Anti-American Sentiment? What Anti-American Sentiment?

Is anyone else as annoyed as I am by the SCLM's reports of "strong anti-American sentiment" (Elisabeth Bumiller's term) at the summit in Argentina?

Seems to me that folks down there are protesting Bushco's alleged policies, just like we like to do up here, except that there the security forces aren't quite so careful about making sure he doesn't have his eyes sullied by us.

Here's my angry form-letter to all the MSM this morning. Feel free to elaborate on it-- this is one more thing we shouldn't take lying down.

Dear [assorted editor person]

I would like to point out to [your reporter and your SCLM outlet] that George W. Bush is not encountering "strong anti-American sentiment" in Argentina. He's encountering strong anti-Bush sentiment, something that he's much better protected from here at home, where his travels are more carefully insulated.

None of the display that's going on in Argentina, at least as depicted by your [paper, website, network] and other news media, seems to be aimed at a dislike of our country. What's being expressed is a dislike of the Bush administration and its policies. By calling this "anti-American sentiment", [your reporter] asks us to share in the criticism Mr. Bush is receiving, whether we support his alleged policies or not.

Sincerely,
Sensible Shoes
Unassuming City, North Carolina

•  You are absolutely wrong on this.

  As my GOP friend continues to point out, since I oppose my own government's policies, I am anti-American, a US hater, unpatriotic, and when he is really pissed, a traitor.

  The SCLM is doing nothing more than what the GOP does.

  by Spud1 on Fri Nov 04, 2005 at 07:03:59 AM PDT

  •  All Hail The State!

    ... should be the GOP motto, right? It just shows that their objection to "big government" is a lie.  If your friend believes that it is our duty to blindly follow the government, did he blindly follow Bill Clinton?

    We don't have a monorchy. The President is not America.  The government is not America.

    "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president.. is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonous to the American public." - Teddy Roosevelt, in 1918 during the First World War.    "Too many people desire to suppress criticism simply because they think it will give some comfort to the enemy... if that comfort makes the enemy feel better for a few moments they are welcome to it.. because the maintenance of the right to criticism in the long run will do the country maintaining it a good deal more good than it will do the enemy." - Senator Robert A. Taft, after Pearl Harbor.

    by A Citizen on Fri Nov 04, 2005 at 08:02:23 AM PDT

•  SensibleShoes,

  why do you hate America?

  by GTPinNJ on Fri Nov 04, 2005 at 07:05:36 AM PDT

  •  The climate.

    It's always either too hot or too cold.

    by SensibleShoes on Fri Nov 04, 2005 at 07:11:12 AM PDT

•  Good diary.

  I caught this too.

  My comments on the NY Times piece, crossposted here:

  It is particularly cruel and unusual punishment for the NY Times to foist this on us first thing in the morning, before coffee is made.

  MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina, Nov. 3 - President Bush arrived in this beach resort city on Thursday night for a gathering of Western Hemisphere leaders after one of the worst weeks of his presidency, only to be greeted by strong anti-American sentiment and taunts from Venezuela's populist president, Hugo Chávez.

  Mr. Chávez, who has repeatedly accused the Bush administration of trying to assassinate him and invade his oil-producing country,...

  Let's stop right there. Didn't

  • The US previously help out an attempt to oust Chávez?

  • Didn't the US pick fights with Iraq, China, Syria, Canada, ...under Bush's watch?

  So it's not like it's just something Chávez is saying, is it? Even if he's paranoid, he probably has real enemies?

  Mr. Bush and Mr. Chávez are expected to see each other Friday in a group session at the opening of the Summit of the Americas, a two-day, 34-nation gathering. The meeting is officially to focus on creating jobs and promoting democracy. But Mr. Chávez said this week that his main goal at the meeting was the "final burial" of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas accord, which is already stalled....

   Chávez's main goal is not a contraction on "creating jobs and promoting democracy" as I see it. After the experience of countries in that area under "globalization" - say Argentina- it's clear that sometimes jobs and democracy depend on some limits to globalization.

  Mr. Bush did not denounce a longstanding request from Mr. Chávez that the Argentine government build a nuclear reactor in Venezuela for energy production.

  "I guess if I were a taxpayer in Venezuela, I would wonder about the energy supply that Venezuela has," Mr. Bush said in an interview at the White House on Tuesday with a group of reporters from Latin American publications. "But maybe it makes sense." Mr. Bush added that "it's the first I've heard of it."

  As everyone knows, Mr. Bush is the big Daddy who lets his teenager client states drive the nuclear car if they're good teenagers.

  A little more than 24 hours later, Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, appeared to backtrack when he noted that Mr. Chávez had asked a number of countries to build a nuclear reactor in Venezuela, and that he was far from a deal.

  "I think that's because people recognize that it would be problematic for Chávez to be in the nuclear business, if you will," Mr. Hadley said, adding that "this trip, this summit, is not about Hugo Chávez."

  Mr. Hadley? Did he have a role in Treasongate?

  And in true, he-said, she-said Times fashion:

  At a parallel "People's Summit" in Mar del Plata on Thursday, organized by a coalition of left-wing, indigenous and antiglobalization groups, American proposals on free trade also came in for criticism, as did Mr. Bush himself.

  "We Said No and No Means No: No to Bush, No to F.T.A.A. and No to Repaying the Debt," read one large banner at the conference, held in a group of tents and classrooms on the campus of a local university. Several thousand people attended.

  I don't suppose folks in the White House want to paint "the mean bullies are ganging up on Dear Leader" picture. Might get him a bump in the polls.

  
  

  by Mumon on Fri Nov 04, 2005 at 07:23:39 AM PDT

•  Nice letter...

  ...but I would add that taking back our government fairly soon here will be essential to preserving our name abroad. As a friend from Elsewhere said to me a year or so ago. "Nobody in Elsewhere hates Americans. But we are all getting kind of impatient with you."

  by bitter fruit on Fri Nov 04, 2005 at 07:26:18 AM PDT

  •  Add away!

    And send it to the SCLM outlet of your choice.

    by SensibleShoes on Fri Nov 04, 2005 at 07:28:33 AM PDT

•  Quick comment: I agree.

  I have lived as an American citizen outside the United States for most of my adult life...  others may first gripe at an American -who might then (initially) conclude that the person was "anti-American". However, if the American actually engages them in conversation (if possible), what it almost always boils down to is "How could you have supported for Bush on his path to world domination?"

  Possible Answer I: I was duped. And it's easy for you to say- I wonder what conclusion you would have come to if you had our corporate media telling you what to believe and be scared of and, of course, trying to make a fast buck at the same time.  

  Possible Answer II. I neither voted nor supported him.

  Possible Answer III. I support him.

  Thus, most of the current root cause of all "hate towards Americans" lead to Bush himself. I suspect that if first case applies to you, you will probably be "forgiven" with no hard feelings.  

  by Crowdog on Fri Nov 04, 2005 at 07:41:12 AM PDT