Focus of Hate

Vice President Cheney is heading Down Under, so expect the predictable protests you will find anywhere in the world---the politics of envy, the focus of hate among the haters, no matter what we do. Janet Albrechtsen, The Australian, RCP, "Protector of the free world deserves better":

Anti-Americanism has less to do with US politics and policies and more to do with what Markovits calls the "perfectly respectable human need to hate the big guy". Half a century ago, Hannah Arendt commented on the same psychology of mistrust aimed at the US. It was, she said, the inevitable plight of the big, rich guy to be alternately flattered and abused, remaining unpopular no matter how generous they were.

And so Norwegian Nobel laureate Knut Hamsun hated the US for being too big and too fast. Anti-Americanism has morphed into a desire to bring America to heel, something that coincides with the goal of Islamists. But if the big, fast rich guy retreats, it's worth asking who will step up to the plate when the West needs things fixed. The dawdling burghers of Europe may recall that small and slow did not help the Kuwaitis, Bosnian Muslims, Kosovars, Afghanis or the tsunami victims.

It illustrates the further decline of Europe, that they must blame others for their own shortcomings. The Marshall Plan gave them a boost, but since their fullscale embrace of socialism in the 70's they have fallen way behind, and join the Islamists in their irrational hate. And it is no coincidence that such clear-eyed commentary comes from Australia, a country that has historically been one of our strongest allies. They are naturally isolated, and so understand better than most the importance of valuing their friends.