and balanced reporting" with a straight face before bagging another critic - American or otherwise - of the Bush administration.
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This mix of doe-eyed parochialism and unquestioning patriotism is cited by many critics of the US to one of the country's critical flaws.
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Certainly one of the most surprising things about the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison is that anyone was actually surprised to find out that it happened. There has always been a history of this type of thing in war - by Americans and by others. That doesn't make it right, but it doesn't mean it comes out of the blue either.
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But while the Abu Ghraib scandal has shamed the US military and refuelled international criticism of US foriegn policy, what critics have failed to note is how it actually highlighted the often uncredited strengths of the American people.
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There has been no bigger outrage about what happened at Abu Ghraib than there has been in the US. The issue has dominated America's media for 3 weeks and the soldiers involved have been roundly condemned. People on the streets are talking about it and demanding action.
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In just one image of Pte Lynddie England standing over a naked leashed Iraqi, Americans saw themselves as their critics saw them, and refused to allow that image to define them. "Americans do not do this", President George Bush said.
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Clearly Americans did do this. But his statement echoed what many were saying - Americans bind themselves to a moral code, and this is not what they were about. For every Freedom Fry and Fox News broadcast there is navel gazing, questioning, and debate in America about the US Government's actions and the actions of their own.
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Mr Bush's democratic rival for the presidency, John Kerry. put it clearly at a rally yesterday when he accused the President of hiding behind patriotism and the US flag. He said patriotism meant being strong enough to have dissent and alternate views. He is right, and nowhere is this diversity of views more ingrained and constitutionally protected than in America.

For every past foreign policy blunder and outrage, there has been domestic dissent and debate which has questioned or changed it. For every apalling legislative act - whether it be over gun ownership or the death penalty there have been social or economic advancements that have put other countries to shame. America's groundbreaking civil rights movement was well underway when we were still refusing Aboriginals the vote.
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The critics who simply attack the US - the country, the concept, the brand, the cliche - are guilty of the same myopic view they accuse the Americans of having. Sure, Americans don't travel well. They come across as loud, ignorant, and tuck their shirts into their shorts. Not a good look.
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But anyone who has been to Kuta knows that Australians don't exactly cover themselves with glory overseas. We are loud, ignorant, and wear footy shorts when it is obvious we have never played a game in our lives. We are also often drunk which tends to magnify those little idiosyncrasies.
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The US dominates our popular culture. It has given us the best and the worst in film and television. It guides our fashion, music and foods. We eat the same food, listen to the same music, watch the same movies, and like it or not, we fight the same wars.

But when things go wrong, we don't debate our actions with the intensity that the Americans do, we don't foster a culture of diverse opinion, and we don't operate under suuch a strong moral code, and I think we are the worse for it.