Quote:
Originally posted by DanaC
Often what seems like anti american sentiment from us euros is actually more of an intense disappointment that with the start you had you havent managed to avoid making the same mistakes we made when we were powerful. But then they do say that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. America has absolute power in the modern world.
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Bingo, as they say...and I believe that this knowledge (of being "the world's last remaining super-power", as the news people are always reminding us) affects the thinking, even if subtly, of more Americans in more ways than we're really aware.
Whether you're talking about George W. Bush himself, or the man (or woman) on the street, the basic attitude seems to have developed into something along the lines of, "We're the United States and we'll do what we damn well want to." Criticism of the President's goals or methods equals capitulation to "the terrorists" and their supporters (e.g. anyone who doesn't agree with the President's goals or methods). America, it seems to many, can only "stay strong" by enforcing the will and agenda of its executive leadership (by which I do not mean the President, but his unelected, behind the scenes advisors) around the World.
The abuses at Abu Ghraib are just a symptom of a general malady called Hubris. "We're the United States, and we'll do what we damn well want to."