Sir, – Lara Marlowe (“Obama and Romney prepare for TV showdown”, World News, October 2nd), states, apparently authoritatively, “only twice in the campaign has Romney succeeded in being funny”, before going on to cite the two incidents of which she speaks.
These comments are symptomatic of a style of reporting of US politics which appears to have become acceptable in the Irish media.
Humour, and more importantly a sense of it, has long been regarded as subjective. While I have no reason to doubt Ms. Marlowe’s sense of humour, and indeed I enjoy her pieces on US politics, comments and reporting such as this would perhaps be better suited to the Opinion pages of your paper. Alternatively a contrary view should be proffered.
In this country we are generally well-disposed towards, or at least susceptible to the ideals championed by the Democrats, particularly when juxtaposed with the philosophies of the GOP. I confess myself to being so well-disposed. Broadly speaking the Democrats’ “socialist” views and policies rest well with our post-war Western European sensibilities. While it seems likely at this remove that President Obama will secure a second term in office we should however acknowledge that he is very likely to do so without the support of almost 50 per cent of the electorate (albeit that the electoral college system may eventually suggest a more resounding victory than the popular vote).
The US is perhaps the most polarised of all western democracies and yet one has to search far and wide before finding a national publication in Europe which does not, consciously or unconsciously, lean to the Democrats. In many cases this bias towards the Democrats would appear to be based on little more than “feeling” and not necessarily on a true examination of the issues or philosophies. It is, for instance, somewhat ironic to note that President Obama’s views on the issue of abortion would likely render him unelectable in this country.
For most Irish people, our interest in US politics, or at least our focus on US politics, is confined to the apogee of these four- year cycles and the spectacle and glamour of presidential debates and election night itself. It is for that reason, that at this time in particular, it is incumbent upon unpartisan observers to report both sides of the debate. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Lara Marlowe (September 26th), referring to Obama’s UN address, states that he accused Ahmadinejad’s government of propping up a dictator in Damascus.
It must surely be supremely ironic that this accusation comes from the US, when the CIA engineered a coup against Mossadegh, the democratically elected prime minister of Iran in 1953, and installed the dictatorial regime of the Shah. The difference was, of course, that the Shah was a friendly dictator. Propping up friendly or useful dictators has been an American habit for a long time. Marcos, Pinochet, Mobutu and Mubarak – and a long list of thuggish dictators in South America – come to mind. American foreign policy has always been to befriend dictators who are useful to them and oppose those who are deemed to be unfriendly. – Yours, etc,