Freedom Fighter responds on Venezuela

I was worried that this post might come across as anti-American, so I e-mailed it to Freedom Fighter of JOSHUAPUNDIT (see the sidebar for link) soliciting helpful comments. What he sent back was so illuminating that I'm posting it separately here.


From what I know of Britain, I can fully understand why our esteemed cousins would find the detaining and strip searching of a foreign diplomat deplorable...though given the source I would question how `harshly' the subject was treated in actual fact. If some members of ICE(Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) forgot themselves and went a bit over the top, I don't think it's `anti-American' on your part to say that it was a mistake - and in fact, our State Department has done so.

Senor Maduro will, of course, enjoy the social cachet of being a victim of Yanqui imperialism and will be able to dine out on the story for months to come.

I totally agree with you that nothing is more impressive than to respond to rudeness and/or stupidity with logic and politeness. But that encompasses a cultural difference between Americans and their British cousins, IMO.

America is the land of the putdown, the smackdown, the nasty quip, the quick turnabout as fair play. After all, this is the country that once had `don't tread on me' as something of a national motto! There is also a natural tendency for Americans to delight in putting a self-important person `in their place' as well and`proving' to `outsiders' that they are not to be trifled with. There's the famous story of a 19th century Englishman visiting a South Dakota ranch and asking one of the cowhands where his master was to be found, only to be told `The son of a bitch hasn't been born yet.'

I think many Australians share a bit of this attitude as well.

Some of this natural tendency may have actually been enhanced here by American Black culture in the US, where `doin' the dozens' (ie, out-insulting the competition) is a beloved tradition and a cultural touchstone that reverberates well with Americans in general. Listen to the comedic stylings of Eddie Murphy or Redd Foxx sometime.

As for the US having a strong isolationist streak, that's been true for quite some time, almost since the country's inception. It's sort of instinctive, partly from having an ocean separating us and partly due to the fact that the majority of the American population came there expressly to get away from involvement in what was going on in their country of origin. Sort of a synthetic `rebirth' in a way.

Any leadership role in what Mark Steyn calls the `anglosphere' has not been of our choosing for the most part but a matter of necessity, which is deliciously ironic considering how the US is considered to be the epitome of imperialism in many circles.

FREEDOM FIGHTER