Here is a reality show for the masses: give a group of red staters

[merbex]

tickets to foreign countries with video cameras and tell them that they have to do 100 interviews with the natives about their(natives') impressions of the US

First redstater to get 25 positive views of US wins

I predict that that group of redstaters will be like Charlie on the MBTA:they'll never return

[NewJeffCT]

1. Depends on if you ask impressions of Bush or America in general

Bush is hated and/or ridiculed, but I think you'll still find most outside the Middle East still think at least somewhat favorably of the US people - China, India, Japan, Korea all seem to like us.

[merbex]

2. Maybe you are correct. But I think the interesting thing would be to watch

the red staters reaction to negative comments made

[Lecky]

3. Do we still have Poland? n/t

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. but would those folks like the red staters?

I've never been abroad, but my husband has, and he said the last thing he wanted to see was another American, because so many of the ones he saw made rude and nasty comments about the country they were visiting. I would think that many of the red staters would be this kind of "Ugly American"-unless some liberals from those states were recruited to be on the show.

[tenshi816]

11. Your husband is right

I don't normally come across very many Americans where I live now (Yorkshire) but when I lived in London, I used to cringe at some of the things I heard American tourists saying on the Underground when they were surrounded by British people on their morning commute to work. I used to pray that I didn't need to open my mouth for any reason because I didn't want anyone to hear my Georgia accent and mistake me for "that" type of American.

My own mother used to drive me crazy complaining over here because it "isn't like back home". On her first visit here, when she first met my husband-to-be (who I met in the States), her very first words to him were (I swear this is true): "So, you've lived in both America and Britain, which one do you prefer?".

Future hubby (trying to be diplomatic): "I like both, but I prefer living in the UK just now."

Mom (shaking head in disbelief): "I just can't believe that."

My mother never understood after that why my husband didn't like her. She simply couldn't comprehend that she had insulted him and his country, because she couldn't imagine that anyone who had lived in the USA could actually prefer to live anywhere else. She also never understood that, when she was over here, she was the foreigner.

[GCP]

13. Where in Yorkshire are you?

I'm from there originally (Goole) - not the most picturesque of places, but my family's still there. I've lived in the US since 1980, but am currently considering either moving back to the UK or to Canada. :hi:

[tenshi816]

14. Ilkley, West Yorkshire

I live next to Ilkley Moor. This is the view from my kitchen window:



Goole's about 50 miles from me, I think. Isn't it east of Pontefract on the M62? Maybe we should organize a DU meet-up on your next family visit. I think there's a few of us up here. There's also a northern England chapter of Democrats Abroad UK starting up (first meeting in Leeds next week!) that I plan to become very involved with.

I've been in the UK a long time and would find it hard to go back to the States, particularly as things are there now. I'm very settled here.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

16. I can't imagine anyone dissing Europe

all the history, and the beauty of the countries and the people! I wish I could visit Britain, and I assure you that I would be one American tourist you wouldn't mind being near....but one question--haven't you picked up a British accent? Or, better yet, a Yorkshire accent (which I've read about and which I think sounds very cool!)? I can take on the accent of whomever I'm talking with-in fact, I have to consciously keep myself from doing so. I always figured other folks could, too.

[tenshi816]

17. My accent is hilarious.

It flip-flops between British and southern American. Even the British bits alternate between a London and Yorkshire accent. When I'm angry, I revert to southern - I sound like Scarlett O'Hara on speed.

No consistency whatsoever. A lot of British people think I sound Canadian. Americans think I sound British. Truth is, I sound like all the accents put together.

As far as your wishing you could visit Britain, well, I wish I could get a bunch of DUers from the States to come over here for a get-together! I spend more time on DU than all other sites put together, despite not posting that much, and it's the only online community I've ever become part of where I genuinely have developed an interest in the real people behind the usernames. That's the power of Democratic Underground.

[NewJeffCT]

15. Probably not

And, we have a lot of work to do to recover from the crap Bush has pulled on us and the world...

[cynatnite]

4. Are you expecting the red staters in DU to do this or what?

If you mean RWers, conservs, religious right, neocons, then perhaps you should be more specific.

This red stater is wondering how to take your post.

[merbex]

6. Sorry, yes I mean RWers,conservs,religious right.......

from heavily concentrated red states because unlike purple states I don't think these types listed above have much interaction with any other type of people

Maybe I'm wrong. But I think it would rock their world and it would be amusing to watch

And yes,I also think the above mentioned would act like the "ugly American abroad"

[cynatnite]

7. Well, in that case, how many takers do you think we'd actually get?

I met one guy several months ago and we had a very interesting discussion. He was nice and very soft-spoken. He said 'I don't have much use for Europe'. His exact words. :shrug:

[merbex]

8. There is always someone looking for their 15 minutes of fame

But who knows?

[Bridget Burke]

10. Then say what you mean.

I'm from the Red State of Texas but am a Democrat. And deinitely on the liberal end of that spectrum. Most states are purple to some degree. And some areas are bluer than others.

When the Superbowl was in Houston, we got to meet many folks from the Blue State of Massachusetts. I believe the term is "Massholes."

[Oversea Visitor]

9. Send them to me

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[LightningFlash]

12. You know....

I have talked to many of those red-staters. They've actually served in the war. Alot of them may be verbally bent and not very smart, but they do know what they are doing. And they do know how war works and what they've seen there with their own eyes.

[NMMNG]

18. Sounds like a winner - and I normally loathe reality shows

About a year ago I read a newspaper story written by a college student doing an immersion program in Germany. She said that she had experienced such a level of anti-American sentiments from Germans solely because of *, his policies and the war in Iraq. When Clinton was President, apparently, the Germans had a very favorable opinion of the US. The student stated that she did everything she could most times to avoid sticking out as an American in order to dodge the stigma it carried.

Such a shame :blush: