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BROWN: Believe it or not, there's a land where cool heads prevail

By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 27, 2008 at 2:48 p.m.
Updated June 27, 2008 at 6:23 p.m.

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The political debate is civil and substantive. Opponents on a variety of topics, political and otherwise, politely disagree. Terrorism is one of the furthest things from many people's minds.

Overseas, that is.

Back here in the states it's a nonstop blare. We pride ourselves on our media and this era of instant communications, but everyone should take a couple of weeks outside media contact once in a while, just to hit his own internal reset button.

A recent vacation was two weeks of virtually no Internet, no American TV, no cable networks, no talk radio, no 24-hour news cycle. It was particularly refreshing coming during a time when American politics has turned into an endless barrage of increasingly shrill debate over everything from the war to tomatoes.

The difference it makes in daily life is shocking. For 14 whole days, no one was trying to scare me.

Over there, no one was screaming that a politician or a talk- show host needed to refute, rebut, distance himself, deny, rebuke, decry, disown, censure, admonish or apologize for statements or a few words taken out of context or words spoken by people marginally connected to them.

The British press, with a reputation as the scourge of the journalism world, actually was thoughtful and evenhanded - even the tabloids. Both liberal and conservative columnists made their arguments but often acknowledged that the other side has some merit. Better yet, neither claimed to have all the answers.

The TV anchors looked like ordinary people and were well-versed in their areas of expertise. Not one paper I read - and many of those papers were big, with long articles, in-depth interviews and thoughtful analysis - carried any statements claiming that the populace would be in danger of attack if an opponent got into office.

No one seemed to be living in fear. We were allowed to take bot- tles of liquids on trains on the continent that saw bloody train bombings in 2004, killing 191 people. We rode London's underground with unsearched backpacks and suitcases less than three years after the July 2005 subway bombings that killed 52 people, the deadliest terrorist attack in London's history. No one made me take off my shoes at the airport on the continent where shoe bomber Richard Reid boarded a plane in 2001 with the intent to blow it up. Had to take them off over here, though.

Daily life in London means sitting next to Arabic-looking people on the subway a couple of times a day, carrying backpacks and other items. Nobody blinks an eye. The biggest threat to the London Underground that particular week was a World War II mortar that was found to still be live under a main track. Commuters were simply rerouted for a few days as it was disarmed and removed.

Meanwhile, back here a doughnut advertisement was pulled because the woman in the commercial was wearing a scarf with tassels. And a fist-bump by a presidential candidate was characterized as a "terrorist fist jab."

As we seem to become more paralyzed with fear over here, life goes on over there. It may be too late (and, let's face it, naive) to go back to a notion that our fellow man isn't a threat but someone we need to cooperate and communicate with for the good of all of us.

brownm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2674

Comments

  • June 28, 2008

    6:07 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Mark Brown writes:

    Thank you for proving my point with just six words.

  • June 29, 2008

    10:02 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    gavinsca writes:

    As opposed to people deliberately writing short comments designed to instigate? I expect so...

  • July 3, 2008

    10:36 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    lmbaer writes:

    Thank you, Mr. Brown, for voicing some common sense about the current state of our media and administration. As you have so aptly pointed out, it is we Americans--supposedly the protectors of individual liberties--who have succumbed to the fear-mongering of a war-bent administration and an unnecessarily shrill media. As a result, we are losing simple freedoms everyday, such as the ability to travel in dignity, a culture in which one can enjoy ease and confidence with one's fellow citizens, and even the right to live our day-to-day lives without fear.

    I missed the poll regarding our shrill media making life more stressful; yes, it is. And, so is the Bush administration. Yes, we must protect ourselves and defend our nation. But, you are on point in suggesting that, unlike our European peers--who calmly go about the business of creating a safe society--we are running around willy nilly, taking our shoes off and screaming at each other.

    The sky is falling--but only because we Americans cannot seem to calm down enough to be thoughtful and reasonable.

    Thank you for being one voice of reason.