For what it isn't worth, I'll admit to having spent no few years as a reader of the NYT -- a sign of my deep dissatisfaction with British and French media. In the end I got a surfeit of its smug thought-free ersatz thinking, all too reminiscent of the politics of, by and for smelly old machinery to which the Democratic Party's bureaucracy still seems so attached.
For what it isn't worth, I'll admit to having spent no few years as a reader of the NYT -- a sign of my deep dissatisfaction with British and French media. In the end I got a surfeit of its smug thought-free ersatz thinking, all too reminiscent of the politics of, by and for smelly old machinery to which the Democratic Party's bureaucracy still seems so attached.
Peter, I would like you to read the British newsletter I receive online, which is entitle The Canary. I certain if you did, your mind would be changed about the news they cover.
One of the obvious differences between us is, as I've already said, your obvious presence on the ground, NOW. It's all very much in the present tense, which is fine.
I'm a long way away, in space, in time. I'm speaking of the cumulative effect of reading a paper over a long period and of a separation that took place a few years ago, following the way I felt about editorial policy.
Too much like commenting on a divorced spouse before one has had time to let the truth settle and find peace.
A general remark that may tell more of my own weakness, my own projections:
America scares me. All too often, Americans scare me -- and not just those we should all fear... I'm reminded of the Duke of Wellington's remark about his own troops:
"I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they frighten me."
Peter, I try to be precise, not in all things or even when I am trying to be. You were more specific in this last comment by mentioning your dislike for the paper's editorial column. I only read that page once in a while; my eyes and mind are elsewhere. As for your feelings about Americans, I don't have much of a response. We are not homogeneous; there is a wide variety of people here, and I live in NYC! A lot of visitors like us, but some are scared.
Our communication's often been good, but of course, it's early days, and there hasn't been much of it. That's one reason why I talk about myself more than I would wish to if we were all meeting in person. Then, you've said it, you try to be precise and I was being relatively scattershot, more emotional and intuitive than analytical. Often what I feel, more than what I thinkтАФthereтАЩs age for youтАж
My relationship with America is close: it's a family one that goes back to childhood but gets going in the second half of my life. I have American first cousins and so, many relatives. My stepdaughter and her children are Americans, living in the South. My late sister married an American and they had three children before divorcing...
I know New York City better than anywhere else in the States but I have traveled. I love New York, at least the parts I'm familiar with, much of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Fascinated by downtown Chicago. New Mexico, I felt deeply.
Maybe it will take time to get this across, but I have always been far more critical of the States than most of my British compatriots. Critical because I care. (In personal relationships, the truest friend is the one who knows when and how to play the enemy, showing me what I don't want to know. ItтАЩs a bit like that.)
The moment I saw the glitzy tower at 721-725 5th Avenue, I associated it with all that had gone wrong with the country, nor could I ever have imagined that the real estate developer who built it would rise to ANY position of national importance. If, for the very first time in many, many visits, I felt so ill at ease during my last stay in America despite spending time with family and with dear friends, it was because that man was president and... I have no words for that regime or what it represented. Or for the danger these people continue to represent, a threat to themselves, to America, to the world, to life itself. Bargain basement evil... in the land that represents the greatest material power the planet has ever seen.
Maybe I make myself and my fears a little clearer.
Peter, I think that we are good together. We say what we think, and you and I seem to be simpatico in ways I don't yet understand. Perhaps, it is our intensity, different in style but with appreciation for each other. An additional point regarding personal preference, I'm not particularly attracted to the Brits. Cheers!
Maybe when it comes to English weirdness too? Their current politics... No, I'd rather not think of England. It's too much like something tht I have seen in real life: when someone strange but dear to me went mad. As in a Shakespeare tragi-comedy. Strange, yet there was so much to love and admire.
For what it isn't worth, I'll admit to having spent no few years as a reader of the NYT -- a sign of my deep dissatisfaction with British and French media. In the end I got a surfeit of its smug thought-free ersatz thinking, all too reminiscent of the politics of, by and for smelly old machinery to which the Democratic Party's bureaucracy still seems so attached.
Peter, I would like you to read the British newsletter I receive online, which is entitle The Canary. I certain if you did, your mind would be changed about the news they cover.
'...smug thought-free ersatz thinking...' I come across on the Opinion page, but not in the other sections, which you seem to insinuate.
One of the obvious differences between us is, as I've already said, your obvious presence on the ground, NOW. It's all very much in the present tense, which is fine.
I'm a long way away, in space, in time. I'm speaking of the cumulative effect of reading a paper over a long period and of a separation that took place a few years ago, following the way I felt about editorial policy.
Too much like commenting on a divorced spouse before one has had time to let the truth settle and find peace.
A general remark that may tell more of my own weakness, my own projections:
America scares me. All too often, Americans scare me -- and not just those we should all fear... I'm reminded of the Duke of Wellington's remark about his own troops:
"I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they frighten me."
Peter, I try to be precise, not in all things or even when I am trying to be. You were more specific in this last comment by mentioning your dislike for the paper's editorial column. I only read that page once in a while; my eyes and mind are elsewhere. As for your feelings about Americans, I don't have much of a response. We are not homogeneous; there is a wide variety of people here, and I live in NYC! A lot of visitors like us, but some are scared.
Our communication's often been good, but of course, it's early days, and there hasn't been much of it. That's one reason why I talk about myself more than I would wish to if we were all meeting in person. Then, you've said it, you try to be precise and I was being relatively scattershot, more emotional and intuitive than analytical. Often what I feel, more than what I thinkтАФthereтАЩs age for youтАж
My relationship with America is close: it's a family one that goes back to childhood but gets going in the second half of my life. I have American first cousins and so, many relatives. My stepdaughter and her children are Americans, living in the South. My late sister married an American and they had three children before divorcing...
I know New York City better than anywhere else in the States but I have traveled. I love New York, at least the parts I'm familiar with, much of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Fascinated by downtown Chicago. New Mexico, I felt deeply.
Maybe it will take time to get this across, but I have always been far more critical of the States than most of my British compatriots. Critical because I care. (In personal relationships, the truest friend is the one who knows when and how to play the enemy, showing me what I don't want to know. ItтАЩs a bit like that.)
The moment I saw the glitzy tower at 721-725 5th Avenue, I associated it with all that had gone wrong with the country, nor could I ever have imagined that the real estate developer who built it would rise to ANY position of national importance. If, for the very first time in many, many visits, I felt so ill at ease during my last stay in America despite spending time with family and with dear friends, it was because that man was president and... I have no words for that regime or what it represented. Or for the danger these people continue to represent, a threat to themselves, to America, to the world, to life itself. Bargain basement evil... in the land that represents the greatest material power the planet has ever seen.
Maybe I make myself and my fears a little clearer.
Peter, I think that we are good together. We say what we think, and you and I seem to be simpatico in ways I don't yet understand. Perhaps, it is our intensity, different in style but with appreciation for each other. An additional point regarding personal preference, I'm not particularly attracted to the Brits. Cheers!
Agreed.
Maybe when it comes to English weirdness too? Their current politics... No, I'd rather not think of England. It's too much like something tht I have seen in real life: when someone strange but dear to me went mad. As in a Shakespeare tragi-comedy. Strange, yet there was so much to love and admire.
Still is, no doubt.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.