Canada Free Press
By William R. Mann
I am no world economist. I am not a banker for Goldman Sachs or AIG. But, I do have a question that is starting to bug me. Maybe you have the same question.Why are we bailing out Greece?
Did not the Europeans establish a European Union and a Euro and create this super economy in order to diminish or eliminate reliance on the US Dollar? Did not these same Europeans [and their erstwhile Russian, Chinese and Arab “friends”] recently push to replace the US Dollar with the Euro or some other New World Currency?
OK ... now for an unpolished transition ... bear with me.
Daily, I watch our arrogant President as he wags his finger at us fellow Americans for our selfishness, our wastefulness, and our fear of his proposed transformational changes of America. Many of us are also well aware of, and still angered by, the cheering responses President Obama received as he apologized for “American arrogance” in Europe and elsewhere on his World Apology Tour.
Our President is a man who lives in a rarified atmosphere.
Indeed. President Obama has: opposed Operation Iraqi Freedom and its concomitant war against Al Qaeda; has given less than enthusiastic support to the Afghan War effort against the brutal Taliban; refuses to acknowledge fully that we are fighting a “War Against Terror;” has turned his back on Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East; has thrown the Czech’s and Pole’s Missile Defenses under the bus in the face of Russian bluster; and, his “nuclear containment” foreign policies with Iran and North Korea are utter failures. These are all just little details just get in his way ... “ground clutter” in this messy world ... a trivial nuisance on the road to his dream of attaining European Statism in America.
And, in case you haven’t heard, he inherited these problems. Incredibly, President Obama thinks he is on the right track. Our United States are in deep economic trouble, but our President sends hundreds of billions to Greece, and pledges hundreds of billions more to the IMF and elsewhere. He does this why? ... Because it is working so well in the United States!? What is wrong with this picture? This is the “Abilene Paradox” [Google it]. My Friends, we are passengers “on the bus to Abilene.” John Maynard Keynes is our guide and Barack Obama is the bus driver.
Enough of this phony-baloney, rock-n-roll “World Community” nonsense!
It has been more than 220 years since any European country has ever come to our aid. The Europeans are not our “friends.” They will never be our “friends.” They have never “liked” us, and never will “like” us. Benjamin Franklin came to understood this visiting King George’s Court. John Adams belatedly came to understand this in the wake of the “XYZ Affair.” Thomas Jefferson knew this very well dealing with Napoleon Bonaparte and the British. George Washington firmly warned against entangling ourselves in foreign alliances. All Presidents prior to Woodrow Wilson understood this! The Europeans think and act differently than us. Their interests are rarely our interests. Even some immigrants to America don’t like America these days! But most striking of all is Europeans’ insultingly haughty attitude toward us: They are the Drysdale’s, and we are the Clampett’s.
I know a bit about European arrogance. I served two tours [six years] of service in West Germany [1972-5] and Berlin [1982-5] in the “bad old days.” I was a Foreign Area Officer on my second tour. It never ceased to amaze me how the vast majority of Europeans then blamed the American actions in NATO for their own weakness in the face of Soviet Russia’s threat to them. The “ugly American” image was, and is, a myth started by Europeans and perpetuated by self-loathing Americans. Europeans are simply forever embarrassed at their own failures and and muck-ups, while forever jealous of our bold successes on the world stage.
We Americans served in Europe to guarantee their freedom and world peace under NATO’s umbrella. Believe me, those tours were in no way “European Holidays” for us. Yet, you would have thought that we were the “Bad Guys” by the way we Americans were treated in Europe on a day to day basis. I understand from reliable sources that Europeans have become even more arrogant, insufferable, smug and self-interested since then, if that is possible. Oh my!
Memorial Day approaches.
On Memorial Day, the media will undoubtedly show images of President Obama laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. What a confusing image: Our own arrogant, Europhile President, honoring humble men who died for freedom, very often for countrymen not their own.
Memorial Day is always a humbling and difficult day. I suppose it is for many Americans, especially for all who have served. Memorial Day is not just another day off for family barbecue. It is a day for prayer and remembrance of American Warriors who died for our freedom, and the freedom of others.
How uniquely American! How Exceptionally American!
Americans must remember that we are Americans precisely because we rejected European collectivism, European class warfare, and European arrogance.
So ... I propose a toast: “To the Band of Brothers past and present who have humbly laid down their lives for our freedom, and the freedom of more than a few foreigners”
I invite the reader to this link and view American cemeteries in Europe. Maybe it is at long last time to bring our countrymen home where they will be honored and appreciated.
William R. Mann Most recent columns William R. Mann, is a retired Lt. Colonel, US Army. He is a now a political observer, analyst, activist and writer for Conservative causes. He was educated at West Point [Bachelor of Science, 1971 ]and the Naval Postgraduate School [Masters, National Security Affairs, 1982]. He currently resides with his wife in Pensacola, Florida. William can be reached at: wr_mann@cox.net
