If Only They Didn't Speak English: Notes From Trump's America

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You said in a recent podcast, that “They detest him, they loathe him. There is no attempt at giving impartial news.” [1] After Carrie Gracie [the BBC’s former China editor] revealed the discrepancy between her salary and those of other BBC foreign editors, you were caught on tape having a jokey conversation with John Humphr ys about the pay gap. What was it like, finding yourself at the heart of that particular story? In this chapter, Sopel explains the reasons why people didn't vote for Hillary. Although he's missed the single biggest problem, which was Lena Dunham's rap video ;-) [2]

Anyone who says otherwise is a racist, except for the BBC producers who make shows like The Last Whites of the East End. [9] It is the reporting job of a lifetime. There’s no way I could have imagined this four years ago. On air, I’ve talked about grabbing pussy, shithole countries, and being spanked with a rolled-up magazine. I want to do it a while yet, but it is exhausting as well as exhilarating. It’s both my privilege and my curse. As with any nation, you can’t tar all the inhabitants with the same brush, but reading Sopel’s book does paint a picture of the average citizen which is at best somewhat incomprehensible to a European, at worst not very flattering. Americans are angry with their political class and deeply distrustful of it. This is one of the reasons why they own so many guns; they like to think that when the chips are down, no government agencies are going to mess with them when they are armed to the teeth. Paranoid? We might think so. I read the original version of "If Only", which doesn't have the extra chapter about Trump's first year in power. I don't know if anything major was fixed in a later edition...

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journalist integrity. They are not in the job of opposing Trump, and it should not be necessary for the journalist corps to have police protection. This reminds me on an old Norm Macdonald joke: “Earlier this week, Marlon Brando met with Jewish leaders to apologize for comments he made on Larry King Live, among them that “Hollywood is run by Jews.” The Jewish leaders accepted the actor’s apology and announced that Brando is now free to work again.” Donald Trump’s subsequent election and his first 18 months in the job have made Washington and world affairs febrile with opinion, outrage, incredulity, and interest- big time. The BBC’s reporting of Brexit has come in for heavy criticism . Some feel its determination to be seen to be impartial is getting in the way of the facts. What do you feel ? Does it apply to reporting Trump, too?

To talk about a wish for the future or to show a contrast between how things are and how we would like them to be, we use if only + would + infinitive without to:If Sopel’s book does have a weakness, it is one that is unavoidably shared these days with almost everything written about America and Americans. Jon Sopel is a respected (and as anyone paying attention to the recent gender pay debates will know, very well paid) journalist who works for the BBC. As North American Editor, he’s lived in Washington DC since 2014. One amusing recollection I have is of Donald Trump’s reaction to Sopel at a heated White House press conference, shortly after taking office. Trump was clearly agitated by the fact that he was about to be asked a question by a reporter from the BBC, stating ‘here’s another beauty’ and then later, after Sopel had asked his question, chillingly ‘I know who you are’. This anecdote is covered in the opening Section of this book which goes on to reflect on Sopel’s time in America and his thoughts on Trump and the country he now leads. Jon Sopel may be the sanest man in America. He is certainly one of the most insightful ... Immensely enjoyable" * Bill Bryson * PDF / EPUB File Name: If_Only_They_Didnt_Speak_English__Notes_F_-_Jon_Sopel.pdf, If_Only_They_Didnt_Speak_English__Notes_F_-_Jon_Sopel.epub In If Only They Didn’t Speak English Sopel examines the current state of the US and the way Americans see the world. It makes fascinating and enjoyable reading, even if the book doesn’t contain too much that I didn’t either know or strongly suspect. Nonetheless, it is nice to have your impressions confirmed by someone who actually knows what he is talking about. The book is divided up into chapters that discuss the most important themes that define contemporary American culture, such as race relations, gun ownership, patriotism and attitudes to government. Sopel also highlights the mixture of anger and anxiety that suffuses the 21st century American psyche and includes a chapter on the post-truth world where the electorate prefers to be “informed” by fake news on Facebook rather than listen to educated and reasonably impartial press professionals such as Sopel.

The central premise of Jon Sopel’s If Only They Didn’t Speak English is that Americans are a bit nutty and hard to understand for a Brit. Many countries seem to have odd cultures when seen from the British Isles, or even Europe. Pakistan springs to mind, although that could just be a media misrepresentation. But you sort of expect Pakistan to be very foreign. You can’t understand the language and most Europeans don’t share the religion. But the USA? At first glance, it appears that we do share the religion and of course we share the language – or at least we think we do. And then of course we are inundated with American culture, from their food to their films, music, fashions – you name it. This all makes the US a superficially familiar place but as Sopel points out, the accent is on “superficially”. In actual fact, the French or Germans are probably a lot closer to the British mindset than the Americans; it’s just that most people can’t understand them when they are speaking their native tongue. The Americans, on the other hand are just very foreign. Sopel shares some of his own (weirdly liberal) racist views, implying that ethnic minorities are too dumb to apply for photo ID. The truth is that you need ID for everything in America (except voting, in some states). Everyone has photo ID, except for young people (who could easily apply for it) and a few ancient people who don't even have birth certificates. Really enjoyed this book, Jon Sopel gives a brilliant and simple look at the differences between ourselves in the UK (or should I say us here in Europe) and the good ol' US of A! Whilst I say simple, I don't mean in a 'Janet and John' way, the book is full of interesting facts (none of which appear to be alternative facts either) and statistics that make it easy to see how really quite different our cultures are. If you've been fortunate enough to have spent anytime in the US, somethings that Jon talks about will be instantly recognisable.He quotes a Bernie fan, saying "She’s a war-hawk, a liar and a bad person". Any reason why they would think that Jon?

The last couple of chapters did feel a bit too Trump heavy and Sopel's self-proclaimed impartiality may have slightly been eroded, but that cannot shake the overwhelmingly informative and highly interesting narrative of the book overall. Sopel describes the differences between the UK (where ‘We don’t do God’) vs. a country where nine out of ten adults say they believe in God. This book was educational, I think I understand the TV news networks a bit better. They are obviously pro-Democrat (except Fox), but the corporate donors are running the show.Beginning and ending with chapters that explain the Trump presidency, such as the anger that got him into power and a new chapter on the first year of chaos in the White House (as well as the surprising resurgence in economic prosperity), there are chapters on religion, race, guns, patriotism, pharmacological abuse and big government. Mr Sopel seeks to describe and explain the strong emotions running through each of these elements of American society and the good or ill they provoke. The frontier mentality induces a certain degree of self-reliance in many Americans that many in Western Europe would simply not recognise, leaving many such tasks to the local council or central government – clearing the pavement of snow, for example.