Europe Reassesses US on Fourth of July

From the AP via Common Dreams:

The question across the Old Continent is not the oft-asked, "Why do they hate us?" In fact, not that many Europeans do. More thoughtful Americans ask, "Why have they lost respect for us?"

Iraq is the obvious short answer. In polls and conversations, a clear majority of Europeans excoriate President Bush for charging on alone into a widening quagmire that is reshaping the world around them.

And

"When Europeans look over at the roots they planted in America, they see root rot," said Barry Goodfield, an American psychotherapist and conflict specialist who has worked in Europe since 1972.

In each of these nations, citizens regard themselves as no less free than Americans, he said, with elections, an unfettered press and, in some cases, foreign policy experience dating back centuries.

"They have misgivings about our judgment, our motives, our implementation," he said by telephone from the Netherlands. "Democracy is ultimately about choice, and Europeans see choice being taken away."

By giving Europe a take-it-or-leave-it option on Iraq, Goodfield said, Bush insulted old allies at a deep level.

"We bypassed the U.N. and diplomacy, and they're reacting to a slap in the face," Goodfield concluded. "They see us as not playing by the rules, ignoring institutions that stand for justice and morality."

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A while back, while sitting in his schmantzy French chateau smoking his affected, home-rolled cigarettes, Johnny Depp compared the United States to a frightened, yapping, small dog. Leave it to the former 21 Jump Street star to find the brilliant metaphors. Personally, I think the better metaphor is the teenager who finally realizes that he can take his dad. Drunk on hormones, pubic hair, a new growth spurt, and car keys, the butthole teen thinks he knows everything just because he's started shaving: "screw you and your ways, old man, I'm going out and having some fun." Of course, in this metaphor, Europe is the dad.

In a very real sense, Europe is our "dad," the father of the American civilization. We're crazy to dismiss them the way we have. Sure, Europe is "old" as Bush has repeatedly pointed out, but with age comes wisdom: they know imperialism and fascism when they see it, and it's quite clear that they don't like at all what they're seeing here in America these days.

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