The Ugly American

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Five decades ago, during the heart of the Cold War, a term entered modern political vocabulary: "The Ugly American." Based upon a 1958 novel of the same name, the phrase began to be used to describe the whole range of thoughtless mistakes that Americans had made -- which had led to the loss of American friendship among the peoples of the world.

Today, the Obama Administration has brought the Ugly American back to life.

Our nation and our people have always had jealous rivals. The French, whose revolution failed miserably, are loath to respect an American Revolution that proved a spectacular success. Marxist ideology led Russia and China to be hateful to America, whatever ordinary citizens of those countries might have felt. Arabs and Moslems, seeking someone to blame for their poverty and impotence, find America (and Israel) very tempting targets.

But America still has many natural and cultivated friends, though in less than one year, Obama and his lieutenants have succeeded in irritating, confusing, and angering these friends. It is as if Obama has contorted the Arab maxim "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" into the "enemy of my friend is my friend."

Obama seems determined to be the Ugly American.... [snip]

There are people around the world who will always hate or distrust us, like the mullahs of Iran or Kim Jong il or Castro. Obama seems determined to befriend these mortal enemies. Then there are peoples, nations, and leaders which share natural interests with America, like Israel, Poland, India, Columbia, and Britain.

Toward these nations and their leaders, Obama seems bent on being the very ugliest Ugly American...

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