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Originally Posted by Valiente
A lot of people like Americans, DB. Hell, even I like Americans. Generally, they are a hospitable and helpful people who can be very generous with their time. They are certainly more charitable than most, but maybe they have to be.
Unfortunately, a lot of people disagree with certain aspects of American culture (or its projection into their own) and even more don't like some aspects of American politics. Combine that with the fact that foreigners frequently have, shall we say, a more comprehensive and balanced knowledge of American affairs than do many Americans, and it tends to make you poor buggers easy targets of frustration or dissent.
I've travelled a fair bit, and I've had to argue (in French, yet) when some typically sneering French barstool philosophers were ragging on an American student with pretty poor French comprehension about "how racist America was".
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That is kind of you. It would seem to me and the Americans that I know, that no matter what we do in the world we are viewed a bullys Currently our politics are bolstering that image. But the balance will certainly change as Americans are at heart fair and will see how to restore our fairness. Remember the late Winston Churchills words: "Americans always do what is right...after they have tried everything else"
In Lisbon, in Le Meridan"s lobby bar A drunken countryman of mine was taking to task a french tourist (unfairly and approaching violence) I interceded on the young French fellows behalf (grabbed the U.S. Mo-fo South St. Louis style. and convinced him a gentelman respected others opinions, it's the American thing to do) recieved for my troubles no less or more than a glare from the French fellow. Interesting. The French don't seem to care for us a lot.
How anyone could bash Portugal is quite beyond me! A lovely place, frendly people, good food, very pretty ladies. I remember Cascais as well as Estoril.
Thanks for the links, gotta run, tad busy tonite.
Dewey