America's Changed Image Abroad

By: Linda Deak

I remember a moment over the telephone during Campaign 2000 when I told a Republican in my family that Bush was not liked in Europe. I told this person very close to me about the book by Willem Post being widely sold in the Netherlands describing the differences of the two candidates after he dug around in Midland, Texas, and Carthage, Tennessee, to ask the hometown folks what they thought of their political aspirants. It was very unflattering to Bush. The criticisms have been spelled out many times and I reviewed them again: his ignorance, his arrogance, his lack of curiosity about the outside world, his fake bonhomie, his flippancy in matters that are very serious, and his disrespect for Mother Nature and our shared planet.

The family member said something that has been said by many: "Well, Europe doesn't elect our presidents. We do." Now, whether America can elect its presidents is in dispute and the concerns of the outside world were not considered in the appointment. Our country has suffered as a consequence.

I live in Europe and I cannot speak for all of the 380 million people of Europe. I can speak for the many friends and contacts I have in a variety of stations here. I live in a community where half come from elsewhere in this wide world. Some have taken courses on how to be diplomatic, how not to speak unless something pleasant can be said. They are certainly willing to say unpleasant things about Bush. In fact it has become fashionable to say unpleasant things about Bush. His politics are retrograde. He has proven himself to be a fair-weather friend to his major campaign contributors, now that they have almost to the man fallen from grace. He is a scaremonger to the American people. Fear abounds and he and his minions feed it. This is not considered a noble tactic of a leader by the outside world. A true leader tries to quell fear rather than stir it up.

There is an enormous chasm between the outside world and America and it has a lot to do with the enormous chasm that is in the collective brains of our population, benumbed by tabloid media, successful propaganda, and the ever-stirred fear. People in the outside world think Americans are dumb. I say: "No they are not. They are just not stimulated. They know very little about history and geography and other cultures." A person can tell an American they are xenophobic and they will say: "What is that?"

People in the outside world complain that we speak too loudly and then only talk about trivialities. They believe that all we care about is our own stash of earthly goods. They think that we know way too much about eBay and way too little about Erasmus. They think we have too much starch in our clothes and not enough starch in our character. They think we spend too much time in assertiveness training classes and not enough time in art appreciation classes. They wonder about our literacy; do we only read simple texts about people moving cheese or telling us that women are different from men or that our press is liberal and tries to slander conservatives?

I watch the BBC here. The coverage of the summit in Johannesburg was enlightening and thought provoking. An American named Fred Smith from an organization called the Competitive Enterprise Institute spoke for the Bush administration. He sounded very much like Bob Barr, but his white hair and beard make him look more like a Unitarian minister. He lashed out at the 40,000 delegates attending the conference, calling them all "goofies" and "ecological socialists". He did not notice what the cameras easily showed, that his fellow panelists looked upon him with derision. It was as though he was one who could believe it was raining when people were spitting on him. It is shameful that someone like this spoke for America.

Shame is the emotion I feel the strongest since the installment of Bush and all hell broke loose. I am ashamed that we were unable to hold a free and fair election in our country. I am ashamed that Gore had to concede. It will be a point of discussion for the future when the American people are allowed to emerge from the fog of ignorance and the faux patriotism whether it was more loyal to America for Gore to concede or to carry on and run the risk of a civil war because of the nature and "integrity" of Bush supporters.

I carry this shame for my country with me as I trod the streets elsewhere as an American abroad. I defend my country. I speak up against what is happening and remind people continuously that we did not elect this man. We did not elect this man who has become a source of scorn around the globe, representing the very worst values apparently embraced by America: greed and narrow self-interest. We did not elect the man whose very being, as well as his support for business, Enron-style, has prompted the Europeans to pull close to $2 trillion out of the American stock market.

"How can Americans, those famous freedom-lovers, tolerate not being able to elect their president?" I am asked. I think we are only at the beginning of a sea change in America. I believe that soon there will be a consensus of denunciation. I think even the people who dress in starched white shirts, looking as though they are going to yet another corporate takeover, as well as the ones who dress like they are on their way to play golf are going to see the light. (It is okay with our side if the ones in camouflage, defending their right to hunt deer with AK47's remain Bush supporters). You have to be very dumb to decide that the shame that we are experiencing is good for America. You have to truly be from another planet to believe that our friendships and relations in the world, on planet Earth, are unimportant. You have to be very very dumb to believe that Bush & Co. have been good for the economy. But, like I have repeatedly stated, Americans are not as dumb as others think. The next election might make mention of a candidate's international respect. Americans when they get to elect a president again will get it right. I believe that with all my heart.

In the meantime, Europe will have to strengthen and fill the void. Europe has more people and a larger GDP than America. They have also done a much better job of fighting poverty and ignorance, seeming to strive for the common good. After the Christian Coalition pronounced, through Bush's mouth, that America is no longer going to support family planning programs in Africa, the European leaders voted to make up the short fall the next day. Other countries will have to buck-up and sort out their own problems with the disrespected leadership in America becoming so ineffectual. This will not be a bad thing in the end. In a very peculiar way Bush & Co. have strengthened the outside world in ways they never expected while they weakened the regard for our country.

I feel certain that our citizenry is going to make it through this juncture in our history, shake off our new pariah status, and rise to become well-regarded members once again in the family of nations. We will be welcomed back into a family strengthened because we lived through a crisis together. We will have to prove that we are indeed rid of the demons that allowed Bush & Co. to rule America. There is a lot of work to do and many, many of us are busy, plugging away from all sorts of duty posts. My duty is to tell you how it looks from abroad and to let outsiders know that we are indeed in a struggle to regain our democracy. I am also busily working on voter registration. What are you doing? I have hope. I am, after all, American. Hope is in our genes.