how do you know that is the reason?
What on earth would make you think he wasn't called pro-american because he is..... well.... pro-american?
It's an issue of wordplay and of framing the story. Let's say I get elected to congress and the news outlet that functions as my minister of propaganda issues a story titled "Finally, a non-terrorist, non-child molestor elected to represent the 5th district!" It doesn't take much critical thinking to find that the implication is A)my predecessor was a child molesting terrorist, and B) my oponent in the election was presumably a child molesting terrorist. Presumably Charac and Royal are represented as anti-American by first the notion that a pro-american has finally been elected and second that presumably an anti-American could very well have been elected. The second presumption there is necessary for it to have been a story at all. Otherwise we could have asserted that a pro-American candidate would be elected as soon as it became clear that all the viable candidates would in fact be US allies. Which obviously is the case. No one prominent, as far as I know, was rallying to invade or bomb the United States in the French elections.
Do you consider America to be imperialist is the proper question. Also do you support American foreign policy?
I don't think that anyone competent would deny that the United States took on much of the imperial responsibilities which Britain lost post WW2. I'm certain that no one can deny that the seizing of the continental United States was imperialist, unless there are still some proponents of manifest destiny around somewhere. For the most part, modern imperialism is not like old fasioned colonialism but is generally economic imperialism. And the United States is certainly not solely responsible for that. All in all, there are people with special influence over the US government who are imperialists, and there are anti-Imperialists as well. Some citizens hold imperialist views and some hold anti-imperialist views. As in so many others ways America itself is so massive and diverse as to be hard to define. My answer is yes and no.
As to your second question, like most reasonably well informed Americans I support certain foreign policy descisions and disagree with others. And I most certainly do not believe that not supporting a disastrous and shameful war of agression in Iraq makes me unamerican, nor do I hold it against any of our allies who did not support the war. You can't hold it against your friends when they are right.
lombas said:
Are you the US government?
Good question. The extent to which we have a representative democracy is the extent to which I am. I vote and pay my taxes. And I work for a state government subject to the federal government. That being said, I say again, I am neither a Bushist nor an imperialist and I would criticize someone for being either. Am I unfriendly to America?
