The View From Britain

The American political scene, according to a British television documentary, is divided between “the moderate Democrats and the Republicans, who are more extreme.” The commentator, in other words, took it for granted that the normal standpoint, his own and that of all the viewers, lay to the left of both American parties.

I made a note of this remark because it captures so neatly, not to say naively, the prevailing tone of British comment on American affairs. With the election season beginning, non-liberals had better brace themselves. The election will be given flatteringly ample coverage in the British press and on television—and the amount of flagrant bias will be no less ample. All in one direction of course.

AL

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Anthony Lejeune

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The American political scene, according to a British television documentary, is divided between “the moderate Democrats and the Republicans, who are more extreme.” The commentator, in other words, took it for granted that the normal standpoint, his own and that of all the viewers, lay to the left of both American parties.

I made a note of this remark because it captures so neatly, not to say naively, the prevailing tone of British comment on American affairs. With the election season beginning, non-liberals had better brace themselves. The election will be given flatteringly ample coverage in the British press and on television—and the amount of flagrant bias will be no less ample. All in one direction of course.