Philocrites

'Europeans are from Venus...'

by Philocrites

Timothy Garton Ash explores the phenomenon of "anti-Europeanism" in America: "The emotional leitmotifs of anti-Americanism are resentment mingled with envy; those of anti-Europeanism are irritation mixed with contempt." One reason for the widening gulf between Europe and the U.S.: Americans no longer feel culturally inferior to Europeans. Highly recommended reading.

...but only Bush is from Mars.

Eric Alterman goes to Europe to find out what all the anti-American hullaballoo is about. Bruce Springsteen still packs Parisian stadiums with fans who triumphantly sing, "Born in the U.S.A.," but Bruce and Bush mean completely different things to Europeans:

You can't be anti-American if you love Bruce Springsteen. You can criticize America. You can march against America's actions in the world. You can take issue with the policies of its unelected, unusually aggressive and unthinking Administration, and you can even get annoyed with its ubiquitous cultural and commercial presence in your life. But you can't be anti-American.

That's helpful — but why throw "unelected" in there? The Supreme Court really did muddy up the waters and Al Gore really did get more votes overall, Bush was elected by the Electoral College. I didn't vote for him and I don't like him, but come on. Let's stop fighting the last election and figure out the next one.

Copyright © 2003 by Philocrites | Posted 29 January 2003 at 6:07 PM

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