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November 24, 2004
American Anti-Americanism
The British writer Timothy Garton Ash notes is "seriously worried by anti-Americanism in America". Traveling for two weeks after the election he has heard quite violent reactions from frustrated democrats who want to emigrate to Canada or apologize publicly to the world.
There might not be many new elements in this article for an American public, but it is significant information in Europe where people tend (only "tend") to think that if Bush was democratically elected, it means that "Americans" are behind him. To them Garton Ash writes:
"Overstated though the dichotomy is between red and blue America, it does mean that no one who is at all well informed can believe that America is Bush and Bush is America. If the west is divided, the dividing line runs slap-bang through the middle of America."
Another cause for concern is the looming battle " preserve the strict separation of church and state that the founding fathers intended." About which Garton Ash writes:
"Hands need to be joined across the sea in an old cause: the defence of the Enlightenment. We are all blue Americans now."
It might be of interest to note that this column first published in The Guardian (U.K.) on November 18th then appeared in El País (Spain) on November 21st and then in La Tribuna Hispana, a Latino site in the U.S. on the 23rd. For those who are really serious about it, there are some differences in the stories. They might be revealing.
La Tribuna Hispana (U.S.) – El 'blues' de Estados Unidos
The Guardian (U.K.) – American blues
Posted by Francis Pisani at November 24, 2004 8:40 AM