The president has been traveling in Europe. Now that the U.S. is the world’s only superpower, the White House road show gives us an idea of what it must have been like when a Roman emperor went on a tour of tributary states. It hasn’t been pretty.
In Berlin, 10,000 protesters took to the asphalt to shout about America’s military unilateralism, environmental hooliganism and free trade obsession. They were met by the largest security force assembled in Germany since the man with the funny moustache was in charge. The people were kept a half-mile from the motorcade; administration spin doctors were gagging at the thought of any European below the rank of foreign minister having access to George W. Inside the Reichstag, Mr. Bush railed against Saddam Hussein as “a dictator who gassed his own people.” German legislators cleared their throats and looked away, the description too close for comfort. As a German-American, I’ll go on record saying the horror of the Nazi regime must never be forgotten, but I have no obligation to be diplomatic.
In Russia, news cameras showed our leader pulling gum from his mouth before signing the Treaty of Moscow. Classy. In St. Petersburg, presidents Bush and Putin spoke with college students and Mr. Bush introduced them to the American game of political softball. None of the hand-picked students raised troubling issues – one asked Mr. B. why he is such a good manager – and the former baseball team owner knocked each question out of the park. Later the Bushes and Putins attended the ballet, a performance of “The Nutcracker.” It may seem odd to stage a Christmas ballet just weeks before summer solstice, but “The Nutcracker” is considered a children’s ballet, not too difficult, easy to follow. Even at that, the performance was condensed to an hour and forty minutes, so as not to overtax George W.’s attention span.
In Paris and Rome, Mr. Bush was so fuzzed over, he had difficulty fielding questions from the press. I’ve had jet lag and it’s no picnic, but a) – I fly coach, not Air Force One and b) – do we really want our international agreements hammered out by someone who is constantly on the verge of falling asleep? In Paris, the president publicly upbraided an American reporter for speaking French to President Jacques Chirac. The reporter was from NBC, a network that usually works hard to portray the Bush administration in a positive light. As a consolation prize, expect the White House press office to hand its next exclusive story to NBC news.
OK, OK, so George W. doesn’t travel well. What’s the big deal? Here’s the big deal: to some extent, particularly in international politics, style is substance and the substantial message of this tour is that the Bush administration will conduct international affairs on its own terms and if Europeans don’t like it they can lump it. These nations are trying hard to accommodate the U.S., but in both style and substance, Mr. Bush is indicating he could care less. It’s worth remembering George W.’s current attitude on foreign affairs is remarkably similar to his attitude on domestic affairs in the first weeks of his administration. The Republican Party controlled the Oval Office and both houses of Congress and the president behaved as if he had inherited the divine right of kings. Mr. Bush was brought up short a year and a week ago when Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party and gave control of the Senate to the Democrats. Mr. Bush assumed – wrongly – that he was the only superpower left in American politics and Republican moderates had no choice beyond like it or lump it.
An increasingly united Europe has all the people, all the intellectual capacity and all the economic vitality of the U.S. George W. may think Europe has no choice but to follow his leadership, but you know what they say about those who fail to learn from history.
The Ugly American
The president has been traveling in Europe. Now that the U.S. is the world’s only superpower, the White House road show gives us an idea of what it must have been like when a Roman emperor went on a tour of tributary states. It hasn’t been pretty.
In Berlin, 10,000 protesters took to the asphalt to shout about America’s military unilateralism, environmental hooliganism and free trade obsession. They were met by the largest security force assembled in Germany since the man with the funny moustache was in charge. The people were kept a half-mile from the motorcade; administration spin doctors were gagging at the thought of any European below the rank of foreign minister having access to George W. Inside the Reichstag, Mr. Bush railed against Saddam Hussein as “a dictator who gassed his own people.” German legislators cleared their throats and looked away, the description too close for comfort. As a German-American, I’ll go on record saying the horror of the Nazi regime must never be forgotten, but I have no obligation to be diplomatic.
In Russia, news cameras showed our leader pulling gum from his mouth before signing the Treaty of Moscow. Classy. In St. Petersburg, presidents Bush and Putin spoke with college students and Mr. Bush introduced them to the American game of political softball. None of the hand-picked students raised troubling issues – one asked Mr. B. why he is such a good manager – and the former baseball team owner knocked each question out of the park. Later the Bushes and Putins attended the ballet, a performance of “The Nutcracker.” It may seem odd to stage a Christmas ballet just weeks before summer solstice, but “The Nutcracker” is considered a children’s ballet, not too difficult, easy to follow. Even at that, the performance was condensed to an hour and forty minutes, so as not to overtax George W.’s attention span.
In Paris and Rome, Mr. Bush was so fuzzed over, he had difficulty fielding questions from the press. I’ve had jet lag and it’s no picnic, but a) – I fly coach, not Air Force One and b) – do we really want our international agreements hammered out by someone who is constantly on the verge of falling asleep? In Paris, the president publicly upbraided an American reporter for speaking French to President Jacques Chirac. The reporter was from NBC, a network that usually works hard to portray the Bush administration in a positive light. As a consolation prize, expect the White House press office to hand its next exclusive story to NBC news.
OK, OK, so George W. doesn’t travel well. What’s the big deal? Here’s the big deal: to some extent, particularly in international politics, style is substance and the substantial message of this tour is that the Bush administration will conduct international affairs on its own terms and if Europeans don’t like it they can lump it. These nations are trying hard to accommodate the U.S., but in both style and substance, Mr. Bush is indicating he could care less. It’s worth remembering George W.’s current attitude on foreign affairs is remarkably similar to his attitude on domestic affairs in the first weeks of his administration. The Republican Party controlled the Oval Office and both houses of Congress and the president behaved as if he had inherited the divine right of kings. Mr. Bush was brought up short a year and a week ago when Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party and gave control of the Senate to the Democrats. Mr. Bush assumed – wrongly – that he was the only superpower left in American politics and Republican moderates had no choice beyond like it or lump it.
An increasingly united Europe has all the people, all the intellectual capacity and all the economic vitality of the U.S. George W. may think Europe has no choice but to follow his leadership, but you know what they say about those who fail to learn from history.