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From: | Pierce T . Wetter III |
Subject: | Re: [Gnu-arch-users] [OT] facism gaining ground in US |
Date: | Mon, 19 Jul 2004 10:48:21 -0700 |
Once you understand that you might have an idea why Americans are skeptical about the Europeans' assumed moral high ground.We can play the blame game forever, if only the faultless are allowed tospeak, it would be rather silent. It's rather weak to answer criticism with a counter attack without even attempting to answer the critic.
What I see (based again, on Foreign Affairs) is that America is trying harder to understand European fears then Europe is trying to understand America's fears.
9/11 really tweaked us. When Bush took office, before 9/11 he got a briefing that said that there were three big threats to America:
1. Osama Bin Laden 2. Iraq3. Either Iran or North Korea I can't remember (it's in Bush at War by Woodward, who is actually an anti-administration figure, he's also one of the Watergate reporters)
A month later, 3,000 people are dead, our stock market is in a shambles, and wherever you go, you see pissed off Americans waving flags.
That was the moment that the US was closest to facism. We're a little calmer now, but at the same time, when I think about 9/11 I get pissed off all over again. One thing most Europeans don't realize so much is that Bush took a very measured response given the feeling in the country at the time. We would have been perfectly accepting if he'd nuked someone.
Remember, we've only been attacked on our own soil twice in our entire history, so we take that stuff pretty severely.
Pierce
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