Listen to the Aussie

There is a teenaged immaturity about the rest of the world's relationship with the US. Whenever a serious crisis erupts somewhere, our dependence on the US becomes obvious, and many hate the US because of it. That the hatred is irrational is beside the point.

We can denounce the Yanks for being Muslim-hating flouters of international law while demanding the US rescue Bosnian Muslims from Serbia without UN authority. We can be disgusted by crass American materialism and ridiculous stockpiling of worldly goods yet also be the first to demand material help from the US when disaster strikes.

The really unfortunate part about this adolescent love-hate relationship with the US is that, unlike most teenagers, many never seem to grow out of it.

I often wonder whether “world opinion” is really as down on the U.S. as we’re continually told it is. If the only voices you heard here in the U.S. were the media/intelligentsia that usually pass for "opinion leaders," you'd think the U.S. hated the U.S., too.

Read the whole thing. Hat tip Conservative Grapevine.