The Danish Yank

Copenhagen: "a photogenic gem", filled with "old and new buildings that compliment each other perfectly"

2012-02-01T14:22:00.003+01:00

Robert Thomason moved to Copenhagen to live with his Danish girlfriend nearly 10 years ago

He describes the city, which he has captured in thousands of pictures, as "a photogenic gem", full of "old and new buildings that compliment each other perfectly".

Happy Birthday to Elvis, from… Denmark?!

2012-01-08T18:56:00.005+01:00

A replica of Elvis Presley's Graceland estate is opening in Denmark

reports the BBC.

The Danish tribute to 'The King' has been built in the town of Randers, and will be known as Graceland Randers.
The building is almost identical to the original, although it is twice the size to house a shop, restaurant and museum.

The BBC adds that

The building is the brainchild of Henrick Knudsen, an Elvis fan who … said the project has the backing of Elvis's widow Priscilla.

Dziękujemy Prezydencie Ronald Reagan

2011-06-21T12:18:00.002+02:00

"Ronald Reagan is a Polish hero" exults Janina, as she sends us the website that underlines the importance of celebrations which are to be organized in many Polish towns on June 27. You can also like the event's Facebook page.

The initiative in Poland commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Ronald Reagan … has been a civic action directed to all those who are close to the values adhered to by President Reagan and who appreciate his undeniable contribution to the overthrow of communism and the recovery of freedom. Our goal is to pay homage and express gratitude to President Ronald Reagan, using the 100th birthday anniversary to remind public opinion in Poland of his character, his achievements, and his ideals, to which he was faithful.

We invite everyone to testify in the Memorial Book, which after closing will be printed and sent to the Ronald Reagan Library in the United States.

We invite institutions, associations, governments, businesses, media, etc. to take in their fields of activity of initiatives to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth. Remember that it is to a large extent thanks to Ronald Reagan that today we can enjoy freedom of association and civic activities, social and economic. All who choose to take any initiative, please let us know. We will inform, encourage and inform the media.

The West is acting out of fear, lest our conduct become grounds for fresh violence

2011-05-10T11:17:00.001+02:00

…the President announced that he had decided not to release the dead jihadist's photo

notes Frank Gaffney, Jr.

As with the handling of bin Laden's burial, the justification given was concern that the picture's dissemination would only inspire more violence against us and our forces overseas. The truth of the matter is that the more we signal our fear of the violence of shariah-adherent Muslims, the more certain it is to be visited upon us.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday an appeals court in Denmark convicted one of Western civilization's most courageous defenders — Lars Hedegaard, president of the International Free Press Society. His crime? He gave offense to Muslims. Yes, that's right, a Danish judicial panel effectively enforced shariah blasphemy law. In the process, the court violated one of the most cardinal pillars of freedom: the right to free speech.
If allowed to stand, the ruling in the Hedegaard case will be used to abridge fundamental civil rights throughout Europe, and possibly far beyond. Yet, there has been remarkably little outcry about the defendant's plight - most especially from journalists who have as much to lose as anybody.
In this instance, as in the foregoing ones, the West is acting out of fear, lest our conduct become grounds for fresh violence. This is an enduring legacy of, among other things, the manufactured outrage and mayhem over the Danish cartoons a few years back. It gives ominous new meaning to the expression "Something is rotten in Denmark."
Unfortunately, our own judicial processes seem increasingly susceptible to Islamist intimidation, as well. …

… We need to stand up against shariah, not submit to it — at home or abroad. We must demonstrate that we are, to use bin Laden's term, the "stronger horse," by touting our victories and power, and not convey the opposite impression by obscuring or apologizing for them. And we must see the paperwork that precipitated the declination to prosecute CAIR and its Muslim Brotherhood friends — and then get on with putting them out of business.

The Afghanistan Armadillo

2010-12-09T20:11:00.001+01:00

Highly recommended:

An intimate portrait of young, adrenaline fueled Danish soldiers stationed at Camp Armadillo, a base located in Helmand province in Afghanistan.

Pipe Down an' Cool It

2010-10-21T23:19:00.001+02:00

Climate catastrophe? The end of civilization as we know it? Cool It is based upon the book of the same name and lectures by Bjørn Lomborg, the controversial author of The Skeptical Environmentalist. Award-winning filmmaker Ondi Timoner travels the world with Lomborg exploring the real facts and true science of global warming and its impact.

The Danish Art of Hygge

2010-09-27T14:06:00.004+02:00

The Danes have a word that's hard to translate, and no foreigner can hope to pronounce, but it's as Danish as pork roast and cold beer

we read in The Danish Art of Hygge (tak til Valerie).

It's hygge, and it goes far in illuminating the Danish soul.

… Gather the family and invite over a couple of good friends. Push the sofas and chairs up close to the coffee table. Douse the electricity and light some candles. Better yet, light a fire in the hearth.

Serve plenty of food and drink. Raise a toast or two, or three, and feel the warmth flow around the table. Look at each other until you see the candlelight shimmering in each other’s eyes. You've got hygge!

Luckily, we didn't have to use near-synonyms like coziness, fellowship, security, reassurance or well-being. They just don't add up to hygge. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Rest in Peace

2010-09-22T20:43:00.003+02:00

Rest in Peace…

Say It Ain't So, Bjørn…

2010-09-13T21:31:00.005+02:00

According to Hervé Kempf's interview of Bjørn Lomborg in Le Monde, the skeptical enviromentalist has become a dyed-in-the-wool proponent ~~of global warming~~ of climate change…

Update (from Radegunda in the No Pasarán comments section):

A few days ago, I read somewhere an email in which he explained to a concerned blogger (sorry I can't remember who) that he hasn't changed his views at all. It's just that his views had been misunderstood by the ideologues who tend to be enraged by any questioning of climate catastrophism--and who probably saw a propaganda coup in saying "Even Lomborg has come around ...."

Dans le pays réputé « le plus heureux au monde », Hells Angels, Bandidos ou Black Cobra s'entretuent

2010-08-31T23:01:00.004+02:00

Dans le pays réputé « le plus heureux au monde », Hells Angels, Bandidos ou Black Cobra s'entretuent mais ont pignon sur rue et même des porte-parole

écrit Olivier Truc.

Ils jouent sur le racisme pour recruter les jeunes.

Son article dans Le Monde commence ainsi :

ppelons-le Nick, pour raison de sécurité. Il a un peu plus de 18 ans. Nick est un jeune Danois qui lutte pour sortir d'un engrenage où de plus en plus de jeunes basculent depuis quelques années au Danemark, ce pays scandinave qui passe pour « le plus heureux au monde ». Nick fait partie de ces petits soldats du crime, chair à canon recrutée par des clubs de motards ou des bandes issues de l'immigration qui, depuis l'été 2008, se livrent à une guerre qui a fait 9 morts et 87 blessés au cours de 140 accrochages.

Go, Denmark! Denmark to the stars!

2010-08-25T01:17:00.004+02:00

If all goes well, in the very near future Denmark will become the fourth nation to put a man into space

writes Walter Jon Williams (tak til Instapundit).

The unique thing about the Danish rocket is that there’s no government money involved. The rocket is funded privately.

Sustaining a benevolent nanny state is proving to be challenging even for the notably generous Danes

2010-08-17T19:05:00.005+02:00

…sustaining a benevolent nanny state is proving to be challenging even for the notably generous Danes.

For years, Denmark was held out as a model to countries with high unemployment and as a progressive touchstone to liberals in the United States

writes Liz Alderman in a New York Times article that appeared on the front page of the International Herald Tribune.

But now Denmark, which allows employers to hire and fire at will while relying on an elaborate system of training, subsidies for those between jobs and aggressive measures to press the unemployed into available openings, is facing its own strains. As a result, it is beginning to tighten up.

…“We have a famous flexicurity model, but now it’s all flex and no security,” complained Kim Simonsen, chairman of HK, one of Denmark’s largest trade unions.

The Happiest Nation on Earth: “Way too many Danes think ‘What’s in it for me?’ instead of considering what’s best for Denmark”

2010-07-27T13:04:00.006+02:00

"…in light of the credit crunch and a growing public debt problem, Denmark’s generous public spending has come under scrutiny" writes Natalia Rachlin in the New York Times after referring to the country as "something out of a fairy tale: a place where social benefits are not just a last resort for the underprivileged, but an ingrained part of everyday existence, even for high earners."

Specifically, the state-funded pension program — which costs 96 billion kroner, or $16 billion, annually, an estimated 5.5 percent of gross domestic product — has fueled a discussion about the paradox of Denmark’s high earners receiving many of the same social benefits as the very neediest citizens.

“Way too many Danes think ‘What’s in it for me?’ instead of considering what’s best for Denmark,” Bendt Bendtsen, a member of the European Parliament and a former leader of the Danish Conservative Party, told the financial daily Boersen in a recent interview.

…Denmark has the highest overall tax burden of all O.E.C.D. member countries, with taxes to G.D.P. reaching 48.2 percent in 2009. Furthermore, numbers from the O.E.C.D. show that Denmark has one of the highest marginal tax rates for high earners — 67 percent — when consumer taxes are included.

“If you take away social benefits from high earners, it’s basically the same thing as taxing them even more heavily,” said Mads Lundby Hansen, chief economist at Cepos, a center-right research organization in Copenhagen. “The question quickly becomes, why stay in Denmark? And the thing is, we need high earners here to invest in businesses, to keep the economy rolling.”

…Mr. Hansen of Cepos pointed to calculations done by his organization, based on data from the Ministry of Finance and Statistics Denmark, that show that in 2010 the percentage of the adult population living entirely off transfer income — whether it be welfare, student checks or state retirement funds — is at 43.2 percent.

… “What Denmark needs is to get people back into the labor market,” Mr. Hansen said. “We need to boost productivity. This should happen in two ways: by major tax reforms, and also, slimming down social benefits across the board — not based on income.”

[Lars Bruhn, founder and chairman of NorthCap Partners, a major venture capital firm,] acknowledged that Mr. Bendtsen’s comments had started an important discussion about how to get Denmark back on track. But he added that any solution that amounted to increasing the burden on the country’s handful of high-net-worth individuals would be counterproductive — no matter how politically popular it might be.

“This will undoubtedly lead some business angels, those wealthy individuals who will invest in the next generation, to leave the country in order to avoid being a Dane – leaving behind what’s supposedly the happiest nation on earth,” he said.

Shades of the Little Mermaid? And Her Prince?

2010-06-19T16:17:00.002+02:00

Det store kunstmuseum [ARoS i Århus] har fået lov til at udstille prins Henriks erotiske skulptur "De elskende" på museets aktuelle udstilling "I LOVE YOU", der sætter fokus på billedkunstens fremstilling af kærligheden med alt dertil hørende: Begær. erotik, romantik, lidenskab, sex, magt og smerte.

Dermed kommer Prinsens kunstværk i selskab med værker af en række internationale kunstnere som Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin og den kinesiske komet Yue Minjun. …
Prins Henriks skulptur "De elskende" var en gave til dronning Margrethe i anledning af hendes 70 års fødselsdag den 16. april i år. Skulpturen blev skabt i starten af 1970’erne og viser, som titlen antyder, et elskende par i kærlig omfavnelse, skriver ARoS i en pressemeddelelse.

Finally: An Entirely Valid Reason to Go on Strike

2010-04-10T08:08:00.001+02:00

From Denmark: an entirely valid reason to go on strike (tak — hik — til Valerie)…

Scores of Carlsberg workers walked off their jobs in protest Thursday after the Danish brewer tightened laid-back rules on workplace drinking and removed beer coolers from work sites, a company spokesman said.

The warehouse and production workers in Denmark are rebelling against the company's new alcohol policy, which allows them to drink beer only during lunch hours in the canteen. Previously, they could help themselves to beer throughout the day, from coolers placed around the work sites.

Visit Denmark: Tourism Bureau Unveils New Ads

2010-03-10T09:05:00.001+01:00

Denmark Introduces Harrowing New Tourism Ads Directed By Lars Von Trier

On Denmark's editorial pages, "there has been a total agreement that it is a necessary war"

2010-02-25T07:28:00.002+01:00

While the "popularity of the international campaign in Afghanistan has fallen across Europe and in the U.S.", writes the Wall Street Journal's Alistair MacDonald (tak til Vincent),

the Danes have largely maintained public support for the effort, selling the mission as a humanitarian effort rather than simply protection against a terrorist threat, and building consensus among political parties. They have reaped the benefits of a largely supportive media and the country has, to some degree, rediscovered its pride in an active military.

In addition, incidentally, the British criticism of the U.S. ignoring its allies in tales of war and combat is turned against the Brits:

"When I read a U.K. paper its just like, the U.K. and nobody else" fighting, [Danish Defense Minister Søren Gade] said.

Finally, a chicken hawk charge ("if you haven't served or aren't serving, you cannot support") is pointed out — in reverse.

When troops say, " 'We did a job and we did it good, and it is worth doing,' then it is very hard indeed for a lot of people to oppose, because those are the men and women who risk their lives," he said.

Danish Troops Storm Ship Captured by Somali Pirates

2010-02-05T15:13:00.002+01:00

Danish special forces have stormed a ship captured by Somali pirates, reports the BBC, and freed 25 crew members.

…it was the first time a warship had intervened after pirates boarded a vessel.

Troops in inflatable dinghies moved in after a distress signal from the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged Ariella.

Update: "Denmark over the past few years has been increasing an emphasis on its special forces," writes Sharon Weinberger, "which consist of the Jægerkorpset, an Army unit similar to British commandos, and the Frømandskorpset, the rough equivalent of U.S. Navy SEALs. Not only have they grown their ranks; they are seeking action as well."

"Events happen rapidly in our field, and if we are to measure up to the best special forces out there, it doesn't do any good if we only train," the special forces corps chief, Lt. Col. Henrik Friis, said in 2005, according to the trade publication Defense News. "We need to get out and complete some missions."

R.I.P.

2009-11-28T23:40:00.001+01:00

A Reformer in the NATO Henhouse

2009-10-21T08:48:00.002+02:00

…what a surprise the ambassadors were dealt two months ago when the new secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, entered the alliance headquarters

writes Judy Dempsey.

Mr. Rasmussen, who gave up his job as prime minister of Denmark — the first time that a politician of such rank has taken over NATO — lost little time before he tried to change the internal workings of NATO.
There are fewer meetings. Agendas are shorter. Discussions are to the point. And Mr. Rasmussen, with pen in hand, ticks off what has to be done, by whom and when.

To the U.S.-led military alliance, whose structures and procedures have barely changed since it was founded 60 years ago by only twelve member states, these developments amount to a revolution.
And they come at a time when NATO, fighting its biggest war yet, in Afghanistan, urgently needs more efficiency in its deliberations.

“I am here as a reformer,” Mr. Rasmussen, 56, said in an interview. “I want to modernize, transform and reform so that NATO adapts to the security environment for the 21st century.” That means, he said: “In a rapidly changing security environment, we have to make sure that NATO is able to make rapid moves. Otherwise NATO will not maintain its relevance in the future.”
Previous secretary generals have attempted reforms. But they quickly came up against an unshakable lethargy.
… NATO is still agonizing over a new strategic doctrine to reflect its changing role. This is made more urgent by the war in Afghanistan. NATO also is involved in counterpiracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and is still heavily committed to Kosovo in the Balkans. And even though Mr. Rasmussen wants NATO to reach out to China and India, can it really do so if it lacks a new doctrine to explain its role in the 21st century?
That is why Mr. Rasmussen broke with tradition in yet another matter: He appointed an outsider, former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright of the United States, to lead a group of 12 experts, independent of the ambassadors, to work out a new strategic concept for NATO. Mr. Rasmussen did so to break down the wall of exclusiveness and secrecy that is often associated with the alliance. The panel will be answerable to him, not to the ambassadors.
“I want discussions over NATO’s future to be the most open, the most inclusive consultation process in NATO’s history,” he said. “We have to address properly the new threats such as proliferation, cyber security and climate change, and move away from Cold War thinking.”
…Mr. Rasmussen wants to tackle other internal workings of the organization: What to do, for example, with the plethora of committees, “300 at least,” he said. All require decisions by consensus.
Then there is the sheer size of the military command structure, which has 13,000 personnel scattered across Western Europe at NATO’s many military bases. When France rejoined the integrated military structure in April, it was hard pressed to send 900 top-notch military staff to the various NATO commands. It needed them at home. Mr. Rasmussen said slimming down the military staff and all the NATO military headquarters “was included in my plans for transformation.”

Word Got Out That the Nazis Would Deport Denmark's Jewish Population

2009-09-29T18:51:00.000+02:00

Today is the 66th anniversary of the rescue of the Danish Jews (mange tak til Larwyn)…

Anders Fogh Rasmussen répond aux questions du journal Le Monde

2009-09-26T21:47:00.005+02:00

Dans une interview avec Nathalie Guibert et Jean-Pierre Stroobants, Anders Fogh Rasmussen répond aux questions du journal Le Monde. Par ailleurs (and totally unrelated), le tout premier numéro du nouvel hebdomadaire, Le Monde Magazine, a le Danemark en couverture…

We Are Red, We Are White, We Are Danish Dynamite!

2009-04-04T17:26:00.003+02:00

Denmark's Anders Fogh Rasmussen becomes the next head of NATO, writes Berlingske Tidende (nearly all links in Danish). If finance minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen replaces the George W Bush ally (this [English-language] link seems to be proof that all (?) Bush administration photos seem to have disappeared from Obama's White House web site) as prime minister, as planned, he will be the third Rasmussen in a row (after Fogh and Poul Nyrup Rasmussen) to be prime minister of Denmark (Danish PMs have tended to be known by their middle names, recently — Nyrup, Fogh, Løkke)… In any case, you gotta love a guy who (for whatever reason) cancels a meeting with Barack Obama…

I strongly believe in the American dream: Danish common sense on "the type of witch hunt that is going on now"

2009-03-29T17:20:00.001+02:00

I strongly believe in the American dream: Everyone should be allowed to pursue their goals in life through hard work, dedication and free choice and, just as important, they should be allowed to be proud of what they have achieved.

From Hellerup, Denmark, Peter Guldberg writes to the editor of the International Herald Tribune (last letter on the page, after a series of often much less sensible letters):

Even though I’m from Denmark, for a long time I have thought of the United States as my second home — at least in spirit. I have worked for a large part of my career either in the United States or abroad for American firms. My youngest daughter was born in New York and is an American citizen, a fact of which I am immensely proud.
I strongly believe in the American dream: Everyone should be allowed to pursue their goals in life through hard work, dedication and free choice and, just as important, they should be allowed to be proud of what they have achieved.

It is with this in mind that I feel ashamed when following the current debacle surrounding the A.I.G. bonus payments and reading the resignation letter of Jake DeSantis.

There have been a few low points in American history, which thankfully have been exposed and debated for a long time. Unfortunately, the type of witch hunt that is going on now has the potential to become another one.

It is so wrong that Congress should be allowed to circumvent legally binding contracts in order to cater to mob anger.

Statements made by the attorney generals of New York and Connecticut about making lists of people that should be publicly named and shamed are just frightening.

Commemorative Graphic Novel for Peter Madsen's Valhalla Series

2008-12-21T18:04:00.001+01:00

Up in the great white North, Peter Madsen is bringing his 30-year-old graphic novel series, Valhalla (TV report in Danish), to a halt, which has given rise to a surprise party for the author, along with Thierry Capezzone's commemorative album by two dozen colleagues of his (including one by yours truly in collaboration with Sam Ménétrier)…

Although Peter Madsen is best known for bringing to life the Nordic gods of the Viking sagas and other trolls, he has also done stories about a God of a quite different character (along with the story of Job and a book series about the three most important feasts in the Christian religion)…

In Memoriam

2008-12-04T18:06:00.001+01:00

The Images, the Allies, and the Spirit that the Media Has Overlooked

2007-05-17T22:18:00.001+02:00

(Tak til Valerie)

Islamic Protestors in Paris Come Face to Face with an Unexpected Counter-Protest

2006-02-12T18:09:00.000+01:00

"An eye for an eye! A tooth for a tooth!" Echoing protests around the world and wearing all kinds of costumes from the Middle East and the Muslim world, 4,000 Islamic demonstrators march through Paris denouncing the cartoons and the alleged (and convenient) lack of respect towards Islam.

When they arrive at La Nation, they are met with two figures wearing slightly different costumes and slightly different signs.

One, in red and white, is (silently) wearing a sign with the Danish flag saying "Support Denmark, Support free speech". Besides (silently) wearing a sign reading "Free Cartoonist" on it, the other, the founder of the BAF protest warrior-type organisation, is holding a (fake) severed hand, a pen among its fingers.

Voices start to ring out. "It's provocation!" "You tread on 1.5 million Muslims!" "Connards!" "Rat faces!"

"Ignore them, they are idiots!" reply others as a crowd starts to press around. A rhetorical question rings out: "Would they be carrying out the same provocations in other types of demonstrations?!" (Actually, Monsieur, yes we would and yes we have.)

The Danish American feels like replying that they have done the same to Chirac, to Mitterrand, to the civil servant salons, and to union demonstrations, but suddenly he and the French American start moving away. What has happened is that a short blonde Frenchwoman has tugged on their sleeves and gently but firmly started pulling them away.

"I will show you my ID 10 meters from here" says the plainclothes cop. "They are going to lynch you!" she adds, as she leads us into another street (in the movie taken by our valiant camera team, you can briefly see her wearing a brown coat, right after a bearded guy in white cap and tan jacket says "They are provoking us" and the camera turns).

"Sons of adultery!" "Hey, you two sons of the whore!" Uniformed policemen join us and start rushing us, more and more quickly down the street (I don't want to run, I tell them), with a growing crowd quickening their steps. A police van's door opens. "Go! Go!" shouts a policeman to the driver, "Foncez!" as sirens wail and the van rushes ahead.

"Are you out of your minds?!" ask the two officers. "Do you know how many of them there were?!" "Somebody's got to stand up for free speech", replies the French protestor. After staying with us for 20-something minutes, they let us out. (As a departing farewell, I say, "You know, right before you came, we almost had them surrounded.")

Watch the movie…

The Sad Reality of the Danes' Lack of Respect for Others' Culture and Beliefs

2006-02-06T01:37:00.000+01:00

(Tip o' the turban to Zombie Time)

Strip Interview

2005-10-17T05:05:00.000+02:00

Scandinavian readers may be interested to know that an interview with your webmaster has been printed in a Danish quarterly. (Then again, they may not care one way or the other…)

Proud to Be a Danish American

2005-10-07T15:21:00.000+02:00

This flag is supposed to show smugness, condescension, and scorn with regards to Copenhagen's presence in the coalition of the willing besides the Danes' American brothers-in-arms, but never mind; as someone who is proud of Danish foreign policy in regard to the war against terrorism, I like Staffan Sommelius's banner anyway and intend to view it, and to take it, as I see fit…

Det er forbløffende mange steder nok at sige "amerikanske tilstande" og rulle med øjnene; al yderligere diskussion er overflødig

2005-10-05T15:10:00.000+02:00

Anti-amerikanske argumenter hører i Danmark til blandt de allermest gangbare

skriver Henrik Dahl (thanks to Søren Johannesen).

Selv blandt mennesker, der opfatter sig selv som både dannede og følsomme. Hvad enten man taler om politik eller om USA's kultur og åndsliv, er det forbløffende mange steder nok at sige "amerikanske tilstande" og rulle med øjnene. Det øvrige selskab ved nøjagtig, hvad der menes. Al yderligere diskussion er overflødig.

Anti-amerikanismen bygger på fordomme og overgeneraliseringer, der er så horrible, at man ville blive slæbt i retten for overtrædelse paragraf 266b, hvis man gjorde noget lignende over for jøder og muslimer. Amerikanerne er primitive. Amerikanerne er som børn. Amerikanerne dyrker mærkelige plastic-religioner. Amerikanerne æder som svin. Amerikanerne har ingen kultur. Prøv at sætte en minoritetsgruppe efter eget valg ind i stedet for "amerikanerne". Det lyder ikke super-tolerant, oplyst og fordomsfrit, vel?

…At udtrykke sandheden om et verdensrige i nogle få sætninger – fordomsfulde eller ej – er dårskab. Og at være "for" eller "imod" er næsten lige så naivt som at være for eller imod vestenvinden. Til ethvert praktisk eller politisk formål er USA først og fremmest en kendsgerning, man må forholde sig til.

…USA har en anden politisk historie end Europa. USA var det første moderne demokrati og måtte opfinde sine demokratiske institutioner uden at skele til praksis i andre lande. USA blev til i selvforsvar mod den undertrykkende, britiske stat og blev befolket af mennesker, der flygtede fra undertrykkelse og fattigdom. Alt det er med til at forklare dyrkelsen af folkesuveræniteten, den nærmest forfatningsmæssige konservatisme i landet og traditionen for at dyrke den personlige frihed og være skeptisk over for staten.

…Betyder det, at man skal lade være med at kritisere USA? På ingen måde. …

Hvad jeg siger er, at vi skal fastholde vores politiske uenigheder med USA - men droppe enhver forestilling om, at Europa skulle være USA overlegen i moralsk henseende. For det første har ingen af de to verdensdele noget at lade den anden høre i moralsk henseende. For det andet er hele projektet forkert. Det er kun mennesker, der kan have et moralsk forhold til hinanden. Mellem lande hersker der politiske forhold, og jo flere moralske begreber, man blander ind i de politiske forhold, jo værre. Først bliver land X fremstillet som ondt. Så bliver indbyggerne i land X fremstillet som onde. Og så er indbyggerne i land X pludselig ikke slet ikke mennesker mere.

Det amerikanske folkevid er jævnt og ligefremt. Det siger blandt andet, at når man peger på et andet menneske, er der altid tre fingre, der peger på en selv. Det gælder i helt eminent grad for anti-amerikanismen.

2004-03-24T21:00:00.000+01:00

Here we gø!
The start of æ new ådventure!