Response to 'The Eagle's Shadow'
In 'The Eagle's Shadow' Hertsgaard claims that Americans are different from America. I would have to agree to this statement in certain respects. Americans do not reflect our government and its choices. Although I am completely for voting, I feel that it is unnecessary for the people of America to vote for a president when we have the electoral colleges to do it for us. I will admit though that I am not completely sure of how exactly the electoral colleges work, but the impression I have is that they have the ultimate say of who becomes president. In the book, Hertsgaard brings up the Florida controversy when Bush was elected president. In is opinion based on facts that he found he said that Gore should have been president. This proves that Americans are different then their government because Americans really do not have a sat in the actions of the government. The American government could be referred to as alter ego America where they cause the issues in other countries, not the American people.
Some Americans though create a derogatory name for our country. When people go to other countries and act like the 'bigger person' because they are American, they set an incorrect example for the way that Americans act. I believe though that the majority of Americans are good people and that other countries have the wrong impression of us because the media chooses to focus only on the people who are causing the problems in America not the ones who truly represent America.