# Brits tell US to lay off the oil spill rhetoric **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 11, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726 "2010-06-11T00:58:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/141 "2010-06-12T18:50:41Z")
There is some irony there perhaps when one considers that ideologically Cameron and Obama are rather closer than Bush and Blair. Personality politics, eh 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/142 "2010-06-12T18:51:16Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > Take a look at [http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?list=type&type=203](http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?list=type&type=203) and see what you’ve done. I hope you’re including yourself in that “you” unless you live off-the-grid in your clay home, eschew all plastics, are a vegetarian, and ride your bike to your work down at the local co-op, because if not, you’re part of the industrialized world that has caused all manner of environmental harm. It’s not just Americans. > [@](#): > > I suspect there are some people who are feeling a sense of schaudenfreude that at last America has suffered for once. But I don’t, I feel sadness and compassion for you. > > I also, fwiw, accept such things as the price we pay for progress. Hysteria is not the way to deal with these things. That hysteria is annoying enough anyway but when it’s directed at me I am particularly pissed off. And when it’s directed at me by the world’s largest hypocrite because he got a bloody nose I am very angry. That would be fascinating, if it had any relationship with reality. The reality is that they only people who are hysterical are the British media and political class. It’s not a good look for you. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/143 "2010-06-12T19:18:53Z")
Has anyone yet pointed out that Happy Poster is the one being Jingoistic thinking that our use of the word British is an insult against his country, which he is obviously taking personally? Everyone keeps hinting, but I missed if anyone actually spelled it out. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/144 "2010-06-12T20:42:03Z")
> [@C3](#): > > I’m with you, **Kyla**. I’m not pissed at the UK for anything BP did, but I’m starting to get annoyed at the it’s-all-about-us reaction I’m seeing, while 11 Americans are dead and thousands of people are losing their livelihoods as a result of a few corporations’ negligence and greed. Oh, but the poor, widdle Brits’ feelings are hurt. We should just stop mentioning the oil spill at all so that the UK can get back to watching the World Cup without having to worry their little heads about it. Alas for the poor goalkeeper who was so distracted by the Evil Americans that he dropped the ball. No doubt he’d been losing sleep, reading up on our hate campaign against his country. Weren’t we really supposed to lose that game? No doubt some of the UK press will soon prove that it was all our fault. (But only the weaker minded among the Brits will believe them.) ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/145 "2010-06-12T21:13:10Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Has anyone yet pointed out that Happy Poster is the one being Jingoistic thinking that our use of the word British is an insult against his country, which he is obviously taking personally? > > Everyone keeps hinting, but I missed if anyone actually spelled it out. I don’t think the word British is an insult against my country. It’s the context in which it is used. It’s trying to make this look as though it isn’t essentially an American screw up. Trying to play us and them C3, I have no problem with that sort of thing, or at least I see it as the price of progress. I just mention it to highlight the hypocrisy. Ms Burke, it isn’t just my countrymen who are being brainwashed by our evil biased UK media. How about [this chap](http://www.frumforum.com/obama-wrecks-the-special-relationship), for example? He puts things better than me. Or I see that well known ultra-right winger [Michael Bloomberg](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/nyregion/12defend.html) has been defending BP as well. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/146 "2010-06-12T21:22:50Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > C3, I have no problem with that sort of thing, or at least I see it as the price of progress. I just mention it to highlight the hypocrisy. There is no hypocrisy because there is no British Bashing going on over the BP disaster. Y’all are making it up. Indulging in fantasy. Wallowing in self-pity over a fairy tale. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/147 "2010-06-12T21:24:30Z")
> [@C3](#): > > There is no hypocrisy because there is no British Bashing going on over the BP disaster. Y’all are making it up. Indulging in fantasy. Wallowing in self-pity over a fairy tale. Er, no we’re not. Actually, heh, I’ve wanted to do this for a while. This thread is my cite 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/148 "2010-06-12T21:46:02Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > …Ms Burke, it isn’t just my countrymen who are being brainwashed by our evil biased UK media. How about [this chap](http://www.frumforum.com/obama-wrecks-the-special-relationship), for example? He puts things better than me. Or I see that well known ultra-right winger [Michael Bloomberg](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/nyregion/12defend.html) has been defending BP as well. That “chap” is David Frum, former speech writer for Bush Jr. Bloomberg is more liberal but never met a businessman he didn’t want to fellate. However, he’s only defending BP, not Britain; he doesn’t see that Britain is being “attacked.” Still waiting for the exact quotations from American sources that have offended the more weak-minded of the Brits. Not interested in any secondary opinions. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/149 "2010-06-12T22:04:14Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > This thread is my cite 🙂 Excellent! Glad to see you’ve come around! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/150 "2010-06-12T22:10:31Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > Er, no we’re not. > > Actually, heh, I’ve wanted to do this for a while. > > This thread is my cite 🙂 To use your own vernacular, are you as thick as two planks? All you can come up with is…no Obama quotes, just some vague reference to “context” etc? The American media can be very single minded, very one note. Trust me, IF there were anti-Brit sentiment, the press’d be on it like white on rice–they likes their controversy, they does. They aren’t on it because there isn’t any. There is no umbrage here RE Britain/UK/its peoples. There IS intense and deeply felt anger against the fuckwads at BP (yes, BRITISH PETROLEUM) and the other companies and the horrid things that poor judgement, greed and incompetence have wrought. Too bad you can’t seem to differentiate between the two. Hard luck to you. Bad show. Have you ever seen the movie, “Wag the Dog”? This situation is oddly reminiscent. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/151 "2010-06-12T22:26:59Z")
Hey, **Happy Poster** , if you want to hear some good English-bashing you should come over to my house right now. My Australian husband’s sitting here watching the England/Australia rugby match online. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/152 "2010-06-12T22:43:19Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > Take a look at [http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?list=type&type=203](http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?list=type&type=203) and see what you’ve done. > > I suspect there are some people who are feeling a sense of schaudenfreude that at last America has suffered for once. But I don’t, I feel sadness and compassion for you. > > I also, fwiw, accept such things as the price we pay for progress. Hysteria is not the way to deal with these things. That hysteria is annoying enough anyway but when it’s directed at me I am particularly pissed off. And when it’s directed at me by the world’s largest hypocrite because he got a bloody nose I am very angry. “. . .suffered for once.” Not much of a history buff, I gather? “. . .the world’s largest hypocrite. . .” No way to refer to Rush Limbaugh, sir. Only us Murkins can call him an asshole. Which we frequently do. But I won’t stand by and allow you to. . .ah, fuck it. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/153 "2010-06-12T22:49:35Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > To use your own vernacular, are you as thick as two planks? All you can come up with is…no Obama quotes, just some vague reference to “context” etc? The American media can be very single minded, very one note. Trust me, IF there were anti-Brit sentiment, the press’d be on it like white on rice–they likes their controversy, they does. They aren’t on it because there isn’t any. > > There is no umbrage here RE Britain/UK/its peoples. There IS intense and deeply felt anger against the fuckwads at BP (yes, BRITISH PETROLEUM) and the other companies and the horrid things that poor judgement, greed and incompetence have wrought. Too bad you can’t seem to differentiate between the two. Hard luck to you. Bad show. > > Have you ever seen the movie, “Wag the Dog”? This situation is oddly reminiscent. The issue, which I thought would be obvious, is that there is no one quote by Obama (or anyone else) that is a smoking gun, as it were, so all I could do is spend an hour collecting everything that every administration official has said on the issue and dump them at you. It’s a bit like, say, proving a right or left wing bias in a particular media outlet. Show me a story that proves Fox News is right wing. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/154 "2010-06-12T22:56:36Z")
But if you want me to, every hour or so I’m awake and can be bothered I’ll start dumping some in, and I’ll make sure I get them from places that this board likes. So starting with Huffington Post: [Anthony Weiner: BP Defenders With British Accents Are Lying (VIDEO) | HuffPost New York](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/08/anthony-weiner-bp-defende_n_604445.html) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/155 "2010-06-12T22:57:07Z")
Ahhhh. So this is based on your gut instincts, since you can’t actually point to any evidence? How very truthy of you. George Bush would approve. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/156 "2010-06-12T23:07:29Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Ahhhh. So this is based on your gut instincts, since you can’t actually point to any evidence? How very truthy of you. George Bush would approve. What a stupid thing to say. Why is it, do you think, that Obama has had to specifically deny that he has been acting in an anti-British way? Either: 1. British people are insane or 1. We legitimately perceived trans-atlantic scapegotism in his and other members of his government’s remarks. He’s now realised that’s a bad idea and is trying to ham-fistedly weasel his way out of it. We’re wasting our boys’ lives over in Afghanistan to support your stupid war. Show us more respect. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/157 "2010-06-12T23:30:01Z")
Do they not have middles off in Britain, or have they just all been excluded? ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/158 "2010-06-12T23:31:21Z")
or 1. the politicians in the UK who have oil money in their pockets are whipping up anti-American sentiment so that the people largely responsible for the decline of the pensions - BP - are having criticism deflected from them and onto the U.S., with the hope that BP stays a very profitable company and continues to pay out. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/159 "2010-06-12T23:55:50Z")
The pension issue is a red herring. We are not (mostly) complaining because of pensions. No one who can’t look after themselves is massively exposed to BP (apart, of course, from their workforce, their suppliers, their contracters, etc, a great number of whom are American and will now be voting Republican). ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726/160 "2010-06-13T00:20:30Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > What a stupid thing to say. > > Why is it, do you think, that Obama has had to specifically deny that he has been acting in an anti-British way? > > Either: > > 1. British people are insane > > or > > 1. We legitimately perceived trans-atlantic scapegotism in his and other members of his government’s remarks. He’s now realised that’s a bad idea and is trying to ham-fistedly weasel his way out of it. > > We’re wasting our boys’ lives over in Afghanistan to support your stupid war. Show us more respect. Based on your behavior in this thread, I’m gonna have to go with option #1. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-tell-us-to-lay-off-the-oil-spill-rhetoric/542726.md?page=9)