Arrogant Americans, Mr. President?By Peter Heck - 4/14/2009
As I was sitting in church waiting for the start of the service, my grandpa came walking towards me pointing his finger. No matter how old I get, and no matter how long he has been out of the U.S. Navy, that is still an intimidating sight.
As he approached me, his voice quivered as he said, "We saved that continent twice...how dare my president apologize for this country's arrogance."
My grandpa is right. Americans need not apologize to the world for their arrogance; rather, Americans should apologize to their forefathers for the arrogance of their president.
Barack Obama in his first foreign trip as President of the United States has confirmed the naivete so many of us feared during the election cycle. But worse than that, it has also demonstrated that our president suffers from either a complete misunderstanding of our heritage and history, or an utter contempt for it. Neither is excusable.
Garnering cheers from the French of all people, President Obama declared,
"In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europes leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive."
Consider that Obama spoke these words just 500 miles from the beaches of Normandy, where the sand is still stained with 65-year-old blood..... of arrogant Americans.
Indeed, columnist Mark Whittington observes, "Someone should remind Mr. Obama and the Europeans how America has... shown arrogance... by saving Europe from itself innumerable times in the 20th Century. World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and the wars in the Balkans were largely resolved by American blood, treasure, and leadership."
But all that appears lost on the president-- with his seemingly insatiable quest to mend fences he imagines have been tarnished by the bullish ---George W. Bush.
If Obama wishes to continue trampling the presidential tradition of showing class to former office holders-- and publicly trash Bush for his own personal gain, so be it.
But all Americans should make clear that no man-- even if he is the president-- will tarnish the legacy of those Americans who have gone before us. Ours is not a history of arrogance. It is a history of courage, self-sacrifice, and honor.
When abusive monarchs repressed the masses, Americans resisted and overthrew them.
When misguided policies led to the unjust oppression of fellow citizens, Americans rebelled and overturned them.
When millions of impoverished and destitute wretches sought a new beginning, Americans threw open the door and welcomed them.
When imperial dictators were on the march, Americans surrendered their lives to stop them.
When communist thugs threatened world peace, Americans bled to defeat them.
When an entire continent was overwhelmed with famine and hunger, Americans gave of themselves to sustain it.
When terrorist madmen killed the innocent and subjugated millions, Americans led the fight to topple them.
This is the legacy that generations of Americans have left. If President Obama seeks stronger relations with the world community, perhaps he should begin by reminding them of these very truths, rather than condemning his own countrymen on foreign shores.
This -- obsessive need to put down his own country,--has caused blogger James Lewis to call President Obama-- a stunningly ignorant man -- who has evidently never spoken to a concentration camp survivor, a Cuban refugee, a boat person from Vietnam, a Soviet dissident, or a survivor of the Mao purges.
Unfortunately, I can no longer bring myself to give Mr. Obama that benefit of the doubt. Not after looking at the pain in my eyes of my grandpa ...a man who still carries shrapnel in his body from his service to this country.
As a student and teacher of history, I recognize that America has made mistakes...plenty of them, in fact. But one of the great things about our people has been their courage and humility in admitting and correcting those mistakes.
God willing, they will prove that willingness again in four years and correct the mistake that is the presidency of Barack Obama.
14 comments:
Ne'r has a ruler since Cleon earned such disdain from Athen's knights.
The first question is, “What has Øbama ever done to serve his country?” The first answer is, “Nothing.” He thinks Americans are arrogant because he knows next to nothing about what our people have accomplished, for ourselves, and on behalf of millions of others in far-a-way lands.
Øbama seeks to break the spirit of Americans. He is proceeding along this course because he intends to dismantle our traditions, and erect in their place, a new social model based on European socialism. He can do this when Americans are no longer cognizant of what is happening in our nation’s capital, when Americans are lulled into a false sense that all is well. He can accomplish this when he convinces our people that our traditional values are passé. His programs will succeed when he reinforces the socialist education model that emphasizes multiculturalism, and when he and the likes of Hillary Clinton attempt to convince our people that a village is required to raise a child.
Conservative Americans reject this nonsense. It takes loving parents to raise a child. It takes an informed, stubborn, cranky people, determined to maintain our liberty, to protect our nation. Yes, the defense of America requires a strong Armed Force, but more than this it requires citizens who categorically reject the kinds of programs already implemented by a man who learned his most important lessons from Saul Alinsky, communist role models like Frank Davis, wealthy jihadists and stock manipulators like George Soros, and racists like Jeremiah Wright and Louis Farrakhan.
The damage for the next four years has already been perpetrated against the American people, by the American people. But we can turn this around in 2010 by dismissing House and Senate incumbents and electing a new class of politician. We cannot dismiss the entire Senate, but we can turn out the entire House—and it is the House that provides our greatest protection from Øbama’s kind of presidency. We can do it. The question is, will we?
Nobody is as arrognant as Obama himself. Anybody who would presume to apologize on behaf of an entire nation. Especially as barely half of that nation voted for him and his approval numbers have gone down already. He is the most self-absorbed, clueless and gaffe prone president our great nation has ever seen.
He's also the most dangerous president this country has ever seen, Kris.
Z, God bless your grandfather! I absolutely love people who stand up for America. (Of course that means I love you too!) :)
Barack Obama should be embarassed, but not because of anything America has ever done. He should be embarassed because he's making such an ass out of himself and making us the laughing stock of our enemies. Shame on him!
GAYLE..HE'S NOT MY GRANDFATHER! He's PETER HECK'S GRANDFATHER...I have to change the post so it better reflects that..sorry.
But, you WOULD have liked my grandpa even MORE! He was an immigrant who adored America, too! Worked hard with an 8th grade American education and owned stores in Troy, NY! HE should have been president!
AND, this old man thought my grandmother on Mom's side should have been THE FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT! That was a man, born in 1901 or something like that...who wasn't a sexist!! (I love you, too, thanks!)
Thanks, Kris..it's sad, isn't it.
I expected policies I didn't like but he's gone too far.
Great post Z. I don't see it as harsh. I see it as pride and love of our country.
If it seems harsh to others, so be it. I propose that but for the U.S. the world would have no one to look to as a benefactor or as the last line of protection in a violent world full of would be pretenders to salvation.
We owe no apologies. How many times could we have overtaken entire nations for our own? But no, we helped to rebuild them. If we benefitted from future alliances or more cooperative relationships, why not? They benefitted as well.
We have accepted immigrants from the world over. We didn't have to. We could have been more selective. In fact I would argue perhaps we should have been.
Today, we are rewarded with criticism, and a self-hatred from some of our own. This is a result of the success of our own making. We should be proud. Unapologetic. We have set an example that should be followed.
We deserve plaudits from our leaders. We should be told by the very same to hold our heads high, that we're Americans and can overcome any deprivation and that united, we're unstoppable.
President Obama spent his formative years in Indonesia. He did not grow up in America and did not learn the American experience like most of us. Perhaps he does not comprehend what it is to be an American through and through. This is to his detriment. It should not be to our detriment.
So many have migrated here and love America, like my mother and grandmother before her. Unfortunately, Obama has come under the the spell of those who see this great country as a blot on the world, and not what the world would be today, without us.
He now owns that outlook as his, to our misfortune. I will not accept it and never will. I will not qualify my remarks with, "we made mistakes". We have done much more than our share to do what's right.
We have outlasted hardships before, and we will outlast this one, because the U.S. is her people, and will continue to be.
Pris
Obama reminds me of a kid I knew in school. He was the quintessential wimp, and always anxious to ingratiate himself with the school bullies. He made himself obsequious
as a way to protect himself and curry their favor. The British have a saying about people like that. "If you kick his arse, he bounces most agreeably."
isn't it amazing that a legally black man has been elected in america? isn't it amazing that we didn't take over the world when we had the REAL chance to?
black people in america have more opportunity for a successful life - yes, even a life of objective luxury - than in ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. even in africa which is made up, primarily, of black people.
additionally, think of all the countries we have conquered so that the light of freedom my grow stronger and brighter. in any of those places we could have claimed the country as our own and actually behaved in the imperialist manner that obama and his ilk (the world over) believe we do - instead we have never asked for more land than the land required to bury our dead who died in the liberation of their country.
we are the good guys. we are the guys ins white hats. we are not perfect and me may not do everything right, but our intentions are always the best.
have i said disgusting yet today, z?
Z,
I appreciate your post. I read some other on the site and this guy is interesting. My father-in-law, my grandfather, and my father served their country in wars. I felt compelled to follow in their footsteps. For the president to call our country arrogant is simply appalling. Maybe he should tour some of the cemetaries in Europe in order to get a feeling for the arrogance of those Americans.
The disgusting thing is that on Memorial Day he will play the role of commander-in-chief. I don't feel that the president should be a veteran to be commander-in-chief, but he should appreciate and understand what the troops have done for our country. I doubt he does.
You have just written why America is the greatest country ever, and our people are too brainwashed to see it.
All I can say about this post, Z, is AMEN. Let's do it. God Bless.
Please note the credit on this piece goes to THE AUTHOR, not me! I just thought it was an important piece and am glad you guys do, too.
Arrogant Americans, Mr. President?
The MOST arrogant American is the one TEMPORARILY occupying the White House.
I concur with Grandpa.
And I can say truthfully, I HAVE walked in those cemeteries in Europe with thousands of names of US servicemen from WWI and WWII who shed their arrogant American Blood.
No, Mr. Obama , you do not speak for me.
Tell me something, next time the bad guys come out and mow over everyone, who are you going to call?
WVDOTTR
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