WikiLeaks and Our Boorish "In Your Face" Diplomacy

[alarimer]

Americans are boorish, rude, inconsiderate assholes with a giant sense of entitlement. I see this everywhere and it is reflected in our "diplomacy" as revealed by Wikileaks. I have had similar experiences to this guy at the restaurant, where, if you ask politely to quite down, they just get louder. And numerous other experiences where people act like generally entitled pieces of shit. It is no surprise that people around the world hate us. We behave terribly here; it must be so much worse elsewhere.

Boorish, "in your face" behavior is everywhere. Most of the time, I'm able to avoid it, or walk away from it, but not tonight. Even as we walked away from the restaurant and passed our loud partiers at the curb, one of them spied us and sneeringly said, "Oooh, everyone be quiet now." We just kept walking.

Afoot in America is an astonishing sense of imperious entitlement. People are told they can have it all - heck, that they deserve it all - and to hell with anyone who raises an objection. Rugged individualism is not enough; roughshod individualism is the new American ethos.

Now, what has this to say about WikiLeaks? Take a close look at many of the State Department cables and tell me how you would feel to be on the receiving end of roughshod American imperiousness. So what if we kidnap the wrong German citizen and torture him? Not only do we have no need to apologize: We'll even bully the German government into silence. And we can bully Spain too, if need be, to inhibit Spanish attempts to prosecute Americans for torture or murder. Need more information about the United Nations and its diplomats? Let's not only spy on them in traditional ways, but let's steal their passwords, their biometric data: Heck, let's even take DNA samples from them. If they complain, too bad: They shouldn't have taken a drink from the cup we offered them. And the list goes on: We'll even strike secret deals with Britain to hide our cluster bombs.

In these memos, it never seems to be America's fault. Being a loud and boorish and imperious American means never having contritely to say you're sorry.

Oops. Forgot the link.http://www.truth-out.org/wikileaks-and-our-boorish-in-your-face-diplomacy65661

[aquart]

1. Oh, good grief.

You think they aren't saying the same about us? And other countries who aren't them whoever they are? PUHLEEZE!

You are reading private communications you were not meant to see. What kind of things do you write to your friends in private messages? Endless sweetness and light?

[Angry Dragon]

2. -1000

[architect359]

3. +1000

[Wednesdays]

5. I dunno...it's been a while since I wrote a friend about torture being okay

:shrug:

[aquart]

9. You just found out about that?

The rest of us knew long before the Wikileaks dump.

I guess if you just don't say something, you can make sure it won't happen.

[alarimer]

7. These are not private messages; these people work for US

and everything they do should be public, with very, very few exceptions.

[aquart]

8. How are the lemonade streams and that gorgeous rock candy mountain?

Unaffected by global warming, I assume?

[midnight]

11. +++++10000

[northernlights]

4. I'll never forget, 3 or so decades ago

I went to lunch with my supervisor and our boss, a very, very nice young man who had just come back to work after throat surgery. This was in the days before nonsmokers had a separate room, never mind that smoking was not permitted.

A woman at the table next to ours had her cigarette tray on the side of her table nearest ours, and the smoke was blowing our way, into Rob's face. It clearly was causing him pain, so I leaned over and explained to the woman, very nicely, that Rob was recovering from throat surgery and (very nicely) would she mind moving her ashtray to her other side so the smoke wouldn't blow our way.

That nasty, vile despicable woman not only refused to move the ashtray, but she gave me a rude, nasty earful.

I've never understood that. I was born and raised here, but I sure wasn't raised that way...

30 years later, I have to say that a lot of the time it seems to be the norm in America. It's embarrassing as well as offensive.

And our going around, kidnapping, torturing and dumping innocent people, and then bullying their countries...it just makes me :puke:

[Hestia]

6. Remember when that used to be the ultimate insult, boor? Or to be called Common?

[aquart]

10. Remember when polite well-mannered people had restrictive covenants in their deeds?

Remember what they called women who asked for the vote.

As many murders have been done with good manners as bad. Maybe more.