Eurotrash vs the U.S. Some neat allegories here by a conservative Canadian. A bit long but worthwhile.
"The trouble is that instead of Gary Cooper you might get John Wayne (or even Clint Eastwood; if the Europeans find themselves playing the townsfolk in High Plains Drifter I suspect they will not enjoy it). "
and
"Once the shooting's done, how much use do you suppose the sheriff, or the man without a star, is going to have for the guy who hid behind the bar during the fight?"
Gotta love it.
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawa...asp?id={85884B95-E543-4BEC-8B16-EE5102C649DA}
John Robson
The Ottawa Citizen
Friday, February 28, 2003
Why don't people who ridicule the United States as a cowboy nation act like they mean it? We do know a bit about cowboys, at least Hollywood ones. And while you may wish Kofi Annan were the sheriff, he's not, so pretending otherwise is about as safe as pretending you can outdraw Ike Clanton. But if we all know Uncle Sam is the fastest gun around, shouldn't it affect how we act toward him?
Some folks do seem to be treating the U.S. as if it were Gary Cooper's Marshal Will Kane in High Noon. The prudent, practical townspeople played by Jacques Chirac consider it sophisticated to give in to the bad guys, so they desert Kane. He stands up to the villain anyway because it's the right thing to do, and of course he prevails. I am the last person to deplore nations acting in their national interest, provided they do it sensibly. The townspeople of Hadleyville, New Mexico are not exactly moral, but there's a certain prudence in letting a sheriff braver and better than yourself save your sorry butts. Provided you know he will.
The trouble is that instead of Gary Cooper you might get John Wayne (or even Clint Eastwood; if the Europeans find themselves playing the townsfolk in High Plains Drifter I suspect they will not enjoy it). Of course I know a huge majority of European governments are sensibly beseeching the sheriff to assist them and offering what help they can. On the other hand, France and Germany represent a preponderance of power and wealth in continental Europe and, I'm sorry to say but not therefore blind to the fact or unwilling to utter it, a preponderance of public opinion. Until the bad guys are actually shooting up your town, it's easy to persuade yourself the confrontation is the marshal's fault.
If you even get a marshal. Connoisseurs of westerns know that not all gunslingers wear badges. In The Sons of Katie Elder, John Wayne, Dean Martin and two guys you ain't heard of play four brothers who stand for what's right, in a rough-hewn way, but not for legal process. This sort of cowboy resents and avenges injury once pushed far enough. But only to himself, his kinfolk and his close friends.
In Does America Need a Foreign Policy?, Henry Kissinger stresses Prof. Walter Russell Mead's division of the U.S. foreign policy tradition into three strands: the usual Wilsonian idealists and Hamiltonian
realpolitikers, but also "Jacksonians" who understand power like Hamiltonians but share the Wilsonians' scorn for the sordid everyday affairs of foreigners. I admit I hadn't given this third strand enough thought. Now I am, and you should too. In one of his films, John Wayne's character says something to the effect that "I won't be cussed at and I won't be laid hands on." If that's the underlying impulse of American foreign policy, isn't it worth bearing in mind and acting on?
I have no use for the arrogant Wilsonians because I prefer a town marshal to an armed social worker. The former restores peace by gunning down sidewinders who rob banks and kill folks in the street; the latter makes endless trouble by rousting every card player, drunk and brothel inmate in the West. Consider that before insisting the United States only oppose aggressive tyrants if it also remakes societies.
My first choice is the Hamiltonian realpolitik school of Teddy Roosevelt, Richard Nixon and Dr. Kissinger himself because, while I admire the Jacksonians' willingness to stand up for themselves, I fear that like most citizens of democracies they tend to ignore danger until it sets fire to their barn. However that may be, the truth is they drive U.S. foreign policy, and will drive it, for longer than any of us will be around.
The U.S. will accept the star temporarily if the regular law's been killed or run off. But that's because its own kin and ranch are threatened. A big majority of Americans support war with Iraq not because of oil, to export democracy or for any of the other reasons that motivate some politicos and pundits. It's because you "Don't mess with Texas" that Saddam's about to bite the dust.
Canada could play a useful role here, say as "Colorado" in Rio Bravo, the hapless-looking kid who turns out to be surprisingly useful in a fight. Instead Britain is "Dude" and we're the guy with the quavering voice urging townsfolk not to fight.
Once the shooting's done, how much use do you suppose the sheriff, or the man without a star, is going to have for the guy who hid behind the bar during the fight? If we really think America's a cowboy, isn't that a question we'd all be smart to be asking ourselves?
John Robson is Senior Editorial Writer and Columnist.
© Copyright 2003 The Ottawa Citizen
(Edited by Preacherman to fix URL)
"The trouble is that instead of Gary Cooper you might get John Wayne (or even Clint Eastwood; if the Europeans find themselves playing the townsfolk in High Plains Drifter I suspect they will not enjoy it). "
and
"Once the shooting's done, how much use do you suppose the sheriff, or the man without a star, is going to have for the guy who hid behind the bar during the fight?"
Gotta love it.
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawa...asp?id={85884B95-E543-4BEC-8B16-EE5102C649DA}
John Robson
The Ottawa Citizen
Friday, February 28, 2003
Why don't people who ridicule the United States as a cowboy nation act like they mean it? We do know a bit about cowboys, at least Hollywood ones. And while you may wish Kofi Annan were the sheriff, he's not, so pretending otherwise is about as safe as pretending you can outdraw Ike Clanton. But if we all know Uncle Sam is the fastest gun around, shouldn't it affect how we act toward him?
Some folks do seem to be treating the U.S. as if it were Gary Cooper's Marshal Will Kane in High Noon. The prudent, practical townspeople played by Jacques Chirac consider it sophisticated to give in to the bad guys, so they desert Kane. He stands up to the villain anyway because it's the right thing to do, and of course he prevails. I am the last person to deplore nations acting in their national interest, provided they do it sensibly. The townspeople of Hadleyville, New Mexico are not exactly moral, but there's a certain prudence in letting a sheriff braver and better than yourself save your sorry butts. Provided you know he will.
The trouble is that instead of Gary Cooper you might get John Wayne (or even Clint Eastwood; if the Europeans find themselves playing the townsfolk in High Plains Drifter I suspect they will not enjoy it). Of course I know a huge majority of European governments are sensibly beseeching the sheriff to assist them and offering what help they can. On the other hand, France and Germany represent a preponderance of power and wealth in continental Europe and, I'm sorry to say but not therefore blind to the fact or unwilling to utter it, a preponderance of public opinion. Until the bad guys are actually shooting up your town, it's easy to persuade yourself the confrontation is the marshal's fault.
If you even get a marshal. Connoisseurs of westerns know that not all gunslingers wear badges. In The Sons of Katie Elder, John Wayne, Dean Martin and two guys you ain't heard of play four brothers who stand for what's right, in a rough-hewn way, but not for legal process. This sort of cowboy resents and avenges injury once pushed far enough. But only to himself, his kinfolk and his close friends.
In Does America Need a Foreign Policy?, Henry Kissinger stresses Prof. Walter Russell Mead's division of the U.S. foreign policy tradition into three strands: the usual Wilsonian idealists and Hamiltonian
realpolitikers, but also "Jacksonians" who understand power like Hamiltonians but share the Wilsonians' scorn for the sordid everyday affairs of foreigners. I admit I hadn't given this third strand enough thought. Now I am, and you should too. In one of his films, John Wayne's character says something to the effect that "I won't be cussed at and I won't be laid hands on." If that's the underlying impulse of American foreign policy, isn't it worth bearing in mind and acting on?
I have no use for the arrogant Wilsonians because I prefer a town marshal to an armed social worker. The former restores peace by gunning down sidewinders who rob banks and kill folks in the street; the latter makes endless trouble by rousting every card player, drunk and brothel inmate in the West. Consider that before insisting the United States only oppose aggressive tyrants if it also remakes societies.
My first choice is the Hamiltonian realpolitik school of Teddy Roosevelt, Richard Nixon and Dr. Kissinger himself because, while I admire the Jacksonians' willingness to stand up for themselves, I fear that like most citizens of democracies they tend to ignore danger until it sets fire to their barn. However that may be, the truth is they drive U.S. foreign policy, and will drive it, for longer than any of us will be around.
The U.S. will accept the star temporarily if the regular law's been killed or run off. But that's because its own kin and ranch are threatened. A big majority of Americans support war with Iraq not because of oil, to export democracy or for any of the other reasons that motivate some politicos and pundits. It's because you "Don't mess with Texas" that Saddam's about to bite the dust.
Canada could play a useful role here, say as "Colorado" in Rio Bravo, the hapless-looking kid who turns out to be surprisingly useful in a fight. Instead Britain is "Dude" and we're the guy with the quavering voice urging townsfolk not to fight.
Once the shooting's done, how much use do you suppose the sheriff, or the man without a star, is going to have for the guy who hid behind the bar during the fight? If we really think America's a cowboy, isn't that a question we'd all be smart to be asking ourselves?
John Robson is Senior Editorial Writer and Columnist.
© Copyright 2003 The Ottawa Citizen
(Edited by Preacherman to fix URL)
Last edited by a moderator:
