Many months ago, I received an email asking if I might be interested in giving a speech at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, with the subject matter the anti-Americanism observed, dissected, and described on No Pasarán and in my book on anti-Americanism.The president of the College Republicans group, Benjamin Duffy, and I decided on February 12 (turned out to be Lincoln's birthday) for the speech. (I arrived from Boston in a rental car the day before, around 10 pm, and briefly got lost on the huge campus looking for the Campus Center Hotel.)
The title of the speech, suggested by my editor, was "Faux Amis (Je t'aime moi non plus)", and the subject was: what nobody tells you about America-bashers (foreign and domestic). I spoke for 45 minutes (did so easily, given the subject matter), giving example after example of double standards and self-serving "opinions", both in Europe and among liberal and/or leftist Americans, before arriving at some common-sense conclusions.
The reception I got from (the extremely friendly members of) the College Republicans group was awesome and, on top of that, I was invited after the speech to a delicious dinner at the town's best Italian restaurant (with a gift added in, which kept me warm during the ensuing snowstorm that hit the northeast a couple of days later). Many mercis, les amis, for the fine welcome! It is good to know that you are present, that you are using your common sense, and that you are unwilling to let the loud noise drown you out and willing, on the contrary, to stand up to the masses with pride and voice your opinions, reminding them of a reality here and there.
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