Denis Boyles offers a humorous take on Obamaphile Euros.
At Long Last Love by Denis Boyles on National Review Online
When the internationally esteemed, noble peace prize winning "Great Satan" Jimmy Carter was President -- and our embassy personnel still captives of the Iranian Mullahs -- I was traveling through Asia. I ran across many people on the international left who told me that the Japanese, for instance, hated Americans. I never encountered much overt anti-Americanism myself, but perhaps that is because I come from the "so what?" school.
It was an attitude I developed when traveling in Europe when Nixon was President and I would often find myself talking to leftist -- the riotous "1968ers" I encountered in '70. I remember once they snarkily demanded to know when the US would stop being racist. I said in fifty years (this is almost forty years ago). They got intrigued: why fifty years? I said, "Because most people alive today are going to have to die." Or they would demand that we stop occupying West Germany (We had 300,000 troops there at the time). I'd say, "Sure, we can do that. But West Germany would either double the size of its military or become a satellite of the Soviet Union. Which outcome would you prefer?" Generally speaking, since their pushing anti-American buttons didn't get me upset or apologetic or just generally defensive, they'd just as soon carry on a healthy conversation as go for the cheap thrills.
I think what gives anti-Americanism its charm is that many Americans actually seem to care. And so I think it will be back.
At Long Last Love by Denis Boyles on National Review Online
Americans, especially those on the Left, love to be loved, and there hasn’t been this much of the stuff aimed at the U.S.A. for a long time — just over seven years in fact. The last time Europe erupted in a clamor of amour it was because terrorists were flying airplanes into the World Trade Center. That bout of affection lasted about 48 hours. This love is made to last for weeks, maybe even months, but probably not years. Still, by the standards of the trans-Atlantic marriage, that’s an eternity.
When the internationally esteemed, noble peace prize winning "Great Satan" Jimmy Carter was President -- and our embassy personnel still captives of the Iranian Mullahs -- I was traveling through Asia. I ran across many people on the international left who told me that the Japanese, for instance, hated Americans. I never encountered much overt anti-Americanism myself, but perhaps that is because I come from the "so what?" school.
It was an attitude I developed when traveling in Europe when Nixon was President and I would often find myself talking to leftist -- the riotous "1968ers" I encountered in '70. I remember once they snarkily demanded to know when the US would stop being racist. I said in fifty years (this is almost forty years ago). They got intrigued: why fifty years? I said, "Because most people alive today are going to have to die." Or they would demand that we stop occupying West Germany (We had 300,000 troops there at the time). I'd say, "Sure, we can do that. But West Germany would either double the size of its military or become a satellite of the Soviet Union. Which outcome would you prefer?" Generally speaking, since their pushing anti-American buttons didn't get me upset or apologetic or just generally defensive, they'd just as soon carry on a healthy conversation as go for the cheap thrills.
I think what gives anti-Americanism its charm is that many Americans actually seem to care. And so I think it will be back.
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