Suddenly, It May Be Cool To Be An American Again »
Posted By ameliog 1 year, 2 months ago in News
She was a stranger, and she kissed me. Just for being an American.
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ameliog
Choice of attention - to pay attention to this and ignore that - is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In ...
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Justice4All1 year, 1 month ago
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I never denied being American. Many people have governments they despise so it is logical that many Americans do not think the way their government does.
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The world has always liked Americans but under Bush they hated our government. But the world never really liked Canadians. They don't even like each other. maybe I could have claimed to be Australian or from New Zealand, but never Canadian or English.
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reidgator1 year, 1 month ago
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Read the comments after the article. Posters that disagree outnumber those that do.
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My own experience? Recently spent the better part of 36 months in China. (16 trips) I was never treated poorly. I interacted with Japanese, Koreans, Italians, Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, Russians, Aussies, & Kiwis with no problems. Just like in America, there are people in other countries who do not like foreigners. If you read the article, in several of his bad encounters, there was no evidence that his treatment was due to American policies, but, simply the fact that he was foreign!
Notice the author was verbally abused by a Serb because of Bush's support of Kosovo independence. Does this suggest we were wrong to do so?
Well, if we had not recognized Kosovo independence, wouldn't Kosovovites (?) hate us?
Do you see how stupid this article is? No matter what side we take in any conflict, there will be the "other side". So what is our solution? Stay neutral on every conflict? That is cowardly. Obama is not advocating that!!!
BTW - Kosov is predominately Muslim and they supported our invasion of Iraq. They understand all too well what it is like to be on the victim side of oppression.
My fellow Americans, please stop this obsession with obtaining approval and popularity from Europeans. These @$$holes were too apathetic and weak to stop the genocide in their own back yard (WW2, the Balkans). That is why Clinton sent US troops to stop that conflict. The peace treaty was signed in Ohio!
Europe generated far too many tyrants and dictators in the 20th century (Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Mussolini, Milosevic, Ceausescu) for them to lecture us on morality. People in India, Vietnam, China, and the Phillipines remember all too well that it was the colonial powers from Europe that raped them in the 17th and 18th centuries, not America.
In fact, I think that is what all of this "America-bashing" is about.
Note that the bulk of the "America-haters" are European or Arab/Muslim. (And the latter group has hated us for 30+ years!) The Europeans are embarrassed and guilty about their own immoral history and want to distract the world from by pointing the finger at the USA.
Puhleeeeezzee.
On a side note, this article touches on another example of the stupidity, ignorance, and bigotry of many Europeans. They want to blame Bush for the Kyoto treaty rejection. They honestly think that Obama is now going to sign it!
The problem is: The treay was rejected in 1998 (Clinton admin) and it is the US Senate that approves/rejects treaties. The US Senate voted 98-0 against the treaty. So, how can they blame Bush? The European idiots also believe that we are the loner on the issue. WRONG! Europe is the loner because Brazil, China, Japan, and India all reject the Kyoto protocol. Italy plans to reject the Kyoto protocol when it expires in 2012.
Again, America - ignore the Europeans. Besides, the first time Obama rejects the Kyoto protocol, they will be awakened to the reality. -
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rumple4skin1 year, 1 month ago
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You can long to return to those thrilling days of yesterday when everything the U.S. did was seen by Europe as a sign from God. Those days are, thankfully, over. There can be no doubt that most of the civilized inhabited Earth wanted this man, Obama, to be elected. Can you not grasp the meaning of this message??
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Your recent trips to the countries you named are not hot tourist spots for most Amerians but are very important for business travels. You describe visits to these areas. If you had tried living in any of those named countries for a protracted time as a resident I am sure you would have had a completely different experience regarding the main street feelings our Euroopean neighbors had for the U.S. government.
That is my comment.
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Justice4All1 year, 1 month ago
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I was in France during the election. On the 5th everyone was saying congratulations to me. They don't even ask who I voted for. I guess they assume that anyone who travels and knows what is going on in the world would never vote for Bush or McSame. And they were right:)
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jbrobidart1 year, 2 months ago
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Although I don't travel abroad, I have never been ashamed to be an American. If the people don't like us over there then stay at home. There are far too many places in the US to visit to be wasting our money on countries who don't like us and don't appreciate the money we spend to boost their economy in the form of tourism.
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ameliog1 year, 2 months ago
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Even service members are told to keep things very low key depending on the country they're in. And Bush's foreign policy resulted in even allied countries having a higher degree of anti-Americanism. There are also many Americans working abroad, and they don't get to choose whether to travel, as though they were tourists will full authority to choose how and where to locate and spend their dollars. And there are many Americans with family living internationally, and simplifying the issues won't work for them either. It isn't about measuring individual courage based on whether or not they're willing to put themselves and possibly their children at risk by shouting pro-American comebacks to every anti-American sentiment they encounter.
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Charlson1 year, 1 month ago
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"Although I don't travel abroad, I have never been ashamed to be an American."
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Then you don't know the feeling of anger and resentment many Americans abroad are subjected to. It's easy for you to tell us what you'd do when you're not confronted daily because of the policies your government enacts that are not popular with the rest of the world. And I'm never ashamed of being an American but I sure am ashamed of some of the policies of my GOVERNMENT. -
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Justice4All1 year, 1 month ago
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I was never ashamed to be American when I travelled and I spent most of the last 8 years outside the US. I met a few rude Canadian and English tourists. And the Russians can be obnoxious sometimes. But I like telling them I'm American because I know they all envy us. The rest of the world has always admired America even when they hated Bush.
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But still, I enjoy hearing people say "congratulations" now that Obama has been elected.
GObama
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HowdyYall1 year, 2 months ago
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Cool to be an American again? America has shown its contempt for the sacrifices of the founders of this country and their principles. They have spat upon the graves of those who sacrificed during World War II to oppose the Socialist Governments of Germany and Russia and upon those of my generation who sacrificed to stop the spread of Communism in Korea and Vietnam. American has voluntarily elected a President and several Senators who are on the record as supporting a Socialist State in American, appointing Judges who will over-turn the Constitutional guarantees without vote of the people, and "seize" individual assets via the Tax system. --- Not so cool to me.
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jordan111 year, 1 month ago
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America has shown its contempt for the sacrifices of the founders of this country and their principles>>>>
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Like spitting on the principle of Habeas Corpus?
Like spitting on equal rights by suggesting stripping them from a group of American citizens?
Like spitting on the power entrusted to the US Congress by defying subpoenas?
Like spitting on the rights of Americans to their privacy? (4th Amendment)
I have to ask. Where on earth did you receive your education, that you could be so wrong? -
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RIChrisComment removed: Retracted by user
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Mdiar1 year, 1 month ago
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A good number of my friends are European and I like to think I showed them a more "real" side of America then the one they saw under Bush. A more intellectual side with greater respect for civil rights. Most were fairly apolitical and even they had this rather bad stereotype of Americans as ignorant and anti-Muslim. The non-American reaction to Bush leaving and Obama coming in has been immense. Already its almost like Bush never happened regarding the world abroad.
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I have never been ashamed of my country but I have often been disappointed in it. It feels good to not be disappointed it its choice of President. -
jdcrlctlcabcComment removed: Spam
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canadianrancher571 year, 1 month ago
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There are things in history that bring the world together some of them good and some of them bad, I think back to different assasinations not only in your country but others as well and realize how it shocks people world wide, I think of when the space shuttle blew up and how the whole world stopped to pay their respects and share the shock. On the good side I remember when man landed on the moon and the world stood in admiration of those men. Now we have a world that has watched this election maybe not from day one but for alot of it and we have watched the lies that had to be delt with by the American voting public, we watched as Americans had to look at the idea of maybe being a muslim, and of being a colored person, these ideas had to be looked at by the people and I feel that while looking at these points Americans found themselves. They found a nation which has many ethnic groups, many religions, and many other differences and they accepted the fact that allowing all to live in one country has made them great.
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I think what the rest of us in the world are hoping for is that maybe the acceptance of of your differences will allow a different attitude to those of us who live in different countries throughout the world, countries whose culture, religion, and politics may be different than yours.
We are hoping for a change and we have seen the first step take place in your country.-
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reidgator1 year, 1 month ago
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So you wanted a change in the USA?
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"Eay" you frigid hypocrite! When will your country change? When will Canada and France and Germany elect a leader from an ethnic or racial minority?
You got a lot of nerve looking down your nose at us. Well it is only because you are flat on your back looking UP AT THE USA.
The truth is, in spite of our history with slavery, this predominantly (for now) white society has made more porgress in the area of race relations than any of you self-righteous twits.
Canada, England, and France, have their own embarrassments in the war on terror and the treatment of Muslim suspects. Canada in particular has its own instance of brutality at the hands of Canadian soldiers in a foreign conflict.
We do not need your approval. If any thing, YOU need OURS!
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jdcrlctlcabc1 year, 1 month ago
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ONLY 1/5 OF AMERICANS VOTED FOR THAT MENIACAL SOCIALIST SOON-TO-BE DICTATOR. I DON'T BELIEVE ANY OF THIS PROPAGADA, THAT WE ARE HATED. IF THAT WERE TRUE, WHY DOES EVERYONE WANT TO COME HERE AND BE LIKE US? WE WILL NOW SEE AN INFLUX LIKE NEVER BEFORE WITH ALL THE SOCIALIST PROGRAMS THAT WIL BE IMPLEMENTED. WHO'S GOING TO PAY FOR ALL OF THIS? THE RICH? THE RICH AMERICANS ARE SLOWLY DECREASING THANKS TO CLINTON, FRANK, DODD, FANNIE, FREDDIE AND ALL THE REST OF THE SOCIALIST DEMOCRATS THAT DESTROYED BANK AFTER BANK WITH THEIR FORCED LOANS. THEY TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE POOR. THEY ARE THE HATERS OF THIS COUNTRY. SOME DAY THE TRUTH WILL COME OUT BUT IT WILL BE TOO LATE. AMERICA WILL BE NO MORE.
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Justice4All1 year, 1 month ago
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Just because someone sopports Bush does not mean they hate America. Perhaps they don't love America enough to put some effort into watching what our government was doing. They voted for Bush who has nearly destroyed America, but had they been better informed or better educated they would never have voted for Bush.
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Voting for Bush did more to destroy America than any American hater could have ever done but that doesn't mean the Bush supporters hate America. Only that they were too ignorant or mis-informed to be voting. -
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Justice4All1 year, 1 month ago
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I have spent almost all of the past 8 years outside the US and never claimed to be from another country. And for the most part I have never had any problems. People hate Bush, but I'm not Bush so they don't hate me.
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The English, Canadians and Germans envy us which makes them hate us. They can all be very rude. But the ret of the world has always held some respect for Americans.
The author was in Austria so it's no wonder he had problems. The people who envy us are starting to like us only because Bush has nearly destroyed America and they are no longer jealous of us.
I'm still proud to be an American and I still hate Bush for what he did to America. The election has not changed anything, except that now we have hope.-
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canadianrancher571 year, 1 month ago
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Justice4All - I think that two words in your comment are correct about the Canadians, Those being envy and jealous. We are like the neighbour who sees some one who is ususally doing better and it puts our nose out of joint. DEpending on what part of the country you are in the hate part may apply but I really don't see it here on the prairies. I think things that really do bother us are things like trade deals which are signed by our governments but then we usually see lobby groups in your country ask for duties on products to protect their industries, we are experiancing this right now in the livestock industry with the COOL legislation, American packers are not willing to take Canadian cattle because they may have a problem selling the meat to American consumers and yet the feedlots are able to buy feeders from us, feed them out down there and sell the same cattle as American cattle.
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Justice4All1 year, 1 month ago
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Here's one. He lied to get us in a war that has killed thousands. I admit that lieing about a war, spying on us and taking away our right to Habius Corpus is not as bad a a BJ in the oval office, but Bush has done at least one thing wrong.
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Now can you name one thing he did right? -
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jordan111 year, 1 month ago
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1. Ignored the warnings pre 9/11
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2. Trashed the 4th amendment to the Constitution
3. Trashed Habeas Corpus
4. Invaded Iraq
5. Filled the Department of Justice with 150 hires from the third rate Regents University, which teaches right wing fanaticism.
6. Instructed his appointees to ignore Congressional subpoena's
7. Sat around while his friend lied about a power shortage, and stole billions from Californians.
8. Placed unqualified nincompoops in charge of critical posts such as FEMA, which led to the worst response to a natural disaster in our history.
9. Sent our troops into harms way without adequate supplies or protection.
10. LIED about WMD.
11. Gave BILLIONS to military contractors with no oversight or consequences for poor work.
12. Allowed BILLIONS in cash to be bundled up and sent to Iraq, where it promptly disappeared.
13. Broke International Treaty's.
14. Made enemies of our ally's with his moronic 'tough guy' BS.
15. Put our enemies so on the defensive, they are scrambling to create nuclear weapons.
16. Ignored the Palestinian issue.
17. Ignored our crumbling infrastructure.
18. Rolled back environmental protections.
19. Put us trillions in debt, all to the satisfaction of the military industrial complex.
20. Ignored the protections of our infrastructure, leaving us vulnerable to future terrorist attack.
If I've left anything out, maybe someone can fill in. -
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bigG1 year, 1 month ago
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I can dispute it. The GAO figures disagree with your every statement. The gap between the wealthy and middle class is now higher than any time since 1928, the year before the stock market crash and the onset of the great depression. More wealth is now concentrated in fewer hands than even then. The Rep policies have caused this.
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You want to talk about socialism? How about the public bailouts of private enterprise recently signed by GW Bush, the greatest socialist president of our time?
Pure capitalism under a market economy would dictate that inefficient businesses must fail.
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KISA452a1 year, 1 month ago
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Isn't it sad that Europeans will threat and condemn and harass people just because of their nation of origin? Isn't the lack of tolerance, diversity of thought, and inability to respect others apauling? People getting attacked in public (beer can lobbed), not being able to wear certain clothes? Where are the people voicing outrage about this?
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jordan111 year, 1 month ago
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When I was in Europe, I wasn't threatened, or harrassed, or condemned. Those people I did sense tension with, asked me straight out about what was bothering them. The one thing that struck me was the grasp on issues that Europeans have. Doesn't matter if they were cab drivers, hair stylists, business owners. Every one who wanted to discuss our foreign policies was incredibly knowledgable. And they discussed with me without rancor. No over the top comments, no name calling, & they were respectful despite their concerns. So let's not paint Europeans with that broad brush.
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VocalOp1 year, 1 month ago
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Hopefully, all of those foreigners who have made money off of us during the Bush administration will feel like they can come to the US again and spend, spend, spend. Our economy will need it. Thanks for a start in restoring the high regard for America that was lost.
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bewellnow4ever1 year, 1 month ago
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JUDAS !
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I actually feel good about you denying your citizenship , you are not what this country is about . When pople say love it or leave it , YOU are what they actually have in mind.
Let me tell you a little something about your DELUSIONAL European Comrades. They NEED the United States and they have NEEDED Us since WWI..and they continue to need us in Iraq , since it is THEY who are the 2nd largest consumer of Middle Eastern oil and NOT the US . We aren't there for OUR Benefit we are there for Their benefit, we are dying because they don't have the BACKBONE to protect their own oil COWARDS !!!!! How many GENOCIDES in their own backyard have Europeans let happen ? The Jews , The Former Yugopslavia , Gypsies ...Shall I go on ? Those oh so enlightened Eropeans need to put down the Chianti , sober up and realize they needed us to come in because they were too IMPOTANT to do it themselves . So while you are busy kissing both cheeks of my American ex-pats you can kiss both of my cheeks too !
Get your DAMN facts straight ! I'm sick of being the world's booty call , ya pick up the phone when you need us and then call us ****** the rest of the time .. I think we SHOULD let you all fend for yourselves and then colonize you when it all goes to hell. -
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bigG1 year, 1 month ago
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I travel internationally regularly for work, and I never denied my heritage. Most people were inquisitive as to why we would allow these policies to go on. I spent a great effort explaining to them that these were policies which most Americans I know don't agree with, but getting them changed takes time. I never really had a problem or felt in any danger.
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Now, in inbred neanderthal redneck areas of the U.S., that might be a different matter. Not to worry, I am well armed. -
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KataQueen1 year, 1 month ago
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It truly boggles me how so many gullable people can vote such a deceptive person into office, especially such an important position as the presidency.....what also boggles me is how ingorant all of these same people are to the fact that they place their blame to the wrong source entirely...Bush was not to blame, he lied to no one...when 9/11 happened, the people wanted him to act and act now...he did so, he also stated with a public address that "this war will not be a quick one, there will be many casualties both foreign and domestic...if he did not react you would have blamed him for that too....you damn turncoats...get over yourselves, the majority of good he wanted to do, the dems in the senate crushed it all, so put your blame there...you wanted change you should put it in the right place, in the senate, where it belongs...where all the dems are..
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bigG1 year, 1 month ago
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"when 9/11 happened, the people wanted him to act and act now"
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Speak for yourself. I wanted Bush to get Bin Laden, not do a Snaggletooth "exit stage left" to Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with it.
You are the gullible one.
It truly boggles my mind that people are as stupid as you appear to be. -
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CaptainLucid1 year, 1 month ago
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"Bush was not to blame, he lied to no one...when 9/11 happened, the people wanted him to act and act now...he did so, he also stated with a public address that "this war will not be a quick one, there will be many casualties both foreign and domestic...if he did not react you would have blamed him for that too"
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Actually he is completely to blame, he lied to everyone, when they wanted him to act it was to capture or kill bin ladin which he abandoned because he really was more interested in invading Iraq for its oil and his unresolved issues with daddy and booze than with catching the guy who attacked us. W has said publicly that he is not concerned about bin ladin. W and his cronies were promising that the Iraqi's would be welcoming us with hugs and flowers and the total cost would be around 300 Billion and would be paid for with Iraq oil not taxpayer money. There isn't anyone blaming W for going after bin ladin. And do you expect anyone here to believe for a second that after 6 years of the republicans having complete control in every way possible that the blame lies on the dems in the senate who had a so called majority only if you count Joe Liarman as a dem while he promotes a republican line vote are in some way responsible.
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Poulenc1 year, 1 month ago
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If, at long last, you want to feel very, very wonderful about being an American, go here, and please check out the comments below the article.
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Guaranteed: you'll weep.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/reac... -
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Poulenc1 year, 1 month ago
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And may I add that one of the reasons that O. was elected was that he sees America as part of the world--and the world as part of America, witness our ever-growing multicultural/multiracial population. Witness him.
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It's old-think to keep the outdated we, America, vs. them, foreigners, POV. It's xenophobic. It doesn't work.
It's what we want to, and voted to, turn our backs on.-
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reidgator1 year, 1 month ago
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Mostly agree, but, the problem is, Europe only likes us if we do things THEIR way. There is no compromise from their end. And this is true for most of the rest of the world. Simply put, the UN is a huge failure. It is a grand idea that is not working!
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The UN failed in Kosovo (we had to handle that)
The UN failed in Somalia (we failed to handle that correctly)
The UN failed in Rwanda (Clinton regretted not going in...)
The UN failed the people of North Korea
The UN is failing the people of the Sudan.
The UN failed the people of Iraq. That is why the UN authorized our invasion with Resolution 1441.
That is right. Those who call the war in Iraq illegal are the real liars.
Those who say Bush lied to us about the reason for the war are the real liars.
Look at the transcripts.
IN his speech to teh UN, Bush justified the invasion on Saddam's failure/refusal to honor the UN sanctions and resolutions.
Bush did what diplomacy failed to do! He got the UN inspectors back into Iraq!
Saddam was told that if he and his two sociopathic sons would leave Iraq, the invasion would be canceled. WMDs were not the intent of the war. Regime change was the intent of the invasion. -
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reidgator1 year, 1 month ago
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I want to respond to your embracement of multi-culturalism as being "good". I find it neither good nor bad. It has its benefits (especially with regard to food), but, it also has its costs.
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Even liberal professors at Harvard are starting to rethink the "goodness" of multi-culturalism.
Harvard professor Robert Putnam, a "liberal" wrote the book "Bowling Alone". Here is a comment from a review of the book:
"Putnam found that 'The greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogeneous settings.' "
Most historians will tell you that mid-19th Century Japan was probably the most "civilized" country in the world at the time. Using all of teh criteria for "civilization", they were the best. However, their system was very draconian and their population was extremely homogenous.
We often compare ourselves to Europe in the area of violence, yet we ignore the fact that until recently European countries were very homogenous. They could not get along with each other, but, there was little discord from within. Look at what has happened in Germany and France since the immigration populations have gotten significant!I'm not opposed to diversity or immigration, but, until we change the human "beast", the diversity will bring conflict. -
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Poulenc1 year, 1 month ago
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reidigator, I wasn't saying that multiculturalism is good--or bad, for that matter.
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It simply is, a fact of American life, too often denied (or derided) by too many people, who would stop the world from spinning if they could.
But the world continues to spin and become a smaller and smaller place; and we must embrace our human interconnectedness or perish.
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