A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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May 17, 2004Athletes as diplomatsThe US Olympic Committee aims to help repair the country’s “reputation.” American athletes have been warned not to wave the US flag during medal celebrations at this summer’s Olympic Games in Athens, for fear of provoking crowd hostility and harming the country’s already battered public image. . . . The best rationale I have come up with to justify my possible vote for Kerry is that he won’t fundamentally change course, but his election would eliminate a visceral source of hatred for the U.S. among so many, a hatred that represents a real obstacle to improving the national security situation of the country. P.S. I know it won’t happen, but wouldn’t it be great for an Iraqi to win a medal and run around waving a flag? Oh well, at least the Iraqi athletes won’t be jailed and/or tortured when they return home this time. Posted by Todd Pearson at May 17, 2004 06:59 PMComments
...but his election would eliminate a visceral source of hatred for the U.S. among so many...I dunno. The thing about visceral hatreds is that they are, by definition, basically irrational; that visceral hatred didn't start with Bush's inauguration (though that provided a lot of people with a handy hook to hang it on). Witness this piece, from September 11... 1999. Anecdotal, I know... but still. (Heather Mallick is a nationally syndicated columnist for the Toronto Globe and Mail). Posted by: David Fleck at May 18, 2004 11:45 AMI think that Kerry and many foreign leaders would kiss in public and pretend that all is well now - but how long would it last? As many have pointed out, the US and the EURO zone have been on divergent paths for some time. Will Kerry be willing, or even able to change US policy sufficiently to make the Euro's happy? I doubt it But, I will admit, this is the best argument I have seen to vote for Kerry kind of sad no? Posted by: tallan at May 18, 2004 04:23 PMPersonally, all telling me something like that would do is to get me to wave the biggest flag I could find! Like I'm not supposed to be proud to be an American?? Excuse me!! "Visceral hatred" is the least reason I can think of to vote for someone! Posted by: Heather Feuerhelm at May 18, 2004 09:37 PMI have no illusions that anti-Americanism would significantly diminish if Kerry were elected. But I think that it would diminish somewhat at the margins, at least in Europe and among supposed "moderates" in the Arab world. If I could be convinced that Kerry really would do what he has said lately, this is the type of tie-breaker argument that may end up deciding how I vote. Granted, it is nothing to get enthused about, but I know I am pretty sure that enthusiasm is not what I will feel no matter what when I enter the voting booth in 5 months. Posted by: Todd Pearson at May 18, 2004 11:04 PMWell, I for one don't want US athletes to stand humbly as if chastened while classless bozos boo our athletes. If the anti-americans in the crowd don't want to see our flag waving, then let their countries' athletes defeat ours. Let 'em boo, because they will anyway. Anti-americans have a visceral hatred for our country that will surely endure even if that hatred's current convenient focus, GWB, is removed. Anti-Americanism is far too deep to be assuaged by just not waving flags. But the general perception of Americans and, especially US athletes, is that they are extremely jingoistic. Some of this is clearly irrational, but it probably wouldn't hurt to tone down some of the nationalism. Frankly, I've always felt that the Olympics exacerbates national tensions rather than alleviating them. As for Kerry, I think people need to decide whether anti-Americanism is something that is really a problem for the country or simply an outgrowth of being the "biggest kid on the block." As people pointed out, anti-Americanism certainly preceeded Bush--the French were talking about us as a "hyperpower" during the Clinton Administration. Madeline Albright didn't help by talking about us being the "indispensable country." That's something you know, not that you say. I think the anti-US feeling is a problem. With the Third World, I'm not sure we can ever overcome that. With respect to Europe, this needs to be addressed, but not by trying to become like Europeans. The Europeans are always going to have a different approach than the US and certainly the political culture is different. The Europeans generally believe in incrementalism while the US wants more resolution. But I think a president who at least showed some concern with European ideas and was willing to entertain some notion of commonality and show some humility about the world (not that the Europeans are not arrogant too) would win some respect back. That is an approach I would like to see from Kerry, but I doubt that that is a politically viable strategy during a campaign (although I suspect that is what he would do as president). Posted by: MWS at May 19, 2004 04:01 PM |
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