Larry,
The US will be blamed for any and every thing. We will be blamed for:
intervening (called meddling)
not intervening
being arrogant
being absent
throwing our money around
not spending enough money
using our military power
not using our military power
leading the world economy (globalization)
not doing enough to lead the world economy
being aggressive
being passive
being too active
being complacent
There is no end to this. In the 1970s I lived with a bunch of South Americans in Madrid and they griped nonstop about the US (El Yanqui) on all of the above. Especially the Argentines. So did the Europeans. Did you see a recent movie, "L'Auberge Espagnole" by any chance? I found it very interesting as a metaphor for 21st century Europe, effete and oblivious to the world passing them by.
Other countries are whined about in similar terms, depending on where you are, but clearly the biggest and easiest target is the US.
An analogy is Microsoft, a company I admire and one which has done more to make everybody's life so much better that a world without MS's products is not even imaginable. What is their reward? Pretty similar to the US's on the world stage.
The Dems would like to lay most of it at George W's feet, but the hostility toward the US has, in my memory, gone on without cease through JFK, LBJ, Nixon/Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton and now GWB. No matter who is the next president, and the one after that, until our era of glory is over and we sit around like Spain or England speaking of past power, it will continue. We are such a spectacular target.
Kb |
