The cure for cancer and arrogance

Environmentalists make an interesting point when they plead for saving large tracts of wilderness to protect endangered plant life arguing that the plants might hold the keys to curing cancer or other illnesses. The same folks favor unfettered abortions ignoring the possibility that we might be killing the future researchers who will discover these cures.

I was just about to start this sentence by typing "radical environmentalists" but I paused for a moment and tried to delineate for myself the differences between an "environmentalist' and a "radical environmentalist" and frankly, I can't think of any. Do you know any issues on which a garden-variety environmentalist and a radical environmentalist will disagree? I don't.

When I lived in California's Mendocino County it was the center of gravity for Earth First!. I got to see a number of Earth First!ers stage various protests. They drove the oldest, most beat up, highest polluting cars to their protests where they screamed that everyone else was killing the planet. I suppose a few hitch hiked around the countryside depending on the kindness of productive individuals.

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Some social chasms that have been growing throughout the last couple of decades in America are beginning to be dramatically exposed with the Obama administration. Things that people would not say in public are now being spoken for all to hear.

Conservative pundits have long charged that liberals harbor some shame or even hatred of America. This bubbled to the surface when Michelle Obama made the comment about being proud of her country "for the first time" during last year's campaign. The president himself expressed a similar sentiment when told a French audience:

In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europe's 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.

Where to start? First off, what does he mean by "America"? All Americans? Sounds like nationalistic profiling. Secondly, what does he mean by "Europe's leading role"? When the Balkans were coming apart at the seams, it took the courage of the United States to get the world to react. What has Europe done to curtail Iran's nuclear program? Why is Europe sending "police trainers" and not more soldiers to Afghanistan?

If by "leading" President Obama is referring to Europe's chronically high unemployment, or the Muslim riots in France, or the radical Islamic threat to tear apart the Netherlands, or the fact that French youth see no employment future for themselves, or budget busting healthcare rationing, I see what he means.

But if he is talking about making tough and sometimes unpopular decisions on the world stage and then backing up those decisions with blood and money, I don't see that from any European nation except Great Britain.

The United States, because of our power, will always be unpopular in many circles. We are not a perfect nation. But if you have to choose one country to be the "cop" of the world, who do you choose: the USA, China, or Russia? Those are the options. European leaders don't have the guts to step up to the plate. If we want someone to sit next to us at a United Nations meeting, we can always call the French. If we want someone to hunker down in a foxhole with us, we're usually our own.

Because our nation has had the courage to do what it thinks is right, until now at least, we are often preceived as being arrogant. That is a burden we have to bear. It is not something President Obama should be apologizing for abroad.

I pray that President Obama doesn't mistake his fleeting personal popularity throughout Europe for renewed respect for the United States.