Here's a question about Obama I haven't heard elsewhere.

[hedgehog]

The music played after his Grant Park speech Election night was from the film The Patriot which was loosely based on the Revolutionary War. Obama referred to the fight for American independence often in his stump speeches. Given that his own father grew up in what was then a British colony, do you think he will be more likely to have an arm's length relationship with the UK than has been the norm since WWI?

[Occam Bandage]

1. Why does Obama hate the British? nt

[hedgehog]

2. I didn't say he hates the British, just asked if he might be a bit more skeptical

that their interests always match ours than recent presidents.

[Occam Bandage]

10. Oh, you were serious? Wow.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. I think Obama is wise enough to know that the Britain of colonial

days is dead, and that the world order is changing. Obama's pragmatic and smart. He will judge Britain by their policies and ideas of today, and will be glad to be allies with them in shared interests.

[cali]

4. no. I don't see what his father's citizenship has to do with

the Obama administration's relationship with Great Britain. As for the music played at the Grant Park Speech, I think it signifies exactly nothing, politically. And politicians frequently refer to the Revolutionary War. It doesn't indicate any kind of attitude about the British.

[hedgehog]

9. This is the phrase from the stump speech that I'm thinking of:

"Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire"

I don't expect a major rift in US/UK relations, just maybe a subtle distancing. There was a lot of talk back in 1990 that Margaret Thatcher talked George Bush into the First Gulf War. I don't see any British PM having that kind of influence over Obama.

[hlthe2b]

5. heh heh... Reminds me of time working in India...

Seems many Indians thought they shared a potent anti-British camradery with Americans, since we, were, after all, both former colonists of the mighty British empire and must hate them as well. The difference that 200 plus years makes didn't seem to register. Chuckle...

So, no, I don't think it will have any bearing on US-Brit relationships under Obama.

[yardwork]

6. I think that our stupid invasion and occupation of Iraq, done with the British

requires that we reassess our relationship with them and the rest of the world. This reassessment would have happened anyway, because now the United States is waning as a global superpower.

At one time the British had an empire and the United States broke free of it. Then the United States became an empire too. Then Britain lost its empire. Now the U.S. is losing it's empire.

Maybe we can play checkers together in the old folks home for former empires.

[gblady]

7. maybe...

he just liked the music...

[Jackeens]

8. If Gordon Brown clings to power I think the relationship will be close, but...

...if that loathsome creature (biased? me?!) David Cameron....



(number two.. wey hey, how appropriate is that? Poo poos!)

comes to power with his hideous right-wing fruit-cake Conservatives then I hope Barack wears a mask any time he has to make contact. Even on the phone.

[happychatter]

11. There is no such thing as a stupid question

There is no such thing as a stupid question

There is no such thing as a stupid question

There is no such thing as a stupid question

There is no such thing as a stupid question

There is no such thing as a stupid question

There is no such thing as a stupid question

There is no such thing as a stupid question

There is no such thing as a stupid question

There is no such thing as a stupid question

There is no such thing as a stupid question

:crazy:

[hedgehog]

12. A little background is in order here. I had family members terrorized

by the Black and Tan back in the 20's. My grandfather bought bonds to support De Valera's push for Irish independence. I am hypersensitive to issues regarding US/British relations. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I am catching hints that Obama does not share the automatic Anglophilia of the typical Establishment politician.

[happychatter]

13. yeah, they're some uptight, machiavellian, ethnocentric MF's alright

did you read any of that guy that wrote "History of the English Speaking People's" or some such ?

I saw a long interview with him and thought of an old friend of mine...

that old friend is a surly, trip-wire, misanthrope... survivalist... extreme right winger.

Around here, the extreme types like the "Freemen" or other militia folks, don't have racism as an abiding factor in their philosophy. I think it expands recruitment.

But, I talked to this old friend, the last time, up at his camp about a year ago. He's a rough version of that refined intellectual, that wrote the above cited work.

He's a stone cold, anglophile, on a scale with Aryan theorists and Neonazis.

I think things are going the opposite way in this country and England. The extreme right will be radicalized and the state, will gradually begin to reflect the diverse nature of our people.

That's my hope at least.

Sorry about your family members. I'm from San Francisco and knew quite a few young folks, living in exile. The stories they told of their childhood, would just bring tears to a grown man's eyes.

sorry about seeming snarky, but in fact... I think there's very slight danger of what you suggest in this OP. Obama is a white kansas farmer by cultural heritage. His adoptive culture is African American, and African American culture is SOUTHERN...

Anglophiles, we ain't, but neither are we purely Celt.

[Richardo]

14. I heard that music was from "Remember the Titans"

So I think he'll spend his term in office remembering the Titans.

[XNASA]

15. I was in Grant Park that night.

This explains why I had an irresistible urge to desecrate the Union Jack.

[hedgehog]

16. Maybe I should clarify my OP. The music played at Grant Park reminded me

of a faint thread I thought I heard running through the stump speeches. More an appreciation that we are an independent nation as opposed to a branch of English Speaking Peoples, Ltd. than opposition to the UK. I don't expect any radical changes in foreign policy, just perhaps a subtle shift away from being joined at the hip with the UK.