WHAT DO THEY THINK OF AMERICA? DON'T ASK!

[babylonsister]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucrr/20070531/cm_ucrr/whatdotheythinkofamericadontask;_ylt=An6lqa4Nt9kJhmj8XlVxuAP8B2YD

WHAT DO THEY THINK OF AMERICA? DON'T ASK!
Wed May 30, 9:03 PM ET

snip//

Here is a distilled sample of the kind of things you hear and read traveling through Italy and France for two weeks:

"Arrogant" ... "Arrogant bullies" ... "Hypocrites" ... "You people think you are exempt from all the rules, as if there is one set of rules for us and another for you." ... "Do you know that there are people hoping China becomes more and more powerful, just to put the United States in its place?"

Some of those comments actually come from Americans. The International Herald Tribune, a venerable icon of America's presence in Europe and more recently in Asia, ran an op-ed piece on May 18 by Anne-Marie Slaughter, dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. The title was "American Exceptionalism: Is There a High Ground?" The newspaper used it to frame a debate on American values at this time.

The word "exceptionalism" goes back at least as far as "Democracy in America," published in 1835, when Alexis de Tocqueville considered the possibility that American history and development far from Europe and Asia made Americans different than other people. We liked the idea, often redefining it to mean that Americans are better than other people.

That's what
Ronald Reagan thought and preached in talking about our country as "a shining city on a hill," a place with ideas above foreigners -- putting us closer to God. Our current leader, George W. Bush, has expanded (or perverted) that idea to claim the right to invade other countries. He would save their souls in the name of American doctrine.

Reagan and Bush were not the first and will not be the last. Presidents more often than not end their speeches with "God bless America." That was clarified a few years ago in a Chris Rock film about the first black president. In that comedy, his make-believe opponent, a Republican senator, ended his speeches with "God bless America -- and no one else!"

more...

[Fridays Child]

1. Now, more than ever, overseas American travelers need the apology t-shirt...

In all of the official U.N. languages, it says something like, "I'm sorry my president is an idiot. I didn't vote for him."

[babylonsister]

2. I WANT that! Sounds great! nt

[Fridays Child]

5. Here's where I found it...

http://www.cafepress.com/americanapology/137430

[babylonsister]

7. Thank you so much! I'm going to order! nt

[Phredicles]

8. Awesome! Want it/Need it/Gotta have it...

[dave_p]

3. Europeans understand

... and their own governments are nothing to celebrate. So don't let it put you off.

[dave_p]

4. "God bless America - and no one else!"

Could be a slogan for half of DU's posts.

[Madspirit]

6. I have friends

I have friends from all over the world. They HATE our government and our president, with a fiery passion...
Lee

[flyarm]

9. i spent the month of march in Spain and France..i would say the Spanish

despise us ..much more than the French...

THE SPANISH WERE SO RUDE TO US..and yet the French couldn't have been nicer!!
it got so bad in Spain my best friend got to almost snapping ..and i asked her politely not to..

we were treated extemely rudely in our hotel..in restaurants..in stores..and tours..it was miserable..

when we got to Paris we were treated so nicely..and so kindly..my girlfriend and her college daughters said ..gosh i thought the French hated us..i told them that is bullshit and propaganda..they just loved Paris and the people and everything about France ( it was their first time)!!

I said i get furious when Americans say the French are not nice..i said that is usually a person who has never been there!!

then in the South of France everywhere we were treated wonderfully..couldn't have been nicer or kinder!!

As a flight crew for 33 yrs i have spent alot of time in France ( my favorite place on earth) and i have taken many friends to France ..and have changed their idea of France..and every bit of propaganda they have ever heard!!

My girfriends two daughters asked me when they get married will i take them to Paris to get their wedding dresses...they truely fell in love with France!!

One of the girls is going to try to do an exchange program of college study now in Paris or anywhere in France ( her mother and i may join her!!)

Now my husbands family is from Spain..and i will say..this time in Barcelona..we were treated horribly..rude is an understatement

and i can't say i blame the Spanish!!..the way the * admins has treated Spain..

people the world over are not stupid..in fact i would say we are the most ignorant of other cultures and politics!!

fly

[dogday]

10. Italy wants to designate a No Bush Day....

There are rioting in the streets of Germany and I feel like a lot of that is toward the US... It is a damn shame, a real damn shame.....

[flyarm]

11. where was that shirt when i needed it..wellllllll

i may be going to So France in Sept..so i will buy one for all of us going!!

i love it!!..gotta have it!!..and stickers for the wheelie!!

fly

[Zywiec]

12. Whenever I travel to Europe I prefer to blend in with the locals

I'm not sure why anyone would want to draw attention to themselves. I prefer the motto: go out, but don't stand out. It's always worked for me.

Cheers.