Our place in the world
Only a small percentage of Americans travel outside the country, so most don't have the opportunity to learn firsthand how George W. Bush and his Iraq War have damaged the international standing of the United States. They may read about it here and there, or hear some commentator on Fox News give a sneering "Who cares!" about what Europe thinks about us. But it is very different to be personally confronted and showered with ill will.
Or a gob of spit, in the case of one of my neighbors just back from a couple of weeks in Europe. And no, it wasn't in France. He says it happened in a public square in jolly old London, England, which didn't really surprise me. I had heard from another friend about an ugly encounter she and her family had on a London bus, I think around January 2004. I was in London for a day with my family in the spring of 2004 (we came over from Paris on the Chunnel train) and had a weird experience near the Tower of London where no one seemed to know where the subway/Tube station was, although we had to be within a block of it. We ended up taking a taxi. Not quite the same as getting spit on, but I sensed a real coldness. They know you're an American as soon as they hear you speak. We have a quite distinctive accent.
My neighbor said two Londoners approached him, berated him for the foreign policy sins of the United States, and let loose a spitball before strolling away. Two other Londoners who saw what happened came over and helped him clean up, while mentioning that they didn't much like what the U.S. was doing in the world either. While I'm very skeptical about claims by Vietnam veterans that they were spat upon, usually by "dirty hippies," in airports while returning from the war--these are largely urban legends--I believe my neighbor. He's older than me, quite sophisticated, and I think dislikes the President and the Iraq War to at least the degree I do. He has no reason to make this up.
A large percentage of the British public polls in opposition to George W. Bush and the Iraq War. It's a big reason British Prime Minister Tony Blair is near the end of his career. A British film director has just released a faux-documentary called Death of a President, about a fictitious assasination of Bush and how the U.S. just doesn't understand why the world hates it so. But you would find similar scorn toward Bush and the Iraq War if you polled Germans.
I've been to Germany twice since the Iraq War started, most recently this past spring, and had numerous discussions with Germans about Bush and his war. Perhaps because I agree with many of their opinions, these discussions tend to begin and end peacefully. The topic never came up when we were in Paris in the spring of 2004, and no one was less than friendly to us.
Ironically, I suspect the reason Americans are running into these problems in London is because they speak the same language as the British, more or less. It is much easier to unload political invective on a tourist when he or she can understand every word you say. In addition, American tourists are more likely to interact with average members of the public in London than they are in France or Germany, where encounters are more typically with hotel staff or other people who have an economic interest in you.
It sucks to get spit on, and there is no excuse for it. I suspect many Britons would be like those who came to help my neighbor: horrified at the bad manners and injustice, even though they dislike Bush. The world has changed for Americans because of the 43rd President, and not for the better.
Postscript: The Guardian in the U.K. is reporting on a new poll that shows the British public thinks George W. Bush is a greater threat to world piece than Kim Jong Il in North Korea. Bush still ranks behind Osama bin Laden, however. It's no wonder my neighbor had the experience he did.