Americans are stupid?!

American bashing seems to be a European sport. Basically we seem to labour under the misapprehension that citizens of the USA are all knuckle draggin, gun toting lunactis...Why?

On Sunday evening i went to dinner with my good friend Karen, seated next to us was a family and the father of the group, engaged in a conversation with us which led to the the US general election and who might be the next President. He then went on to discuss how he knew some really intelligent people from the US, successful business types (the inference being that he was almost shocked this category of US citizen existed). He then began to ponder how so many erudite (my word, nots his) people could rationally vote for George W. Bush, afterall we would never do such a thing in Northern Ireland...I felt obliged to point out that people in this country had been returning politicans with significantly less calibre than George W for years (Paisley...hello?)

Oh and then we have the Americans dont really travel much, many dont have passports...well if your looking towards Britain as an example of the travelling class, historically that was with the purpose of stealing land from small countries, occupying them and adding their wealth to the Empire...but if its comtemporary travel / tourism you are seeking solace in...have a look at what happens in the Spanish and Greek holiday resorts, Islands and you will see plenty of Britons...getting stuck into the local culture (literally), eating the local food (eggs are local?) and generally making the Americans look like a superior class.

Its easy to pick the US apart, but its a country rich in diversity both geographical and political and yes some of its people have views many of liberal Europeans might baulk at but have dinner with Iris Robinson and you'll realise you dont have to go to Texas to chat to a Wacko...