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Originally Posted by KMA-628
cthulu23 - It was red-lettered on Drudge
filtherton - Based on past actions of the Guardian (more then the letter writing thing), coupled with this comment, it is hard to ignore. Disagree with Bush. Dislike Bush. Do whatever. However, he is still the President of the United States. That position, regardless of the guy who holds it, demands respect. I didn't like Clinton, but I still respected him as my President (I even served under him without complaint).
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I see no reason why an English newspaper should respect the office of President of the United States. While I dont think the majority of English people want Bush to be killed, he is expressing the strong dislike that the majority of Europeans feel about Bush. Really, at worst, it was just an off colour jokes that didnt work.
As for the Diana thing, I dare say some people would be upset about such a comment, and if it was done at the time of her death a lot of people would... but I wouldnt care that much.
This does make me remember the case of Louise Woodward though - she was an English nanny who worked in America and was found guilty of manslaughter of the baby in her care (she claimed she was innocent - but she would, wouldnt she? I dont know much of the real facts of the case to tell if she was likely really guilty or not) - but the popular press in the UK reacted terribly to it.... the tabloids were calling for a boycot of American products, the Mirror was basically hinting at support for tactical nuclear strikes against Washington, letters were published (real or not I dont know) from American ex pats renouncing their American citizenship in disgust of the verdict....
The whole English media spread the idea that this girl was the victim of a terrible miscarriage of justice, while people had no real idea about the facts of the case,k this became the accepted truth and there was a huge hostility to America in popular opinion for a brief time... obviously there was some reaction to the case in America too, because the judge gave her a nothing sentence (ie she only had to serve the time she had already done up to the court case, and she was released)... but I remember huge online petitions, media frenzy... all in support of someone who had been found guilty, in what as far as I can tell must have been a fair trial, of killing a baby.
All of which goes to show I suppose, that patriosm can be a funny thing,