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Audacity of Truth
Flyswatter in Chief:
"He had this fly that was persistently buzzing around him during the interview...he swatted his hand and he said ‘I got the sucker’...it was a, you know, Dirty Harry ‘make my day’ moment."- The NYT's John Harwood, describing Obama's killing of a fly - 6/16/09
On “hating the big guy”
Janet Albrechtsen writes an excellent piece in The Australian about the rampant anti-Americanism ever present in the world today, its history, and what’s behind it all – and explains that it’s not just caused by anti-Bush sentiment. Consider it a must-read.
Hat tip: Dr. Sanity
Update: Speaking of hating “the big guy” …
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IMO she greatly exaggerates the amount of anti-americanism in the West. Which is not to say it doesn’t exist, as one can see irrational anti-americanism just about anywhere. But that doesn’t make it unique. One can find dislike of the French and Polish in Germany, dislike of Germans and French in England, dislike of the English in Ireland, dislike of everyone else in France, etc. A few years ago someone in Norway even spat at my car once because it had Swedish license plates. Prejudice exists everywhere because it is part of the human condition.
With regards to America it seems to me the average person is indifferent, and not generally hating/loving it. I can understand, however, a feeling of resentment which results in constantly hearing about how a place is the greatest and best and everywhere else is just jealous, an attitude which will probably even be displayed in the comments which follow.
Not really, Neil. Frankly, I couldn’t care less what the rest of the world thinks about the U.S.
And thats the rub NC, there are some out there that think we have to have some kind of high school type approval of the ‘cool’ crowd before we can do something. Hence the Kerry wanting the global permission (UN) idea.
We are our own country.
Yes, how we act affects other countries, but in the end we MUST do what is the best for our country.
Because beleive it or not, a prosperous America means other countries will prosper from increased support / aid, increased immigration, ect.
I have one thing to ask of those that seem so to hate America, what would the world be like with no America around? What would the stock markets be like? The trade? Support and aid to other countries? Medical / Health? Industry? Steel?
I am not making the US to be the one and only, but I do say that if the US falls, it would pliunge the world into chaos, monetarily and most likely Militarily.
Neil,
I agree with and disagree with your comments. I believe that the US is the greatest country on the face of the planet but not for many reasons I have heard but for the fact that we are made up from the rest of the world and for the most part we seem to be able to come together as once country. Much better than any other place I have visited (which have been many).
I lived in Greece for five years. You know that I heard most of how great the US was from Greeks and Arab friends. I found that many of those people had a over inflated view of the US. I had to tell them we have poverty, we have people living on the street but it almost seemed they didn’t want to believe that. They wanted to believe that when they immigrate to the US they would be handed a million dollars (not litterally but figuratively). I would tell them, I would love them to come to the US but I would tell them that I cared enough about them and my country to tell them the whole truth.
I will say this, in my own opinion we Americans are truly proud of our country. We have rights that most from other countries dream of having. We are not afraid to tell anyone how great it is to live in a country with such freedoms. This is where the resentment you mention may come in. But here is what, in my opinion we are not as good at telling people, from 1776 up through 2007 and beyond, we have/are/will fight for our freedoms. This is what makes us so proud of them. No one has handed us our freedoms. It is very difficult for someone who expects the same freedoms but hasn’t spilt their own blood to understand the pride. We as Americans should take that into consideration when speaking of our own country. We must be honest about the greatness of our country but also about the things not so great.
So at times the resentment, if present, can be understandable, but I believe in my heart of hearts, the U.S. and Americans want whats best for America and the rest of the world. That is why I believe we are willing to fight for others freedoms in place like Iraq.
We need a good PR person.
[chuckles]
American Vet,
thanks for your well thought-out comments, and I really can’t disagree with anything you said. Since great and best are subjective terms, they obviously can be used to describe different things for different people.
And that is perhaps one of the problems. A couple years ago I was watching with my girlfriend one of the Sunday morning political shows in the US that gets shown everywhere. She was someone with only positive views from the US and although she thought the invasion of Iraq was not a good idea, believed that the US was going in with good intentions. I remember watching with her, when a US Senator made the comment, almost in passing, that “We have the best prisons in the world”, which probably most Americans wouldn’t think twice about. But she found it to be extremely arrogant, and I can understand that.
Again I really don’t think there is a rampant anti-americanism in most western democracies. But I do find it interesting that it’s generally the same set of people who claim “I don’t care what the rest of the world thinks” who are at the same time discussing/claiming/arguing that it is anti-american. A paradox.
Great article. Well written and thought out.
Neil: America’s entire history has been replete with the rest of the world denigrating us. And all we have asked is to be left alone. But we have been called upon time after time to help. And we have spent precious blood, time and money to help.
You’re welcome!
Neil makes the mistake of saying, “believed that the US was going in with good intentions.”
as if we the US didn’t and silly her for believing. I may have read that wrong and will defer to the clarification.
What you interpret as arrogance Neil may indeed be factual.
If a Senator said we spend more on the climate than any other country would you say that Senator is being arrogant by stating a fact?
I’m not naive about the U.S., I served the Navy and know how we had many many instances of drunk sailors running around the streets of other countries hitting on women and throwing up or whatever but we have many decent guys and overall we are a force for good. We feed more people, give more money, offer more medical supplies, more manpower, use our blood to save others more than ANY OTHER COUNTRY. If it is arrogant to state that then let my opinion be counted as arrogant.
But through international polls and comments by world leaders, it is also true that people all over are UNAWARE of how much good we do and hear only negative propaganda. The columnist that ST posted about addresses this problem. It is basically a bunch of people with American leftist talking points without perspective.
That’s my opinion. They are without perspective.
Baklava,
that could easily be a fact which can be verified as true of false. Stating that we have the greatest x, or we are the best at y, is something which is subjective and let’s be honest – do you really think the Senator which said that actually took the time to research prisons in other nations?
There is nothing ‘factual’ when using subjective terms, and the example you gave is not subjective, so it can’t be compared.
It’s called “pride” Neil.
You nailed it ST.
I am proud to “opine” that the people who are below the poverty line in America have a better standard of living than the average European.
We are the most generous nation on earth and even allow more legal immigrants than all other nations combined.
When I hear a Senator ‘opinining’ like that, I don’t think negatively of the Senator. I think, “RIGHT ON !!!!!!”.
I think both of you missed my point, but carry on.
Baklava,
The only thing compared in the Heritage Foundation was the amount of square footage per household. That shouldn’t be a surprise for obvious reasons. But it’s pretty subjective as to what factors comprise standard of living.
But I think that is getting off-topic, which is if and why there is rampant anti-americanism in the rest of the world. If you’re proud to opine that the US is better and greater in every way and everthing, that’s fine. And if you don’t care at all what anyone outside the US thinks, that’s fine too. But then why would you bother discussing the topic of whether anti-americanism exists outside the US? You either care or you don’t. And since you don’t care, why do you bother? I find that strange.
Don’t put words in my mouth Neil. It only reflects on you as a failure not me.
We aren’t better in every way and everything but I have much better perspective I believe than those who think so negatively of the US. I used the word “overall” we are a force for good.
I bother discussing because you are hear calling a Senator ‘arrogant’ when it could easily be non-negatively attributed to ‘pride’.
If you want to remain negative go ahead, I tried to persuade you otherwise.
And I never said I don’t care what others think. Again with the putting words in my mouth. I do care that propagandists like yourself speak so negatively of people and the US when we/they don’t deserve it. I won’t dwell though because I’ve seen your type so much I have to let it go…
So you found something strange which you actually didn’t know…. What a failure that was… for you.
Yes Baklava, please just let it go, as I have neither a negative view of the US nor am I a “propagandist”.
Markovits makes many convincing and some not so convincing arguements.
We have discussed Markovits new book in “How Widespread is Anti-Americanism?”
http://atlanticreview.org/archives/563-Widespread.html
Anti-Americanism is a big problem in Europe. The Atlantic Review, a blog on transatlantic affairs, writes a lot about Anti-Americanism. We expose examples of blatent Anti-Americanism like in this post: “Conservative Parliamentarian Implies that the US is Exterminating Other Cultures”
http://atlanticreview.org/archives/553-Exterminating.html
The latest posts on Anti-Americanism are here:
http://atlanticreview.org/plugin/tag/Anti-Americanism
Well, I guess I could use a good spelling and grammar check before I post…
yikes!!!
N,
I’ll be HAPPY to step forth and offer my opinion when I see opinions without perspective offered.