America's stiff upper lip

Posted at 2:24 PM on April 9, 2009 by Bob Collins
Filed under: Media, News

It's usually interesting to see how others view us. Matt Frei, who hosts the BBC's World News America, has noticed that the (primarily) cable TV newsies are growing more "emotional" (in evaluating that term, remember that the English called World War II "the unpleasantness").

But we the American public are not:

The collapse of the economy, the outrage of unwarranted bonuses, Ponzi schemes and designer trash-cans have brought the pitchforks out of the cellar. We are finally getting a genuine bonfire of vanities.

And yet I am surprised how generally calm and collected the American public has behaved, despite the best efforts of some of my colleagues to tease out their fury.

Perhaps it is because they have just had an opportunity to express their feelings where it matters: at the ballot box.

Perhaps it is because they still believe that judicious government can fix things.

Or maybe it is because all the ranting and raging is being done on their behalf. On air.

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