When George Bush was in office, did any of you Americans face hostility in Europe? (life, cost)

[Vikingen]

Originally Posted by chielgirl

What has the US done for, not to, anyone in 65+ years?
We should all love the Romans, too, they brought prosperity to certain areas centuries ago.
You're saying that the sacrifices of others who lived in Europe don't count for anything?
Interesting.

Well, for us here in western Europe - the US has prevented that the Soviet occupied us. My country (Norway) has a border towards Russia (Soviet). Kinda gives you a perspective that YOU don`t have.

Nobody I know would like to be a communist, they don`t like Russians - and the Germans tried to make us Nazis - and that is about enough for a small country like Norway, at least for a while.

If you don`t believe there was a real threat during the cold war - you need to open up your history books.

While you are at it, you can also read about the Marshall help.

Of course, Europeans suffered the most during WW2. But there are cementaries here in Europe that are full of GI`s that did the ultimate sacrifice. And this for Europe - that without doubt would NEVER reverse the favor.

(Romans are so long ago - nobody remembers or cares)

[Heyo]

Originally Posted by kinkytoes

I visited Paris while I believe GW was in office. I actually felt more hostility there than I had in other cities I've visited. The French guys I stayed with made jokes like Americans have no culture and we all eat hamburgers. They said it kind of sneeringly, too. What's wrong with hamburgers? It is not like we eat them all the time. grrr

And honestly, my mom raised me to eat all natural food before it was some big fad. *sneer*

Maybe it was just the way they said it. For my part, I thought French people actually ate cheese and drank wine, but apparently only tourists and older people do that(?) Maybe that pissed them off. Apparently many Parisians really eat a ton of Middle Eastern food, and all that French food is for visitors.

I'm sorry for what you faced although I guess it's well known that french people have always had this kind of contempt for anglo-saxons especially from the United States. Did any of the french stand up for you? And what other cities did you visit? Any hostility there?

[sskink]

I was in Sofia during the start of the Iraqi war. About the only discussions I got into were why the US didn't invest more in Bulgaria and how was it possible that in a democracy Bush could get elected. Nothing personal at me.

[Gargamel10]

Originally Posted by Vikingen

All Americans can stand tall and be proud in Europe.

If it wasn't for the sacrifices of the US - all of Europe would have either worn Lederhosen or had Vodka for breakfast.

True.
I suspect of any kind of childish antiamericanism. I inmediately tag any "antiamerican" as "progre scumbag", a byproduct of "gauche divine".
"Gauche divine" were a buch of millionaire parasites that pretended to be communists and antiamericans, more of a snobbish stance. Those characters degenerated into "progres", really disgusting people that love Third World antiamericanism.
Western Europe is an American protectorate and the EEC was conceived by Washington.
The only country in Western Europe that had to stand up alone, with no Marshall Plan and with a blockade from western nations was Spain. It was not until 1959 that we received help from the US.
Antiamericans are generally creeps that vote for leftist wanabee parties, that are just a mere excuse to reach for the chest.
I remember that Agnelli, the owner of FIAT, paid vacations to the USRR to communist union members.....they came vack as full fledged capitalists.

[BigCityDreamer]

I don't know if most Europeans know this, but George Bush had a very low approval rating among the American public during his last years in office. Before that, a lot more people really believed what Bush was saying about Iraq.

[Rubi3]

The only people who held it against me, that I know of, were Canadians. They sounded like I was personally responsible for whatever he did. It caused me to change my opinion about Canadians.

[seat21d]

Not at all - and I lived in Paris from Dec 2001 to Apr 2005. It hardly came up at all, especially with the French.

Now, most of the American expat community there was decisively liberal and had an extremely negative opinion of Bush -- and there was no reason for me and a handful of other conservative expats I worked with to needlessly bring up political viewpoints. I wasn't there to change anyone's opinion or make my viewpoints known.

[Heyo]

Originally Posted by Rubi3

The only people who held it against me, that I know of, were Canadians. They sounded like I was personally responsible for whatever he did. It caused me to change my opinion about Canadians.

You know it's interesting when you think of people who are hostile to americans you usually think of the french. But it seems from what I'm reading the british and the germans are usually the most hostile. And even the canadians (who aren't european but since you brought it up).

You can look at the following article

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...-a-866153.html

[kanhawk]

Originally Posted by Heyo

You know it's interesting when you think of people who are hostile to americans you usually think of the french. But it seems from what I'm reading the british and the germans are usually the most hostile. And even the canadians (who aren't european but since you brought it up).

You can look at the following article

Commentary on Why Germans Want America's Downfall - SPIEGEL ONLINE

My favorite part of that article:
The childish excitement over Obama, that once again took hold over Germans during this election -- fully 93 percent of the country would have voted for him in this election -- is the flip side of this desire for America's demise. That the Germans, of all people, should see themselves in a black civil rights attorney from Chicago can only be explained by the fact that they see him as the opposite of what they consider to be normal Americans.

Very astute and telling observation.

One thing I don't understand about people who do this criticism is it seems incredibly rude to me. I would never start bashing a guest's country or their government if they were to visit the US. It just seems inhospitable to me.

[kevxu]

Originally Posted by Vikingen

In western Europe most of the media has a socialist agenda - so they tend to write negatively of any republican president. ....

Rubbish. Print media has newspapers representing parties across the political spectrum. The TV news channels are unbiased, there is nothing like the bizarre Fox News.