Many in the anti-capitalist, anti-America, etc. camp argue that America is hegemonic and does all kinds of nasty things because it is a world leader. These very same people of course are the ones arguing that the U.S. takes bold leadership when it comes to Climate Change policy and perhaps even unilaterally committing to policy to “lead the way” for the other nations of the world.
Curious, no?
Few people actually care how much power the government wields, or what they do with it, so long as the power is held by “their guys” and used for their pet issues. I remember back during the introduction of the Patriot Act under Bush 42, I could not turn on the news without seeing some protester holding up a sign with the Ben Franklin quote, “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” A valid point perhaps, but were are these same people now that we facing threats to our Second Amendment liberties?
It is jealousy that motivates the foreign anti-Americans, who would like to see our economy hamstrung with high energy prices. Our domestic anti-Americans would like us to enjoy the same standard of living as the French pensioner, who has enough money to put $8 per liter gas into his Deux Chevaux and drive to Nice for his annual one-month paid vacation.
I blame George Bush.
BTW, the idea that the US is hegemonic
is a leftist fantasy, contrary to our history from before the American Revolution, and continuing past the Second World War. Some of the holdouts still have wistful memories of Lenin, their spiritual idol.
It is precisely because our country has ever had any designs on the territory of others has made us unique in world history. We are not sore Muslims, having made a mess of themselves for 1200 years, nor are we European vandals who having secured an army invade the
Sudetenland or Poland to pillage.
We have not gone into the world to do any of that, We owe no apologies to anyone.
We are about to enter for a few years intentional American weakness, in an apology for our resistance to wiser men who wish our scourge were eliminated.
C’mon Harry, what about the Louisiana Purchase, the other fraudulent native land acquisitions in the continental west, Alaska, Hawaii, the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, parts of Antarctica, etc? Sure, the US had troops deployed in Europe and Japan after WWII but in fact it still does, although the feds have failed to make Belgium the 51st state. Right now the US is attempting an occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and putting some muscle on North Africa as well. Uncle Sam is pretty determined to spread his species of democracy wherever drones can fly.