I don't know why people think some sugar water or fried potatoes mean anything except that the company that makes them started randomly in a certain country
You don't think that companies make any attempt to create brand identities? You don't see advertising building upon prejudices and predelictions? You don't associate particular brands with particular 'images'? You don't think its American-ness is something that Coke considers important? I'm not asking whether you, educated, middle class American that you are, can see through the manipulations of advertisers and choose your clothing, food and household items based upon inherent value rather than intangibles and perceived cachet. I'm just asking whether you think that the majority of people do.
I guess what annoys some Americans is that Europe made a choice and now seems mad that we didn't go the same way.
Here's the thing: Europe isn't a country. Europe isn't one ideology or one political system. So if you're going to base an argument on a US/Europe dichotomy we may have some problems, because Europe doesn't have or express one unified opinion about, well, pretty much anything. What with Europe comprising a shitload of different countries.
But now it's seen that Europe doesn't want us to use our hard-won military might to free another people.
We really have quite diametrically opposed views of current events, if this is genuinely how you interpret (a) what's happening in the world right now and (b) why many people in the world are uncomfortable with it. Not just Europe, incidentally. China. The Middle East. Africa. Canada. Pretty much the whole world.
Many countries don't countenance the unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation and the murder of its citizens in the attempt to depose its ruler, however much of a complete and utter bastard he may be. Because if failure to comply immediately with UN resolutions is worth invading a country about, why isn't this applied across the board? And why does it justify disregarding the democratic process of the UN? Conversely, if the UN doesn't matter a jot and we're invading Iraq because its ruler is a bad ruler who opresses his people, why doesn't this apply across the board? If it's because he may have weapons of mass destruction hidden somewhere despite all our efforts to find any evidence, why is this more important than North Korea, which definitely has Nuclear weapons? The US (and, I've no doubt, the UK) has a history of supporting dictators and brutal regimes - indeed, of deposing/helping to destroy democratically elected governments - because it suited their own goals. International policy has not traditionally been dictated by high-minded ideals, although I like to think that both our nations do manage to do 'the right thing' sometimes even if it doesn't meet our selfish ends. I hope so. But that isn't what motivates most of your foreign policy, or ours.
These may all be points which can be addressed and demonstrated to be mistaken, and our actions in attacking Iraq may be seen by History as A Good Thing, but there are too many inconsistencies for the current position to be accepted easily by the rest of the world as a good guys V bad guys scenario.
It looks far too much like Iraq is the whipping boy for 9/11, despite not being responsible for it. It looks too much like we're saying "Hey, nobody's been seen to pay for the bruising to our pride and our confidence after somebody had the nerve to try terrorism against us. We wanted that Bin Laden's head on a pole, but he's not cooperating. They're all arabs. What's the difference?"
Presenting this as churlishness on the part of "Old Europe", as the White House has taken to doing of late, is patronising the intelligence of the American people. No doubt everyone has an agenda coloured by their own particular situation in relation to the Middle East, but it sure as hell isn't a simple black and white matter of Good Old America being selfless and compassionate versus Selfish Old Europe being mean and intransigent. It's a case of the USA (and, God help us, the UK) versus the rest of the world, for reasons that continue to be opaque. We're deciding that democracy doesn't count if it doesn't agree with the decisions of the richest voters.
There's also nasty undercurrents of anit-Semitism in some of what you see over here, especially from France.
For my part I've seen more in the way of prejudice against Islam, and disconcerting Muslim=Fundamentalist=Terrorist=BrownPersonWithFunnyHat bigotry, but YBigotryMV. There's undoubtedly anti-Semitism out there, and that's a problem. There's shitloads of insidious anti-Arab sentiment out there, though, and it's reinforced in the media (film & TV especially).
(I very much don't equate pro-Palestinian sentiment with anti-Semitism, myself, but I trust you weren't doing that either.)
No wonder they're so nervous about America making the same mistakes they did. I guess they don't realize we have no intention of taking over anything.
Speaking personally, yes, I am. And no, I don't.
edited for clarity. Without much confidence.